I installed STO from its storefront page on Steam in late August and have force-verified from the Steam client twice since then. There is no Arc attached to that download.
I think you maybe have STO's built-in launcher, which it has always had, confused with Arc.
No. I installed from steam, what I thought would be the only thing I needed, but then was prompted to d/l arc and it's launcher. So now, having had to d/l >>2<< client servers, I just bypass steam and load directly from the arc client.... That is until the season 8 TRIBBLE, where I can't get past the craptic loading screen. While a craptic game is running, I can't close the arc client.
As I stated before, I don't know what people in other countries and or states have done or currently do. In this aspect I can only speak to the experiences of several of my friends, and myself. It is the full arc client, in which I am currently making this reply in and not off the 'net browser.
As much as i like playing STO, I WILL NOT ACCEPT ARC, nor will I ever intentionally install malware of this kind. I am not alone. a half dozen people I know will also leave STO if/when ARC is mandatory.
"If you can't take a little bloody nose, maybe you ought to go back home and crawl under your bed. It's not safe out here. It's wondrous, with treasures to satiate desires both subtle and gross. But it's not for the timid." Q Join the 44th Fleet. [FED and KDF] Apply Online: startrek.44thfleet.com
"Currently, the application does not need to run after a game is launched, though in the future if the game is updated to utilize functionality from Arc, it may be required to keep the Arc application open in order for the game to function 100% properly."
And so it begins.
Yep, stone cold busted.
Expect ARC to become "The game won't even run without it" mandatory at some future point.
Forum users make up a very small minority of the playerbase.
That 'very small minority' also happens to be very active; as in: the kind that spends real-life cash.
Even if EVERY forum user quit due to ARC, the impact on the game itself would be minimal.
I doubt that. If all they kept were the casual f2p players, they'd go bust very soon. You want the active ones. Sure, there will also be ppl spending money who never visit the forum: that's statistics for you. But the more ppl are involved with the game, the greater the likelihood they will also be active on the forum (a simple matter of self-interest, for one).
Fact is, the majority of the playerbase won't even notice.
Fact is, the majority of the playerbase doesn't even matter. It's the paying customers, that buy lockboxes and Zen to buy expensive gear, and what not, that count. THOSE are PWE?s main source of revenue: the f2p playerbase, no offensive, is just fluff to reel in the paying customer.
So, in light of the above, here's a good applicable adage: don't bite the hand that feeds you!
I love STO, been LTS since original launch. It's the only MMO that I have maintained an interest in beyond a few months. I regularly drop money into the game.
Saying that, I will not tolerate ARC on my gaming computer. When I can no longer play STO via the Cryptic launcher, I will stop playing. I have no interest in a PWE made piece of bloatware spying on my computer, advertising PWE games I have no interest in and will not play, and reporting back the details of my computer to a Chinese company.
I have poured money into Star Citizen, and am looking forward to the new resurgence of space games on the PC - The Mandate, Elite: Dangerous, And Enemy Starfighter to name a few. Sure, they aren't my beloved Star Trek, but they don't require spyware on my PC.
Tl;dr When ARC is required, I won't play STO any longer. Plus, other PC space games incoming.
Comments
No. I installed from steam, what I thought would be the only thing I needed, but then was prompted to d/l arc and it's launcher. So now, having had to d/l >>2<< client servers, I just bypass steam and load directly from the arc client.... That is until the season 8 TRIBBLE, where I can't get past the craptic loading screen. While a craptic game is running, I can't close the arc client.
As I stated before, I don't know what people in other countries and or states have done or currently do. In this aspect I can only speak to the experiences of several of my friends, and myself. It is the full arc client, in which I am currently making this reply in and not off the 'net browser.
Join the 44th Fleet. [FED and KDF] Apply Online: startrek.44thfleet.com
Yep, stone cold busted.
Expect ARC to become "The game won't even run without it" mandatory at some future point.
ARC, the asteroid impact that killed off the dinosaurs? Sounds like history is repeating itself :cool:
A little resourcefulness goes a long way indeed.
"Do you know what power is? Power is control of men who are lesser than you."
That 'very small minority' also happens to be very active; as in: the kind that spends real-life cash.
I doubt that. If all they kept were the casual f2p players, they'd go bust very soon. You want the active ones. Sure, there will also be ppl spending money who never visit the forum: that's statistics for you. But the more ppl are involved with the game, the greater the likelihood they will also be active on the forum (a simple matter of self-interest, for one).
Fact is, the majority of the playerbase doesn't even matter. It's the paying customers, that buy lockboxes and Zen to buy expensive gear, and what not, that count. THOSE are PWE?s main source of revenue: the f2p playerbase, no offensive, is just fluff to reel in the paying customer.
So, in light of the above, here's a good applicable adage: don't bite the hand that feeds you!
Saying that, I will not tolerate ARC on my gaming computer. When I can no longer play STO via the Cryptic launcher, I will stop playing. I have no interest in a PWE made piece of bloatware spying on my computer, advertising PWE games I have no interest in and will not play, and reporting back the details of my computer to a Chinese company.
I have poured money into Star Citizen, and am looking forward to the new resurgence of space games on the PC - The Mandate, Elite: Dangerous, And Enemy Starfighter to name a few. Sure, they aren't my beloved Star Trek, but they don't require spyware on my PC.
Tl;dr When ARC is required, I won't play STO any longer. Plus, other PC space games incoming.