I'm posting from work, as I don't have internet at home.

I agree - requiring internet access for offline games is foolish. Not all of us have so much disposable income - or, if we do, we spend it on things like bills and education. Glad I'm playing on a console.

I don't like it but I like piracy even less.

Okay then let me see if I get this straight, your complying about a simple ONLINE ACTIVATION that registers the game to your Steam account. After this you DO NOT need to activate it anymore and SHOULD be able to install from a CD. If for whatever reason you feel that this simple process is as complicated as entering in a 50 digit key in 20 seconds then please get the strongest guy you can find to punch you in the face until you realize this is all a very simple process that is being blown out of proportion by everyone who doesn't want to learn new things.

http://i51.tinypic.com/3493ret.png

Still, considering that something like 98% of Americans (Yes I know, the rest of the world exists too, but strictly speaking, USA) have internet access, I think they would rather pissoff/lose the 2% of customers (Most people without internet are like, old folks and others who dont even play video games) than make it much easier for *Unspeakable Act* to occur.

I'm not complaining about Steam or any other online service per se. I am in effect giving money to a service I do not need and do not care to use. I don't want a bunch of stuff installed on MY computer just to play a game.

And just to let you know the first thing that happened after Steam got installed was a pop-up advertisment for some other game while it was downloading the patch - I mean really!

Steam is expensive for one, at least the EU version of Steam. In my case i got the game 40% cheaper in a physical store:P

Gunmaster; I was one of those who didn`t read about the game beforehand and didn`t know about this fact. The store where i bought my copy didn`t have any warning saying so either. Yes, it says it says so on the back of the cover, but they don`t tell you that when you preorder and get your copy in the mail. Yes i do in fact have an active internet connection and the reason why this thing upsets me is that this a completely unnessesary copy protection step which only serves to be an annoyance for legitimate customers, like TES_Ronin who says he doesn`t have an internet connection at his home. It`s the principle of things, don`t punish us paying customers for other people`s crimes. See what Ubisoft did with Assassins Creed and Settlers 7, they require an active internet connection even when you`re playing!! Thank God Bethesda didn`t go that far, thumbs up for that. My hope by starting debates such as this is in the hope that the right persons will notice and they will rethink their anti piracy strategies in ways that won`t harm the people who actually buy their products.

I have console, but when I loaded, I connected just in case it wanted to validate my copy. It didn't need to, so I disconnected. No big deal. But I don't think you should have to be connected to play.

Worthy of a sig. Well done sir!

The first time I had to use Steam to activate a game, I was indignant, I admit. Well since then I lost the product key to a much loved old game (one of the cats peed on the manual), I couldn't reinstall Oblivion from a slightly scratched disk, and I realised I had misplaced another game disk (it will turn up at some point I am sure), I decided that Steam was actually not such a bad thing. I'm not going to be buying physical copies of games any more.

It's 2010 not having internet is crazy talk :spotted owl:

If you want Achievements DLC Patches etc. you need sum of that net :shocking:

Sure, it's a service you do not need. But the thing is you will still need to use it to play the game. You CAN'T stop Bethesda/Obsidian making their deal withe VALVe to put SteamWorks into their games so they can have a simple form of DRM, a way to give PC players achievments (don't care), and a way to introduce people to VALVe's Steam.

That pop-up advertisemant can be stopped by going to Steam->Settings->Interface and then uncheck the last box that reads "Notify me when changes to my game have been made, a sale goes on do be do be do".

Allow me to highlight part of that for emphasis. If you think clicking 2 buttons to be able to play is too much work, you should not be playing on a computer. I do see how this punishes a few select people without internet. But even in the case of TES_Ronin, he can go to work and activate the game. Problem solved. I'm pretty sure only like 10 people in the US dont have SOME kind of internet connection they can use to activate this game. And again, I think Obsidian looked at that and decided "Pissing off 100 customers < Have thousands *Unspeakable Act* the game."

THIS! FREAKING THIS!

Forget needing internet access - how about why the hell do we need to use Steam? It is the slowest and least smooth client I've ever had to endure. I'm on a business line and I've been waiting for the last 20 minutes for it to patch my game, and will need to wait 40 more, at least. The ETA keeps climbing. Bethesda makes obscene amounts of profit with each of their releases, why not spend some of that on a client for their own games, rather than having us go through the Stone Age server that Steam uses for all of its games?

Thousands are already doing the "unspeakable act" even though the game hasn`t been released yet in Europe, the only reason i`m not playing the game right now is that i actually want to support the game developers even though i could have done "the unspeakable". So while probably some of my friends and coworkers have already been playing the game for some time now i`m here complaining:P What i`m getting at is that online registration to even be allowed to install an offline game with a physical copy is not customer friendly at all, in my country there are plenty of places without internet access. I only have a stationary computer, so if i didn`t have internet i`d have big trouble packing my computer and getting to a place with internet access.

Congratulations on doing yourself out of a sale,i was forced into instaling that garbage u call STEAM after buying Empire total war,NEVER AGAIN,I live in a little village where the net speed is a joke on a good day and i had nothing but problems with steam and will never have it anywhere near my pc again.

When will u people realise there's nothing u can do to stop pirates? the only thing you have achived by releasing this with Steam is about 25% less sales

Make sure you change the speed of your internet connection in Steam and the area you are in

http://i54.tinypic.com/9hhwk7.png

As for this thread, it's DOOMED. It ain't going anywhere. The sales of this game did not drop by 25% whatsoever. It would more than likely be less than that. Now if you excuse me I have to board my rocket ship called STEAM and hit two buttons that let me launch into space. Nothing will stop me, for I am a Rocket Man.

I`m not going to say that Steam itself is the problem here, the problem in my opinion is that you are forced to be online to be able to install a physical copy for an offline game. The only thing i don`t really much care about when it comes to Steam is their 1$=1 EUR policy (at least it was last time i checked which was a while ago) but that is a completely different topic. But Steam has had some great retro games i`ve bought for a good price:)

Yeah, I did that three years ago when I first had to install it. Slow download speed has been a problem with every game I've ever had to patch with it. Never thought I'd have to have one of my favorite franchises stained by it. Bigger kick to the nuts for me since I've never checked the NV forums prior to today, so I didn't know it was coming.

Even though we don`t agree on certain terms, thanks for keeping the discussion civil. And for your illustrations for Steam;)

I love how they didn't put the Steam logo on the outside of the box. I sure as hell wouldn't have bought it. My save games aren't syncing with Steam's servers. I will never buy another single player game that requires Steam.

You know, I don't care about having to activate online. That wasn't the problem for me. The problem for me was that I had no active internet connection at the time I bought the game from Walmart (my 'net service is being transferred from Windjammer Cable to SuddenLink due to company buyout - no 'net for 2 days). I figured "No biggie, I'll just go ahead and install the game and when my 'net access is back up, I'll activate". Wrong! Even if you just want to install the software, you still have to have an active internet connection. Lucky me, my parents live less than an hour away so all I had to do was drive over and use their 'net access. Was it a hassle? Yes! Why couldn't I just install the damn thing and then activate it later? But, at least I had somewhere to go for 'net service. I live in a rural area with no internet cafes or bookstores or anyone that offers free wifi. If my parents hadn't had internet access, then I'd have to wait until Friday just to install the software, much less play it. Online activation is no big deal. But if I have the physical DVD and all I want to do is install it, lack of a 'net connection shouldn't be an issue.

1) A pirate without internet could get the game from a different pirate with internet, so pirates don't need the internet to acquire the game on an individual basis.
2) Bona fide customers must have the net to register/play, yes, but do pirates need it to register? Evidently not as pirated games would have to play sans registration or they wouldn't get pilfered. Only the paying customer is inconvenienced by the additional requirements of this "service"...
3 and 4) Since pirates don't have to register to play, online registration isn't mandatory for them. Only the paying customer needs the net as only legitimate copies require online registration.What if it's not a laptop? "Sorry, Boss! >_< I'll get to those TPS reports as soon as I clear some room on my desk, set up my PC, link it to the company's private network, and register my video game. Decrypting should only take about an hour, then there's a patch I have to download Oh, and I almost forgot, I'll need that WEP key, yeeeaaahhh...". Most who play on PC aren't playing the game on a laptop as most laptops can't hack it and desktops are cheaper to trick out so, in the majority of similar circumstances, http://i2.squidoocdn.com/resize/squidoo_images/250/draft_lens5543742module42442532photo_1248891869carrying_computer.jpg isn't necessarily easily done and exposes one's rig to drops, scratches, dents, or other such accidents. I'd still bet there are bunches of people who are in stuck in that same jam, lugging their hardware right now, some of them cursing at Steam, Beth, Obsidian, or all three every step of the way. Downloading a patch elseweyr and storing it on a USB drive is one thing, but finding internet and toting a rig somewhere, all the while having to depend on someone helping you, is a radscorpion of another color. It just shouldn't be so.

And what exactly are you trying to get at? When buying physical disks, you aren't buying the physical disk, you are buying a license. Sound familiar? If, and only if, you accept the license are you allowed the privilege to install and play the game. Disk lost/stolen/scratched? Contact the manufacturer (as long as they still exist) and get it replaced. Physical media is not a representation of the license... your payment and agreement is. There is no difference.

Complaining does little. The best true action is to not buy the game (or return it, as I did: http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1124891-update-to-steam-an-new-vegas-issue/). I got a full refund with free return shipping, and an apology from the retailer. Retailers do not like it eating into their profits either. ATM I haven't heard back from Bethesda, though it will probably be a couple days at least. It is only a matter of time before the developers get the hint. Even Apple removed DRM from itunes for goodness sake. We just have to be patient. They'll get the point soon enough.

There are several games now that I won't buy because of invasive online activation (and related) requirements. My money is waiting to be spent, when they realize their folly and remove the invasive DRM. They act like we don't have a choice... but we do. We don't have to buy the games or support those policies.

We have to be vigilant, though. Accepting the "lesser evil" and accepting the online activation promotes the unethical practice as anything else. The situation is a true dichotomy.

Steam Offline Mode. Check it out.