Well i have skyrim on Xbox, and I play the PC version at my friends house and i was wondering since you NEED steam to play skyrim, do you have to be online AFTER you have purchased it on steam? is it like diablo 3 where u need a constant internet connection to play it? I forgot to ask my friend this and i most likely won't be seeing him until the 20th lol

No, after the game is activated you could play it in offline mode, but it will become a funny piece of [censored] if someone will hijack your steam account as it happend to a friend of mine last week.

You only HAVE to be online after you first install to verify the game to your account, after that you can play in offline mode all you want. I play in offline mode most of the time because I don't want my friends and family to know just how many hours im logging into the game.

On that note, it seems that you also don't HAVE to be online at the very moment you accomplish an achievement, if your into that. I did all the prerequisites for get one achievement offline, next time i was online, and had the game open, it updated my achivement list.

Steam is probably the most gamer friendly DRM out there. It doesn't require a constant internet connnection, only one time verification, and you can play offline whenever you want.


edit:



Steam guard and safe internet habits are your friend.

One important thing to note (as I ran into this myself). If you plan on play with no internet connection, you have to be online first, and then be sure to actually put yourself into offline mode BEFORE you have no internet access. You cannot change to offline mode without being online first and changing it. So, if you plan on moving or anything like that, be sure to put it in offline mode first.

Offline mode in Steam is not Offline mode in reality. You need to physically disconnect from the net. So it`s still racking up your time playing the game.

Steam also has a habit of every now and then just not allowing you to play your game that you bought. When that happens prepare to be well angered.

sweeet bro thanks I don't really like the idea of buying digital things only protected by passwords as they can easily get stolen by hackers.

guess over this year ill build me a Gaming PC and finally pick up skyrim to play with the awesome mods lol


EDIT: they don't allow you to play your own game?.. well imma still build a gaming pc but i guess i won't be getting skyrim then... i am dissapointed i can't just go a gaming store and buy the PC copy put in PC and play.

Nope. I have not physically disconnected myself from the net. Ive played muliplle gamesi ni offline mode because i didn't care for the hours being logged to tell on me. I've probably put 80 more hours into Fallout:NV then what my account acutally shows. At no time did i physcailly pull the cable out of the NIC. Going into offlinemode is an option in the steam client menu. Easy as pie.


According to my steam account, i have 77 games. And with the one time exception of a serial key mismatch with "Warband Mount & blade" , i have never been unable to play any of the games i bought.

Now, don't get me wrong, i can understand why people don't like steam. Just the very idea of ANY 3rd party between me and my game i found applauling and enraging. Ive been gaming on PC's since 1986. But the thing is, its a sign of the times. Go into any electronic store like BestBuy, and your going to find 3 isles of console games, and a couple of shelves of PC games, with a really svcky selection. Some stores, don't even sell PC games anymore. Its not that PC gaming is dying, its that its all gone online. Other big name publishers are now trying to get into the market Steam made years ago. They're all draconican with their implentation (See Ubisoft). Steams the only one that is sane and user friendly. It svcks that these things exist now, but thats just how the PC gaming ball has bounced. If i HAVE to use one, id rather use steam. The other ones (up and comers like UPlay or Origin) svck the big one.

Stop spreading misinformation, no it doesn't.