As great as Steam is supposed to be it's not a good fit for everyone, & not everyone can enjoy the benefits.

& yes I do remember that form of validation & Steam is not so great at all for some of us.

I suppose you're right. There ARE people who do not benefit from it. I need to remember this, too.

SIGH AGAIN

In a perfect world....

I like Steam but a game like fallout just doesn't belong.
I've used steam for years, it keeps your games up to date and I've never had a problem...until FalloutNV.

The problem is that the fallout games are the buggiest games I've ever played, honestly I cannot think of a worse example.
Every patch they release seems to introduce new, more severe problems. Normally steam updates are a good thing but
not with fallout.

The blame lies with the developers and their inability to release a stable product, not Steam.

Being a frequent traveler of the net, I can say that it is no better then the basic disc check from before.

Anything more then that is a hindrance, not a deterrent.


I agree, Steam is good. It is nice to have when feeling lazy and not wanting to go to the store, or for indie games, etc. However, the fact that it is MANDATORY is what I take issue with. I bought Assassins Creed 2 though steam as opposed to disc. Same for Mass Effect 2. I did that because I didn't care if steam was running. But with Fallout, I do care for a number of reasons. Main being the track record of patches with Fallout being less then satisfactory right off the bat. In order to make 100% for sure that Fallout does not update, I have completely cut steam off from the internet. Stripping its ability to even see the light of day, or take a piss without my knowing. Not to mention, I bought the physical copy because that is what I wanted. The game, and the game only. That is why I prefer hard copies over digital copies. I want to make 100% sure that I can play my games in the event that no internet access is available.

Not to mention the complete stupidity of requiring a 3rd party application just to run a game. I rarely use the in-game features. I don't use if as my social networking hub. I just simply do not use 90% of its features. I only use it for getting small indie games or games I am to lazy to get myself. Period, the end, that is all.

But alas, the idea of "don't support what you don't like is invalid in this situation. How do I tell Valve that I don't want them in my games when I am not given the choice? Steam is not an essential component of the game itself. The game itself does not burst in flames if steam is not there. Therefore it can not be considered mandatory.

Bleh... now to play some minecraft...

The whole point is freedom. Why take away my freedom to play what I purchased whenever I want, however I want?

Why invade my PC and take advantage of what I paid for because some kids like the pirate games?

Why force me into an environment that some of you say I "don't understand" because maybe I'm not a hardcoe gamer?

Steam should pay ME for the right to access my private life and computer. They'll say I gave them "permission" by buying and installing the game. It doesn't say on the box that I could NOT play the game without Steam. It said I had to "activate" the game online via Steam. Big difference.

DRM means nothing to me. I lose nothing if anyone pirates a game. Figure it out for individual consumers. We live in a technological age doing amazing things. Figure it out developers--get the right partners.

sorry but I have a serious problem with this kind of thing...
I don't like anything on my PC that I can't control myself...
If I want to update a program I will DO it myself... I don't
need some bs program doing it behind my back...

not updating your own programs and PC is just laziness..

After much tweaking I finally have the game running pretty
well with several mods installed and I'm not going to risk
being forced back to square 1 again after some patch
I don't even have any control over when it gets installed...

I will not be connecting my gaming PC to the internet again
unless I see that a patch is released that does not create new problems..

I am watching these forums closely to see how this process is going
and so far I'm not convinced there's a good enough reason to connect again...

Now I can't risk connecting my gaming PC without worrying that
steam will force some update that totally screws up my game
like so many others who are crashing now after the patch...

oh yeah steam is great, isn't it..? beh..

If that's the way PC gaming is going to go, then I guess
my money is going to stay in my pocket..

M

If you're that worried about it, after getting the game running (assuming you can, which apparently some can't) turn Steam to offline mode and tell your firewall to deny Steam access to the internet.

Still better than an "always-on internet connection" method of DRM, or a rootkit version like they had a couple of years ago.

Really? because on my box, right under the sys req. is a red box saying "Requires internet conection and free steam account to activate" followed by a disclamer saying you do need to accept Steams Subscriber agreement and if you do not agree with that to return your unopened copy in accordance to the retailers return policy

Let's please keep this discussion to getting help with Steam-related problems.

Time to draw things in crayon. This looks more like a "User Error".

1: Do you have a valid steam account?
2: Are you logged into that account.

If yes to both. Register your product key. Games Tab and "Activate a product on Steam". Enter the code that came with your game disk.

Now when that is done and you see "Fallout: New Vegas" in your library restart steam in offline mode by clicking the Steam Tab and selecting "Go offline".

Now install the damn game from the disk with steam still running in offline mode. Steam must be running to play the game. It does not need to be connected to the net once the product is registered.


Far as your constant CTDs go. It's installed mods, or something borked on your end. With the sweeping changes changes happing to the game over the next few week the early mod adopters are in for some rough times. Bad idea to release the GECK before the major patches.

The CTD rate is the same as FO3. That means totally out of the blue and completely random 99% of the time. The other 1% also defies logic.

Kor'Ah

so the user error is responsible for:

1. Steam forcing the 1.2 patch onto my PC
2. Because of Steam making FalloutNV unplayable because gamesas is incompetent

3. Reinstallting a fresh copy of FalloutNV is pointless because to activate the game
the 1.2 exe will be installed via Steam.


Please tell me how this is a user error.

I understand that Steam has certain values.
In particular under an economical and green aspect saving packaging and CDs is good for the environment.

However the force patch problem clearly shows also how bad this decission was.

In case gamesas or Steam would offer also the 1.0 version of FalloutNV so you can play that till
they figure out 1.2 being stable things would be different.

But it is not.

I for example have now a DVD install which is useless because with Steam it installs a non working game.


Perfect!

Hey guys, if you can go online to post here you can go online to register the game on STEAM. After you register it's just too simple to launch steam and play it in offline mode. I've already done it.

FO:NV + Steam for $25 is ok ... for $50 is a stretch. Steam is a pain and what is with the ads every time I start Steam?? I get an ads for one of their bogus programs that i have no interest in. Also please notice there is no way to turn this off, this pushing products in your face to earn a extra buck. GMAB!

:flamethrower: to Steam!!

Well....except for opening up the Steam settings dialogue and turning off the "Notify me (with Steam instant messages) about additions or change......"

I haven't seen an "ad" from Steam in almost a year now.

From reading above just shows that you guys need to research this more. Then maybe you won't be so annoyed by something you can fix up yourself with a few quick change of settings.

"Hey guys, if you can go online to post here you can go online to register the game on STEAM. After you register it's just too simple to launch steam and play it in offline mode. I've already done it. "


Not true. With my dialup I can come the the Bethesda forums as I have for years and read or post in threads. However, with my dialup Steam keeps disconnecting me in the midst of the install, preventing me form finishing the install of the game.

That's just not the case.

My game is installed, activated, and fully patched. I am 49 hours into my game.
Right now I would sell my grandmother to be able to go "off-line". But I can't.
You have to connect to Steam to be able to go off-line, and right now, it can't connect to the network.

So I cannot play my game on my computer because Steam is having problems.

You do know that actually most users avoid steam at all cost?
You do know that many, many users have problem with steam on many titles (and not just NV).
Maybe as preposition: I do like the concept of steam, however the programming such bad that probably a 12 yo girl without computer experience could do it better. It is not Bethesda Code which screws it up. there may be a bug or two...[censored] happens. I didnt have problems with NV. I started having problems when steam didn't update today. Offline mode can only be turned on when going online...which is not very feasible if you want to activate it due to ISP outage.
Offline mode works pretty well? Every time i start a game in offline mode I have to confirm twice that I want to stay offline and that my games are not synchronized in the steam cloud.
I tried to uninstall Steam and did not backup my game files because I thought no programmer who knows anything about his job (i do that too for a living) and with a sane mind would deinstall ALL game files with steam. I guess I was wrong...its all gone (and i guess my save files are gone as well, although unconfirmed. They at least cannot be found in my user application data.)

Like I said: Steam would be a good thing if implemeted correctly and by competent programmers...however it is not.

Bethesda is responsible for the mess with NV because they chose Steam as a platform although it might be obvious when just looking 30 mins total on google, how bad steam may get. While I do see necessity for a copy protection or some form of DRM...driving away customers will in the end cost a lot more than any losses on copy protection. I havent gotten any game illegally in over one decade (and im against it in general). Problems with Steam or even worse Ubisoft however make me reconisder my attitude to pirating. I am quite certain i'm not alone with that. And this is a sad thing because in the end the game industry will ultimatly dig their own graves.

While I understand it wouldn't be very convenient for you to do so, do you have no avenue to temporarily take your PC with you to a sympathetic friend/relative/employer/stranger who has a broadband connection, download and patch everything, and then switch things to off-line mode for Steam and run FNV that way at home?

Think of it as a a real-life RPG quest. 1) Get the quest item, but it won't work. 2) Lug it around to NPCs to get it fixed/connected. 3) Lug it home. 4) Level up.

Something is wrong there. If I turn on Steam with my network turned off I simply get a popup informing me it can't connect and asking if I want to use Offline mode instead.

It should do that unless you logged out of your account or chose the option to "not store account credentials on this computer".

If the problem is you are not logged in to your account, then connecting to any network anywhere should allow you to log in to Steam and store your credentials.

Just to check, does Steam know you have a 56k connection or is it set (in the settings) to think you have broadband?

I have used Steam from the day of it's birth, at first is was more trouble then it's worth (it was just a game server search engine for valve games/mods) but today it an evolved program capable of running, updating, hosting, selling, advertising, and protecting the games we play. It can also keep you connected to your friends/groups of friends as well as track your achievements and other information to share and brag to your friends with. I often see that some people are upset that they have to use steam to play game X (and I feel for you) but how is that different that the current practice of game exclusives for consoles?

When I see threads like this I can't help but think "Steam you've made it, welcome to the big leagues. The buffet is to the right next to where Apple and Microsoft are standing". This thread and threads like it are simple a vocal minority defiantly standing on the train tracks in hopes that their complaining will some how stop the train of progress.

The PC version really requires Steam for validation? That kind of blows my mind.

Not that SecuROM was exactly a great solution, but Steam just seems... inconvenient on so many levels. I know I've had a lot of problems with Steam's platform and games. I'm all for protecting the developers, but I wouldn't have considered Steam a great way to do so.

I wonder if DRM actually has any real impact on combating piracy. The pirates seem pretty competent at bypassing those measures, then offering a less invasive version of the software through other avenues. There must be a better method to protect the developers from piracy than things like Steam or SecuROM, although I'm not sure offhand what that would be.

The title of this thread is rather unfortunate, because I really don't see much value for the FNV gamer. I see possible value to the companies who want to protect DRM. I see possible value for gamers who need a home to store their stats and games and can't figure out how to download updates all on their own. I see NO value for a PC user wishing to play offline without the ads, the glitches, the ever-present demand of Steam to hunch over your shoulder while you play the game you paid for and own the rights to.

So, who is protecting MY digital rights? I didn't ask for a partner in my purchase, or more like a jailer. The box said I need to "activate" via Steam, not live with it.

I am fairly confused myself. I am logged into my account on SteamPowered.com. It has all my stats & profile etc on it. But when I crank up Steam on my PC it just tells me it can't connect to the Steam network. It was working fine until it downloaded an update (or something) earlier today. I have tried launching the game directly but it tries to start Steam anyway.

Steam has its faults but it is not an uber DRM in my opinion. I used to borrow games from friends and circumvent how to play it but when I started using Steam, borrowing has become a thing of the past for me.

I don't have a dedicated broadband connection at home and I connect only to patch up using 3G but I still can play my games using offline. I ask a friend to download a new game for me through steam, backup to disk, then I just install and activate it on my end. Its never been that really complicated with me.