Official TESA TESV Speculation and Info Thread

[the-manta]

What does that actually mean?

[ThomasKaira]

It means you are going to be forced to download the Steam client if you want to play the game if you don't have it yet. And it has to be running in the background at all times.

You must have an internet connection to register your game. (This doesn't matter much, though)

You cannot play the game at all if there is a patch available until you have downloaded the patch.

Valve reserves the right to allow you to play any of your Steamworks games, and the ability to wipe out all your legitimate purchases with a single press of the "ban" button.

Finally, Valve is monopolizing the PC game distribution market. I can see Antitrust lawsuits in their future if this keeps up.

[Arthmoor]

Betheasda is also pissing away a massive market. Compare that to the claimed 30 million Steam users and it should be a massive wake-up call.

To say I am hugely disappointed in Bethesda would be the understatement of this young decade. I thought they as a developer were better than this. I guess I was wrong. They've fallen into the trap. May they suffer disastrous sales losses as a result of this decision.

You have no idea how hugely tempted I am right now to cancel my pre-order and just walk away from it entirely.

[AndalayBay]

I actually don't mind. If pirating wasn't so rampant, they wouldn't need to take these steps. I've got a few games that are activated via Steam. I just shut off all the sharing stuff I can and use it in offline mode.

[the-manta]

Ah, I see... So even if you don't buy it through steam, you must have steam running to play it? That sounds fairly absurd. Well, I already use Steam, so it doesnt really inconvenience me personally, but I can understand why people would be annoyed by this

[Meo]

Ive hated Steam from day 1. From a marketing point of vue, its great, you can reach everyone everywhere. From the players perspective, its like always having a supervisor checking over you. If i dont want to use the latest update, its my choice, not steam. What about patch made by the community, will steam be offended and not allow you to start your game. If i use TGM to test a mod of mine, will steam label me a cheater? Its all about control and its pissing me off cause TES is all about freedom. I bet this lady is on my side...

[the-manta]

I love that character. Cool face peering out from under the hood. Most awesome argonian ever ^^

[Si-Shen]

I hate Steam, its a pain in the butt! One of the big things is, if there is a patch it just DLs it, doesn't ask you if you want to, it says you want to.

I hate to say anything good about EA but what they did with Biowares Dragaon Age Origins and Dragon Age 2 was far superior in comparison and I still wasnt all that thrilled about it. Bethesda just does not seem to listen to the fans at all.

Also, a comment on the pirates, the MORE drm-style software they impliment, the MORE something gets pirated, Spore was a prime example of exessive DRM resulting in it getting the dubious record of most pirated game. DRM does not even slow pirates down, it punishes the good people that buy the game properly.

[Vouivre]

Unfortunately, we're entering an age where gaming may reach a crisis point much like it had back in the 80's. Either we'll see a resurgence of better quality games but also better quality companies who don't fall into the trap. I truly hope Bethesda withdraws from steam, as day one playing NV my comp which is at least mid to low/high gaming rig blue screened, nothing has caused this pc of mine to do such things. I operated oblivion with quarls(full qarls) and max resolution with zero issues, no lag no blue screen nothing. I use steam? Blue screen of death. If it wasn't for the fact I've enjoyed oblivion and have a project going, and the community here. I would take my interests elsewhere.

CD Projeckt Red does a very fine job I think with the Witcher series. They have their own setup and besides, I don't even NEED the disk to run either of their games. Other companies have a more solid base for dealing with it. I cannot see that pirating causes THAT huge of a deal. Say a game sells over a million copies and 2000 are pirated.. They needed 200k sold to make break even.. you're left with like 198k sold to handle profits and losses from pirating... Seriously yes it's illegal but ultimately? people will pirate no matter what. Either deal with it and deal with the minimal losses, or lose a whole player base because of such ludicrous measures as relying on outside support. with tes and FO I want to MOD them after awhile, not answer to a company that was not even involved in the making of the game because I'm modifying content.

All I can say is that if this continues and skyrim has the same issues NV did. I will be a very disappointed gamer, but an even more disappointed in the fact I'll be entering the industry and will have such a sour taste in my mouth over this.

[Meo]

[Brozly]

Duzn't That suck, I had a game that required Steam back when and Never Did get it to work, glad I didn't Preorder yet, guess I'll be Waiting on Skyrim awhile...

[ThomasKaira]

WTF is wrong with that Dunmer's face?! :blink:

[Arthmoor]

I hate to say anything good about EA but what they did with Biowares Dragaon Age Origins and Dragon Age 2 was far superior in comparison and I still wasnt all that thrilled about it. Bethesda just does not seem to listen to the fans at all.

I had no issue with how DA:O handled it. I'm waiting on the "ultimate edition" before springing for DA2. Chances are by then though it will have been converted to an Origin title. Which I'm not terribly thrilled with either as it's the exact same kind of setup as Steam.

@Thomas: Nothing?

[Hanaisse]

WTF is wrong with that Dunmer's face?! :blink:

I thought it was an anorexic orc.

[ThomasKaira]

@Thomas: Nothing?

If that was a male Dunmer, I'd agree with you. Sadly, she's not.

[Arthmoor]

*shrug* I actually take more issue with the plasticy looking dog in the same shot than the Dunmer the reporter purposefully set up that way.

[the-manta]

But you're all missing the point of the somewhat plasticy dog! WE can have dogs in Skyrim

Either that or this strangely deformed dunmer was just pictured next to a pssing Irish Wolfhound.

[InsanitySorrow]

Oooh dogs, cool

[donnato]

Question...Am I to understand that we have to be connected to the internet to play Skyrim at all? I often kill everything not needed to run the game to save processor resources and, on my laptop I may be in a place without internet. This would be a deal breaker.

[Hanaisse]

Don, you'll have to download the Steam client, and run the game the first time (for validation). Then you can play offline.

Personally, I'm not a Steam user, and I'm not happy with this choice. Glad I haven't yet pre-ordered, this could be a deal breaker for me.

[darkstone]

I`m with Hana on this, so glad I`ve not pre-ordered.

[InsanitySorrow]

Steam annoys me too, but not gonna let this stop me from getting a game I've been waiting for.

[donnato]

I play Portal on steam with my laptop and I like that. This is different but I don`t mind registering or having to do something the first time as long as I can sever the cord if I need to. Whew, I really didn`t want to throw the baby out with the bathwater here...guess I`ll keep the beard going too..

[the-manta]

Is the whole steam thing really enough to stop you from buying Skyrim? I can understand your annoyances, but it isn't that much of a hassle. On the other hand, if you're all considering not buying it because you object morally to steam for whatever reason then that's different.

Still though, no TESV because of steam?

[donnato]

Hiya Manta. No, my main concerns have been addressed and I`m back on track to get the CE and gameguid and all I`ve preordered. My ethical opinions are still being formed.