when it comes to paradox games only one thing must be discussed , optimization in their games and bugs, even to date 99% of their games have issues , a few of them got abandoned to was put into , crappy wording called old games.
really check out any paradox game forum and bam i think its 100%.
but lets see if their new releases break the trend any better sword of the stars 2 was a disaster.

I'm all to aware of that fact. Since I'm probably not going to be able to connect my computer to the net, I'm going to have to decide to either crack the games I've bought or do without.

I suppose the third possibility is to just buy a Chinese copy and have no idea whether or not it's legit, but probably not legit.

Seriously, if companies are going to get that bent out of shape by cracks and piracy, they should really be doing like GOG and not forcing their customers into that sort of a situation.

Neat interview, Paradox are one of the good guys. Most of their games are too hardcore.for me, but I like trying them.

You've not been talking to the Sword of the Stars group - granted Paradox are only the publishers, but I've also heard bad stories about Hearts of Iron 3 as well.

Yes, but it's a corporation. What they say and what they do is often very different. They want to have the good reputation of allegedly not using DRM while having the benefits of actually using DRM at the same time. I don't want to trivialize it but I expect such behavior routinely from companies. They are not interested in anything but their profit and will lie routinely for it (aka bending the truth until there is no truth inside anymore).

So he is one douche among many.

As pointed out several times in the thread, in-house developed Paradox games can all be bought without any DRM of any kind. So he's not lying as developer, just as as a publisher for other people's games. :/

Steam isn't expensive to integrate, and it doesn't annoy the customer.

Tages, SolidShield, SecuROM, StarForce etc. are, and do. just think about what it must cost UbiSoft to keep up the server and support infrastructure for their Uplay and GameLauncher DRM.

Steam centralizes all that without the need for every publisher to have their own activation servers and support teams. Steam also avoids 2 of the most annoying aspects of other DRM systems: limited activations and hardware tie-downs, probably the two DRM aspects that are the most common causes for customers to get in touch with support.

I'll let you know how annoyed I am when I can't use my Steam powered games because I don't have access to the internet.

I probably won't have access because my computer doesn't have a modem and I doubt I'll have broadband. But folks like service personnel might have a computer, but not the internet for periods and Steam's offline mode is random to say the least.

Magicka was sold in over 1 million copies mostly because it was on steam. That's a fact.

Steam is that kind of DRM people like. It integrates the communities, has cool social features, easy to join multiplayer and more.

there's no better place for 4 player co op games than steam.

Steams offline mode generally works well on most games, provided that the game has had at least one run whilst connected to the internet (which considering the PC games market is so removed from the highstreet these days isn't too farfetched for many).

I've never had a problem running games in Steam Offline mode and generally most people don't have problems.

Excactly my stance on Steam.

And in general there is a differnce between DRM and "copy protection". Those two are often used synonymously, so there is a lot of confusion. There is a "good DRM" way that connect a game to a single person via an account (like Steam, or GOG, or Origin, basically everyone). That is convieniant and generally a very good development in recent years. Than there is the "copy protection DRM" which makes sure that only the person that holds the rights to this game can play it. Some don't have this at all (GOG, and I think GG only checks that you are online), some are very liberal in that approach (Origin, Steam) and some take it up to eleven (Ubisoft) and some are pure shit (securom,sometimes Ubisoft).

But I consider all of the above no problem for me anymore, because I do have a constant broadband internet connection (and my backup is via the mobile net with still very impressive speeds). And I remember the time of "disc based copy protection" which was the worst there ever was. I honestly don't care much about "DRM free" anymore, as this isn't 2003 when HL2 came out (and I was furious). As much as I hated Steam before, I must say that it has become a goodsend for PC gaming. There dominance on the PC market is something to be concerned about, but I think Amazon and GG will give them a run for their money in the future.

Steam holds dominance because they got there first with the best marketing and overall product delivery system. Sure its got its bugs, but it generally works smooth. It's also got a really easy to remember name and gets many of the big titles. Combine that with their reputation for insane holiday sales and they've a very hard market hold to beat. One thing that will keep them strong is that people like simplicity - and steam offers a simple one site solution to most peoples gaming needs.

Amazon is a bit new to the downloading side, but I suspect as time goes on they'll increase their hold on the market quite considerably if they can keep it running smooth - many will be used to having an Amazon account as well as other Amazon product delivery systems such as Kindle.

Desura is a new one to the field and offers one of the most exciting features which is official mod support on their site (that is hosting and allowing downloads as well as developer chat). They've one of the most poorly chosen names (I can hardly recall how to spell the darn thing half the time), but the option to support games beyond just a product sale presents a twist to the market. If they can land some big deals and get some big names on their books I think they'll be a strong competition esp since they offer something new that the others don't have. Key part will be ensuring their community interface is as smooth as Steams.

It's really all over the place. And also, for those who are without the net for prolonged periods of time, it's eventually going to be an issue.

Plus, I'm looking at roughly a year where I might not be hooked up to the net via this computer and at some point it's going to want to check for updates or do something else and I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to do anything about it.

Which is really the point, those on dial up connections and those that don't have a connection at all get kind of screwed on the deal even if they bought a copy of the game in a store on physical discs.

It's not. Gamers without internet connection are a small percentage of all not worth even mentioning.

It's like I would say "I DONT HAVE CD DRIVE SO GAMES ON CD ARE ANNOYING DRM TO ME!!11111"

People who don't own internet connection for around a year are not woth mentioning even. How would you even buy a new game without internet connection nowadays. They have computer stores in places where you can live a year without internet connection?