So will it be like Fallout: New Vegas, and regardless of if we buy the retail edition or the digital edition we MUST use steam?

Or has Bethesda hinted at either or?

B'Vehk! I sure hope not! :cryvaultboy:

I remember a while ago back in December one of the dev's said it would need steam just like NV. Haven't heard anything since, so I'm not sure if that has changed or anything.

I sincerely hope not. I despise Steam.

That's what I've heard too, unless we're told otherwise, I think we can oprobably assume that if it was once said to require Steam, it will still require it when the game is released. Of course, they could certainly change their minds, but we probably shouldn't assume they will.

nothing is confirmed
everything is assumed

nothing is confirmed (and everything is permitted) about what the requirements for PC are, so it could require steam or not
I really dont see what the big deal is with it

I certainly hope not, and if they insist on it they better hope that there are not any problems with it or else it could affect my future purchase decisions. I am not a particular fan of that type of system, and to me it seems to cause more trouble that it is worth. Then again I like to have physical copies of the game (I only have one game bought online through GamersGate, did pretty well, no lingering overhead, took stock patches). What happens if Steam collapses (never say never a major scandal could take it down), or decides that I need to pay more to keep playing?

I have witnessed one problem with Steam on another game. It is not as popular a game and it is available multiple places (GamersGate it where I bought it due to no boxed copies of expansions in US). A patch was released for the game, when it was released the patch notes were posted on the manufactures forum so we could see what was coming (they often throw in a little extra content). Sites like GamersGate had the patch up within a couple of days (they could use the stock patch). Steam took about a month to get around to posting the patch and the forums nearly exploded as a result (with a threat to never post patch notes ever again, apparently there were some behind the scenes threats from one of the retailers). Some people complaining, some people trying to figure out how to use the stock patch with the Steam version, it was not pretty. Now I doubt Steam will be this lazy with Skyrim, but it doesn't make me feel very good about being forced to use their service.

Making people use things they do not like does not seem like a very good decision, it always seems to lead to problems. I do not mind reasonable copy protection though it often seems to punish the honest users more than the dishonest ones.

Edit: Steam was not the only slow distributor, but it was one of the slowest.

woot another steam thread! (sarcasm) um i don't know if it has been said one way or another, but i imagine that steam will be used for drm, because the last game used it without any problems. Since they will use a drm, im glad it is steam, its the least intrusive of them.

steam is fine, much better than the other dmr's

I wouldn't mind if it was optional, but apparently modding steam games is arbitrarily difficult. Since one of primary strengths of a TES game is in how easy it is to mod for, this would seem a bit backward.

It's also a pain for serious modders, because we often keep several active installs at a time. I have about four installs of Morrowind at the moment - one for my mod, one for testing/helping with another mod, a base install to use as a reference, and an install I actually play.

If steam gets in the way of that, it will be unacceptable. If it doesn't, and I can still mod at will, then fine - I'll finally sign up for a @$!# account.

This is patently incorrect. If anything, Steam / Valve has been very helpful to modders. If I recall correctly, Valve basically gave the OBSE team permission / the necessary information to make OBSE work with the Steam version of Oblivion. Something that Drive 2 Drive did not do.

Huh? I don't pretend to know much about Morrowind modding, but what would be the point of keeping several different installs running at the same time?

I doubt Steam will get in the way of modding, though, as several have stated, everything is up for grabs as to what is and is not required on the PC edition of Skyrim. My uneducated guess is that Steam will not be required.

I'd rather have them use Steam than Securom. :shrug:

I'd rather have them use nothing.

As someone who never pirates games, it really svcks to be on the receiving end of all this anti-piracy BS that rarely ever inconveniences the actual thieves. They'll just have a cracked version uploaded within days of launch, if not sooner, while actual customers like myself will be stuck with a product that's less user-friendly than the stolen version.

Steam isn't super-inconvenient, but it's definitely not necessary and does nothing to impede those who want to pirate the game.

Stop the whining. xD
Steam isn't intrusive at all. It's simple to use and can be used offline.
It's the best form of DRM one can wish for. And to ask for no DRM at all is just wishful thinking.

Yes it uses and needs steam they stated they hate gfwl and its also clear they realy like how steam worked out for them in fallout new vegas... Oh and on the subject of modding.. go ahead and look at fallout new vegas;/

You DO know you can just make a new character with no mods activated and then only use him for debugging right? I debug my own mods, have characters that use hardcoe mods only, and have characters that just use fun and ridiculous mods. All on one install. And like Reneer said, Steam is the only DRM that actually gives information to people like the makers of OBSE.

Isn't intrusive? You call having to run 100% of the time, every time, no matter what, not intrusive? Offline mode be damned, that doesn't address the fact that Steam is still running. THAT is the real issue.

Oblivion and Fallout 3 had a simple disc check. GFWL was completely optional to use. So no, Steam isn't the best DRM one could ask for.

My internet goes down all the time, and if steam is required like just about every new computer game, it would svck. When my internet's down, i can't play ANYTHING. Why? Because I have to be on steam, that's why.
DRM's aren't useful anyway, people will find a way a day after it comes out how to pirate it. There's no realistic way to stop it. Adding these stupid DRM's won't help, it just hurts. It's like taking an awful tasting medicine that doesn't cure you of anything.

You can still play if your internet goes down.

DRM or none soon to be seen. If it is, I hope its not from Ubisoft.

http://img827.imageshack.us/img827/2484/asfsdgg.png

Lol, what? Craptastic? I agree.

I actually had that happen to me when i tried to play L4D2. Last thing i need is some program dictating when I can and can not play a game.

So true. I assume it PC users will do indeed need Steam, and there will be a 1 or 2 Gigabyte same day patch released as well that will needed to be installed as well. Why? I don't know but it seems today Civ V, NV needs a same day patch for you to finish your preinstall of the game on Steam.

My computer will not run Skyrim, so it's the 360 for me, unless Sony can do something to make Skyrim a must buy on the PS3.

Once the application launches you can go back to windows and close steam, at least I think you can. Anyway, I don't understand why I can't install the game on my computer, and just, play it.

Half the time I find that Steam takes 10-20 minutes just to log in. When I want to play a game, that usually means that I want to play a game 'now' and not 'in 10-20 minutes'.