PI patching strategy and the Steam/GG divide

[BandC]

Huh what? GG version won't have Beta patches? This upsets me a bit. I actually "prefer" Steam over GG (GG web pages time out 90% of the time. I am in Central US. GG is the only website I have problems with). But I specifically pre-ordered CK2 from GG because historically Beta patches were problematic on Steam and now they are saying it's the other way around for this game and GG will be problematic instead. I sincerely hope they will also release Beta patches for GG too because as you know it can take quite a while until Paradox releases an official patch.

 

[Orinsul]

Paradoxs new patching and DLC stragety promises that proper patches will be more often than they used to. And at this point, who knows how anything will go, i think its a bit soon to be panicking. As i said before, GG copies dont need installers just the files, so thats basically no extra work, so i wouldnt be surprised if it got them too, but even if it doesnt, the game looks pretty much set up and working, official patches are going to be steady and etc.
Basically no worries. Its easy to frightened over shadows, but its nicer not to. At this point, no worries.

 

[Bloodmerchant]

1) Beta patches would only be through Steam
2) Anyone who bought or preordered (?) the game on Steam would get CK2 as well as CK2 Beta, just like you would get TF2 beta if you bought TF2.
3) Preorderers, especially Steam preorderers, get more preorder benefits.

Think I got this right, correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[s1234567890m]

#3 should be digital preorderers get more preorder benefits, but retail has a bigger discount

 

[c92nichj]

Huh what? GG version won't have Beta patches? This upsets me a bit. I actually "prefer" Steam over GG (GG web pages time out 90% of the time. I am in Central US. GG is the only website I have problems with). But I specifically pre-ordered CK2 from GG because historically Beta patches were problematic on Steam and now they are saying it's the other way around for this game and GG will be problematic instead. I sincerely hope they will also release Beta patches for GG too because as you know it can take quite a while until Paradox releases an official patch.

I am in exatcly the same problem. I previusly bought some paradox titles on steam but since steam have been late with DLC (forexample Majasty2 dlc was not possible to buy for a long time) and betapatches I have bought paradox titles on GG instead as the support for new material have been much better.
If this is going to be reversed again, I probably made a mistake in placing a preorder on GG.

 

[Talar]

I usually take a long time to finish a game once I started it so I don't expect to start any serious games on beta patches anyway. Still it would of course be better to have the option than not having it. But for me having a non-Steam version of the game outweighs that minor drawback by far.

It seems enough people got the GG version (at least here on the forums) that Paradox will not get away with releasing any critical fix as beta-only without facing a major nerd-rage storm here, so I'm not worried

 

[Darkrenown]

But, based on ideas above, if I have a GG installation on desktop and a Steam installation on laptop, can I beta patch the GG installation by copying over the Steam CK2 beta installation files on the laptop to my GG installation on the desktop? Or could I do this but would need to use Steam on the desktop as well to copy?

Or is there another way?

If you have the Steam version anyway, why not install it on both? If there's some reason you don't want Steam on your desktop you can just copy over the entire CK2 beta folder though.

 

[tobier]

Why is there so much hate against Steam anyways? I never have had any real problems with it, no more than with other download services.

 

[delra]

Why is there so much hate against Steam anyways? I never have had any real problems with it, no more than with other download services.

They are Borg?

 

[A_Dane]

Why is there so much hate against Steam anyways? I never have had any real problems with it, no more than with other download services.

Some of us have had various degrees of issues with steam, that we havn't had with other vendors, lets just leave it at, since it's been discussed to death already

 

[Johan]

If we do beta patches for a game, we want the largest group of people getting it, while still being convenient for us to quickly distribute it.

For beta patches, we also want to make sure everyone installs it correctly.

Since 85+% of you guys buy our games on Steam, and the 5% who still buy box gets a steam wrapper, it makes most sense to make a steam beta.



Then again, I'm not sure using beta patches is worth it if we want to patch regularly.

 

[Duke of Bavaria]

You are telling us gamersgate sales are not even 5% of overall sales when everyone seemed to be perfectly happy with gamersgate and lots of guys prefer it over Steam. Sorry cant really believe that, only thing this could be is maybe becuase of those hugely discounted packs on Steam, so basically everyone preferring Steam is a self fulfilling prophecy the way its forced down our throat at the moment. I really dont know why this is , but you will have your reason. Believing theres still lots of the good old customer friendlyness and deceny in Paradox i expect there to be regular updates of beta versions for gamersgate buyers on the forums. I mean how hard can it be to update the files on the forums once a week or something. In the end i am still a little disappointed Paradox is doing all the "evil" things lots of guys loved them so much for not doing it , like first day DLC, the whole DLC thingie, and forcing Steam down our throat. I know you have made some good points for it, but in the end it just feels wrong somehow, and i am sure i am not alone with this feeling. But as i said, i have big hopes Paradox remain loyal to their customers that dont follow the horde and provide good support for gamersgate customers via frequent beta patches too. Because i see that exactly those stubborn , old school niche guys made them succesful in the beginning. If not the world really ended for me in 2012.

 

[Darkrenown]

Well, I'm sure you know our sales figures better than Johan Also, he literally just said he's not sure we'll do any beta patches and if we do they'll be on Steam, so expecting otherwise is just setting yourself up for disappointment.

 

[tobier]

Well, I'm sure you know our sales figures better than Johan Also, he literally just said he's not sure we'll do any beta patches and if we do they'll be on Steam, so expecting otherwise is just setting yourself up for disappointment.

Surely some random person outside your organization knows EVERYTHING about your sales. He even has anecdotal evidence!

 

[Duke of Bavaria]

I trust in Johan as everone else here i just wondered its that extreme and founf the solution in Steam basically giving Paradox titles away. That being said i am already disappointed a lot now and will only buy future games in a chaep steam bundle, exactly what you wanted to avoid with the new policy i guess, other than forcing me onto steam. But it just makes most sense, because its cheap and i dont have to care about all those DLC i get the complete game i want a little later. I am 99% sure Steam will have a nice bundle sooner or later. CK II is such a great game i have to have it , doesnt help...but in the future i will make my wallet speak. CK II was the first game i preordered because you said i would get nice boni, and as i said it trust in this game to be the next level of awesome. But well considering the boni: I was told : F*ck you not for you , how dare you not let Steam be the master of your games.
All in all the new policy has caused nothing but trouble so far, and it will cause more when there can be no real new gameplay content only superficial stuff to keep games compatible with future DLCs. I just hate it all over and as much lipstick as you put on the Pig its still a pig that smells a little like EA. Those where my last words on this topic because we agreed its a business decision, and i will just be business too in the future and let my wallet speak. I know it wont do much as i seem to be a small part of 5% but i am glad to be it then instead of the majority that follows the game industry the path to doom its going. Well i can always fire up an old Paradox game and dream of the good old time, i guess that just comes with age, i lost connection to how things have to be today i guess. ;-)

So long talk short: I still dont get why Paradox tries to force cheap steam bundles on me when they could have my full support as they had for so long. Doesnt make business sense to me either.

 

[Johan]

Where does special deals come into it?

I talk about revenue, not the amount of sold copies.

 

[Johan]

You are telling us gamersgate sales are not even 5% of overall sales when everyone seemed to be perfectly happy with gamersgate and lots of guys prefer it over Steam. Sorry cant really believe that, only thing this could be is maybe becuase of those hugely discounted packs on Steam, so basically everyone preferring Steam is a self fulfilling prophecy the way its forced down our throat at the moment.

I can just go on actual data. And I watch pre-orders and day #1 sales primarily.... And thats were GG is the strongest, as a core of forum people prefer them.. And thats still a small fraction compared to Steam.

 

[Duke of Bavaria]

You didnt say that, well then if buying those special deals is better for both of us in this world so be it. I still am pissed that "preorders get special treatment" and now all thought ordered via the only possible preorder method at the moment just got the : "Reduced service for you" middle finger. But for the maybe greatest game ever you can do what you want i will sell me soul to the devil , STEAm or whatever, just tell me next time ii have to before i get the gamersgate version, not knowing you dont care about supporting it as the Steam version.

 

[Cromelex]

Sorry cant really believe that, only thing this could be is maybe becuase of those hugely discounted packs on Steam, so basically everyone preferring Steam is a self fulfilling prophecy the way its forced down our throat at the moment.

I trust in Johan as everone else here i just wondered its that extreme and founf the solution in Steam basically giving Paradox titles away.

You've used this argument twice now. You are wrong.

I bought all my Paradox games from Gamersgate, yet I have more than 50 games in my Steam account. I'm a very price-sensitive consumer, so I do check a lot and always try to get the best deals on games. There hasn't been a single time where Paradox games were on sale on Steam that didn't have it's prices matched by gamersgate (sometimes with some delay, sometimes in advance).
I bought quite a few of these (<- see medals) during sales, and trust me, I never paid more than I would have paid on Steam.

So, no, Steam is not selling more because Paradox games have better prices there, it sells more because it has a larger customer base and most people actually like the service (me included).

 

[s1234567890m]

usually GG and impulse end up having bigger sales than steam if you take the time to look