[Kayla Keizer]

I am beginning to detect an uncomfortable level of bias against threads concerning Steam and Steamworks.

At first it was subtle things like 'why don't you post in this similar thread over here...' and then changed to 'we're locking this thread, post in the main one' despite the fact that the thread being redirected to wasn't discussing the same nuances or had the wrong title entirely. A Steam based poll was shut down which potentially forced another poll to be held off site. Then because of the repetitive nature of the subject, we were asked to cease posting Steam related threads until there was a cool off period between them - despite the fact that the debates were handled in a mature and polite way, perhaps more than many others concerning graphics, realism or even spears.

The penultimate move was that Steam threads were exiled into the Community Discussion forum, moving them out of sight from this more relevant and active Skyrim forum. To cap it off we've now been told we're not even allowed to talk about Steam any more!

This, of all the steps so far imposed, is the most disturbing of all. I could understand it if people were at each other's throats, slinging insults or bringing in forbidden taboos such as killing children. No, to me it seems (hopefully wrongly) that Stream critics are being deliberately shut down - for what reason I can only guess at since all the other eternally repetitive and sometimes slightly acrimonious threads are still continuing happily here on this forum.

Moderators (and happy Steam users), none of us is saying that Steam shouldn't be one of the methods to purchase Skyrim. It is just that some of us, and a good proportion too if the previous polls are any indication, do have problems or moral objections to Steam being the only option.

Now these Bethesda forums are our only way to indicate to the Marketing guys why we have issues and our desire for an alternative. The simple fact that Steam reappears on a weekly basis demonstrates the strength of our feelings. Suppressing, perhaps even censoring, our legitimate concerns is not going to win either you moderators or Bethesda any favours - indeed it might start some very ugly opinions.

So with the greatest respect, I ask that you consider permitting Steam to be discussed again. As a fraction of the thread traffic here it is very, very small - but it is for us, the loyal fans, it is our only reasonable method of showing our concerns to Bethesda. Please do not remove our right to free speech and opinion, especially when we do have the slight possibility to influence the minds behind the release plans.

Many Thanks,
Meliadus

[Catherine N]

Threads about specific moderator actions are not allowed on the forums. As for the issue at hand, we are currently discussing a means to handle threads about Steam - it's a topic far too important to restrict but it also attracts a tremendous amount of problems.

Discussion of Steam has been moved to CD at the moment since the discuss tends to revolve around Steam generally even if it starts with the question "will Skyrim require Steam authentication during install?" This topic also crops up in other sections, albeit more rarely, and given the problems the discussion attracts we certainly don't want to be juggling several of these for various upcoming games - CD let's us centralize the discussion which helps us keep track of it.

Hopefully by the end of the day we'll have sorted things out, until then everyone wanting to discuss the topic here will have to be patient.

[{Richies Mommy}]

Hungry Donner already answered, but I want to bring up some points.

A Steam based poll was shut down which potentially forced another poll to be held off site.

The poll was closed simply because the poll thread reached 200+ posts. All 200+ post threads are locked. It was the poll creators own choice then to move it off site, so he wouldn't have to recreate the poll every 200+ posts.

Then because of the repetitive nature of the subject, we were asked to cease posting Steam related threads until there was a cool off period between them - despite the fact that the debates were handled in a mature and polite way, perhaps more than many others concerning graphics, realism or even spears.

No, they were not. It's just that the bad posts were removed and dealt with.

The penultimate move was that Steam threads were exiled into the Community Discussion forum, moving them out of sight from this more relevant and active Skyrim forum.

The Skyrim forum isn't really more relevant in the way the threads always devolve. They may have been started with "will Skyrim require Steam", but quickly devolves into a pro/anti circular arguing where the same people keep saying the same thing over and over. They become more about Steam as a whole, rather than being the potential DRM of Skyrim, and thus more suited for CD.

To cap it off we've now been told we're not even allowed to talk about Steam any more!

Only temporarily, but there are still active Steam threads in other sections like http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1178455-will-brink-force-me-to-use-steam/.

No, to me it seems (hopefully wrongly) that Stream critics are being deliberately shut down - for what reason I can only guess at since all the other eternally repetitive and sometimes slightly acrimonious threads are still continuing happily here on this forum.

Not at all, if you look in my posts in the various Steam threads I've been fairly critical against Steam myself. I would prefer Skyrim to not require Steam. This current event is caused just as much by the pro-Steam posters as the anti-Steam posters.

Suppressing, perhaps even censoring, our legitimate concerns is not going to win either you moderators or Bethesda any favours - indeed it might start some very ugly opinions.

You're quite overreacting, this is a very temporary solution.

So with the greatest respect, I ask that you consider permitting Steam to be discussed again.

It will be.