I just bought this game on Amazon and it was nowhere mentioned there that steam was required, and ofcourse 5 seconds after I open the package I noticed the (freaking small) steam text on the back of the cover, so is steam required to play the game?

you activate it via steam

Does that mean I have to make an account with steam and install the client?
or is this an activation that just checks on the steam servers and does not install anything?

Installing Steam is mandatory to play the game, it's the DRM for the game.

Well that svcks.. So now I have 3 options.
1. Throw the game into the trash.
2. Crack the game I just bought.
3. Sell this crap....

Amazon blows balls for not mentioning this on their page....

http://img267.imageshack.us/img267/6024/udklipr.png

First time on these forums today, and even if it says steamworks for DRM, that does not mean for sure for someone that does not use steam that you need the steam client, there are many ways used in DRM, not all of them require you to install a client and [censored] like that.

Hence why I asked if the steam client is required, I don′t use steam, my friends don′t use steam and therefor I cannot be 100% sure what is required when someone says Steamworks for DRM.... For all I know Steam and Steamworks might be completely different things..

/agree with you - however steam is there not only for DRM but for DLC, achievements, etc. - you may not want/care for any of that, however that is how it is. You have to install steam to play it, have an account to associate "Rage" with, but then you can go into 'offline mode' and never "login" again, you can simply launch the "Rage.exe" from Windows and play.

Sorry you're just learning about this - my brother went through the same thing with Half Life 2 and lost ALOT of faith in gaming companies needing that 'control'. I read a few articles on it, and this is my guess as to why HL2:Episode 3 is a no-show, Gabe Newell is too busy arguing with Apple about their 30% rule and making mac games work via steam.... /blah

GL

Like others have said , yes it is required to play. I never did understand why single player games needed to be attached to an online gaming network . Sure it's nice to be able to keep stats and all that but for a single player game like Batman Arckam , who cares about their stats and why would you care how fast you can kill x # of guys in a single player game ? I have plenty of space on my hard drive to store such a small file and then upload it later if I choose.

or... 4. Get over it and install Steam. It won't steal your babies, honest.

Yeah, that aint going to happen, the steam client is nothing more than a virus, and I try to avoid installing viruses on my computer....

P.s. are you sure about the babies part? have you read the SSA? you never know!

Are you FUC'KING kidding!?! :banghead:

That's the dumbest thing I have ever heard.

It's needed for the simple reason to have more control over the customers like preventing from selling the used game or implementing region locks etc.
That's the whole point of DRM.

Sir, read your own sentence and you will have another eureka moment in the dumbest thing you have ever "heard"!!!


Let me see, defining a virus, something that is installed on your computer against your will, collects data on you, pops up ads and [censored].

Steam client, something that I am forced to install against my will if I want to play this game, collects data from my computer, pops up ads and [censored]...

I see very little difference there, have you considered that lack of imagination has caused your lack of "hearing"?..

Just return the game to Amazon. As long as you have not used the CD key they can just send it to someone else.

More and more games use Steamworks so you will just have to give in at some stage, or buy a console. Hell all future EA games will require the DRM Origin system to be installed (and Origin is way worse than Steam). Other companies like Ubisoft are also working on their own versions of Steam.

DRM is where PC gaming is going unfortunately. I see consoles going the same way to stop second hand sales.

LOL. Do what ever you want. Steam is a program to distribute, patch and maintain games. It is in no way a virus. It is my favorite way to waste money on games.

You got a phone? It's far more co opted than anything Steam will ever do to your machine..

i do hate steam too yet i'ce got it installed on my machine, because of HL2 game and few other games. if you want you can create another windows partition on your HDD where you have nothing else that could compromise your privacy and etc. This is why i love linux and use win 7 for gaming.

About virus thing that you mentioned... then your antivirus do collect data as your firewall, windows and any other software for windows...