[Valerius]

I prefer the Shrapnel or GOG model to Steam. No, I don't pirate software, I just don't like the idea of having to install third party software in order to activate/run a game. I wouldn't care if it were also offered on Steam, Impulse, etc, but would prefer that to not be the only option.

You can argue back and forth as to whether this would result in greater sales/profit and I don't know what the result would be. But even if the result were greater sales I'm not sure why that would matter to me as a player. Sure, if I like IW games (and right now I'm not sure if I like their games or like Dominions - COE3 will help answer that for me) then it's in my interest that the game sells well enough to encourage future development. But they seem content enough with the sales of D3 that they are working on another game, so that doesn't seem to be an issue (and I've always liked the fact that attempting to bludgeon them with "if you want to make more money you'll do so and so" doesn't get far). As has been mentioned, there's still plenty of MP games going on six years after release so I don't see a problem there either. The only other advantage of having more players that I can think of is you might have more mod content. That's not a big deal for me either but for some people that would be a benefit and is really the main advantage I can think of from a player's perspective.