Each year we give you an update on the status of copy protection and activation of Football Manager and the decisions taken as we know it’s a hot topic for many of you, although for many others it’s not really an issue at all.As you may remember, last year we decided against any activation as we couldn't find a solution that we thought struck a balance on combatting piracy and not penalising the genuine consumer. We did make our position on anti-piracy pretty clear though, we see it as a big problem for our game and we said we'd continue to look for a solution that stopped, or made it very difficult to pirate the game and play it for free.
This year we have found what we believe is an acceptable solution. Any version of Football Manager 2012 bought on disc will have to be activated through the Steam network, so therefore purchasers will have to have an internet connection for initial activation. This is a one-time only activation which requires you to sign up for a Steam account (which is free) and to install the Steam client and once it has been done the game can be played offline by turning on Steam's Offline mode. With those two simple steps done there are no more hoops to jump through or steps to take.
We appreciate that the vast majority of people reading this post on the forums are genuine consumers of the game, and that having to activate is not as simple as putting the game in the drive and playing. However we hope that, as a fan of the game, you feel that having to do a one-time activation is worth it to try to prevent others playing the game for free and stealing what you purchase with no punishment, and with no contribution toward the future of Football Manager and it's development. Make no mistake, if a quarter of the people that usually pirate the game switch to purchasing Football Manager 2012, the sales of the game worldwide would more than double. This would lead to increased development budgets and more benefits for all of you who do buy the game.
We've taken this decision because we believe that the steps the consumer has to take are not excessive, and that as a one-time only measure with no tracking or reporting it is not too intrusive. Having worked with Steam for a few years now we also believe that their system is ever improving and gives Football Manager players a good service of free auto-updating, achievements and other great benefits without cost or hassle.
We hope you understand and support the decision. It's by no means taken lightly, although I hope for the vast majority of you it's nowhere near as big an issue as we treat it as being.
In summary:
• You need to connect to the internet to activate Football Manager 2012 on PC and Mac before you start playing it
• To activate you will need to sign up to, and install the Steam client
• Once you have activated Football Manager 2012 you can then play it in Steam's "offline mode" - meaning you do not have to be connected to the internet to play
• Saved games are stored locally on your machine, but you can play Football Manager on any machine by signing into Steam and selecting it from your purchased games
• Staying connected to Steam will mean Football Manager 2012 is automatically updated with any patches or data updates released
Q. Why choose Steam?
A. We chose Steam as they offer us the best protection against pre-release date Piracy.
Q. Do I need an Internet Connection to play Football Manager 2012?
A. You only need to be connected to the Internet to ‘Activate’ the game on Steam. You can then simply choose to play in ‘Offline’ mode.
Unfortunately, if you don’t have access to the internet, then you won’t be able to authenticate or play Football Manager 2012. When the decision was made by SEGA to go down this route this year, it was in full knowledge of that fact. The last time we had activation as a copy protection method 3 years ago, the telephone activation numbers were less than 4%. Even then after looking at those figures, we were made aware that some of those people had internet connections but just chose to activate by phone. It’s a huge shame for all of us that some people will not be able to play the game this year because they don’t have access to the internet, but there are very few PC games nowadays that don’t require the net. It’s a sign of the times, and commercial reality, unfortunately.
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better to start fresh
/
oh goooooooooooood
*deletes fm 11*
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Fighting Weight
Download via steam
Gonna have to wait till I'm home
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Creed Diskenth
OH SHIT JUST SEE YOUR POST ICE
*MAKES NEW TOPIC*
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Fighting Weight
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Creed Diskenth
MY DEMO IS OVER 2GB
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Guest Portuguese
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Guest haze-e
Oh shit oh shit oh shit.
Why am i at work?
Oh shit. Malaga malaga malaga malaga malaga (Crystal Palace)
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