Okay, I haven't found a thread related to the new patch Steam installed into my game yesterday, so I'm creating this one.

First thing I had yesterday, just after installation: vampires I had killed barely 30mn befiore installation were alive again after installation; they had lost their agressivity though.

Today, I created a new character. First problem in the tutorial: the Thalmor that is supposed chatting with general Tullius when we still are in the carriage was missing, only his horse was there. I tried a picture but I was so surprised that it didn't go well. Here it is, watch on the extreme right: http://pix.toile-libre.org/upload/original/1330503300.jpg. You can see that there's nobody on the horse.

After that, once in the keep, my character could draw his sword but unable to use it: controls worked once on ten times I tried to have him fight. I had him sheathe his sword and after that no way I could have him draw it again.

Okay, I'm going to get back to 1.4.21 and play offline.

You might want to look into this: http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1353517-important-load-order-and-you/

Okay, I gave it a new try and created another character.

This time, I didn't have problems with the weapons but ... Hadvar didn't stop at the three stones and didn't deliver his speech and didn't wait for me to chose one. I could have not chosen one, it would have changed nothing. You couldn't do that "before"; whoever you followed didn't move until you had chosen a sign.

I'm guessing that you are using mods and some of these mods have not been updated yet. Disable any mods and try again. This doesn't happen in an unmodded game.

Using mods and blaming Bethesda when a new update is released because your mods are no longer compatible is a waste of everyone's time, including your own. As many have already suggested, if you use mods, the best course of action is probably to configure Steam to not automatically update Skyrim. This allows you to only update the game once all the mods you use have been updated to be compatible with the latest version.

The mods I'm using are mainly mine and they don't need any update. They are mods that add things in Breezehome or change the character and his horse walking and running speed, one modifies Lydia and cooking effects, another one fix the shadows. Nothing here that can change Hadvar's behaviour. Did you try to force Steam not to update your game? Obviously no. If you chose "don't update my game", they understand "always update my game".

I use no addons besides Amegpo's Nirnroot/Lazy Zombies/Possessive Weapons and after the recent patch on load a few random things in the outdoor grids seemed to clump next to my character...few skeevers some wildlife and a few other animals(hostile) but nothing was aggressive and when I went to kill something it all dissipated. Also saw a mammoth in the sky for a few seconds then it seemed to despawn. No issues playing since the patch about 8 hours playing since the patch. Seems like the grids got a reset or something along those lines.

Friend, this feature is broken. Steam just periodically resets it.

Yep only safe way to hold your version is to stay offline with Steam.

The do not auto-update feature is a joke indeed, I asked support about it and they told me it's only to prevent an update until next time you try to play a game.
I mean, seriously, does that even make sense? Anyway:

There are two workarounds I know about:
1. Offline-mode, which can be a PITA if you have other Steam games.
2. Make a full backup of the game in question, let it update, copy it back and set again to "do not autouptade".
The game should then stay on this version until the next update is released or until you try to verify the game files.

I just stay in offline mode since the only other game I have been playing off of Steam is DX HR and it doesn't need a patch. Small side question: anyone know if achievements are logged if you are playing in offline mode? It seems I got some if I recall but I def got boned on my Hail Sithis playing with Steam offline. Might just be a bug with the achievement and have nothing to do with it.

It works fine for me. In fact, I tested it when 1.4.27 was released and Steam didn't update Skyrim until I wanted it to. If you're that concerned about it, you have options. You can make a backup of your \skyrim directory and leave Steam in offline mode or use a utility like PeerBlock to prevent Steam from connecting.

Really? I am not doubting you but what is your OS because I have had steam gotten numerous updates done a reformat then a reinstall of steam and never once has that setting ever in the history of Win7 or Vista ever worked for me.

That you're one among many whose experience with the feature is consistent with their expectations of it "working" does not demonstrate that the feature is bug-free. For many others, the experience is inconsistent with the expectations they derive from the available feature description. And I'm comfortable with the idea that both your experiences and theirs are valid.

Also, I had yet to see these two emoticons abutting. It is somewhat entertaining.

Nevertheless, your recommended workarounds are basically to cripple Steam temporarily. This seems a great solution if we assume Skyrim is the user's only Steam game. What about otherwise? Not so good if they want to update/reinstall another Steam game, shop for new additions to their Library, etc...

I for one use Steam for other games, but also want control over when & how Skyrim is changed.