You know.. I bought a STAND ALONE game on a disk. So I fail to understand why it is that I can't log on and play the game because suddenly STEAM has decided not to work! If I wanted a game that required the internet I would have bought one!!

This is unacceptable and will make me reconsider ever buying another bethesda game. There was nothing said in the game advertising about needing STEAM to play this game.

I had the same problem this morning. Wanted to play for a few minutes before work, and couldn't play. And while disconnecting from the internet worked before in fixing it, it doesn't anymore.

I paid good money for the physical version of the game. I expect to be able to play it.

thats just the way it is, fella on my gf's dorm floor has just literally threw a fit because he cant login to steam. thats just the way it is.

oh come now...the box (I bought the game on disk also) states clearly that you need INTERNET and STEAM. I doubt you didn't know that ahead of time, but ok maybe you didn't read the box.

Yes, svcks when you don't play 'offline mode' and then steam online has problems...I've done that before, so play offline now to be safe. But claiming ignorance on the requirements? Please.

It's printed in a red rectangle on the back of the box. As for not being able to log on it's more a matter of the Valve's forums.

I'm going to look into some offline option, when I get some time, surely as undependable as they have been the past six weeks, other gamers with other games also had to be screaming bloody murder . .

I can play the game, but the Steam Cloud is offline and doesn't sync... Botttom of the Steam main screen it says: 'No Connection'

Yet I can download games Something is messed up. It will be fixed though, must be a technical problem. I hate these online features, but getting aggrevated doesn't help a bit. I try to relax and be patient. There are worse things in the world...

Is there an offline mode? How do you access it? I don't really care about achievements myself.

Pull-down menu "Steam", 2nd from top "Go Offline..." - next time you load up steam, you don't need connection to play.

Dudes, stuff breaks once in a while. Anything man made will never be perfect or flawless, because we are not.

Just deal with it k

In the Steam window, click Steam in the top left corner, then click Go Offline in the menu. You will still get achievements.

Ninjas!

Actually steam is a service that many companies rely on for both protection and distribution. Steam has an obligation to ensure that these services are available 24/7. When they go down they should have a complete separate system/server/location/backup that can be enabled while their primary servers are been fixed/repaired/updated etc. Secondly alot of these recent problems have been related to their cloud connections. They obviously were not ready for cloud nor do they seem to have the expertise and facilites to deal with the problem in a timely and efficient manner.
As for the internet connection requirment on the it's required for activation only (and updates I assume--) That is what is stated on the box, not that a connection is required to play. The game still connects to Steam anyway after you activate your game, offline mode or not.
A little too intrusive since steam isn't required to play and it's service has been somewhat inconsistent lately.

Should be fine now.

It's easiest to just keep steam in offline mode all the time. Turn it to online temporarily once a week or so to download patches for your games.

You won't get achievements and your play-time won't be accurate in offline mode.

True, but the game still starts Steam even in offline mode. The only way to be steamfree while playing is turn off your modem/connection.

Been playing games for decades. In that time, despite being a computer dufus, I've learned what to do when my game doesn't work. Check hardware, software, check for viruses, bad mods. Now, because I love Elder Scrolls games and I really wanted Skyrim, I have to add another thing to worry about--Steam. Steam, which has no business being on a single player game. Especially my single player game which I bought a disk for. Steam, which I have no control over, and cannot fix myself, leaving me at the mercy of Steam. This mornings hullabaloo led me to frustrating adventures in Steam forums and with Steam Support. Apparently, when Steam has problems, it has them all over. So I suppose, the only time Steam Support is available is when you don't actually need it. By the time I was halfway through, I was frustrated enough you could just picture me waving a sword about with murder in my eyes. I understand that for a drm, it isn't as bad as Securom. That doesn't make it good. And that doesn't make it a good choice for a single player game.

I still can't login since this outage, and the password reset fails.
And so I have to wait for Steam Support to reply, which could take days+, or just go to bed and cross fingers!

Steam has decided that despite 350+ hours playing Skyrim on this computer I am no longer allowed to do so.

I think it is perfectly understandable that this might annoy people, it's pissing me off hugely and no, going offline/pulling the internet doesn't help now.
I've been using Steam since 2003, and I am normally quite supportive of it, right now I'd rather have safedisk, starforce, whatever (except any other online bs!)

My 2c before the lock.

But you did pay for one (not saying "bought" as that implies some level of ownership)

& just curious, where did you get the game

It says "ACTIVATE" not play. Unless you're familiar with Steam (me and anyone who has played a Valve game), that can be read as "Activate your code and play offline."

Steam games(the ones with physical disks) really need to make the online requirement more obvious. Yes... you can go offline, but you have to ask first. Who's ever prepared for their internet going out? It's unpredictable. They need a big obvious Steam icon and ACTIVATE should be changed to PLAY.

I personally like Steam, but I do think it was pretty wrong of Bethesda to force it on everyone since they never did it with their past games. I know they're trying to use it to distribute the game, updates, the upcoming Steam Workshop, etc. Physical retail game copies should just be kept away from requiring Steam and use some other form of DRM, though.

Since yesterday's outage is over there's no longer a need to have this in the technical help forum. If you wish to discuss Steam generally please use http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1286613-unofficial-steamdrm-discussion/.