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Weak rant: Direct2Drive

AstroManLuca

AstroManLuca

Lifer
I was itching for a new MP shooter so I decided to get Bad Company 2, which I had never played. This weekend, Direct2Drive was having a 20% off sale so it was $4 cheaper than from Steam. Cool, why not save a few bucks, right?

Let's see... first I have to get a download manager. I downloaded and installed D2D's "Comrade" program which appears to be sort of like Steam. Doesn't work. Restart computer, still doesn't work. Google searching revealed that Comrade broke with Windows 7 SP1.

So I go for their basic download manager. That doesn't work either. More Googling, and I learn that I need to open a port. Also, D2D's website says to try IE. So I do both, and it finally works.

Downloads overnight, and this morning I install the game and play a few minutes of single player. No problem. Then I want to jump into MP. Can't, no servers found. Open more ports, still no luck.

So I figured the other reason I might not see anything is if I'm not updated. I run the included "BFBC2Updater.exe" and yep, I'm not up to date. Even though I just spent hours downloading the game from a server, it's not patched. And it's apparently not even a very recent patch, because the BFBC2Updater is taking ages. It doesn't say how much has been downloaded or how much is left, but it's been at least half an hour and it's about 1/3 done. I don't have the fastest internet connection but we're still talking hundreds of MB. Not sure why it couldn't have just downloaded the latest patch when I got the game. It's not like it's on DVD.

Cliffs:

1. D2D's Comrade software is broken; no idea when they'll update.
2. Their basic download manager software is finicky.
3. When you download a game from them, it's not patched.
4. I really wish I had just spent the extra $4 to get it on Steam instead.

So yeah, fuck D2D.
 
D2D is not Steam. It doesn't automatically update your games for you.
What you buy is basically the retail DVD version in digital download form. So you would have to do the normal patching.

Last I used D2D, Comrade was a chat/friends program and had nothing to do with downloading games, maybe they integrated the downloader with it.

basic downloader has always worked fine for me, no idea why you would have issues.
 
For future reference Firefox will let you right click save as on D2D. Also you can add the key for BFBC2 to the EA downloader if you have it and it will download the whole thing for you.
 
pontifex said:
D2D is not Steam. It doesn't automatically update your games for you.
What you buy is basically the retail DVD version in digital download form. So you would have to do the normal patching.
Click to expand...

I know, and I don't expect it to keep my games updated. I was at least hoping it would update the version it pushes out to new customers though instead of keeping the old version on their servers.

pontifex said:
Last I used D2D, Comrade was a chat/friends program and had nothing to do with downloading games, maybe they integrated the downloader with it.

basic downloader has always worked fine for me, no idea why you would have issues.
Click to expand...

Yeah, when I went to get a downloader program it said Comrade now allows you to download games and it'll keep them automatically updated, like Steam. Didn't even know it existed until yesterday.

I have used the D2D download manager in the past and it worked fine. Not sure why it didn't work without some coaxing yesterday. I even tried right click saving with Firefox and even that didn't work, so it was probably some other issue.

I think Steam just has me spoiled.
 
I just bought some games from D2D.

You don't need to download anything but the game files. Comrade is not required for download. Just click the download button and it will give you a download link.

So your rants is bad because it's based on false assumptions.

I agree with you on the patching part but if you just think of it as a release DVD direct to your drive it makes more sense the way it's set up right now.

Sometimes they do include the latest patch but that's hit or miss.
 
Last edited:
Pray To Jesus said:
I just bought some games from D2D.

You don't need to download anything but the game files. Comrade is not required for download. Just click the download button and it will give you a download link.

So your rants is bad because it's based on false assumptions.

I agree with you on the patching part but if you just think of it as a release DVD direct to your drive it makes more sense the way it's set up right now.

Sometimes they do include the latest patch but that's hit or miss.
Click to expand...


His only assumption was that it would be like Steam, and it is not. I agree with him though, I use Steam or Impulse only now, its not worth $4 to sit and wait for games to patch, and have to do that a bunch of times over the life of the game. It is nice to just sit down and know Steam or Impulse do their job in the background and just work.
 
The Green Bean said:
Can't you just activate the games from D2D on Steam with the CD-Key? I just did that with Shogun 2 and it worked fine.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I tried that. Unfortunately it didn't work. Only a select few games can do that with Steam.

Pray To Jesus said:
I just bought some games from D2D.

You don't need to download anything but the game files. Comrade is not required for download. Just click the download button and it will give you a download link.

So your rants is bad because it's based on false assumptions.

I agree with you on the patching part but if you just think of it as a release DVD direct to your drive it makes more sense the way it's set up right now.

Sometimes they do include the latest patch but that's hit or miss.
Click to expand...

They may have changed how things work recently. When I clicked on the download link, it would pop up a small window asking which program I wanted to use for "Comrade links." Comrade wasn't working, and when I picked Download Manager that didn't do anything either. So I picked Firefox and even that didn't work.

Either way, opening that port and using IE did allow it to work properly through Download Manager. Maybe I just had to open that port from the start and it would have been fine, I don't know.
 
To be fair, the OP did say it was a weak rant, Pray To Jesus.

In any case, I've bought a few games on D2D and never had a problem just saving the file from Firefox - no downloaders needed.
 
D2D is trash in my opinion. Steam/Gamersgate/impulse/gog are all much better. After the issues I had trying to buy warhammer online from them, I pretty much gave up buying anything from them. Only game I've actually bought was heir to the throne, and even then I just took the key they gave me and went and torrented it.
 
The Green Bean said:
Can't you just activate the games from D2D on Steam with the CD-Key? I just did that with Shogun 2 and it worked fine.
Click to expand...

Yep, I bought HomeFront w/Metro2033 and I could activate both in steam. I really like D2D and they have some really good sales that Steam doesn't even have.
 
CPA said:
Yep, I bought HomeFront w/Metro2033 and I could activate both in steam. I really like D2D and they have some really good sales that Steam doesn't even have.
Click to expand...

That is because those two titles are Steamworks titles that allow CD Key activation on Steam (meaning every copy where ever it is bought can activate it on Steam).

BF BC2 is not one of those games.

Valve has a list of games you can do it with here though.
https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=7480-wusf-3601
 
I'll pay more money to get something on Steam as opposed to another source. I never buy anything but Steam games.
 
If I buy from D2D or Gamersgate, it has to be either the most amazing sale steam has never had or be a steamworks game.

The sooner impulse realizes that if they carry steamworks titles I'd consider shopping from them, the sooner they'll get business from people like me.
 
I got the Titan Quest games some year or so ago when they were 5 bucks for both of them. the comrade thing sucks.

and I can't install the the 2nd one, b/c the key they gave me is broken--it's actually too few numbers, in an incorrect series. lolwtf?

but at $2.50, I could barely complain.

never again. Only steam for me--though I do have a few games through Impulse. Impulse is nice.

(I did get civ5 from D2D for 20 bucks the other week, but it was only because I could activate it from Steam. lol--good think that license key was correct.)
 
zinfamous said:
I got the Titan Quest games some year or so ago when they were 5 bucks for both of them. the comrade thing sucks.

and I can't install the the 2nd one, b/c the key they gave me is broken--it's actually too few numbers, in an incorrect series. lolwtf?

but at $2.50, I could barely complain.

never again. Only steam for me--though I do have a few games through Impulse. Impulse is nice.

(I did get civ5 from D2D for 20 bucks the other week, but it was only because I could activate it from Steam. lol--good think that license key was correct.)
Click to expand...

Did you contact their support? They've always helped me with my games if I had issues and it was usually very quickly too.
 
I've only ever boughten games you can activate on Steam or MMO's from them, since both of those just require the cd key.
 
pontifex said:
Did you contact their support? They've always helped me with my games if I had issues and it was usually very quickly too.
Click to expand...

I thought about it, but like I said, at $2.50 it just wasn't worth the effort. 😀

I was able to play through the first one up until the strangely impossible end boss (my build was working well throughout, but then was suddenly useless at the very end), then realized that I really didn't care about playing more of this--resigned to the fact that I had already played a dozen or so of these types of games, one more isn't going to impress anything upon me.
:\
 
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