This looks like it is going the way it has in the past. 3 is clearly (no offense meant) the choice they want to do and I really don't care anymore. My one plea is just try to keep this one from going downhill like the last time drm-free beta was discussed.
Since this game is going to be on steam at release, people need to learn to love steam. If people lag or dislike it for reasons of CPU usage and so on, they probably need to upgrade their computers anyways. Option 3 sounds the best here, but im not sure if the DRM is actually worth doing.
Honestly, I'd rather option 2. I know a LOT of people love Steam, but Steam causes a lot of trouble for a lot of users, occasionally including me. I mean, don't get me wrong, Steam is a GREAT DRM service, but Steam can be very clunky at times, and for lower-end computer users (not me, I'm just saying) it can be an EXTREME hassle to have to use Steam to enjoy a game that they just want to play. Either way, I support Chucklefish, no matter what method they choose. They have always done a GREAT job, and I fully believe that it'll remain that way.
Stickin' with option three on this one, despite the fact that I am bias as a user of Steam's services. Notwithstanding said bias, there are good reasons to go with the option, most notably in its effects on the ease of development. We do not need the Starbound team attempting to upload and maintain updates across multiple interfaces when they could be working on the game itself. I'm fairly sure nobody wants that, especially given the way Molly puts it.
The endline of the beta doesn't make it a full game, it's still a beta and it's when you guys need heavy testing to ensure that there are way less bugs. I vote for 3, which is when you open the gates tho a whole new batch of testing, expanding how much the game is taken apart. I'm not a fan of steam myself with the insta-download-update thing without my direct management, but i guess it is important in this case. I'd think about switching to drm-free version when it's done, tho.
I'd like to suggest that you could keep the beta solely on Steam then release both versions after most of the bugs are worked out. I'm assuming that the DMR version is based on its own launcher? This may be a option if you were looking at a system that would be independent from the Steam servers.
They already know that they're going with a steam only release for beta I am sure. That is the reason the post by Molly editorialized the three possible decisions instead of just saying would you prefer option 1, 2, or 3 with no bias. Just posting an idea, but I know it is going to be dog piled by fanboys.
Well it's a sticky wicket. Not all games are illegally downloaded even though they appear to be. Say you own a DVD copy of Starcraft and you download a digital copy of TPB. Well, technically if you have it installed on one machine only you're in the legal right. Any software looking for pirated software would detect that the software appears illegal and would report it as such. For an example of this check out the Sony BMG rootkit scandal. Many people had their software tampered with despite legally owning the media that appeared to be pirated. This is all in hypotheticals of course.
There's a kind of middle-ground possible though it would still require installing it through Steam, which would still handle the updates. Many games choose to distribute over Steam and either update through it or use their own launcher or patcher -- like The Sims 3 or many of the MMOs available through it. However these games often are not tied to Steam in order to be able to run, and thus meet the no-DRM requirement -- you don't even need to run Steam in offline mode to play, just a non-steam shortcut to the game in your start menu or on your desktop. This DOES clash with the wishes of folks who wish to avoid Steam for various reasons, but on the developer side it still uses Steam for distribution and updates while still meeting the no-DRM requirement that appeals to many players, aside from downloading it in the first place of course... which I guess kinda defeats it somewhat. Either way, option 3 is the most viable one for the major part the beta phase and could be transitioned to option 2 in later beta stages.
As much as my Love/Hate relationship grows with Steam, I'm going to have to go with option three only for the fact that it would allow faster updating and possibly a quicker release.
Yeah except you can get starcraft from the blizzard website if you own the game. plus this is assuming the pirated game search thing functions correctly. i think it would be awesome. i mean sure lots of people cant afford games and i get that. im not rich or anything but if theres a game i want i save up to get it. pirating games is wrong and people should be punished for it. same thing with music, movies blah blah. all of that.
