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how to download game

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13 comments, last by frob 7 years, 5 months ago

The thread however IS a very good reminder about real user experience with stuff we make, and how many assumptions we as developers might try and make over just how 'easy' our stuff is to use.

Buying a 'physical box' copy of a game, and then being directed to the download client with minimal explanation is bloody weird if you step back and think about the entire process.

Old Username: Talroth
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It surprises me a bit that the autorun for the CD wouldn't just launch the Origin installer. Last time I bought a physical disk (it was a gift card, otherwise I wouldn't have done it), the disk ran the steam installer, then installed a copy of the game into steam from the CD - which Steam then updated to the latest because that's what steam does. I always thought this was the normal process for CD installs now. I guess the point to take from this is that Origin maybe should (if they don't already) include the Origin installer on the disk, and make it autorun.

It surprises me a bit that the autorun for the CD wouldn't just launch the Origin installer. Last time I bought a physical disk (it was a gift card, otherwise I wouldn't have done it), the disk ran the steam installer, then installed a copy of the game into steam from the CD - which Steam then updated to the latest because that's what steam does. I always thought this was the normal process for CD installs now. I guess the point to take from this is that Origin maybe should (if they don't already) include the Origin installer on the disk, and make it autorun.


This particular purchase was a download-only-using-serial-key. They don't come with any media other than the code itself, then you're expected to use the internet to download everything else.

I guess I just assumed that if you got anything physical in the mail, it would be a CD. Lol my bad. Still a valid thing to think about I guess.

I guess I just assumed that if you got anything physical in the mail, it would be a CD. Lol my bad. Still a valid thing to think about I guess.

When downloaded games are particularly popular or major or AAA, game companies will create a physical object for store shelves. It doesn't really matter what this object is, but it must be made.

When the kid tells grandma he wants "Star Wars Battlefront" and the parents say to buy a copy, grandma doesn't have any knowledge about Origin or Steam or UPlay or GoG. Instead grandma goes to her nearest Walmart or Toys R Us or GameStop, says "My grandkid says he wants this game."

The smart companies have a case with a slip of paper containing the online code. There is a cost to produce and distribute them, but it is worth it for the several hundred thousand sales they add.

The less smart companies lose a sale when grandma asks the store clerk what other games they have in stock.

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