I enjoyed playing Fallout 3 and looked forward to Fallout New Vegas.

I'm sitting here with a bad taste in my mouth having just purchased and installed the game.
I have yet to play the game and am hoping that game play will improve my mood.

I make a point of purchasing retail games on CD / DVD. I'm okay with the notion that a game
may require an Internet connection for * activation * though I'm not thrilled by it. I prefer
to know that when I spend my hard earned money on a game, I'll always be able to play it as long
as I have a working computer. I'm not interested in the game being on paid for conditional loan ...
that I can only play it as long as a company stays in business and chooses to allow me to play it.
Westwood Studios is no more, however their Land Of Lore games which I purchased still work.

So here I am having purchased a retail / boxed copy of Fallout New Vegas which in addition to
requiring me to sign up with an online service to install the game ... it appears to force me
to log onto the online service anytime I want to play the game. Had I realized that before
purchasing and installing the game I probably would have gotten something else.

Not only did Steam automatically download an update without asking ... it also proceeded to
install a Microsoft VC redist and a DirectX update without checking with me. Software should
* not * go about reconfiguring my system without asking permission. If it needs a different
VC runtime or DirectX version, then it should say so during installation and * ask * if it's
okay to update. It's just possible that I have other applications on the system with different
needs.

There needs to be a balance between the needs of the game publisher and the rights of the
player / owner of the computer system. I don't have a problem with checking if the CD / DVD
is in the drive. I can accept initially requiring Internet for * activation *, though some
publishers are nice enough to after a year or two supply a patch which removes that requirement.
I understand the some people use an online system to purchase and play games which their choice
... everyone has different tastes. However I did * not * purchase the game online so I expected
that there was * not * going to be an online requirement for game play. Further more I expect
patches to be available as standonline downloads so that in a couple of years I can reinstall
the game, apply the patch, and proceed to have fun without worrying if the company is still in
business and has the game enabled on their servers.

I've enjoyed various Bethesda games in the past (e.g. Daggerfall, Morrowind, Oblivion, and
Fallout 3) and hope to enjoy more in the future. However if the DRM and patch system becomes
too obnoxious or presumes too much, then I'll find other ways of entertaining myself.

I hope the developers with keep this feedback in mind as they work on future projects.

Respectively,

John Wehle