That makes two of us.  I'm still trying to figure out Elemental as well, based on current information (I have to admit that I haven't paid close attention).  Anyhow, Steam-exclusive games are an automatic "no-buy" for me.

If you want the game badly(or any Steamworks game) and don't want to be a pirate you can always buy the retail box. You get a nice box, Manual , and a shiny coaster. Then simply grab the cracked version of it where you can play singleplayer(and some even MP) without ever installing steam. The Devs/Pub have their sale, you have your game, and no Steam installed.

Can't have that, now can we?

They can still get you for violating the Digital Millennium act (which by the way is unconstitutional by US laws which is why they almost never enforce it here), but I can't think of a case where anyone was actually prosecuted for doing so.

There's a lot of info about Elemental, it's just scattered all over the place. Right now with beta 1 we're pretty limited in terms of what we can do, but it plays kind of like Age of Wonders 2 with a stronger leader unit and a lot more resources.

I sorta agree with this. I'm getting sick of every PC game worth attention is going Steamworks.

Thinking it over though, I really can't blame them for going Steam. It worked 100x better than Impulse did with Demigod for SupCom2, and there is no alternative as established as Steam.

I still see plenty of worthy games not being tied to a particular platform. Machinarium comes to mind as a recent title (even though it's just a single flash file). Regarding full-blown games, Paradox Interactive is selling their titles through numerous channels, and the games don't require any online verification component.

I have the Matrix Games twitch... but no, I'll resist. Suffice to say that there are other small publishers which make astonishingly good games that have zero DRM, and these games will keep you happily occupied for years.

That said, there are worse things to happen to a game or a brand than Steamworks. Like an acquisition that completely derails the design process, milking the product with endless overpriced DLCs and ruining the whole game in the name of making it more "accessible". Certain highly anticipated events in January, that actually turned out to be totally anticlimactic, and the subsequent paid "expansions" made me give up on the mainstream market altogether.

Let's say it together: Demigod did NOT use Impulse for its multiplayer matchmaking OR connectivity. The ONLY thing it used Impulse for was listing available games.  Demigod was originally expected to use GPGNet, we ended up writing a custom system for Demigod. 

There is no Impulse MP alternative available and won't be until Elemental.  I can tell you it is pretty infuriating that Impulse somehow got stuck with the blame for Demigod's connectivity issues.

You expect stupid people to make that distinction? They see Impulse, they see Demigod. They make the connection.

Anyway if I buy Total Annihilation Kingdoms 2   KnightsAndMerchants   Stronghold   KnightsAndCastles it will enterily depend on if its a good game or not. So far... not so much (Im thinkin SupCom2 with hover knights instead of hover tanks).

I know it did. So that was sort of a brain fart. But comparing the launch of Demigod to Supreme Commander 2 is an exercise in extremes. Supreme Commander 2 in comparison was more or less perfect. After talking to former GPG decs at PAX East I clearly understand what happened to Demigod. I see zero reason for an independent developer like GPG use GFWL, which no one likes over Steam, which at least a lot of people like. Its fully featured with about everything I expect with the cost of Steam tie in.

Now, I don't like Square Enix-GPG anywhere nearly as much as I did with Stardock-GPG, but Supreme Commander 2 just was a better game in terms of technical details and I think a lot of that had to do with Steam as a platform rather than the Raknet shenanigans with the multiplayer code. Stardock sorta needs to launch games with Reactor in my opinion, else Steamworks will just keep moving forward. So many major developer titles are being bundled with Steamworks now. We talk all day about the PC becoming a closed platform, but no one is showing me, a consumer, anything besides Steam.

I agree with you completely on this.  I guess I am old fashioned, I prefer to have information I can read through.

The problem is they have nothing to show and nothing to tell. But they still want some hype, so they try and use 'comedy' if you can call it that to pass the time. That and hot chicks.

(APB's podcasts did this also until they actually had something useful)

Steamworks nor Raknet handle in game connectivity.  GPG's network code on SupCom 2 was simply a lot better than what was in Demigod.  It isn't Raknet's fault or Steamwork's boon that the game sim stutters in Demigod if there is lag.

All raknet/steamworks does is connect the players together and hand the socket to the game.

If the PC does become a closed platform, it's no skin off my back. There are lots of other platforms to develop for.  It's consumers who lose, not game developers.  You don't need to worry about us. We'll be fine.  It's people who don't want their big budget games consolized that lose out.  

Right now, Steamworks is the ONLY option because ever other potential alternative on the market has to monetize their library (Securom, GameSpy, GFWL).  Steam makes their money because Steamworks gets the title exclusively on Steam which helps generate Valve money.

Impulse::Reactor will be the alternative but won't be out until this Summer and even then, only time will tell whether the industry will use it.

But consumers don't have any say in the matter because the decisions are made at the developer and publisher level.  

Yup. I like consoles. Just I'll play Mass Effect 2 on PC rather than 360.