Best Way to Buy Skyrim?

[Vince]

I finally have a computer where I can devote one drive to STEAM.  Not surprisingly, the first game I want to buy is Skyrim.  I want to play Skyrim with as little online as possible.  If I need to initially have it authenticated by STEAM and STEAM has to do their update thing, that's OK.  Being constantly online while playing is not OK.  As I understand it, I can buy the DVD or do a direct download from STEAM.  Are there any other options?  Also, do these options change how much I need to be online?

[DsoS]

I have the DVD version and It installed steam and Skyrim runs from Steam. I don't require the DVD afterwards.

 

The DVD or Steam version works basically the same. Just that you have a hard copy vs a cloud version.

 

No there is no change on how much you need to be online, from what I can tell. If you have steam open its going to try to connect. You can do an off-line mode, but I have never tried playing Skyrim without being on-line, as I find steams browser helpful at times.

[Tamira]

I too don't want to be online with Steam as little as possible. So I disconnect my W-Lan before I start Skyrim or the CK (and with that Steam) and Steam tries to connect. If it fails it usually suggests to cancel /try again /play offline. Then I choose offline and Steam runs offline. Works for most of the time, only every now and then (weeks or months) it reclaims to log in again online to verify the log-in data.

Of course you have to make a proper log-in before that, so the profile is stored on your computer.

Edited August 8, 2014 by Tamira

[donnato]

Nope .. pretty much have to log into steam .. *rant .. withheld*  .. On the up side it does give you updates and mod options..

 

EDIT: I used to be able to play off line until one of steams infamous earlier patch updates seemed to remove that option.  I haven`t even checked lately. Actually, I like the backup options they have now. Also Steam is a lot more stable these days. I don`t care about game play stats or steam ranks, that`s for folks who like to show what they`ve achieved.

Edited August 9, 2014 by donnato

[oldladyonthemoon]

I finally have a computer where I can devote one drive to STEAM.  Not surprisingly, the first game I want to buy is Skyrim.  I want to play Skyrim with as little online as possible.  If I need to initially have it authenticated by STEAM and STEAM has to do their update thing, that's OK.  Being constantly online while playing is not OK.  As I understand it, I can buy the DVD or do a direct download from STEAM.  Are there any other options?  Also, do these options change how much I need to be online?

You need Steam during installation of the game. After that you can play with Steam offline without any problem. So, you can buy the dvd, if the box contains additons to the disk, like a beautiful map, for example. If the box contains only the disk, buy on Steam. Wait for a sale and you might buy it for cheap too.

[Vince]

Thanks to all of you I have a better picture of how it works.  Cheers

[jamochawoke]

Nope .. pretty much have to log into steam .. *rant .. withheld*  .. On the up side it does give you updates and mod options..

 

EDIT: I used to be able to play off line until one of steams infamous earlier patch updates seemed to remove that option.  I haven`t even checked lately. Actually, I like the backup options they have now. Also Steam is a lot more stable these days. I don`t care about game play stats or steam ranks, that`s for folks who like to show what they`ve achieved.

I also used to be able to play in offline mode until that patch. I can still play in offline mode but it will randomly throw up some BS saying I -HAVE- to connect for updates or it won't let me play. It's one of the most annoying things I've ever had to deal with playing a game, especially as I take my laptop into places where I can get electricity but no internet. So frustrating.