Settlers 7

KevinC · October 1, 2010, 11:23am

I’m sorry but I’m just unwilling to have my game interrupted due to issues with my ISP, their servers, or something in between. Not for a SP or LAN game anyway.

I had big trouble logging into 1404 one weekend because their servers got nuked. Thankfully that game didn’t have the DRM so I just created an offline profile and went about my game. I wouldn’t have that option with Settlers and its just not something I’m willing to put up with, at ANY pricepoint.

Xemu · October 1, 2010, 11:25am

Fantastic game. I wish the DLC weren’t so ruthlessly MP-focused though.

Destarius · October 1, 2010, 11:29am

Same here. Won’t install it even if it’s free.

BobJustBob · October 1, 2010, 11:29am

Of course it does. Why should they be rewarded for selling out to the evil empire? An evil empire. Gaming has a lot of those huh.

Blackadar · October 1, 2010, 11:31am

I just don’t support overly restrictive DRM schemes. I wouldn’t buy Starforce games after having to fix my PC because of their shit and I won’t support Ubi/BB now for their crap either. Whether it’s $50, $25 or $1.99, it’s a non-purchase until they remove the DRM. If/when they do remove it, I’ll buy the game pronto.

grumblemotherfuckingspellcheckmistakegrumble

Lorini · October 1, 2010, 11:33am

Pogo, we should form Qt3 Social Group for those who want to actually discuss the game instead of re-hashing the DRM, page after page after page. Don’t you guys ever get tired of this?

Joe_M · October 1, 2010, 11:35am

I’m willing to dive in at half price but I’m not much of an RTS guy. Isn’t there a demo around somewhere? I’ll give that a go first I suppose.

Lorini · October 1, 2010, 11:37am

No demo that I know of.

Pogo · October 1, 2010, 12:08pm

Does the demo available on download sites work anymore?

edit: Seems like the demo still works. I’m highly confused by Lorini’s statement since 2 pages of this thread were devoted to talking about the demo.

The RTS part of it is more city-builder like the Anno games.

BobJustBob · October 1, 2010, 12:15pm

Do we ever.

PLONK

Blackadar · October 1, 2010, 12:28pm

Yeah, you need a social group because this thread has certainly been a hotspot of activity lately.

Pogo · October 1, 2010, 12:44pm

It’s an uphill battle. I understand the anti-DRM stance, and really we should just be somewhat mad at Ubi for decreasing the amount of people that are able to enjoy Blue Byte’s creation, and slimming the prospects of a sequel or at least a proper campaign expansion.

Lorini · October 1, 2010, 12:56pm

Well what I said was true. I don’t see a demo on either the settlers 7 Steam page or the settlers 7 website, so I assumed there wasn’t one.

Again, read what I said, which was “not that I know of”.

This thread can’t be a hot bed of activity because any bumping of it results in making sure that everyone knows everyone’s else’s principles.

As long as UBI was up front about the DRM, I don’t have an issue with it. You can decide to play or not and then move on. I don’t play games that require the DVD to be in the drive. I don’t go around to threads proclaiming this, I just don’t play or discuss them.

intruder · October 1, 2010, 12:56pm

Why?
All those games are cracked and work offline.
Next test will be H.A.W.X.2 when it comes out for the PC (but I fully expect the protection being under control now by the cracking groups and the protection won’t stand a chance).

R.U.S.E. was not produced by an Ubifail owned developer studio so they couldn’t slap their protection on it as they were only the publisher (the game was designed from the ground up to work on Steam).

Farscry · October 1, 2010, 1:01pm

Not as tired as I do of companies like Ubisoft implementing DRM methods that can tangibly detract from the reliability and playability of a game I would have otherwise bought the day it released. :P

I’ll admit, the sale is tempting. But reading on the forums, there’s still people who run into trouble with the game and can’t even run the damn thing. I don’t like taking the risk of throwing my money into a garbage can.

VendoViper · October 1, 2010, 1:05pm

Regardless of how crappy the DRM is, this is a really good game. I don’t regret buying it at all. Honestly I personally have not run into any trouble, this is entirely anecdotal, and I have a very stable internet connection.

Lorini · October 1, 2010, 1:23pm

The issue is not whether or not we should complain about the DRM. Absolutely Ubi should know that the DRM is unacceptable to you. But just not in a thread that has nothing to do with it. There was a huge Ubisoft thread where the DRM was discussed to death.

It would be lovely to discuss the game with others who are playing, you know, like they are doing in the Civ V thread. But you have to wade through long pages of DRM complaints to get any mention of actual game play in this thread.

I love the game. It’s a great game. But I’m not going to spend half hour writing why, only to be told that I don’t have the right principles and shouldn’t be playing the game in the first place because of the DRM.

KevinC · October 1, 2010, 1:30pm

I revived the thread to mention the 50% off sale, I think DRM stopping people from taking advantage of that sale is a pretty understandable course for conversation to take.

I do understand where you’re coming from, though. I would feel bad if I had inadvertently interrupted discussion about the game, but this thread had been dormant since June. :)

Farscry · October 1, 2010, 1:31pm

I agree with you on this, and at no point have accused you (or anyone else playing any of the Ubi DRM titles) of having the wrong principles.

If they implemented their DRM and demonstrated that it was almost 100% reliable and would not be yanked out from under us in the future, then I’d be willing to buy it. My issue is with not having proof of reliability and future support yet.

For example, yes, you can call me a Blizzard fanboy, but the fact is that through supporting their titles for well over a decade and having very reliable service for them, I would be willing to trust them with stricter DRM. Valve has earned my trust with Steam (that took a while before I was willing to rely on it) over the years. Ubisoft may yet earn my trust, but they are an unproven factor for such a strict DRM method.

The more I think on the topic as the year has worn on, the more it’s not a matter of principle for me, but rather a matter of “prove to me that you’re not going to waste my money”. From the anecdotal evidence I’ve followed periodically throughout the year, signs still point to “iffy” when it comes to the answer of that question in regards to Ubi.

The reason I keep an eye on this thread is because the game looks awesome, I’d love to feel comfortable buying it, and each time the thread comes back to life I check it in hopes that things have improved significantly.

I’m genuinely happy you and Pogo haven’t been plagued with the problems that other users have. It’s awesome that you guys can play and enjoy the game. And someday I hope to be able to do so too. But there’s a lot of other games I can enjoy in the meantime. :D

Pogo · October 1, 2010, 1:37pm

I’ll repost my thoughts on the game that I made a couple months ago, with some editing to remove the snark directed at a poster who just wouldn’t back off on the DRM issue.

Pogo:

People are missing out on the best resource RTS game I’ve ever played. It is more intellectually involving than any RTS game made. This is the type of game that poses a challenge not because the AI cheats, or because the player has fat fingers or is too slow to click his “make 20 new Ubermensch units” button or isn’t a crackhead that quick-keys dozens of units or micromanages a gamy movement system.

Every loss for the player is a lesson learned as to where that player fucked up in a logistical puzzle solution, such as Lorini’s tool problem which could have been solved in multiple ways (either via a trade route or by buying it with coins at the tavern to keep up with demand, or by demolishing a work yard which refunds tools). There are several strategic systems at play here and they are all paced beautifully to work with each other. I actually like that the game can cause a player to hit a standstill, for not thinking about how much stone or tools he has and forcing him to make some changes. Solution? Demolish a building for which you used stone and get some stone back!

The attachment of buildings to one another, the placement of roads for holding storehouses, and having those placements mesh with your entire grid to optimize production as you consider future building placement for increased output of essential goods is a constant reminder that you need to be thinking about the future of your game. Perhaps it’d be wise not to expand grain/flour/bakeries in your home town and do it in a new sector to make food transportation quicker for the front lines of your kingdom? Or perhaps your storehouse and road system is efficient enough to feed the front lines, so you build something else?

This game has more character in one Work Yard animation than any other RTS to date. The detail up close is beautiful, the textures are sharp, and the animations are extremely smooth and varied. I haven’t been kicked from the game due to the DRM not once, and I’ve played about 15 hours total of the demo and the full game so far. About 2 of those hours were spent just customizing my castle, because that feature is actually pretty awesome and creative.

It’s a damn great city builder RTS game whose quality and gameplay easily overcome whatever hit to value the game takes due to its DRM.

And also my comparison to Anno 1404 and why I think Settlers 7 is the better game:

Pogo:

I haven’t gotten Venice, so I can’t compare to that.

My problem with Anno is that I don’t find the building up part all that fun. You find land, you manage trade routes with a single ship until you get the vast resources needed for a proper fleet, and it just gets to be too much when you throw in the foreign islands. For some reason I find it much more appealing to build up towns from scratch in Settlers 7, and the games also don’t last 10-20 hours like they do in Anno (though I found Anno’s campaign to be really fun, it’s just the sandboxing that I don’t have time to pay attention to). I also simply can’t imagine playing a multiplayer game for that amount of time and actually finishing it. S7 maps run about 2-3 hours tops, and can end early with a very concerned effort to get Victory points. This is a plus for both single player sandboxing or multiplayer.

There’s something more compelling with the management of resources in Settlers 7, and the off-grid building and road placement is a godsend. I also very much disliked the combat system in Anno 1404, even though it’s better than 1701. In S7, combat actually takes sort of a backseat to proper resource management and building up your trading and research. So as far as that goes, and the whole production line and transportation systems, and the city building aspect, S7 wins me over Anno.

I also spent about 2 hours just building my own custom castles, but I’m a sucker for that. It’s actually pretty awesome.

And anyone who decides to pick this up at this price, feel free to ask for hints or gameplay tips in here. It’s been a month or so since I played but I remember the game well, and am actually re-downloading it right now.