I like valve and love steam but that news infuriate me. Every year they get more and more power over pc gaming market and news like that increase their power even more.
Gamersgate position is already weak. d2d is gone and instead is something way worse, impulse's state i don't know but i don't believe it has any power. Gog remains strong but for how long? will they follow gamersgate and start selling steam keys?
blizzard and ea with origin are doing their own thing which i do welcome. rest have to abide valve's rule.

because i love steam i really don't want them to become monopoly. only bad things will happen because of that.

I'm curious: does Original War on Steam have the soundtrack included? Or is GOG the only store that also provides the soundtrack?

I don't believe it does

BTW this is a bump to make sure that everyone who wants these gets them

No such info is indicated on Steam's store page.

Let's keep this thread in the front page till the game's removal.

Apparently the soundtrack is not included with the Steam version of Original War. I'm glad that i got the GOG version in a trade yesterday. :)

I also feel this way, especially since I was under the impression that the Arma games were quite popular here and sold rather well.

Historically customers are willing to give companies quite some monopolistic position if they are good (like Microsoft for example) and Steam is quite okay. So a further concentration and less competition in the PC games sales market seems inevitable. Steam will profit in any way from this and GOG or Humble might be lucky and get away rather unscathed but for the others it will become nightmarish. Sad but true.

I would say that with the planned Galaxy client and Linux support GOG is roughly on par feature wise with Steam. Except for DRM no real difference anymore. But this will only be true around 2015, when Steam had this from around 2007? Big head start for Valve. And developers are just to eager to be only on Steam. Takes this together and you have your monopoly.

So this is the second time Operation Flashpoint has been removed from GOG? I think this is the first time a game has been removed twice.

Maybe it could also be re-added twice.. I hope..

Actually, the example you quote shows that customers don't allow companies a quasi-monopoly because their products are good. The example shows that the wider consumer community is gullible, idiotic and highly susceptible to PR. Microsoft got where they are today by throwing countless amounts of money at PR - it wasn't until the late 90s/early 2000s that their software even became remotely stable/usable. Prior to that, it was always bottom-of-the-barrel compared to the competition, but it was marketed well.

Same applies to Steam. Valve went out with the message "we understand gamers", "we love gamers" and people fell for it hook, line and sinker. Mind you, the rest of the industry facilitated this by showing zero respect for gamers for the decade previous to that. A voice from the industry that professed sympathy for the gamer was always one that was going to win votes, despite its disingenuity.

The only difference between the ass-fucking that Valve gives gamers and the ass-fucking that the rest of the industry gives is that Valve has the common courtesy to give the gamer a reach-around (yes, I've just been watching Full Metal Jacket).

It's a case of 'Meet the new boss, same as the old boss'. Back when Half-Life 2 was released, there were people championing Valve as the little guy standing up to the big publishers and distribution chains.

Original War, $0.99 on Steam right now, during the summer sale.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/235320/

I already own it on GOG, but if you're jonesing for it, there you go.

I know its cheap on Steam but another bump will help it over here :p

"And nine, nine gaming platforms were gifted to the Race of Men, who above all else desire power. For within these gaming platforms was bound the strength and will to govern each race. But they were all of them deceived, for another gaming platform was made. In the land of Valve, in the fires of Mount Steam, the Dark Lord Newell forged, in secret, a Master Gaming Platform to control all others. And into this Gaming Platform he poured his cruelty, his malice and his will to dominate all life. One Gaming Platform to rule them all."

:,{D

Bumping once again. 2 days remain.