Games, Impulse and the Bill of Gamers

from Stardock Forums
Is there any other way to download and apply the latest update to Twilight of The Arnor other than having to use Impulse?

If not, isn't the whole "Bill of Gamers" thing a tad hypocritical?

4. Gamers shall have the right to demand that download managers and updaters not force themselves to run or be forced to load in order to play a game.

Ok, so it says "play" a game, not "update". But let's not split hairs hehe.

Mind you, I don't own said game myself - but I am curious about this none the less.


Edit: Just in case someone thinks I'm being all judgmental or looking to "start" something. I'm not. I was very happy to see those "commandments" (in lieu of a better word - English isn't my native language) appear and I'm genuinely curious how Stardock intend to practice what they preach. And, as my very first question would indicate, I don't even know if there IS a conflict hehe. Hence my curiosity.
9,318 views 3 replies
Reply #1 from Stardock Forums Top

I would like to get Space Rangers 2 Reboot (the Space Rangers 2 expansion available on Impulse).  The problem is I don't have high speed internet on my gaming computer at home.  It is my practice to download files at work and transort them home on a flash drive.  I don't want to install Impulse on a computer at work, but even if I did Impulse would not find a game to update. 

I would like Stardock to sell me a hardcopy of the game. 

If not I would like to be able to download a file that I can copy and put on my home computer.

I do not want to have to install and use another piece of software (i.e. Impulse).

Reply #2 from Stardock Forums Top

Impulse is a bit buggy it seems, I bought 7 games and it tried downloading the same game 4 times. I finally went back to Stardock Central UI and its installing the games fine. There is also script errors when using Impulse while in the store, makes for difficult purchasing experience. Overall I like the new look but there was never anything really wrong with Stardock Central to be honest, and it worked 100% of the time. Ive spent 4 lost hours waiting for downloads to come down only to have the start all over again. Now that Ive switched back to SD Central they are downloading and installing fine.

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Reply #3 from Stardock Forums Top


4. Gamers shall have the right to demand that download managers and
updaters not force themselves to run or be forced to load in order to
play a game.

Ok, so it says "play" a game, not "update". But let's not split hairs hehe.

Actually, "play" vs. "download/update" is a critically important distinction here.

The "download/update" is Stardock's way of suppressing piracy, and honestly not really painful for me.  It streamlines my game purchase, nothing more.  I can archive the downloaded installer and reinstall without Impulse later if I want.

Companies that requires download managers to run during "play", like EA and Valve, use it as an online copy-prevention mechanism, which is just plain annoying.  It increases the game launch time by a 30-60 seconds and gives me no benefits.