picklecannon

I've had more problems with Steam than Origin, so I really couldn't care. In fact I fully support this. It's about time someone other than Blizzard took a shot at Steam! And to all those saying you're not going to buy it cause it's not on Steam, stop lying to yourselves. It's rather pathetic.

So, the way I understand it, Valve just wants all DLC to be available on Steam, and I don't think they want it exclusively on Steam, though I'm not sure about that part.

So, how can EA say that this "limits their ability to connect with the customer"?

I don't know how EA "connects with the customer" when said customer is buying DLC or downloading a patch other than having a chance to get them to buy more of their stuff, and therefore they don't like Steam trying to make the process of buying DLC or patching more transparent.

Now, I don't know whether any of this is true, maybe Valve just wants all DLC exclusively on Steam and if so, then they are the "bad guys", but as I understand it right now, EA just wants the ability to make all customers have to go to Origin so they can sell them more stuff.

@Rirse: @novak: I don't even have to look at the comments to know there will be a hundred "No steam no sale" comments.Honestly I don't understand it.I actually like the fact(if they keep their word) that if no Steam means better more constant updates then why the hell not?I don't really see the big deal with Steam anyway.They have tons of great games on Amazon with low prices but yeah I guess with Steam you could play it right away but something like that doesn't bother me.  But honestly the only way you purchase games is through Steam?I assume you only play PC games then cause you are missing out on alot of great titles.

I wish they would be a bit more concrete in saying what specifically Steam is not allowing them to do. A lot of people are filling in the blanks with some fairly negative stuff (wanting to be Origin exclusive, cutting out Valve in DLC sales, annoying users with advertisements, etc.).  I don't want to jump to the worst possible conclusions, though. My best guess is they want to have in-game DLC sales and patches that don't involve Steam, a program, or any web browser. There may have been other games to do it, but maybe not at the frequency that EA may intend throughout a number of its PC titles.   Of course, this information probably can't be shared due to confidentiality agreements and the like. Oh well.

Damn everyone in north korea is suddenly going to be forced to play diablo 3

Nope. I never enjoyed the "the more you play the better you are" type games, especially if they aren't competitive somehow.

Again, I'm sure valve is aware of the stigma surrounding the community of the game and is probably going to ease new players into the game.

@Sjupp said:

I cringe at the thought of how many HoN players will migrate to DotA 2...

...and LoL players. I only played LoL for a while and it was probably one of the worst online experiences I've had with a game. I can't say how much better/worse HoN is, but LoL sure ain't free of it's fair share of assholes. To be honest, I'm very seriously considering not buying this game unless I can find a dedicated (not hardcore, I just mean consistent) group of people to play with.

Sooo... it must play quite a bit like its predecessor in order for people to be anywhere near a level of proficiency needed to play on a million dollar stage?

Free publicity while adding tons of incentive for players from the other game to jump ship and come over to DotA 2.