Cleveland?

can someone show me a picture of this t-shirt? That's what I was gonna go buy today, but if the rest of the CE is crappy - I'll just buy it another way.

I don't have a picture, but it's just a black t-shirt with a small Half-Life 2 logo on it. Not the greatest shirt ever.

Uh - hmm..... "access" to any game I've bought? What's to prevent them from revoking "access" in like two years? Or asking for a renewal fee, or limiting the computers I can play it on, etc.?

I'm not at all attached to a CD. If they'd send me a CAB file that I can squirrel away on a hard drive, so that I can install it in 2009 on another computer, I'd be perfectly content. But when this option is not guaranteed, I'll have to pass.

Guess it's the Vivendi box for me. ( )

- David Stein

The completist in me wants to buy the collectors pack simply for the shirt to add to my collection of HL2 shirts.

You have to activate the game through the Vivendi box as well.

I just noticed something cool!

Spoilers for past the Water Hazard level...

Might want to use that money to retile your floor instead.

Or at least clean it once a year.

Jack was the middle one given away in '03 or was it there this year and I just missed it?

I was wanting to get Half-life 1 source and was disappointed to see that you could only get it through steam. After going to their web site, they actually states that retail collectors edition includes HL 1 source.

From official site:2. Collector's Edition:
-- Half-Life 2
-- Counter-Strike: Source
-- Half-Life 1: Source
-- Half-Life 2 T-shirt
-- Prima book sampler
Note: This version will contain the games on a DVD.

I don't want the extra stuff but will pay extra since it will include HL 1 source.

I had the same concerns as did sfsdfd about downloading the game from steam, but alas I am too broke to buy the game for a while anyway. Oh well, I've got Halo 2 to hold me over for a while - eventhough I wasn't too please with the ending. I'm sure I'll give in and buy HL2 this weekend anyway, I suck at will power.

Ive heard that the Gold version of Half-Life 2's Steam has a music soundtrack. I hope that they plan to sell it separately. I hear its an awsome soundtrack and from the 20 Minute E3 video of last year the music does sound cool.

Still at work, and I don't get off for another 6 hours! So far have been spoiler free...

You can backup your game files on disc if you want. But as someone else said, you have to activate with the Vivendi edition anyway.

yeah, the two side ones are from this past year while the middle was from the year before.

Water Hazard Spoiler


My username on Steam is the same as it is here, if anyone wants to add me. I never got into Counter Strike before though.

I don't understand some people's irrational fear of Steam. Its really quite awesome.

I've never been able to connect to the friends network. I don't get it, I've got all the correct ports forwarded on my router, I've rebooted...
Anyone have any ideas?

...and through the entire history of PC gaming, there has not been a title where this scheme isn't cracked. Usually within hours of the game's release.

I don't want to discuss cracking mechanisms (damn DMCA), but I do want to assert that if I purchase a software title, I should not have to obtain the company's permission to run it on any machine of my choosing.

I have a serious privacy concern about having my machines contact Valve every time I want to install their software. Even more importantly, I don't want Valve to have the power to block the installation - either because they don't approve of my use of their software, or because their authentication scheme simply shuts down in a few years.

So, I will purchase the software, and then I will look for a software crack, and will then use it to avoid registering with Valve every time I want to install it. I'm doing nothing wrong - just ensuring that if I want to run the software on a machine in the future, I'll be able to do that, even if Valve folds/stops authenticating/etc.

- David Stein

Say you shell out $55 for the software. You play it, you enjoy it, and two months from now you shelve it.

Three years later, you decide you want to play it again, on your shiny new Pentium 6. Unfortunately any of the following occurs:

(a) Valve decides that your $55 only bought a license to use the product on your original machine, so you can't install it on another one.

(b) Valve now offers Half-Life 2 solely through Steam², a $20/month subscription-based service. They have exercised a license clause to cancel your license in order to migrate you to the new service, and you now have to sign up to the new service to play Half-Life 2.

(c) Valve decided to cancel your individual license, because Romanian hackers got a hold of your Steam account password and were using it to play without authorization. You can't convince them you're the true owner, and they won't reactivate your account.

(d) Valve has decided to stop supporting Half-Life 2, and has taken the authentication server permanently offline.

(e) Valve folds, after several high-profile releases (Half-Life Battle Chess, SimHeadcrab) spectacularly tank, so the authentication server is permanently toast.

I never want to be put in any of these positions. I buy the game - I should be able to play the game. End of story.

- David Stein

Then by all means, don't buy the game.

Hmm, now I'm stuck on Ravenholm... damnit. . Tried going for help on a Half Life forum. Yeah, big mistake... everyone this is either bitching or praising.

Is this in their flyer? I didn't see this marked anywhere when I was at Best Buy?

Best Buy in Canada.

Now it makes sense. I think my roommate picked the CE edition up so I will see if he gets it if not it will definitely be going back for the regular or at least download the rest via steam.

The activation crap is a pain. I think they are swamped. Shit, its been an hour and i still cannot activate it. Fuc^k Valve!!!