I have a big problem, and I think I know how to solve it but I have too much anxiety to follow through without inquiring here first about potential disappointments.

 

Last weekend I bought this game from Fry's Electronics because I wanted to feel special owning the physical game box even though there's nothing in it except the DVD and a single document which I presume are only for installation purposes. I come home, pop in the disk drive of my Dell XPS L521X and... nothing. I then spend several hours trying to properly re-calibrate and eventually reinstall the 'MAT****A DVDRWBD UJ167' device, but to no avail. Fortunately though the document does contain a PoE 'Steam Key' which I am confident would be exclusive to my copy of the game, however before I proceed to register on Steam (which is a drag tbh)..

 

a) Is it as simple as creating a Steam account, entering the key, then downloading and installing the game through the client?

 

b) If I do install this way, will I be required to launch Steam with the game like Battle.net or something?

 

c) I'm assuming I bought the 'Hero's Edition' equivalent ($30) since all it says is 'Pillars of Eternity' on the box, but could there be any gameplay-related features I'd be missing by changing installation methods?

 

 

 

I'm 25 years old.

 

 

Thanks in advance for replies

 

 

 

 

Yes

Yes

No. But buy expansion.

I initially didn't like the idea of Steam either (in fact, I still don't), but once you try it, its surprisingly convenient. Just make sure you switch off the "automatically launch steam when windows starts" option. That's a little annoying. 

Don't be scared. Take the plunge. 

Like it or not, digital distribution is the way of the future. Physical media is unfortunately going the way of tape decks, VHS and porn in playboy.

 

Congrats on being 25 by the way.