Normally, I would easily argue most games that use steam is a good thing, but in this case I would have to disagree. And I usually do find steam useful, but when I try to play Skyrim with it, I also have issues with the game. I have read other posts on the forums here, where some have turned off the steam client support for Skyrim, and those issues seem to clear up afterward. also in addition to this reason, I also would have to note the lack of a multiplayer function to Skyrim, and the steam client is solely built for multiplayer games, any game that doesn't have it, and uses steam support, is a serious waste of resources.

So i have to ask, based on that experience, "Why did Bethesda think steam support was a good idea for Skyrim?" clearly it is causing some of the issues with the game right now, so if they really want to fix this quickly, they should at the very least patch in a temporary break from the steam client, at least till steam can fix their client instability. I don't understand why it is causing all this trouble, but clearly it is.

They didn't add Steam support for you.

They added it because it was good for sales.

1. Allows Bethesda to issue patches to every client with one press of a button.
2. Gives usage statistics.
3. Downloadable content integration.
4. Offers achievements, which many people happen to like.
5. Functions as DRM.
6. Players can talk with their friends in-game, if they so choose.
7. Screenshot utility for easy sharing.

Need I go on? I don't really get your "Steam is for multiplayer games only" argument, sorry.

Look at it this way, it's better than being stuck with the likes of Games for Window Live or Securom.

Plus, with an in-game web browser, I don't have to alt-tab out of the game (which in previous gamesas games caused a crash, that's at least one thing they fixed here) in order to look up console codes for when something invariably ends up going wrong.

have you ever played dawn of war? it uses steam, and that didn't stop Microsoft from cutting their [censored] into it.

dont mistake me as bashing and just plain hating on steam, but I'm only saying that if it makes the game run unstable, than as a quality control issue it SHOULD be temporarily disabled til it is fixed.

But that is the thing -- Beth games tend to have stability problems with things running in the background (any time the game loses memory control (esp if it is doing something) it becomes unstable and is prone to crashing -- so adding in an in game browser is just asking for problems and many of the CTD threads that are popping up are due to having these interactions happening which is why turning Steam off while running the game (not having it in offline mode but actually not having it running at all) is fixing many of the problems.

And if you want to run it without starting up Steam, just go to your Skyrim folder and double click the TESV.exe file.

The fact you would say you don't know what DRM is but then argue that Steam is pointless rather negates your point, DRM is a method used for combating piracy and Bethesda aren't alone in using Steam for this exclusively, Sports Interactive changed to Steam only for their FM12 release. While piracy will never be totally iradicated by any method it does seem Steam is the most effective. Also I have over 50 games from Steam and have never had a problem at all. I don't think it's ever even registered on the CPU usage except when downloading games, and then it was using between 1 and 2% of my CPU!

Piracy is wrong and should be punished, why should I be directed to use a programme I do not want? Will you buy a new comp if you have to buy a second GPU and must use Linux? Why should I suffer from a policy I am not parting of being a not hacker and paying for my hardcopy DVD, and not steam. I want to install it on a comp with no connection what now?

Not one company can force you to use the services of another company for any standalone product.

Exactly what "issues" are you having with Steam? You mention about it causing problems but you haven't listed a single one. I mean, yes, Steam is DRM, and yes, it does add to the game's startup time (as the client must be running), but I'm not sure exactly how the client itself is causing problems once the game is launched and running.

One can also argue that the Steam DRM has been completely ineffective in this case, since Skyrim was cracked within hours of release. The other uses of Steam are fully justified in my opinion though, so don't get me wrong. With the exception of multiplayer games, DRM just serves as crippling the game and punishing legitimate users, it's a shame that game publishers still see it as essential to apply DRM to their products.

I've used Steam for a long time for lots of other games, so it's certainly not an unwelcome decision for me, as I quite enjoy, as it was pointed out earlier, being able to chat to my friends and browse the web without having to alt-tab and risk a crash. I'm certainly glad Steam was chosen over that awful monstrosity known as Origin, of which I've thankfully not had the pleasure of using.

Because Steam is awesome. I always use it for every game possible. My buddies can jump on and see if I'm playing Skyrim and ask me about it. We can trade pictures. We can call each other if we want to chat about the game. It makes patching the game ABSURDLY EASY. It happens in the background half the time and I'm not even aware of it.

Why not have Steam?

the issues are it is slowing the game down, it is also causing several graphics and performance issues because it is svcking up memory. because of a few cases where, my computer was slowed down drastically, all because steam wanted to perform a random update I have also died in the game because of it.

I'm not saying it is bad for the game, I'm just saying it runs better without it. and that alone says that steam is causing the issues, if you cant wrap your head around that, then go back to programing school as you need to relearn.

also you cant just click on the Skyrim EXE. file because its also been coded into the steam client, you have to manually set it up to run without steam. I have seen it is possible, but I would have to hack and possible break the game to do it.

perhaps a compromise would be in order, why cant they simply add in a disable in game support only option for Skyrim at least until they fix the stability issues with it?
other games have done so in the past my earlier mention of Dawn of War is one of them, so I know it is possible.

We could argue this for months, every game forum I go on that uses Steam, it's always the same, get over it? All you have to is open Steam, you can even put it on Auto-login so you just need to double click Skyrim when Steam opens.

And, you say that it's not built for Single Player games?

I'm Pretty sure the first Steam game was Single player...

you can only buy icecream from me if you eat at McDonalds...just the same as forcing steam through a gamers throat.

Because surely Steam causes all the bugs, cant be Bethesda who are new to coding with Steam.

Skyrim was my first experience with Steam, and it was NOT good... I bought the game on disc, since downloading 5GB at 38KB/s isn't fun. Then I struggled for two hours to get Steam to install from disc. Then I had to wait another hour and a half to download the 200MB update, since I couldn't (or didn't know how) to prevent it from downloading and would have preferred to play the unpatched version and update while I'm sleeping.

In summary, I hated Steam on 11/11/11.

But..... Once everything is working, I realised it's not that bad... If you're looking for a game, you can immediately search for it and won't have to look for a store that sells it. I also like to see the usage statistics and the random news about the game.

So, try looking at Steam objectively and perhaps you will also start liking it.

that's the whole issue right there, I DO LIKE STEAM!!!!!!!!!

I just don't like what its doing while I'm playing, I want it to just turn off while I'm in the game. it can do all that [censored] after I'm done playing.

Steam doesnt do anything while youre playing.

It does it runs on te backgound and Skyrim is not functioning well with programmes running on the background, that has been proven.

You can turn off in-game overlay and tell steam never to download stuff while you are in a game both options in the steam setup menu if I remeber correctly.

yes it does it runs updates whenever it has one, and that can occur while your playing, or while your browsing or any damn time it feels like it.

Thats Skyrims problem, not Steams. All other steamworks game function with steam running in the background.

No. It doesnt update while youre playing.

You can turn the automatic download globaly in the steam setup/settings menu like I said in my other post.