john_pullinger
Veteran
Hello my friends, I feel moved to write critically on the one problem I have with Warband. No, it's not couched lance changes, the new battle command interface or any of the stunning and honestly quite impressive improvements that have been made. I'm talking about Steam.
When I pre-ordered Warband from Amazon.com I had no idea that what they would in fact sell me was a Steam-slave handicapped version of the game. Slouching there in the mb_warband.exe's code is the horrible string of ASCII that calls upon steam_api.dll and its looming master every time you try to play Warband.
I have no issues with digital rights management. I have no problem with players who enjoy the community feel Steam brings. But I do have a problem with being forced to run a program that eats my RAM and lowers my performance in the background when I'm just trying to enjoy a good game. I've been enduring it like a splinter in my brain for a few days but it's really starting to aggravate me now.
So I have the following questions:
Is there a release of Warband that isn't married to Steam?
If so, where can I buy it?
And would my Steam-bound version be able to run by itself if I simply replaced its mb_warband.exe with a non-Steam version's?
Hoping that the wisdom of the forums can help, because I'm getting rather desperate.
EDIT
This problem is now solved! Many thanks to all those offering advice!
Method
1. Begin Steam install and obtain CD Key from the My Games section by right clicking on Warband and hitting 'View Game CD Key'.
2. Save this somewhere, this is your serial key.
3. Cancel the installation once you have this. If you completed the installation, uninstall the game. Steam might prompt you to delete the cache, click yes. Your saved games are safe and sound in My Documents, never fear.
4. Open RegEdit from the run command to access your registry. (Type 'regedit' and hit return.)
5. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\MountAndBladeWarbandKeys and delete the 'Activation Code' entry.
6. Install Warband using the installer downloaded from the TaleWorlds website.
7. Run the program. When prompted, enter the serial key you obtained earlier and click 'Activate'.
8. Congratulations! You can now enjoy a Steam-free gaming experience.
Kudos to Mpully and WhiteWolf who perfected the technique while I was biking home from work.
-John
When I pre-ordered Warband from Amazon.com I had no idea that what they would in fact sell me was a Steam-slave handicapped version of the game. Slouching there in the mb_warband.exe's code is the horrible string of ASCII that calls upon steam_api.dll and its looming master every time you try to play Warband.
I have no issues with digital rights management. I have no problem with players who enjoy the community feel Steam brings. But I do have a problem with being forced to run a program that eats my RAM and lowers my performance in the background when I'm just trying to enjoy a good game. I've been enduring it like a splinter in my brain for a few days but it's really starting to aggravate me now.
So I have the following questions:
Is there a release of Warband that isn't married to Steam?
If so, where can I buy it?
And would my Steam-bound version be able to run by itself if I simply replaced its mb_warband.exe with a non-Steam version's?
Hoping that the wisdom of the forums can help, because I'm getting rather desperate.
EDIT
This problem is now solved! Many thanks to all those offering advice!
Method
1. Begin Steam install and obtain CD Key from the My Games section by right clicking on Warband and hitting 'View Game CD Key'.
2. Save this somewhere, this is your serial key.
3. Cancel the installation once you have this. If you completed the installation, uninstall the game. Steam might prompt you to delete the cache, click yes. Your saved games are safe and sound in My Documents, never fear.
4. Open RegEdit from the run command to access your registry. (Type 'regedit' and hit return.)
5. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\MountAndBladeWarbandKeys and delete the 'Activation Code' entry.
6. Install Warband using the installer downloaded from the TaleWorlds website.
7. Run the program. When prompted, enter the serial key you obtained earlier and click 'Activate'.
8. Congratulations! You can now enjoy a Steam-free gaming experience.
Kudos to Mpully and WhiteWolf who perfected the technique while I was biking home from work.
-John