Changes to Playing Previous Versions of PDS Titles

[Zaister]

The manipulation to get the codes will only be available from the 1st of October and onward. In addition, the sync between Steam and Paradox Account has to be done on the Paradox Plaza webiste, not within the forums. Hope this helps! And if your situation is only linked to icons, please file a ticket on our support website

Thanks, I know the codes will only be available in October, but just checking out the whole sync thing, I noticed that the icons don't match up, and thought I'd mention it.

So, where on Paradox Plaza would I trigger the sync?

 

[HeyIAmInfinity]

@RodDel Can you confirm that the games tab in the paradox plaza will be fixed by 1st October? i currently can only see 6 dlc and I've bought more on PDX plaza.

 

[Alex in Tokyo]

As I understand it, GDPR applies only to personally identifying information (which, in their no-doubt infinite wisdom, the authorities have defined to include IP addresses). Does the game telemetry collect information of this nature other than IP address?
If not, wouldn't scrubbing the IP address details from the data at the receiving server suffice to be compliant? Or does the telemetry include other identifying data?

 

[AngelRay]

I have now read the thread.

- put the date in color.
- say in FAQ that there is a known issue/fact that games do not appear.

Otherwise, you get messages like my previous one: I read the first post, and the replied without reading 5 pages of comments.

 

[Easterling]

I have now read the thread.

- put the date in color.
- say in FAQ that there is a known issue/fact that games do not appear.

Otherwise, you get messages like my previous one: I read the first post, and the replied without reading 5 pages of comments.

A helpful hint might be to toggle only dev responses, if you aren't feeling like reading 5 pages.

 

[Redswingarcus]

Hm, I'm not sure that works. I basically own all Paradox Games, but on the Paradox Plaza Games tab (i.e. https://accounts.paradoxplaza.com/games), I can only see a selection of my games and DLCs. (Maybe just the ones I actually bought from the Paradox Store, not from Steam?) Crusader Kings 2 base game, for example, is not listed. Or am I looking in the wrong place?

I too can only see some game i directly bought paradox but all my steam games for example HOI IV were this message was posted i can not see my keys. I guess it will be a big mess after 1 okt.

 

[AndrewT]

What games show on your My Games page WILL NOT AFFECT this measure. I am hoping that problem will be fixed after tomorrow's scheduled outage, but even if it is not, the provision of the new codes to access older game versions will be a separate list and WILL NOT DEPEND ON that game showing in your My Games page.

 

[Commonblob]

Does paradox gather telemetry even when you're not logged into your paradox account in the game launcher?

 

[Mich-666]

Hmm, this change seems like they only want people to link their Steam accounts to PDX as whole GDPR isn't retroactive. As people said before, it would be lot easier to copy-paste new terms to old builds then to create new system.

Anyway, even when linked for some year or so, my games page doesn't show everything I have on Steam. In fact, it mostly shows just things I bought here on PDX Store. And yes, I put all the keys from Steam here and yes, all my forum icons are here so don't know what's wrong here. The Game page here needs to be fixed.

 

[Hazmat]

good

 

[fgeva]

As people said before, it would be lot easier to copy-paste new terms to old builds then to create new system.

I seriously doubt many of the people who said that have ever worked in software development. Having to update dozens of old builds sounds like an absolute nightmare to me. For some types of software people take the necessary precautions to allow for this, but that's a lot of extra overhead and cost, so I suspect nobody does it for things like game development where needing to rebuild an old version exactly is almost never needed.

 

[Verx90]

As someone who does not live in Europe I so hate having to adjust the way I interact with a company due to what the EU does.

I know , you prefer when companies take your information and sell them out without telling you . Im so sorry that we force you to take resposibility for your information ,and to be actualy informed of actual facts.

Government bureaucracy - don't you just love it.

I cant see the burocracy . They have to ask ppl to alow them to take and use informations , how they do it is "partialy" up to them .

 

[Had a dad]

I seriously doubt many of the people who said that have ever worked in software development. Having to update dozens of old builds sounds like an absolute nightmare to me. For some types of software people take the necessary precautions to allow for this, but that's a lot of extra overhead and cost, so I suspect nobody does it for things like game development where needing to rebuild an old version exactly is almost never needed.

and working with old builds never has the possibility of causing a new bug that then causes having to spend even more time...

 

[DominusNovus]

I know , you prefer when companies take your information and sell them out without telling you . Im so sorry that we force you to take resposibility for your information ,and to be actualy informed of actual facts.

That is not position, and I pretty clearly explained my position. I will make no assumptions as to why you came up with that interpretation, as I would not presume to suggest that you are responding in bad faith, I will simply inform you that you are dead wrong and wish you a good day.

 

[Wagonlitz]

Previously you were able to revert back to earlier versions of Paradox Development Studios (PDS) games at will on Steam. These specific versions predate the enactment of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) - hence they are not compliant with the new policy.

In order to continue our endeavor to reach full GDPR compliance, we have designed a new system regarding the access to earlier versions of PDS titles: from the 1st of October 2018 onward all previous versions of PDS titles will be locked under a Steam password.

After 1st October, you will need to log into the Paradox Plaza website with your Paradox Account to access the codes for previous branches of each game that you own. This will, however, require you to link your Steam account to your Paradox Account. In an effort to comply with the GDPR, this is something we need to put behind the Paradox logins as it requires agreement to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use to adhere to the GDPR guidelines.

To get the codes for previous versions:

1. Go to https://accounts.paradoxplaza.com/games and log in (or create) your Paradox Account.
2. You will have to link your Steam and Paradox accounts to see your games - where your codes will be listed.
3. To link your Steam and Paradox Accounts: simply go to the Settings tab. Under Steam account click connect (you will then be redirected to Steam to confirm your action).
4. With that done the Games tab on Paradox Plaza will show the list of codes needed to revert to previous versions.
5. See below to revert to older versions under passlock.

How to switch to old branch versions:

1. Go to your Steam Library and select your game of choice.
2. Right-click and select Properties.
3. Under the “BETAS” tab.
4. Enter the relevant code retrieved from Paradox Plaza and click “CHECK CODE”.
5. Select the version you wish to play and wait for Steam launcher to finalize the switch.
6. If the previous step fails, exit the game, right click properties, local files, Verify integrity of game files and wait for all files to be verified.

FAQ

Steam automatically updated my PDS game to the latest version, why?
On 1st of October, to ensure compliance with the GDPR as well as with the new rules regarding the possibility to revert back to a previous patch version, we had to update your game to its latest version.

What if I do not have a Paradox Account?
You need to have a Paradox Account to access previous versions of PDS games. It is currently the only way for us to be GDPR compliant.

My friend gave me a code to access an older version of the game, can I use it?
Yes, but please understand that by using the code you agree with our Privacy Policy and understand what it means.

Does it only apply to versions predating the GDPR changes? Those from now on, will be available via Steam normally?
Yes.

I am confused about the GDPR, where can I read more information on the subject?
You can read more information regarding the GDPR on our Privacy Policy page.

How will this affect old games which aren't supported anymore like Vicky II?

Not that i worry, i keep major version copies on the side anyway, so i don't rely (in most cases) on the Steam Beta option

Isn't there still the issue of expansions/DLC getting deactivated after a time? It at least existed in EU4 release version which I kept around (and still have on an old laptop, actually) to be able to continue using the conga. After some time the then existing DLC got deactivated.

The EU was established by the Treaty of Lisbon

Pretty sure it was formed by the 1992 Maastricht Treaty given how we Danes famously voted no to it and then had to get the Edinburgh agreement for the union to be able to form.

Just to be clear this affects all regions. Europe or not.

Pretty sure yes given that the GDPR clearly states that companies also need to follow the rules for any non EU residents they process inside the EU. That was the reason Facebook moved 1.5 billion non EU users from Ireland to somewhere else (US?) days before he GDPR went into force.

Their location has very little to do with it - its easiest for any online company to simply abide by the regulations of a major jurisdiction of customers like the EU. Like in the US, where many regulations that are only on the books in a one or two large states (Texas amd California are the two classic examples), but companies find it easier to just comply with them rather than tailor their products to each state’s customers.

See the above. As Paradox has their servers and offices all located physically in the EU they have no choice. It's not the Cali situation here, it's the law dictating that any non citizens being processed inside the EU are covered too.

If anyone knows exactly what version will be affected, please tell me the version number especially about EU4 v1.25.
Because I administer a web site to convert domestic gamers to EU4 in Japan, I critically want to know if I need to change the introduction of the game before Oct 1.

Here you go.

If you are, for example, one of the people playing on the previous versions, anything from 1.4 up to 1.26, you will be in for a rude awakening as your game will no longer be set to that version on Steam. Unfortunately, we cannot legally have those versions available for play as they are not GDPR compliant due to having no capacity for gaining your consent to our privacy policy.

If I understand it aright, it is because when you play the earlier versions of the game you don't get a pop-up asking you to agree to their game telemetry.

Alternatively, they could've added a check to disable telemetry for outdated versions when the games were originally published, but this is of course Captain Hindsight speaking.

EU4 and CKII, possibly other games too, actually had a pop up where you could either accept the telemetry or opt out of it. Though I guess it's later been removed as it's over 5 years since it poped up for me on both games. (EU4 had it on release. CKII I think got it at Old Gods, but not sure.)

I tried triggering thr manual sync yesterday on the owned Items page, and i think that is not working. There are a lot of icons in the "Inactive" box of games that I own, such as the CK2 base game which I play almost every day. Why are these icons not in the "Active" box? See attachment

The active/inactive thing has nothing to do with this. That's about which icons you are displaying underneath your name. You can only show 54 at most, and hence the last ones on your active list won't be showed. Only reason they're in active is due to a bug when initially added from steam. If you drag some of them to inactive you'll note that you can't add them back to active until you've chopped active down to 53 or less.

 

[Zaister]

The active/inactive thing has nothing to do with this. That's about which icons you are displaying underneath your name. You can only show 54 at most, and hence the last ones on your active list won't be showed. Only reason they're in active is due to a bug when initially added from steam. If you drag some of them to inactive you'll note that you can't add them back to active until you've chopped active down to 53 or less.

Ah, thank you, that explains a lot (Especially the 80/54 thing). I had no clue these icons were draggable.

 

[Shimohi]

Maybe remove the spyware from your game, so this is not an issue? Jesus.

 

[Atlantians]

One policy to rule them all; one policy to bind them; one policy for them all to sign, and in the steam library find them, in the land of Europe, where privacy lies.

 

[Verx90]

As someone who does not live in Europe I so hate having to adjust the way I interact with a company due to what the EU does.

I know , you prefer when companies take your information and sell them out without telling you . Im so sorry that we force you to take resposibility for your information ,and to be actualy informed of actual facts.

That is not position, and I pretty clearly explained my position. I will make no assumptions as to why you came up with that interpretation, as I would not presume to suggest that you are responding in bad faith, I will simply inform you that you are dead wrong and wish you a good day.

what? do you speak english? i'm bad at it but i think what i write is realy basic and understandable .

you don't like europe because they imposed the GDPR because you have to adjust to it , i'm wrong ? i didn't understand something there?

or are you saying that you don't like what europe do in general ? this would change nothing, since the GDPR is something europe did, so you don't like it . since the GDPR force companyes to be open about information gathering and utilization , you don't like to know when companies take information and how they use them .

or it is a political position of " because europe did it , i hate it " that is even worse? since you would deliberately do or support something you don't like just because the solution was made by a faction that you don't like?

 

[DeinonychusTaco]

I had actually suggested we just remove all the old versions, but a few people in PDS rebelled and came up with this solution instead.

Whew, good thing they did. If a few people in PDS hadn't rebelled, the entire forum would have.