Why do I need to install steam on my pc just to install Skyrim? I don't care for steam and prefer not to have extra stuff installed for a game like Skyrim unless it's a mod. Yes I know I don't have to play Skyrim on the pc but I prefer it on pc as I can mod it and add mods unlike consoles. But really why am I forced to install steam just to install Skyrim in the first place? What happened to the old days of pc gaming were you didn't even need the internet just to install a game? The reason I posted this here is because it has to do with installing Skyrim.

As said in a previous thread, you don't buy the game on the disk. You buy the licensing rights to play it. There are benifits- immedate patches and automatic downloads if your computer explodes. But the downside is that... you need to be connected to the internet and if a patch breaks your game, you're practically SOL.

Sounds like when I played WoW, everything was there you just bought the key code, Can't I play in offline mode tho?

If you have a retail box you can read on the back where it reads clearly: "Requires internet connection and free steam account to activate." Steam is not required to play, but it is required to activate the game once installed. Once installed and activated, it is possible to play Skyrim with steam in offline mode.

Yeah, the worst part about it is that it forces you to update the game (don't mention keeping it in offline mode... most of us play other games on Steam, so that is not an option). So when there's a terrible game-breaking patch (like the current 1.5, from the sound of things) there's nothing you can do about it...

...aside from downloading the illegal cracked Steamless version. And who would blame you? It's not like they don't have your money already.

I have one more question where are all my files for the game? I looked for them in the steam folder, nothing & same goes for in my Program files (x86) or just plain old Program files.

C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\skyrim

Saves and INI files are stored in \My Documents\My Games\skyrim

Which would be fine if True but just after release they Bait and switched it so that Steam is required to be running anytime you want to play the game NOT JUST FOR ACTIVATION like the Retail package says !! so unfortunately now Steam is required to play the game not just for activation - unless you have the original release version (no updates since the first day patch - which means you had to install prior to the other patches being released) you have to have Steam installed and running or the game will not launch.

Welcome to the S(hi)team regime where indeed it is forced upon us to install software ... only way to work without Steam is with a crack which of course is illegal ... but that all can of course not be mentioned here because there is a separate S(hi)team part here at the forums which acts like a very big hole where all the S(hi)team critics are disappearing in

You are required to be logged into steam to play either on or offline, the steam program needs to be running or you dont play.

So when the box says,
"Requires internet connection and free steam account to activate."

I wish it was that simple. Yes I wish all i needed to do was get online make a steam account activate the game and play never see steam again. So i think the box warning is even misleading. They make it sound like it this one time thing you do before you play.

It should say, "Requires internet connection and free steam account to activate with the steam program running to play."


Opps I see Jds post is pretty much like mine, oh well I will scan the replys better next time.

Can I just stick my hand up and ask a silly question here? What's the problem with installing Steam exactly? I just don't get the Steam hate and vitriol. It doesn't use a ton of resources, you get fantastic deals every so often (games for silly money) and you get automatically patched.

You wouldn't need to ask such a silly question if you read the damn posts.

It forces you to update. You don't have a say whether you want to download a [censored] broken patch. And this for a single player game.

I think it's just people hating the fact that they're forced to use a 3rd party program to run a game for no real reason.

For all the steam haters, remember... it's not GFWL. Which was used for Fallout 3.

I get real tired of hearing things like this...Its called TRUTH in Advertising!! ON the box I bought it says....Steam ...required to Activate.....IT does NOT say that steam is required to run 24 /7. I have had to activate programs in the past , never has that ment i had to install and run a 3 rd party app that gives .pop-ups and acts like a virus...try telling steam you don't want it to update...see if the virus listens. It will overwrite your options, ever single time...all tho I see there is now a mod that takes care of this issue...

Anyone that bought the game on release day ....DOES have this option.(if they backed up their install) ,everyone else is screwed. I have my day one EXE ...it does not require steam to play the game. That is what I was sold....a game that did not require steam to run in the background. But Steam/Bethesda changed the rules...

Well well, another person lacking any social skills. I did read "the damn posts" but I'm just wondering why installing Steam is such a no-no for some people. Call it curiosity, if you will. Personally, I don't mind it. But I'm quite a calm person who just enjoys playing Skyrim and I've calmly accepted that Steam is necessary. Like a copy of Windows. It's just one of those things.

Oh, and the patch is not broken, by the way. Works fine. I'm pretty sure you can prevent Steam from updating games if you don't want it to, right-click on a game and change the update policy?

Just as an aside here, I have Nexus Mod manager installed. My steam is offline and I fire up the game from NMM with no problems. Don't know if that helps anyone, somehow I doubt it but thought it was worth mentioning.

Sorry for not posting sooner, actually if you ran the Fallout Script Extender GFWL didn't even run at all as it basically deactivated it. Also they're basically forcing us to install a program in the days before wasn't even needed to install a game at all. Add you did was put in the key code & bam you started the install. Even WoW is still like that. If this was an mmo I could understand the mandatory updates. But it's not and more likely never will be. The reason I hate having to install 3rd party programs just to install and or play a game is because it is unnecessary.

Yea it doesn't use much resources & such but that is not the reason I don't like 3rd party programs. I just view stuff like that as unnecessary "junk" as it was never needed before & to be honest still not needed. All it does from what I seen update my game automatically when I can take maybe 2 to 3 minutes or less to go to Beth's website, download the patch &, install it. Which doesn't take that long really.

If they would let us install it after installing the game it wouldn't be so bad, but they don't. They make us keep it on our systems just to run the game. Consoles gamers don't have to have that so why do us pc gamers have to?

To answer that simply and plainly, Omegacloud, it's because of the rampant piracy on the PC. Don't forget, Steam is at its heart, a DRM system. It has some nice bells and whistles attached to it in the form of content delivery and such, but as we all know, it has its disadvantages as well.

The piracy rate on consoles is totally insignificant compared to the rate on the PC for obvious reasons.


Stannie

No, if you set Steam to not update the game automatically, it will update anyway the next time you try to start the game. And I don't want to have to keep going in offline mode every time I want to play. And knowing Steam's offline mode, I'd be lucky if I could even start the damn thing without going online to update. And what if my power shuts off and interenet cuts out while Steam is running? Guess what, IT IS THEN IMPOSSIBLE TO SIGN INTO STEAM WITHOUT GOING ONLINE AGAIN FIRST. NO OFFLINE MODE. THAT MEANS I CAN'T EVEN PLAY THIS GAME I BOUGHT. And I can't keep Steam offline forever, because like many people, I have multiplayer games which require Steam to be online.

And how about them tying the HD texture pack to your account, so you couldn't uninstall those gigs of data off your harddrive without asking the Steam Support Overlords first (or uninstalling the entire game)?

There's quite a few reasons to be angry with Steam. It shouldn't be this way for a single player game.

Skyrim was out with a crack a week before 11/11/11 on even public torrent trackers such as Arrghh!
So either the intention was a failure or the intention is something different and the piracy is an excuse. DRM NEVER worked for not even one game at all...ever. The only thing I can recall that was not only smart and effective(can't remember the game) was that if you had a pirated version the first boss was invulnerable and unkillable ....now that is how you deal with piracy as opposed to pre supposing everyone is a potential pirate.

I also fully endorse this statement:
No, if you set Steam to not update the game automatically, it will update anyway the next time you try to start the game. And I don't want to have to keep going in offline mode every time I want to play. And knowing Steam's offline mode, I'd be lucky if I could even start the damn thing without going online to update. And what if my power shuts off and interenet cuts out while Steam is running? Guess what, IT IS THEN IMPOSSIBLE TO SIGN INTO STEAM WITHOUT GOING ONLINE AGAIN FIRST. THAT MEANS I CAN'T EVEN PLAY THIS GAME I BOUGHT. And I can't keep Steam offline forever, because like many people, I have multiplayer games which require Steam to be online.

And how about them tying the HD texture pack to your account, so you couldn't uninstall those gigs of data off your harddrive without asking the Steam Support Overlords first?

There's quite a few reasons to be angry with Steam. It shouldn't be this way for a single player game.

-KGN 004

Inc mod telling us to go to a steam forum in regards to their software that requires the aforementioned DRM btw....

I'd prefer you change my quote to what I just edited in.

And I took out the unnecessary name calling.

No Problemo

The steam deals outweigh the negatives for me.

Well actually, the only real cracked version of the game that surfaced before official release on 11.11.11 was ironically the XBox 360 version. The PC pirated version did not surface until after the game's release and only then did the game start to become heavilly pirated. Pre-release claims for the PC were in fact all fake.

I agree with the rest of what you said though. Most DRM can only help restrict piracy during the initial lucrative sales period, but of course it cannot and does not prevent piracy in the long run, and the developers know this. I was just commenting on why we have to put up with Steam at all.

Stannie

Incorrect --- the main reason is to eliminate the Resale market for PC games by tying the product key to a single user -- the manufacturer does not make any money off of secondary sales of the product so is doing what it can to eliminate that market and keep users from reselling their games after they play through it once or twice. DRM has never and will never deter Piracy (every game released is available on the Pirate sites Within a few days of the game release (Or Sooner - sometimes even weeks before official release of the game) - and Steam games are the same including SKYRIM which was available for download several days before release and the DRM from Steam was broken and useable before the release in the US (since it was released almost a day sooner in Australia and as soon as it was released within a couple hours a cracked version was available - the only reason it was not sooner is the data on the retail disk and the digital predownload was encrypted and until it was released somewhere that encrytion key was not available but as soon as it is released to the public then the key is public as well) so within a few hours the product is released by the pirate sites with no DRM. -- SO if in fact Steam's main reason for use is to curb Piracy it would be a major Failure and no company would be paying to use it -- but since that is not the real reason for it but the real reason for it is to stop the casual resale of the product Manufacturers think it is succesful and continue to use it since they can then make more $ off of sales as there are no used copies available for purchase.