bonscott

Reply to Steam: A monopoly in the making? in PC Gaming Stardock Forums

I in my uninformed days thought Steam was bad for indie developers. Now that I know better I think it's one of the best things going for the indies. Take the recent Winter sales. I picked up 4 indie games around $2-$3 each as they were 75% off. Two of them I had my eye on before and the other two I never heard of. Both of those had demo's and I had a blast playing the demos and immediately purchased. One of them will have a DLC coming this Spring wh

Reply to Stardock games are apparently coming to Steam in PC Gaming Stardock Forums

They never really took a stance "against" Steam other then Steam competed with them. Impulse was a digital store and so is Steam. They're objection was that if they sold Steamworks games that would force their customers to install a competing store. And so Stardock games weren't on Steam either. Brad has always said he's liked Steam. But now that Stadock sold off Impulse there is no more conflict of interest and so Stardock is starting to offer their game

Reply to Steam: A monopoly in the making? in PC Gaming Stardock Forums

Then there is the Great Gift Pile holiday event. All I did was check my Steam inventory and I got a free game as a gift...Portal 2! Also completed the level of Orc Must Die and I'll get another gift shortly. Sweeeeet!

Reply to Steam: A monopoly in the making? in PC Gaming Stardock Forums

And frankly lets me honest, what real competition do they have? Gamestop/Impulse and GamersGate? Neither of which are all that big in market share. Steam already *owns* the digital sales market, they could stop doing sales right now if they wanted to since they don't have any real competition to speak of. And they certainly don't do sales just because, they do them in coordination of the publishers of said games. Without the publishers/developers there w

Reply to The Official "Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim" MEGAThread in PC Gaming Stardock Forums

Patch 1.3 is up on Steam. Check the note that they will officially support 4GB in the next patch. Update 1.3 Notes (all platforms unless specified) General stability improvements Optimize performance for Core 2 Duo CPUs (PC) Fixed Radiant Story incorrectly filling certain roles Fixed magic resistances not calculating properly Fixed issue with placing books on bookshelves inside p

Reply to Stardock games are apparently coming to Steam in PC Gaming Stardock Forums

I'll be buying all Stardock games directly from Stardock in the future with SDC. All other games I'll get from Steam. If an indie game isn't on Steam then I'll look to buying direct from the publisher (like Matrix games) or I may look into GamersGate. Honestly guys, Steam rocks. I hated it in the past and I'm not so proud that I won't eat crow. it takes up virtually no resources when running in the background, the store is the best dig

Reply to The Official "Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim" MEGAThread in PC Gaming Stardock Forums

FYI that patch 1.2 last week fixed the sound issue (well it's supposed to anyway) so you shouldn't have to fiddle with it anymore. For help running on lower end systems certainly keep an eye out on Tweek Guids: http://www.tweakguides.com/ His guides are awesome and helped me a lot getting Oblivion to run back in the day before I would upgrade.

Reply to The Official "Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim" MEGAThread in PC Gaming Stardock Forums

[quote who="ElanaAhova" reply="178" id="3033494"]Bonscott, im with you on the lockpicking mini game. I hate it. In oblivion, I always used the auto-pic until I ran out of lockpicks. In skyrim, I just use the console... I havn't loaded any mods, nor any patches..... kinda shy about mods /patches until I hear whet the community says... so far, I'm happy with starting skyrim in off line mode.... which i think i will lose when i patch t

Reply to The Official "Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim" MEGAThread in PC Gaming Stardock Forums

As for mods I'm only using 2 at the moment: An ini mod that drastically improves the map. And Lockpick Pro. I HATE and have always hates the lockpicking mini-game. Previous versions though had an "auto" pick lock option. Skyrim does not. So Lockpick Pro simply gives you a bar that shows what the sweet spot is to allow you to pick the lock without failing all the time. This has been a lifesaver for me as the lockpick minigame is just plain stupid i

Reply to The Official "Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim" MEGAThread in PC Gaming Stardock Forums

I'm at 90 on the POV on a 24 inch monitor. Feels good. The 1.2 patch that just came out this week is broken by the way. Biggest thing is that resistances is broke. I've had quite a few CTD's as well that I never had before. Many others have a lot more issues. New patch on it's way early next week to fix what this patch broke. LOL I'll think I'll play Orcs Must Die this weekend. :)

Reply to Help on picking a GFX card. in Personal Computing Stardock Forums

I've got an MSI 6950 2GB model and I run Skyrim a solid 60fps on Ultra at 1920x1080. And you can get one for $300 US or less. I got the MSI Twin Frozer edition and it is very quiet and runs super cool. Highest temp I've ever gotten when totally stressed is 62 degrees.

Reply to The Official "Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim" MEGAThread in PC Gaming Stardock Forums

Frankly they patched an oversight as it should have shipped this way (required Steam to run the exe) being that it's a Steamworks game. The whole uproar over this was pretty much directed at the "4GB patch" hack/mod someone had created. The thing is that the modder updated the mod in less then a day and it's working just fine with the "steam required" exe. So really there is no further need for uproar over it, it's a non issue at this point. No other

Reply to The Official "Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim" MEGAThread in PC Gaming Stardock Forums

[quote who="ZehDon" reply="98" id="3027126"]The only combat situations I'm really in trouble in is where there's a lot of guys at once - the just overwhelm you.[/quote] If this happens use your Force shout to stun them and then power attack the nearest for near instant kill.

Reply to Stardock games are apparently coming to Steam in PC Gaming Stardock Forums

Great news on SDC. I had an original Dregin.net subscription for crying out loud so I'm very familiar with SDC and I really liked it. I won't rebuy on Steam then and will wait for SDC to come back and will link up my Stardock games in there again. I don't mind using both SDC and Steam. Note: I did *not* pre-order Rebellion even with the deal simply because I don't do business with Gamestop. Guess I didn

Reply to Morrowind and Skyrim in PC Gaming Stardock Forums

Yea, I'd say Skyrim isn't for you then. Morrowind is my #1 all time favorite game although from what I've seen in Skyrim so far it will supplant it. I guess my question to you would be how long ago did you try Morrowind? I ask because when you say the graphics are subpar, well, they are today but at the time they were cutting edge. It brought my top of the line video card to it's knees on release. But if you don't like the storytelling and

Reply to Stardock games are apparently coming to Steam in PC Gaming Stardock Forums

Excellent. I can re-buy Sins on Steam and get rid of Gamestop completely. Then again if Stardock Central is coming back I don't mind using that and Sins we bought on Impulse would be available in SDC, correct?

Reply to The Official "Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim" MEGAThread in PC Gaming Stardock Forums

[quote who="unacomn" reply="46" id="3024176"]Against better judgment, I installed Skyrim today on a PC that is below system requirements. Initially, I was hopeful, since the game recommended medium settings, and the options in the launcher were almost identical to the ones used by F3 and New Vegas. Sadly, the game gets as far as the Bethesda logo, after that, the Skyrim sigil shows up and it just hangs there, forever, not loading until the end of time, using about 90mb of ram and 99% of a poo

Reply to Gamestop, Impulse, Stardock in PC Gaming Stardock Forums

I think Frogboy had it right in many ways with Impulse in terms of not selling Steam games because it pushes you to another digital store. Sure you can make a quick buck selling Skyrim now, but once that customer has to install Steam they have it. Now when the next AAA title comes out that requires Steamworks again said customer is pushed to Steam once again. Doesn't take too long for said customer to figure out it's a whole lot easier to just buy their games on Stea

Reply to Impulse Sells 'SotS II' which Requires STEAM?! in PC Gaming Stardock Forums

[quote who="YSOOMG" reply="45" id="3019375"] I never intend to use Steam for that reason (among others), especially if Valve keeps that tedious and intrusive overlay on the system that is the Steam application.[/quote] What overlay? I have all that crap turned off. All Steam is to me is a digital store and I've come to like the game management piece of it too. I have all the other "features" turned off and never use 'em since I don't need '

Reply to Impulse Sells 'SotS II' which Requires STEAM?! in PC Gaming Stardock Forums

[quote who="Frogboy" reply="27" id="3017574"]One thing about Impulse that people don't often talk about (and I've told Gamestop they should push this a lot more) is that it is faster than any other service. And I don't mean a little bit faster but massively faster. [/quote] Speed has rarely been a problem with Steam. It always maxes out my 18 meg connection. No issues here. True test will be the Skyrim pre-load. [quote]Now, that said, S

Reply to Impulse Sells 'SotS II' which Requires STEAM?! in PC Gaming Stardock Forums

[quote who="kryo" reply="22" id="3017405"] That people still want Steam to have centralized control of all their games boggles the mind. [/quote] As you know I've been around since the Drengin.net days and was a huge detractor of Steam (after issues when it first came out) and champion for Impulse. I refuse (and I mean refuse) to do business with Gamestop so the day this was announced I gave Steam another try. Honestly I

Reply to Steam - upclose and personal in PC Gaming Stardock Forums

For years I was a Steam hater. Those who frequent these forums I'm sure saw some of my posts on it. After the sale of Impulse I tried Steam again since I refuse to do business with Gamestop no matter what. Guess what...Steam rocks and I have no problem with it at all. The Store aspect is light years ahead of what Impulse was. And the sales are incredible. To add to the answers above: 2) Europa Universalis III. Heck, any Paradox game.&

Reply to Stardock is living the dream in PC Gaming Stardock Forums

Great news Frogboy. I look forward to the Sins expansion and Fallen Enchantress. However I will only get them when made available on something other then Impulse. Hopefully after the Impulse exclusive expires you'll go back to selling your games direct like many other indies do or make games available on other platforms like GG or Steam. Gamestop is a non starter for me, I haven't purchased a single game on Impulse since the sale and even with FE for free I wil

Reply to Steam: A monopoly in the making? in PC Gaming Stardock Forums

After being resistant to Steam forever I'm now a Steam convert. Gamestop is "evil" in my book and I will do no business with them so I have accepted my Steam overlords. Well, in the past week I've gotten Bioshock 1 and 2 for all of $10 (for both). Defense Grid for $4 bucks. Dungeon Siege 3 pre-order comes with DS1 and 2 for free. The sales are pretty crazy. And since Skyrim will most likely use Steamworks I've just accepted the fact that St

Reply to Raven Reviews "Dragon Age 2" *No Spoilers* in PC Gaming Stardock Forums

I actually stopped playing after getting started in Act 1. From what I've read there are quite a few gamebreaking bugs, in particular with certain companion quests that I'm waiting for the first patch and I'll start over. My take so far: Combat - I actually do like the new combat for the most part. I really miss the tactical top/down view though. But I still pause constantly. Hard almost seems too easy and Nightmare is well...a nightmare. &