TrackMania2: Centralised News about the Game

[BLaHiTiS]

there will always be 'sides' chosen on the retail/digital distribution only battle. I am on the "digital distribution" side, because it's actually the "retail side" that is causing the $1/€1 issue on steam. Not that it would be so simple to just erradicate that if there were no retail boxes anymore... They are needed because of a "mentality".

You already see that invoices from providers or other online media are gearing much towards only giving digital PDF versions only. It means less usage of paper etc.. I wouldn't mind seeing this evolve in the future from invoices to software boxes. 100% from what you do with the content in that box is done on a pc.

i kinda understand the "physical evidence" need of ppl that need to have a box in their hands though, even I have that with expensive music production software. You need something tangible to justify that your $1000 spent on software so that it doesn't seem to have gone up in thin air. However allot of that software is protected by protection devices like usb dongles. I could be flexible enough to let THAT be my physical evidence.

A hypocritical distinction i know : as a box is still a box, it doesn't matter if there was $50 software in or $1000, so it is purely a "mentality" issue imo.

[Ripbox]

usb dongles

See now that wouldn't be a bad idea....
If you could buy it on a write (or non write) protected dongle with TM2 logo(name) that maybe came in a small case/box then it would be a happy compromise... the Manual could then also come in PDF or other on the dongle
that way is a digital copy and yet we have something to hold in our hands!!!!

[Demented]

The only issue I have against buying things online or not having a "physical" copy is from bad personal experiences. I bought the first edition of Trackmania online. No problem. It was shipped to me in a box, installed and worked fine. However I have also purchased other software (digitally) online that I was unable to ever activate. This was from a large and reputable company and yet after sending over a dozen emails and spending over a year trying to find a solution I gave up on it and was forced to find and download a "cracked" copy of it. While this was technically legal since I purchased a copy of the software, I prefer not to do things that way because too many people use it for piracy.
I know it's not common to run into this kind of problem but that is why I'd prefer to go into a store and buy a hard copy of sofware.
Don't get me wrong. I'll still buy Trackmania 2 online. I'd just rather have a hard copy of it.

[BLaHiTiS]

usb dongles

See now that wouldn't be a bad idea....
If you could buy it on a write (or non write) protected dongle with TM2 logo(name) that maybe came in a small case/box then it would be a happy compromise... the Manual could then also come in PDF or other on the dongle
that way is a digital copy and yet we have something to hold in our hands!!!!

Yeah but after all is said and done, Personally we could grow "accustomed" to a certain key element being the establishment of our purchase. I have that alot with my steam account. It's MY account, spent money of it, and steam becomes somehow the element of value that gives access to my game.

[Ripbox]

Yeah but after all is said and done, Personally we could grow "accustomed" to a certain key element being the establishment of our purchase. I have that a lot with my steam account. It's MY account, spent money of it, and steam becomes somehow the element of value that gives access to my game.

Assuming you are the AGE of 30 - 40 do you not find it a great frustration not being unable to trade(swapshop) your old unplayed games due to them being digital copies?
if your not of that age group then i wouldn't expect you to understand that value, but im sure if you are then you will understand what i am getting at.

i mean its like buying a 2 seater sports car and over the years out growing the size due to new additions to the family, if V5C(logbook) said you couldn't exchange the car in part for a new bigger 4 seater car then you would be left with a useless lump of metal that would only be fit for the scrap yard thus you may as well put your money in the bin.

Don't get me wrong i have a steam account and have made a few happy purchases but 1 game for example i have id MW2 and i don't play it any more due to hackers plus there are very few left playing the game on-line... i really would like to make some money back on it to put toward a new game like TM2 but because its a digital copy (tied to steam) i can not do this which angers me that i have wasted £40..... the only positive side to it is i have a hard copy that i can hold and maybe even use as a coffee coaster if i wish to do so.

on another note to digital copies, as your well aware they have taken the trend to be downloaded.
ok so near on 99% of the population have the internet, but for the likes of my self who is in an unfortunate and beyond my control situation, suffer from exchange drop-outs and very low speed with no prospects of exchange improvement for the unforeseeable future
where a file size of 700Mb might be manageable in approx 1 hour, it leave the unfortunate sat waiting, hoping and wondering if a 2GB+ file is practical and with my Games exceeding 9GB's these days what incentive is a digital copy when you know you may be waiting days for it to download and possibly fail!

Take the stupid games for example i saw many USERS including your self(BLaHiTiS) Posting several times a minuet but for my self i was unable to post for in excess of 40 - 50 minuets = out of all 3 games sessions i was only able to post 3 - 4 times..... i see this as a very unfair disadvantage to the less fortunate

but anyway since this seems to be digressing for the original topic i will leave this little rant for now but i don't think the USB dongle is such a bad idea and would seriously consider pay just that but extra for it

RANT [OFF]

[The_K]

Wait... since when do they really let u trade in PC games due to the Key system with specialized accounts connected...?

[Trackmaniack]

I heartily support physical copies--and I'm thinking that maybe they'll either A) release a Maniaplanet-Megapack when all is said and done--or, they'll release them in 3s--either all envis of TM2, then all envis of SM, then all of QM, OR, 1 envi each in a pack, 3 (or 5) times.

[Drace]

What about a box with just a download key in it?

[The_K]

What about a box with just a download key in it?

this made me lol, sadly it has been done for consoles.

[promasterpl]

lol, empty box with only little piece of paper with key written on it. Great idea