Ah I didn't know GG could do that. But in all fairness, GG will never, ever collect any data to that effect, since all they have is my credit card info (maybe not even that if I choose so) and a list of games/serials attached to my name. They never have a client running on computer for them to check for piracy, and certainly none ever running during games to check for hacks/cheats. So though you may be correct that GG can legally ban my account, limiting my access to games (something that is news to me btw), the fact is that by virtue of their unobtrusive system, they will never ever be in a position to make that judgement simply due to lack of data. Something which I think is a postive, because they're just retailers - they shouldn't have the right to judge anyone for anything, much less nose around to do it.
Well, GG will just prevent you from buying games via their services. But any service will close your account if they feel you are abusing it. I cannot think of one that would not do such a thing.
Moreover, while Steam does run a client on your system, Steam makes a point of requiring you to opt-in for a survey on what you run on your machine. Since GG requires you to download their download applications, you could argue that these small programs could even contain a hidden data collecting scheme themselves, although, I sincerely doubt that.
For that money, I trust GG the same amount as I trust Steam.
PS: That came off as pro-GG and anti-Steam, but it's not. It's just my present view, which I'm attempting to clarify here. At the moment, I see less risks with GG.
Or do you?
Sorry I actually meant Day 1 delivery of future patches post-release. So Patch #2,3,4,5...etc. Basically, if you never need Steam to run a game, that effectively means people won't (may not) use Steam at all post-install, meaning that they still won't get the patches until they check for updates themselves and then go reinstall/rerun steam with the particular goal of getting the patch. So essentially, you lose the auto-patch benefit if you allow non-steam execution to occur.
Well, obviously not. But that's the same issue with GG, I suppose. If you decide not to have automatic patch distribution, that's your choice. And while you will get the day 0/1 (whatever) patch, you can't be sure about any subsequent patches. Neither can the developers. But day 0 patches tend to be more important, anyway.
Q3) Has paradox given thought/made plans to make future games on Steam make expansions/patch levels optional? So that if I buy EU+NA+IN+HttT+DW, I can play with whichever form of the game I desire? With whatever patch I choose? So in the future, is paradox planning to make it possible for me to install only up to HttT 4.1, even though lets say a 4.2 is out, as well as DW 5.1? The reason I ask is because this very directly affects mod-friendliness. An example would be the general inability (or atleast difficulty) in playing MMtM for Steam DW purchasers.
Again, Steam allows you to disable auto-patching. But personally, I just make a copy of my EU3 directory, then patch that to whatever I like. Again, since EU3 works without Steam, you can do that, even if you purchased EU3 through Steam.
Johan, I've been reading up the forums quite a bit lately, and I realize you're very objective about Steam, and seriously consider it a very useful tool for future (& present) paradox games, and have been fairly vocal on the forums when people have spoken against their service. That's why I figured you would be the best person to ask to clarify these questions I have. Don't take any of it strongly - I'm trying to clear up my own presently outdated understanding of steam and also to reassess my position of their service - especially as it relates to Paradox. Thanks for your help.
Steam has gotten an unnecessary bad wrap in recent years. Perhaps from 'haters' as they are called, but Steam is actually one of the best digital distribution channels there is. Needless to say, I still get my Paradox games via GG, because I like that for its better integration with Paradox in general.