Skyrim is supposed to be able to be played without internet access. I have tested this a few times by turning of my internet and playing, and it works fine. However, twice in the past few months, once for a week, once for 18 days, I have been in a situation without internet access, and it doesn't work. One time I tried, it actually did, but then I try again a few days later and it doesn't for the rest of the time without internet. It says "This operation can not be completed offline" or something like that, even when I try to play in offline mode. Why is this and how can I fix it? God, I hate Steam.

So was it like you had your internet shut off while you had Steam online and running? And then upon next reboot you got that error? The thing with offline Steam is that it will work if you log out properly, disconnect your internet, then open Steam. But say you were just sitting there with Steam online, then your power shuts off and on, but no internet. Now when you boot up and try to open Steam it'll give you that error. Apparently you can't unexpectly go offline, you have to always plan for it. I guess your only option is to long onto Steam, log off the proper way, disconnect you internet, boot in offline mode and don't let Steam connect to the internet again.

Unless this IS what you are doing, and there is some other ridiculous BS Steam issue going on.

Sadly, the only real fix is to download the cracked Steamless version. They drove you to it. And It's not as if you haven't paid for it proper already...

Thankyou, KGN, I've heard you can set Steam to offline mode even when you are online. If I do this, will it stop being a problem?

I noticed this morning when I tried to start Skyrim from my desktop shortcut while having the internet turned off, that it loads Steam first anyway, and since it doesn't give me an option to start Offline, when I cancel Steam, it wont load Skyrim...

That pretty much blows. So now, Steam (which I've stayed away from until now) is basically like a trojan/virus that has infected my Skyrim executable and wont run it without Steam's permission?

I hope they come up with a "legal" workaround for this, b/c I don't keep my gaming rig "on the grid" all the time.

Playing Oblivion on a laptop with no internet connection was one of the few simple pleasures I had while being deployed to Iraq. It would be a shame if TES fans who can't be online for one reason or another (deployed military, for example) can't enjoy a little "Skyrim R&R" because of this.

BTW - I own the physical copy of Skyrim, not the Steam DL version. I *always* prefer to have a physical copy rather than rely on someone else's network to "let me" access something that I've purchased the rights to use.

Er wut? You can use steam offline at any time, you dont need an internet connection to do so. You only need the connection once to activate the game and thats it.

https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=3160-AGCB-2555

Hey dragonbone it is best unless you use steams online functions(chat etc.) to leave it offline all the time in regards to Skyrim. Here are a few reasons why
1. People have reported issues with crashing involving overlay and comms which you can disable and stay online but I disable them and stay offline
2. No matter what you set the game properties to it will automatically update if steam is online so if you don't want a patch until you are sure then offline mode is much safer.

Okay, so that worked, but that doesn't change the fact that the Steam login's failure to connect to the internet or give me an option to start Offline did stop my Skyrim from launching. It had to be set up to run in "Offline mode" (which I've done because I've run Skyrim while being offline many times before). It just didn't want to give the option to Start Offline that particular time.

I still think 3rd party DRM networks are not the best solution to game piracy. It's already been shown that there are workarounds/cracks for Steam. There has to be a better compromise that protects software companies' revenue while not overly annoying their customers.

I actually like most aspects of the Steam system.

I agree and frankly Skyrim was pirated and working cracked before 11/11/11 so what exactly did the DRM do? I don't recall what game it was but there was one where if you pirated the game it played fine but the first boss just one shot you and there was no way the crackers could get around it. Another tactic was games using that degrading effect where if you didn't have the disk in gameplay AI would erode into pure derp over time. Much more crafty ways to fight pirates who are.....well crafty individuals. Steam has never stopped the scene from cracking a game ever as far as I know.

The only part of steam I like is that I have a big collection of games saved and if I get a new comp or am say stuck at someones house for a week I can play those games. It def should not be a requirement though you should be able to add your software to steam not be forced to use it and ......inc lock because "this is not the Steam forums"

As Scotty said in Star Trek 3, "The more they bypass the plumbing, the easier it is to stop up the drain." Meaning sometimes, the old fashion methods are better in the sense that newer, more complex methods can sometimes lead to things getting screwed up more often.

Applicable story from my WILD and CRAZY RENEGADE younger days: I have a legal copy of Baldur's Gate and BG2, I once set up two computers so me and my nephew could play multiplayer, but I copied the BG disks instead of buying a second copy (copying software is BAD, mmkay, don't do it!) and although the 1st copy disk worked well enough to play the game, it would never install properly from the copied disk, so anyone using a copied disk would still have to have access to the original disk. The subsequent disks (there were like 6 or 7 cds for BG ) never worked, and BG2 didn't copy at all, iirc.

So the moral is, if ancient cd copyright systems still work, why not use them? Is the big issue with having to not lose or badly scratch your original CD/DVD? I still play Rome Total War from like 2004 and it won't even load without the DVD in the drive. Is it really that hard to take care of a DVD? Besides, for all I know, the physical store-bought version of Skyrim may not even run without the DVD in the drive. I've haven't taken the disk out since I installed it a week ago.

That method is bypassed as soon as any title using it is released. There are perfectly legal websites that can supply modified EXE files for just that purpose.

Ya cracks are a grey area....because if you own the game you have every right to bypass leaving a disc in your tray and burning it out sooner....in my case I didn't pay for a blu ray drive for dvd rom's to be spinning in it and thus digital download install is great etc.
I won't lie I used to be a broke little pirate who spent all his money on WoW and basically downloaded cracks of everything else for trial. I did buy the games I liked but in the process I realized how fail all this new DRM and security really is. The scene will crack something before it comes out. Since I purchased my new rig I refuse to install anything illegitimate and not playing an MMO with a monthly fee allows me to afford games. However after my experience with Skyrim on release I am never going to buy another game until it has been out for a month or longer. That said they seem to be more on the ball then with prior games which is good.

JMC002 is correct.

There is nothing wrong with using Steamless EXE's on your legally bought version of Skyrim, personally I unwrap the EXE's myself and just use STEAM to update Skyrim. I have nothing against Steam it's great but I prefer to run without if possible.

Yep same here avoiding steam whenever I can but I do the same with anything else when gaming if it doesn't need to be running....why is it running.

@Thoth
Exactly especially if it has that SecuROM junk packed into it lol.

Yessir....More like InSecuROM

Anit that the truth

One of those DRMs... Might've been SecureROM, actually physically damaged a hard drive. Bad, bad stuff some of these people engineer.