While I don't like digital distribution exclusives I can live with Civ 5 being sold digitally only thru Steam (but I would of course like to get it via Impulse).

My problem is that even if I buy a retail boxed copy at the local Best Buy I am *forced* to install and use Steam.

WHY?!?

No reason whatsover.

Thus, for the first time in 20 years I will not be buying a Civ game. 

Yes, but that completely negates your point of Steam being the "only" place you can buy it. How is it different from installing Windows Live?

How is a 20MB background process crippling to you? I mean, everyone keeps naming that as a reason, but what about running Steam in the background is actually causing you harm? To me, always having my TF2 clan in reach through Steam friends and Steam groups is invaluable.

And if you buy Settlers 7 from Impulse, you will be forced to use Ubisoft's crippling DRM that doesn't even let you play offline. Where's the furor? Where's the upstanding citizens of Stardock who support reasonable DRM like all first party Stardock games? Nowhere, when they stand to make a profit off of every sale.

That's fine for you.  BUT THIS IS PRIMARILY A SINGLE PLAYER GAME!  Why do I want anything to do with online stuff while playing?  Maybe Steam is the best thing since sliced bread for you FPS and multiplayer only games, but this is a single player game here.  I DO NOT need anything from Steam and WILL NOT be forced to install it let alone have it run in "offline mode" just to play a *single player* game.

Just not going to happen.  Ever.

Have you seen the threads on Settlers 7 and the Ubisoft DRM?  Plenty of people that refuse to buy the game due to this over the top DRM.  Me included.  I don't care that it's available on Impulse, the DRM it's using means I refuse to buy it from anywhere.

In the case here of Civ 5, not being able to buy it on Impulse isn't the issue.  It's being forced to use Steam.  Even if Civ 5 was available on Impulse, if it still forced me to install and use Steam I would not buy it.  Period.  Where I get the game is irrelevant, it's the fact that Steam is being shoved down my throat that is the problem.

And not everybody has good internet connections, I have read the the "offline mode" has improved this last month but it's still not good (for everybody... people seem to be in selfish mode too often and don't care about users that have problems, that's why world peace is impossible between other things).

Single player game in Impulse (digital purchase):

0) Internet Access
1) Open Impulse
2) Buy game
3) Download and install game
4) Close Impulse
5) Launch game, enjoy
6) Subsequent launching: just doubleclick on the desktop shortcut!

Single player game in GOO (local store purchase):

0) Local store with the game (d' oh!)
1) Install game
2) Launch game, enjoy
3) Subsequent launching: just doubleclick on the desktop shortcut! (updates/patches require internet/Impulse)

Single player game in Steam (any kind of purchase, digital or not):

0) Internet Access
1) Open Steam
2) Buy game
3) Download and install game
4) Set Steam to offline mode (shouldn't have to do anything to play single player but here we go)
5) Launch game, enjoy
6) Subsequent launching: just doubleclick on the desktop shortcut! Steam will launch in offline mode, and then automatically start the game. (more slow, requires to still have Steam installed)

Not quite. Brad (the CEO of Stardock) has stated numerous time that the problem with Steamworks is that it requires in order to play the game to launch the Steam client with access to the Steam store.

That is why Stardock is creating the Impulse reactor  (see http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/62814 ) in order to offer a vendor neutral solution for some MP functionnalities.

So, even if I buy from Amazon or nick it off a store shelf, still got to install Steam ... if that's true then I'm out too. No Civ 5 for me.

Think I will go over to civfanatics and if this is truly what they are doing I am going to put up numerous posts carefully laced with venom and sarcasm.

http://www.facebook.com/civnetwork?v=info I wonder if this will apply also to the civ network version?

Did you not see my step by step comparison of installing a single player game through Steam and Impulse? It's not as different as you'd like to think it is, except for the 20MB background process. Well, after the UI update, maybe 40-50MB.

And it is enough to not make you buying a game you like ? It is not as if you are earning anything from boycotting Steam and, frankly, open competition in the video games market is not in my top 10 'causes worth fighting for'.

No matter how many times i read this thread, it still looks damn irrationnal to me.

My translation of what you say seems to be faulty and don't get it right so forgive me if what I say now is.. er... off topic?

Stardock can only rule the DRM of their own games. Impulse is a digital distribution platform and things like the DRM and regigional limits are done by the publishers that want their games in Impulse. No one here likes regional limits or Ubi DRM, but at least Stardock games only require you Impulse if you want to patch the game and/or get the non-patch updates (aka extra content for registered users). And for much as some of us would love Impulse banning from its store some publishers/games due to the DRM they use, it seems unrealistic froma business point of view?

On the other hand, I'll be happily buying this one: http://blogs.sega.com/usa/2010/05/01/alpha-protocol-pc-drm-details/

Ah, finally, a reasonable post.

But as you can see, Brad's decision is based on a business reason, not some moral reason. And he is FULLY justified in doing that for just business reasons. I just find it hilarious that all these other posters act like it's anything more than a business reason.

Steam is smart. They added useful features to their DRM. They made it incredibly easy to buy games through their integrated platform.

It's noble that Stardock is trying a less intrusive approach, but I can't believe he can't see the business genius in closing a game, and then seeing a "80% sale" right in your face. Annoying to some people? Probably.  $2 for Deus Ex? Sign me up.

Personally ill still be buying Civ 5, although im not happy i now wont be able to play it at work with my friends during lunch.

Not off topic at all, Wintersong. You actually hit the nail on the head. The reason Impulse supports Ubisoft and not Steam is because Steam is Impulse's number one competitor. It has nothing to do with how good or bad the DRM is. Even Steam haters will agree that Steam is better than Ubisoft's DRM. But from a business standpoint, there's no reason not to support Ubisoft games. They're not an online distributor.

Here's the ugly truth: if Steam wasn't so successful, I'm sure Stardock would have no problem supporting Steamworks games, because, like you said, Stardock can't control what a publisher uses for their DRM. But they can choose not to sell it, because it leads buyers to a service that is currently better than Impulse for a lot of people. Not you. Probably not anyone in this forum. But for millions of people. Steam= Windows. Impulse = Linux.

Off topic: I wonder why people are so excited about Alpha Protocol's DRM? I saw it on reddit, too. All it is a SECUROM or Windows Live one time internet activation.

And a plateform very profitable for Steam, as hinted by Frogboy: