Half life 2

Steam is one of those iffy things, some people have no problem with it whilst others have nothing but problems. I personally agree with you! When you buy a game, you should not have to have an internet connection just to make the SP part of it work. I can understand what they are trying to do to an extent though, however I think they could have done it in a much better way. I do not see any other company attempting this in the near future.

I understand that Valve wanted to discourage piracy so the online activation was implemented. Too bad they were not this careful when the source code was stolen

After paying good money for a game, I want to be able to play without the internet and programs running in the background.

There have been so many problems with load times, servers being down, and the whole activation/file decrypting process. Do a web search under "steam sucks" and look at all of the links. I will never buy another valve/steam game.

I enjoy the fact that I can buy and sell used pc games on ebay. I don't mind waiting to buy a used/cheaper game. Anyone realize that there will be no used copies of Half-Life 2? After playing through a few times, forget about selling it unless you want to give up your steam information.

Does anyone have info on how to play the game without steam (a working solution). Is anyone else worried that if Valve was to close its' doors or some other act of God, that we won't be able to play this darn game?

Sorry to vent. I know that many people have not had any problems with steam. But I think that there are just as many if not more people that hate Valve and Steam.

To quote from another forum:
"What do you get when you pee on snow?"

Steam!

I have read many posts and forums about people complaining to valve about steam servers, audio skipping, and several other problems. Valve does not seem to respond with concern or sympathy. They have our money and that's it.

I have read that even a no-cd patch could get your steam account closed.

I have even read that many people do not have the audio skipping with their pirated games. Doesn't make sense.

There will always be hackers and pirates. Valve only slowed them down.

Make a great game, sell it at a reasonable price, and people will buy it.

Maybe Doom 3, Far Cry, and any other game I have do not look as good as HL 2, but I can play them, anytime, anywhere, and without the internet.

No arguement there rocket. I have personally not had any problems with Steam but, that does not mean I like it.

Another irk I have is that even the demo needs a steam account. Sure, steam is free but are they afraid that someone might pirate the demo :bucky!: Good grief.

Ohh the steam requirement for the demo is just ridiculous! lol! You are going to make me go on a rant here!

I have been trying to find a way to play without steam. I want to play on my laptop but I do not use it for the internet (work and school). I can extract the HL 2 files but can't get it to actually run. Any suggestions??

p.s. how about the poor box artwork. Not what I was expecting from one of the most anticipated games ever. Not to mention no manual and no jewel cases.

Hl2 requires an internet connection via steam therefore, there is no way that I know or can say to run it without connecting your laptop to steam.

I have not seen how HL2 comes as I downloaded it, but I do see your point

get a room u 2.... geeze.... and i agree, Steam = Complete teahat.... its like spyware, slowing down my poor little PC.... i need those extra 20-30 Frames god damn it!

I was hoping to get more people involved in this discussion. These forums are like Ravenholm...no one goes here anymore. ;)

My computer isn't the greatest so when I play Doom 3 I will turn off Norton and pull the internet connection. Every little bit helps.

Can't do that with HL 2 though. It sucks big time.