It includes half life 1 online tough but i dont open half life to open esf ecx rc2
ESF does not include Half Life and never will. Those are 2 seperate programs. Not using them the way they were intended to be used can and probably will cause problems.
Fact is Half Life is not freeware or shareware. You need to buy it, while ESf itself is freeware.
Its your own call what to do. Either Buy Half Life or youll be stuck solving all problems you get yourself simply because ESF was made for use with STEAM and we dont support nonsteam use. Ofcourse we allso have a strict rule against piracy so thats a double strike against you.
As said the call is yours