Alphy
join:2001-12-31
Troy, MI
| Got Pipe?
I can only imagine how much bandwith they will need if they plan on offering to release HL2 via steam for a monthly fee. I think I read on a forum you can either buy it for $50.00 and have all the content as is (that is no CS2, no TFC2, no new content) or pay $9.99/month for access to Steam and all the content. |
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wentlanc
You Can't Fix Dumb..
join:2003-07-30
Maineville, OH
| Need proximity
They need multiple locations and proximity, like Yahoo, in order to be effective. Unless you can send people to closer, less busy sites, they probably will not be interested in the wait. Now bandwidth will be a huge problem upon initial delivery, and new product introductions. But that should go away after.
puritan |
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Nightfall
My Goal Is To Deny Yours
Premium,MVM
join:2001-08-03
Grand Rapids, MI
 ·Site5.com
 ·AT&T Midwest
 ·Comcast
|  Phater Pipe
They are going to need a bigger pipe in order to deliver all this content. At least initially they will. The multiple site thought is good so long as you have plenty of bandwidth to go around. Broadband users will also have to learn to be a little more patient especially when this service gets started.
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My Domain
Nightfall's Hockey and Life Journal |
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statecop
Premium
join:2002-09-16
Beverly Hills, CA
| HL community
I like the features of steam but I dont think the community will be so willing to jump on board IF it becomes a monthly fee just to be able to play CS and other mods. I am not so sure I will and I have played HL mods since the very first beta of CS and Firearms. A lot of the people who play these mods are kids who do not have the money to put out for this not to mention adults that play it because it is still free to play unlike other game such as EQ, WWIIOL, and many more. |
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Jaime
Premium
join:2001-06-03
Huntington Beach, CA | reply to Alphy
Re: Got Pipe?
You can learn more here »HALF-LIFE 2 NEWS: 3 different versions of hl2? |
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pnh102
Reptiles Are Cuddly And Pretty
Premium
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD
·Comcast
| reply to statecop
Re: HL community
said by statecop  :
I like the features of steam but I dont think the community will be so willing to jump on board IF it becomes a monthly fee just to be able to play CS and other mods.
I agree... considering how much one already has to spend per month just to get any kind of practical internet access, I would be very hesitant to plunk down even more money per month per game just to play online, especially with a system that doesn't even work.
Personally, I like playing network UT2003 games for free with my friends. Even over our cable connections, they work quite well 
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Jewel got Britney-fied! There is hope for the world yet! |
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Speedy8
Premium
join:2002-08-22
Alliance, OH
clubs: | reply to Alphy
Re: Got Pipe?
Yeah, you can pay the monthly fee and download everything, including the original HL. Also they have a downloadable pay version, as well as 2 boxed versions, one for single player only, and one with multiplayer also. |
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53059959
Temp banned from BBR more then anyone
join:2002-10-02
PwnZone |  expand it out
time to branch out Akamai style with multiple servers around the world to load balance and for redundancy. no single 500-mbit pipe will do when gamers unite. 1337 h4x0r |
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Speedy8
Premium
join:2002-08-22
Alliance, OH
clubs: | reply to wentlanc
Re: Need proximity
I was under the assumption that they use multiple locations for it already. |
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Jaime
Premium
join:2001-06-03
Huntington Beach, CA
 ·Verizon FIOS
·Charter Pipeline
| reply to pnh102
Re: HL community
Steam works well, it's just trying to estimate how much bandwidth you would need for the most popular game ever along with it being an open beta, didn't need to have half life installed, really surprised them. I've played 1.6b for a while and although it does get slow sometimes while connecting the constant updating really doesn't hurt me since I leave steam on overnight, thats when Valve sends the patches. And as I stated above, might want to read this »HALF-LIFE 2 NEWS: 3 different versions of hl2?
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"The human mind treats a new idea the way the body treats a strange protein; it rejects it." - P.B Medawar
Join the BBR BF clan |
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Jaime
Premium
join:2001-06-03
Huntington Beach, CA | reply to 53059959
Re: expand it out
They will be doing that, after the initial release they did exactly that. |
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Jaime
Premium
join:2001-06-03
Huntington Beach, CA | reply to Speedy8
Re: Need proximity
You are correct, there are multiple locations and backbones for the Steam network. |
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dsanders16
join:2001-02-24
Auburn, AL | lol
If you have a valid CD-Key I think it's free for any current mod's and games you have cd-keys to. |
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Transmaster
Don't Blame Me I Voted For Bill and Opus
join:2001-06-20
Cheyenne, WY
·Qwest.net
|  reply to Jaime
Re: expand it out
Didn't cable try to roll something like this several years ago. Not a broadband system, of course, but a Gaming Channel. It didn't last long as I recall. I am not much of a gamer so I am not really sure why it croaked my guess would be content. If this stimulate broadband deployment then I'll become a gamer.
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Low Brass & Irish Terriers rule, and I love the warm glow of a vacuum tube in the morning |
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wentlanc
You Can't Fix Dumb..
join:2003-07-30
Maineville, OH | reply to Speedy8
Re: Need proximity
That still does not mean that they are pushing you to the closest, fastest servers. I just looked at the server stats, and almost a third of their sites are down!
puritan |
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SRFireside
join:2001-01-19
Houston, TX | reply to wentlanc
Sounds sort of like load balancing. Does anybody know if they were using any kind of load balancing?
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Love Science Fiction? www.spacestationzoom.com |
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oliphant5
Got Identity?
Premium
join:2003-05-24
Corona, CA
| Yeah great...pay the price for the software
And get a letter from your ISP (eg Cox) for violating daily DL restrictions.
Unless it's 1/2 price or something...I'm just going to continue getting it at the store (and benefit from owning the actual media).
This is just Fileplanet with less titles.
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-- Munis Killed the Telco Star -- Powered by Barry McKockenner Racing in association with Jack McKokkov Motorsports |
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Minvaren
Premium
join:2001-07-26
Houston, TX
clubs:
| To check on the bandwidth...
You can click here and check. Currently half of the content servers are offline as they prep them for release, so the number as of right now will be lower than is available for "prime-time" release.
As far as using it? I cold-installed Half-Life, patched it to 1.1.0.6 (I think that's the current release) and then installed Counter-Strike 1.5.
Steam client download : 10 seconds.
Steam install (including downloads) : 3.5 minutes
Counter-Strike/Half-Life initial update : 15 minutes
(keep in mind that every major "point upgrade" to CS and HL require 2 70+MB downloads if you use the full installers, and 2 10+MB downloads if you use the upgraders)
Subsequent CS/HL patches were roughly 30-60 seconds each.
This is on 1.5M DSL, and the download was at more like 768k. I have no issue with the pipes available so far for the patching, it's the connect time (as all files get scanned for current versions) that is a bit slower than it was. As "Steam" won't be used for the Client-Server communication while playing, only the initial signon/patching/connect, it should work pretty well. |
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Jaime
Premium
join:2001-06-03
Huntington Beach, CA | reply to dsanders16
Re: lol
Well yes, but others are talking about HL2 which you can do pay by month. |
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Jaime
Premium
join:2001-06-03
Huntington Beach, CA
·Verizon FIOS
·Charter Pipeline
| reply to oliphant5
Re: Yeah great...pay the price for the software
It's not a "Fileplanet with less titles.", it'll be a content delivery application that will also try to thwart cheaters/hackers from manipulating key .dll files since files will be redownloaded from servers every so often to make sure they are in fact genuine.
--
"The human mind treats a new idea the way the body treats a strange protein; it rejects it." - P.B Medawar
Join the BBR BF clan |
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