For those against Digital sales (also Steam).

[Blackdog_kt]

I like having a choice to use a DD, but i also like having a choice to use a different method for the reasons already mentioned by other forum posters before me (user-made mods and customizations, being able to do whatever you want on your own installation,etc).

As for why 1c went with Steam, i think they wanted a ready to use framework to regulate mods and separate legitimate mods from cheats during the life of the new sim.

Steam hasn't been too troublesome for me but i still dislike the fact that i have to do all the run,login,wait for popups, reset my preferences (because it overrides them all the time) routine before i can fly. I also dislike the fact that it's essentially a rental service that can be shut down at a moment's notice. Other than that it has functioned as advertised on my PC and allowed me to install the sim a bit earlier than i otherwise would (i had a relative abroad pick up a collector's edition for me and e-mail me the serial so i could download it, instead of having to wait for the physical box to arrive in the mail).

I think that once things stabilize we might get a choice of using it, one way or the other. Like it's already been pointed out, torrents have more uses than piracy and i've found them very useful in the past. Whenever i buy a game my usual routine is to download the same game on a torrent, disable copy protection on my installation (i have already paid for the game so it's not piracy) and keep my discs in a good condition and my game time to my own discretion, independent of any third party services and the potential technical overhead and possible problems that might occur. Needless to say, i've never had any security related trouble (trojans, viruses and the like), all it takes is scanning the files before using them to mod my legally purchased game.