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General discussion (archive)Wot others think of Impulse(146 posts)(146 posts)
(146 posts)
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This is my favourite topic
Posted October 11, 2009
I actually decided to cease being a customer of Impulse. As some of you probably know about me by now, I am a strong supporter of consumer rights, and that does affect my purchasing decisions.
After investigating, and sending off a clarification request to support, I have discovered that Impulse actually has most of the controlling policies that Steam does. The main differences between the two is that IP has a much higher prevalence of 3rd party DRM"s, and tends to have higher prices, whereas Steam has the "gatekeeper" aspect that allows them to ban a user from accessing any games for a transgression, which is unique to Steam.
So, until things change, I am GOG-exclusive for now,
Posted October 11, 2009
If you are required to have an internet connection or are forced to call someone then you are Completely wasting your money
What happens in 10 years when you want to play that game again and the distribution company folded or the publisher has gone under, how do you activate? can you count on the game getting a patch or a finding certain files to enable your game? In the past year over 30 game company have been bought out, filed chapter 11 or dissolved under litigation.
No GOG is all im using and only games that have disk check/serial DRM... online activation for multiplayer im for since you need internet and that makes sense. But any offline singleplayer game needs to be yours 100%. Impulse and Steam are just like a rental agency, in all truth you will never own anything you purchase from them
Posted October 11, 2009
Simple...I don't look at purchasing something that will (hopefully) bring me hours of enjoyment as completely wasting my money. You talk about playing a game in ten years, but let's be realistic about this...how many games do you still play that are ten years old, compared to the number of games you played and enjoyed but have little to no interest in going back to because you saw all that it had to offer?
Might I lose access to the games I purchase through Impulse? Yes. Of course, I also might be hit by a drunk driver tomorrow and die anyway, so continued access to a game isn't really going to mean anything anyway. In the end, if it looks fun I'll buy it.
Besides, probably 90% of the games I buy online I buy during weekend sales. Now I'm buying something I can enjoy and I'm getting it dirt cheap. Win win.
Post edited October 11, 2009 by Crassmaster
Posted October 11, 2009
I am in no way an Impulse supporter. I think it is SD means of soft DRM, and forces the user to install and use the application.
I know, I know, you can uninstall it, but SD knows you likely will not because you will need it for the next game you buy, and each and every download for a patch or anything else.
It is DRM plain and simple as it restricts the user.
Impulse, count me out.
Posted October 11, 2009
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Faithful: I am in no way an Impulse supporter. I think it is SD means of soft DRM, and forces the user to install and use the application.
I know, I know, you can uninstall it, but SD knows you likely will not because you will need it for the next game you buy, and each and every download for a patch or anything else.
It is DRM plain and simple as it restricts the user.
Impulse, count me out.

I'm not sure if I follow this logic. It is DRM because it gives you options, has a flexible refund policy, and has employees available daily to help you in IRC, should you ever have an issue?
Impulse: Open to install or update games
GOG: Open your web browser to download, then install the program separately, and should there ever be an update, open your browser to download the update
In either case, you must run some sort of 3rd party application to acquire and update your games.
Posted October 11, 2009
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Faithful: I am in no way an Impulse supporter. I think it is SD means of soft DRM, and forces the user to install and use the application.
I know, I know, you can uninstall it, but SD knows you likely will not because you will need it for the next game you buy, and each and every download for a patch or anything else.
It is DRM plain and simple as it restricts the user.
Impulse, count me out.
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melchiz: I'm not sure if I follow this logic. It is DRM because it gives you options, has a flexible refund policy, and has employees available daily to help you in IRC, should you ever have an issue?
Impulse: Open to install or update games
GOG: Open your web browser to download, then install the program separately, and should there ever be an update, open your browser to download the update
In either case, you must run some sort of 3rd party application to acquire and update your games.

To state it simply; you cannot get any patch for any SD game since Sins last patch without Impulse.
To call your web browser a third party application is a bit of a logic stretch. That means Impulse is an additional third party application you need to download, install, and run your game.
So you like Impulse, that is obvious; I do not that is made obvious. It is all good you keep using it I never use it and all is well.
Posted October 11, 2009
I count myself out when it comes to Impulse, but asside from their distrubingly high number of SecuRom'd titles, they by definition are better than Steam.
You CAN make Client-free backup discs of titles bought from IP, AND they have an unconditional 30 day 75% refund policy, even if you PLAYED the title.
That's pretty damn good. I actually took advantage of the latter to get a partial refund for Sins of a Solar, since I don't want to use their service anymore.
Post edited October 12, 2009 by anjohl
Posted October 11, 2009
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Faithful: To call your web browser a third party application is a bit of a logic stretch. That means Impulse is an additional third party application you need to download, install, and run your game.

Well, if people continue to pan Steam alternatives, you are going to be stuck with Valve's DRM platform (for new releases, of course; GOG has a decent library of older games). A client that you need only run to update a game is functionally no different than a web-based update process. Also, Stardock is testing a system that allows you to downlaod your games without Impulse. This service, known as Impulse Anywhere, is already supported by Stardock-published titles, such as Sins.
Either way, you need to open something temporarily in order to update your game. Contrast this to Steam or the EA Download Manager, which are not only required for updates, but will run regardless of your needs.
Posted October 11, 2009
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Faithful: To call your web browser a third party application is a bit of a logic stretch. That means Impulse is an additional third party application you need to download, install, and run your game.
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melchiz: Well, if people continue to pan Steam alternatives, you are going to be stuck with Valve's DRM platform (for new releases, of course; GOG has a decent library of older games). A client that you need only run to update a game is functionally no different than a web-based update process. Also, Stardock is testing a system that allows you to downlaod your games without Impulse. This service, known as Impulse Anywhere, is already supported by Stardock-published titles, such as Sins.
Either way, you need to open something temporarily in order to update your game. Contrast this to Steam or the EA Download Manager, which are not only required for updates, but will run regardless of your needs.

Ah, I was not comparing Impulse to Steam when I wrote. I no longer use Steam and the few games I have there are lost forever; just like the games I bought through SD they are never to be played again.
I know I am in the minority, and maybe a little more passionate about not using DRM but at this point I am committed to games that do not use DRM. This has meant that I buy games from Indie developers that do not use DRM, GOG games, and a few newer titles that have taken the high road and not used DRM in their games.
I glad you wrote back so I could clarify that I was not trying make Steam or anything else out as better, because systems such as Steam, Impulse are anti-user orientated.
They may dangle a carrot in front of you (low prices, talking with others, etc.), but rest assured there is also a stick.
Posted October 11, 2009
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Crassmaster: Simple...I don't look at purchasing something that will (hopefully) bring me hours of enjoyment as completely wasting my money. You talk about playing a game in ten years, but let's be realistic about this...how many games do you still play that are ten years old, compared to the number of games you played and enjoyed but have little to no interest in going back to because you saw all that it had to offer?

Well i can say many classic games that are 10year old are fun to play after few year brake. :)
Posted October 11, 2009
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Faithful: I glad you wrote back so I could clarify that I was not trying make Steam or anything else out as better, because systems such as Steam, Impulse are anti-user orientated.
They may dangle a carrot in front of you (low prices, talking with others, etc.), but rest assured there is also a stick.

I regularly talk to Stardock's Impulse team, and have even conversed with Stardock's CEO on a few occasions. Anyone can jump into Stardock's IRC and get straight answers from various members of Stardock's development and support teams. I trust Stardock because I am treated like a valuable customer and rarely am fed marketing BS.
How is that "anti-user," if I may ask?
I understand your position, but I would rather the anti-DRM crowd work to build and support viable alternatives for big-label game distribution. The major groups within the digital distribution community are the Valve devotees, the indifferent users, and the anti-DRM people. Stardock's policies, particularly the Gamers' Bill of Rights, should attract both indifferent users (through education and freedom) and some of the anti-DRM people. However, actively condemning Impulse, especially without grounded reasoning, will only strengthen Valve's dominance of the digital distribution market.
Post edited October 11, 2009 by melchiz
Posted October 11, 2009
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melchiz: I regularly talk to Stardock's Impulse team, and have even conversed with Stardock's CEO on a few occasions. Anyone can jump into Stardock's IRC and get straight answers from various members of Stardock's development and support teams. I trust Stardock because I am treated like a valuable customer and rarely am fed marketing BS.
How is that "anti-user," if I may ask?

Well, you asked and here is the answer that I have tried not to talk about too much any longer. This is of course my memory since a bit of time has passed.
When Impulse was rolled out, it was for the largest patch that Sins received (the one with all the fixes and cool tweaks to it). I complained on the boards about using this as a means to get people to use Impulse since every other patch for Sins was a stand alone patch.
I had no intention of wanting to use Impulse and complained that Brad was forcing users into Impulse.
Brad came on the boards (normal for him at that time) and stated in very blunt terms that this is the way it was going to be, and Impulse was always the way they intended going but it was not ready until this every so cool patch for Sins was coming out! Hmm.
He made it clear that he was not concerned about what others thought and a few users were in no way going to change anything, because for him it was about the bottom line.
Another user went back and found a quote from Brad where he was quoted as listening to his customers. This of course was juxtaposed against what he had just typed into the boards at that time.
It only took about 24 hours as I recall for much of the postings including Brad's comments to be removed and gone forever.
At that point for me, the die was cast and I sought to sell my SD account with all my games which I posted on the SD website. I was told I could not do that and since I had already changed my user name to some generic name and generic password I simply walked away.
In fact I do not even remember the name or password any longer, but I really do not care, as I think SD is just like any other corporation such as EA or any other, where the customer is made to feel important until it conflicts with the real interest of the business.
This thread asked others what they think about Impulse and I gave my honest answer. So there it is as best as I recall it. It has been some time because I am not even sure how long Impulse has been in use, but all this was a little before that time.
Post edited October 11, 2009 by Faithful
Posted October 11, 2009
The only thing I have purchased digitally from Impulse that wasn't $3.99 was The Witcher at a $10 discount, and honestly I regret it. I dislike extra clients and blackbox installers in the first place, but this was a pain in the ass - downloading, installing, patching, backing it up, it all took forever and failed a few times as well. I actually had to download the entire game twice, because the first time, it crashed while installing and the eight gigabytes that I had just downloaded were deleted. WHY?!
All that hassle for what? A game that's permanently tethered to Impulse, when I could have had a standalone, hassle-free copy on disc, instead. The money I saved wasn't worth it, and while I won't say I'll never buy anything on Impulse again, I certainly won't buy anything that's more than a few dollars - or more than a gigabyte.
Post edited October 11, 2009 by Mentalepsy
Posted October 11, 2009
Brad can be blunt, but he is honest and fair.
You speak as if working for a bottom line is a bad thing. Would you rather the CEO of a software company totally disregard profits for the sake of appeasement? I would never trust my investment in a company (purchases are investments; in the case of software, you invest in the support infrastructure of the publisher to support new hardware and operating systems and help with other technical issues) with no mind for profit. Such a company would fail, and the investment would be for naught.
However, it is important that companies be mindful of their customers, even for the sake of profit. A business that routinely upsets its customers will fail, so good customer service is a profitable investment for most companies.
Fortunately, Brad is very passionate about gamers' rights, and he has his opinions on what these rights are. Your opinions differ on this matter, so I wouldn't label him as anti-consumer for that alone. If I had shared in your experience, I would likely dislike Stardock, for personal reasons. Regardless, I do not see how this isolated personal conflict should dissuade others from using Impulse.
Posted October 11, 2009
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Crassmaster: Simple...I don't look at purchasing something that will (hopefully) bring me hours of enjoyment as completely wasting my money. You talk about playing a game in ten years, but let's be realistic about this...how many games do you still play that are ten years old, compared to the number of games you played and enjoyed but have little to no interest in going back to because you saw all that it had to offer?
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ambient_orange: Well i can say many classic games that are 10year old are fun to play after few year brake. :)

Oh, I didn't mean to say there aren't ANY 10 year old (and older) games myself and other people enjoy and play...there certainly are. I have found that people tend to look back with rose colored glasses though and completely ignore the fact that then, just like now, probably 80%+ of what they played was bad, okay or good but nothing they want to go back to again.
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This is my favourite topic
Community
General discussion (archive)Wot others think of Impulse(146 posts)(146 posts)
(146 posts)