» Wed Jun 13, 2012 10:02 am First, I would like to say that I am a total Elder Scrolls nut and have played every Bethesda RPG since Morrowind, most of them at great length, and have purchased both a console and a PC version of Morrowind, Oblivion, and now Skyrim. Second, I would like to apologize if this is not the place to complain publicly about an aspect of the game, but I figured it was the sort of issue suited for General Discussion.
With that said, I would like to express my everlasting disdain for Steam and all its ilk. I have always valued ownership. That seems like a strange statement, perhaps too straightforward a one, but it's the only way I can say it. When I download a game or app and use it through a service, I do not feel as though I own it. I feel as though I have paid to use an additional aspect of a service (which is, in many cases, legally what I have done). That is not a satisfying purchase in my mind. I need to own a physical copy of my games. I feel the same way towards my books. Moreover, I need these physical copies to actually serve some purpose. I would not go out and purchase a book, only to bring it home to my computer (or worse, my Kindle) and punch in an access code that "officiates" my ownership of the book and subsequently downloads it, leaving the paper I brought home useless.
To be more literal, I do not want to buy a game on disc and then download it. I do not want to tie my game to a service that may not be around forever. I can still play the games of a company that has gone out of business on a PS1, PS2, Xbox, etc., but when Valve goes out of business or ceases to support Steam, I will not be able to activate my copy of Skyrim. I will be left with a disc that I cannot install from. Why, then, have I purchased the disc?
And a final point: I want to be able to sell my game if I no longer derive entertainment from it, like I can with my movies, audio CDs, my couch, my computer--anything that I actually own rather than just "purchased the right to use." I understand that the used game market does not benefit the game companies, but when such money-grubbing practices put my OWNERSHIP of a product that I have purchased in jeopardy, I find fault with that business model--ESPECIALLY when it has done nothing to slow down unsavory folk who would obtain the game illegally.
So, Bethesda, I have purchased two copies of Skyrim--one on my Xbox, and one on my PC. Both are physical copies, but only one of those copies serves some purpose. I want you to know that if you try to sell me an absurdly light and circular paperweight again, you will forfeit my business. I love the Elder Scrolls, I would even say that I have loved Bethesda; I do not love having my ownership challenged.
Thank you.
