[Edited by Telapicus, 6/3/2010 9:42:56 PM]

y do u want to boycott Steam?

[Edited by LordJB, 6/3/2010 11:46:22 PM]

And the final straw is to have to update the game to newest version even if you bought the disk because you refuse to buy through steam...

I just do not understand why game corps. force us to use a tird party system... DUMB...

I purchased the retail version of Dawn Of War II, and it was my first experience with Steam. I went to the point of disabling all security on my home network, opening every port I could find a readme on, and finally calling their customer (lack of) service center...five times. Needless to say, I was unable to resolve the problem, even after reluctantly letting them remote in to my computer to try to take care of it themselves. They registered the game under my account on their end, with my CDKey. I tried to run the program, no connection to Steam. I asked them to please deactivate the CDKey because I was going to throw myself on the mercy of GameStop and see if they wouldn't give me a store credit. They said, very plainly and clearly...NO!?! I let them tinker around a little more until I received their solution. Their final answer? "We don't know why it doesn't work, it just doesn't, and we can't spend any more time with this call." As my face turned red, I asked them how I was going to recover the almost $80 I spent on the collector's edition, first-week-it-was-out copy of the software, they said they didn't know, and were not concerned. I was able to sweet talk the young lady at GameStop into giving me a store credit after printing a hard copy of the chat and email transcript and describing the horrid service I received. Now I look for games that require Steam before I buy...so I can avoid them. Steam's sole function in retail purchased software is anti-piracy. There are plenty of other software titles out there that manage to not require a constant connection. I figure if enough people wake up and realize that you can game without Steam (and Games For Windows Live soon, if they don't back off...), their sales will suffer and they will be forced to look at less annoying and invasive ways to manage piracy. On a side note...if you dig hard enough, you can find hacks and workarounds. Personally, I buy a game to play, not to have headaches and frustration, or spend hours and hours trying to find workarounds for their third party requirements and constant connection requirements. I have a gaming laptop. Sometimes we stay in a cabin in the middle of nowhere, the locals think DSL is some sort of STD! I can't fish all day and night, so I like to game in the evening...just my $0.02.