See, I did not know that! Thank you! Steam shouldn't be an issue for me then, especially if the problems others have mentioned with New Vegas are worked out for Skyrim.

You do have to be online to activate a game on Steam, but only once. After that you can go to a deserted island with your notebook.

Yep, and its very convenient now. I was big against this when I first learned of it for New Vegas, but the experience has changed my mind on Steam DRM.

I think the Best thing for all of us on the PC is that Steam will support OBSE (as they support NVSE for New Vegas), which if you ask me is exceptionally rare of a company to do in support of "free modding".

The fact that patches are auto-installed and that we never miss them is also a very nice feature.

Its hard to describe it for those that havn't used it Recently, but as DRM goes, its a very good one to have if we're forced to use one.

Miax

I have 242 games on Steam so one more wouldn't hurt. The best thing about Steam is that if I corrupt my game files with a bad mod (happened sometimes with Oblivion), I can just right click the game and click 'verify integrity of gamecache' and the problem is automatically fixed. Steam is DRM that is actually helpful to the user, so I don't mind it.

so what i don't get its you would be under two Eula's?
one for the game and one for steam?
what if you don't have online for your pc what's so ever?

it kinda sounds like a bad idea to me i rarely have online access on my pc. if it ends up being that you have to have steam and online access to setup the game it's going to prevent me from being able to play which means i won't buy it.

Bethesda has handled the DRM schemes pretty well overall, so far. So rather than that, I'd be concerned how bad of a consoleport the PC version will be.

Which brings us to the question, what to call the TES V script extender. SKYSE?

Fallout 3 and New Vegas, apart from the UI, weren't that bad. And as long as a construction set is released it can be fixed.

I only buy games through Steam nowadays, it is so much more convenient. No hassle over updates, all my games in one place, no physical discs with keys to get lost/damaged have to be replaced. I can download, install, uninstall, come back to a game two years later and download, install again if I didn't backup the files through Steam and store them.

A pre-release of Skyrim through Steam would probably be an instabuy from me - usually I will at least play a demo before buying but the next Elder scrolls game will probably be exempt from that requirement.

They weren't that bad, no. But they could've been better. And I'd hate if the contructionset was, again, the silent excuse for holding the PC version back (I don't know how to mod, nor do I have time to learn). Oh well, we'll see how it goes.

Steam is great.

As long as they do it like New Vegas and have option to get disc as well.

New Vegas never had that option, even if you bought the game on disc, you were forced to use Steam.

True, but if Steam dies one day. I still have my data on that disc.

Yeah, useless encrypted data that you can't use because Steam isn't there to decrypt it for you.

I can live with CD-Keys, DVD-checks etc, I just don't want to start up and login onto Steam everytime I want to play.

:P

But I have it...

And maybe they release some optional way to play it if it happends.

Nope, you can't possibly put a TES CS on a console...first its illegal because of Microsoft, second your console would be overloaded, thrid simply because the the forge in halo 3 and the TES CS are VERY different...one requires knowledge and lots of file editing the other takes nothing but skill.

It would be best if they did what they did with FO3 and allowed you to simply link directly to the EXE once your initial config was completed. That's much better than relying on remote verification that may not be there one day.

Steam and other systems may be convenient while they exist, but I see little point in spending money on something and then being at the mercy of the existence of a remote company. If the company goes out of business, or even just changes policies, the money spent would be wasted and the content would no longer be accessible for research and reference. We need to think long term, not short term. If the price was a rental price, it might be okay, because the current setup is closer to extended rental than actual purchase. Researchers have to have access to whatever source they purchase, so this is a major issue for all of us who do academic studies on interactive software media. If the industry won't support this requirement, it is only shooting itself in the head as far as gaining respect for games as an academic, serious media format anolgous to books, film, or music. This is also why physical media is preferred.

To see an example of the problem, consider the issues after Linden Labs changed the costs for educational institutions using Second Life. Institutions made a mistake and invested time and moneey into a system they did not control, and now they are caught in a very difficult position. They should have invested in their own system that they control. Same with Steam and other services similar to it. If a pay a price to own something, I must have access to it without any strings attached. Otherwise, I am only renting/leasing the property.

I am hoping the game uses Steam.

Random note: Most of your major services have a tested plan to protect their customers in the event of bankruptcy.

It's illegal to put pc mods on consoles, but it's not illegal to put mods made on the console in the console game. I don't get how it would be overloaded. The only real point is the last one, but that's all up to what beth would allow to be possible in a hypothetical console TES CS.

I would love it if the Xbox 360 controller is supported (ala New Vegas) and also Xbox Live achievements would be a bonus!

I definitely prefer Steam to the alternatives - although I would like to have the actual game on a disk and not have to download it as I have a slow internet and do not want to spend the weekend of November 11-13 downloading a game. As long as Steam doesn't interfere with mods I'm for it. I would prefer that it not use anything, but they have to make their money (or else no TES6!) so to keep the pirates at bay, sure go ahead. GFWL would be the absolute worst, with their M$ points etc - I'm pretty sure that having to buy points to buy games kept a lot of my friends from getting various DLC legally, or at all.

I hope they don't have it go through Steam like they did with Fallout New Vegas. Thats the only reason why I haven't gotten the game for the PC as I don't wanna have to deal with Steam.

I hope they create it for PC, and then port it to consoles, instead of vice versa. Their decision to create a console version of Oblivion and then port it to PC rendered the PC version kind of a PoS.