(Original image source: Valve.)
Dear Valve,
I’m a big fan of Steam, your electronic distribution system. I like the fact that, unlike brick-and-mortar game stores, Steam will never run out of stock of popular titles. If a game is available on Steam now, it will still be available six months from now.
I like the fact that the games are stripped of annoying copy-protection schemes. I’m sure the Steam client has some DRM of its own but it’s unobtrusive. It’s nice not to need the disc in the drive even after I’ve done a full-installation.
I like the fact I don’t have to hunt down the latest patches as games are patched automatically. No more hunting around for the final patch for older titles.
Or so I thought.
It turns out, Valve, Steam can get annoying as well. And when Steam gets annoying, it gets very annoying.
Here’s the thing: I’ve been meaning to replay Strategy First’s Jagged Alliance 2 Gold. It’s a great game, one that ought to be in every credible Top 100 Games list.
The JA games took the tactical squad-level combat and organisation-level strategy gameplay of UFO: Enemy Unknown (or X-COM as some of you may know it) and added an improved RPG layer on top of that.
The thing that made JA stand out to me was the individual units. The mercs in JA were no mere walking pile of stats; they were distinctive personalities who interacted with other on the battlefield in unpredictable and often hilarious ways. There are characters in this strategy game who are every bit as memorable as NPCs found in the best CRPGs.
I had a great time with JA2 when I played it in ’99 but for some reason or another I never finished it. You know how it is. You play a game for a few weeks and suddenly another new game comes along so, seduced by the prospect of a new gaming experience, you put the first one aside, promising yourself you’ll come to back to it and finish it. Then another new game comes along … You know how it is.
But, yeah, JA2. Great game.
You can imagine how delighted I was when I learned JA2: Gold (which combined the original game with the Unfinished Business expansion) was available on Steam for USD19.95. (Cheap!)
You can imagine how disappointed I was when I learned the game was buggy some eight years after it was first released. These aren’t minor bugs; these are gamebreakers.
You can imagine how infuriated I was when I learned that there was a patch available but for some indeterminate reason, the patch is yet to be released for the Steam version.
The whole situation reeks, Valve. Do something about it.
Dear Strategy First,
It’s said you should never attribute to malice what can be attributed to stupidity or incompetence. I want to believe that your company employs individuals so woefully inept that they’ve managed to drag this situation for longer that it might seem humanly possible. I want to believe that because the alternative scenario paints you as duplicitious twits who prefer gamers didn’t buy JA2 Gold through Steam.
The situation seems so simple: there are bugs but there’s a patch. Get said patch to Valve and the problem is solved. It seems ridiculously simple and yet the situation has been dragging on for months.
Here’s how it played out in your own words …
The necessary files have been sent to Steam, we understand the frustration of these issues and are awaiting a fix.
we have given all the necessary files over to steam to fix these bugs once and for all, and we’re just waiting for the “official” word from STEAM when they implement this build
We have submitted the necessary files to Steam to fix this issue, an update is required to patch your game using Valve’s software.
I have personally confirmed that an updated patch was sent to Steam as of last week due to what you are experiencing. This is in response to the previous patch not being implemented.
Hurrah! Problem solved!
Oh wait …
31 January 2008 (a Valve employee)
Patches have been sent to us, but they have not resolved the issue. We have been trying to get them to send us a patch that will actually fix the issue.
Let’s get back to you, Strategy First, to see what you have to say about that.
If that is the case this is the first that we have heard that it did not work.
This issue is being investigated by both parties, the last patch that was sent fixed all issues when tested.
Well, it’s one month later and there’s still no word.
Meanwhile, the game is available on your own site (USD14.99! Cheap(er)!) and it’s apparently free of the bugs that plague the Steam version.
Yeah, you should never attribute to malice what you should simply attribute to stupidity or incompetence, but you’re making me wonder, Strategy First, you’re making me wonder.
