Steam will VAC ban you if you alter your Skyrim .exe to allow it to use more than 2GBs of RAM, thanks to the latest patch.

Yeah, you cannot connect to VAC servers in Skyrim...


... you know, a single player game...

My fear exactly after hearing about the 'workshop' mod database.

Steam only does VAC searches on your computer when you connect to a game server or multiplayer lobby that is flagged as VAC checked.

Last time I launched Skyrim, I don't even remember a single option I could use to do any kind of multiplayer.

Please read:
http://www.atomicmpc.com.au/Tools/Print.aspx?CIID=281131

My legal copy works with LAA. You can use... what is the name? Wrench's LAA thingy.

"... To tie TESV.exe to Steam such that you need Steam running, like many Steam games, to play Skyrim. Oh and, in the process, making it impossible to now apply the LAA flag – modifying the .exe triggers Steam's VAC protection and stops the game loading."

That poster doesn't know what they're talking about. They tried to modify the game, failed, and are blaming it on VAC. VAC is not the cause of their issue, the Steam wrapper is, and it's already been made to work with the modern LAA and script extender programs.

Considering Steam's recent behaviour (forcing downloads on users) I will be sticking to the Nexus Mod Manager, thank you very much.

I'll be sticking to Nexus as well. Steam Workshop will probably be very limited, a large number of mods would not even be accepted and I find it hard to believe that the longer and more complex mods could work at all.

THIS.

Please read:
https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=7849-Radz-6869

It has been suggested that the industry is moving towards a model that focuses on alternative revenue streams as a means of paying for the products they produce. By this I mean, that the purchasing of DLC would be something that could be used to boost the money made from a single game.

TES were some of the first to experiment with DLC, and we got Horse Armor. Yes, it was idiotic. Then they turned around and released houses with missions and other such content. Then they made Fallout 3, we got multiple DLCs that were freaking huge world extensions and mission packs. They have been moving in the best direction here, because they started the trend and are carrying it on to it's next stage, whatever that may be. Other companies, like Epic and CCP Games are still trying to figure out how this fits in. Thats why you get gun and avatar skins that cost entirely too much. That said, Epic and CCP did that with content developed in house.

I will admit that I don't know who owns the official rights to a mod after it is developed and published. I would Love to think that it is still owned by the modder, but there may be some obscure legal document somewhere that says it is then owned by the game developer or the site owner. That said, see my prior point about charging for some mods. Steam would have to convince modders to start charging for their product. This means, that the modder himself would have to say: "Yes, I want money" and then everything he makes will come with a price tag, at which point feel free to pelt that person's home with rocks... or if your impressed and think they deserve money for the work they put into their work, buy it. Totally up to you.

Another thing to consider: most likely Steams lucrative advertising contract will pay for all the bandwidth we need on the Steam Workshop.

TES and Steam working together is a good thing. YES this could become an embarrassment to both. But, if it does we are talking about people who often learn from their mistakes. Steam has internal issues, but that seems like an under-staffing thing more than pure incompetence. TES has done some questionable stuff in the past, but that doesn't mean they don't eventually put together a decent product. Still, it could conceivably be the signs of a total screw up. I just don't find it very likely.

if they start charging for mods then that would be like a double edged sword there. On one side modders would actually be able to get paid for their hard work BUT ont he other side because the mods are free then information on how/why/process/etc is free and open between modders. Once money is interduced, then that share of inormation is gonna be reduced because then its competition and quite a few modders wont be as helpful and also people who helped playtest, helped out etc gonna want a cut etxc etc etc. I dunno how i feel about the whole thing because on one side u got modders get paid which is great but on the other side ur gonna have a reduced amount of quality mods because alot of modders form different projects will help one another and grow of each other which will lessen OR ull have a mass enflux of crappy mods of people just trying to get paid and throwing out as many files as possible. sigh, why couldnt Bethesda go with the whole "if it aint broke dont fix it"?


EDIT- Ok im for modders gettign paid BUT im not for paying for a mod BEFORE i try it out though. I have seen soem pretty nice mods that by the screen shots and on paper woulda beeen awesome and turns out coding and such was very wacky and gamebreaking, where ive seen soem simple mods turn into "Mods i cant play without". If they charge before we get to try it then they need to have a refund option for like 30 days or such or give us............trying to wrap my head around this situation but cant think of a way for both modders to get paid AND purchasers KNOWINGLY getting a quality product.

To me it spells, Rise of Internet2, a more corporate-controlled internet where you can only upload data to corporate servers signing all sorts of rights away and allowing them to license and effectively control all forms of information. Obviously Steam would only be a small part of that whole system.

Still... gotta wait for the implications on this first. I hope we get to avoid Steam Workshop, however, and can just continue on the way we did with Morrowind and Oblivion. If the CK asks me to log into Steam or something, I'll be quite tempted to drop my enthousiasm for modding Skyrim, sad to say. I wanna be entitled to the fruits of my own labor, not make others rich by spending valuable free time on my hobbies.

READ THIS: (From Bethesda):



After reading that, I don't see why so many people are up-in-arms over the Steam workshop. Don't want to get your mods from there? Simple, just don't do it. Actually, I think I do know why people are freaking out over this: We are in the Skyrim General Discussion forum, freaking out over inconsequential things seems to be the norm here.

wow, when Todd said "we like steam" months ago in response to a reporter asking if Skyrim would be required steam I never dream that would be a part of moding Skyrim as well. :shakehead:

btw I still cannot play Fallout Vegas, as I am STILL having the same kind of issues with that game that now so many people are having with Skyrim.

All my other games work fine and I had/have a top of the line $2700 gaming PC with all brand name parts like an Nvida GTX 470. (Both steam and FAV tec support gave up helping me).

Looks like I was the "canary in the cage".

Not really. They could release a new "DRM update" to a "trusted" version of the exe which will refuse to load any mods or DLLs which have not been digitally signed by gamesas/Steam, which would make it impossible to run any mods that didn't have their blessing. In this scenario, signing would presumably be integrated into the Steam Workshop vetting process, essentially producing a situation where you could only use mods purchased through Steam Workshop.

Although this is feasible technically, Bethesda's and Steam's histories are such that I'm confident neither of them would attempt to go down that road and Bethesda's Steam Workshop announcement specifically states that users will continue to be able to download and use mods from third-party sites. Not to mention that it's a bit late in the Skyrim development cycle to add a digital signature requirement to mod/DLL loading even if they did want to close things up. So don't worry; be happy.

What did an FAQ have to do with my link? Did you even read what I posted? I know what VAC is.

EDIT:



Because what some paid PR guy says and what is actually in the legally bound Steam Workshop EULA are two completely different things. One tells us that "content will be free" but then suddenly goes quiet and ignores e-mails when questioned if EVERYTHING will be free, and then the other tells us that Valve and Bethesda have the right, at any time and with zero permission from the author, to monetize any modification that the player creates.

Nobody is freaking out, we just want to see some clarification because this isn't the first time (and likely not the last) that a developer or publisher will go back on their word after publicly stating the opposite.