Can I?

No. When you launch Skyrim, it will look to launch Steam. That is Bethesda's way of checking game ownership, also known as DRM

[EDIT]

I should add that you do NOT have to be ONLINE with steam to play. I play Steam mostly offline

Yep, I play offline too. In fact, once you've initially verified ownership of your game, you don't even have to be physically connected to the internet at all. A member of my household plays on her laptop. She's played Skyrim in the backyard and in a public park.

In my opinion, Steam isn't really as onerous or invasive as some people make it out to be. I'm not Steam's biggest fan myself (which is why I play offline), but neither do I agree with those who would like us to think that Steam is the devil incarnate.

Have to agree. I only go online in Steam about once a week to see if there's an update I need. Otherwise, I play offline. Even while I'm connected to the 'net....

Agreed. I really don't understand why some people detest Steam so much. It's just a distribution platform and a very simple DRM. The few downsides it has are outweighed bazillion times by its benefits.

If a game must have a DRM, Steam is the best option. Or the least inconvenient. I'd take Steam over any other solution any day.

Never used the offline option with Steam myself. Never had a reason to use it. But it has a purpose, to allow people who are not constantly connected to internet to play.

people love to hate whats successful..


but yeah, DRM is always going to be around. so I will gladly take something as simple as Steam over some of the older alternatives (remember StarForce? that thing that actually caused harm to your machine and made it difficult to burn discs? yeah, I will take something like Steam that doesn't harm your machine over that any day of the week)..

honestly, i think some of those who constantly complain about Steam just don't fully understand it, nor spend the time to learn about it.. they think because older DRM methods could be harmful, that suddenly all DRM methods are harmful.. willful ignorance and all that..




to Answer the OP, no you can not, you need steam installed for not only Skyrim, but most games that come out these days.

Not trying to turn this into another "Steam Debate", but for me, it is the connectivity that Steam requires to install the game and bandwidth it requires. I bought a physical disc of Skyrim. I still do not understand why it does not have the game on it. They used a CD (or is it a DVD) for what? A tiny batch file to connect to Steam?

For me it is not really "hating Steam", but rather the push by the whole computer industry to "be connected 24/7/365(6)." Steam is a main part of this for me

skyrim can only be played through steam but you don't need an active internet connection to play your game once you have verified your ownership. i played skyrim offline for an entire year ( 2013 ) without any problems.

Considering the internet is a standard in modern life, is it wrong to push for more efficient use of it? Unless one has a medieval lifestyle, computers and other similar stuff tend to be hooked to the internet anyway.

"Efficient use" means everybody always on? That seems quite the opposite to me.

I do not now, nor ever want everyone to know what I am doing every hour of every day. I want to play games without logging in, especially single player games. Hey, if society wants to go that route, that is fine. But there is a difference between mandatory and choice.

I may blow your mind here, but I have held off getting a cell phone (permanently) because sometimes I don't want to be reachable

See, I don't mind being connected. What I mind desperately is that EVERYONE thinks everyone has unlimited bandwidth. I don't. I live where my only "broadband" is satellite - and that means that I get only 12gb in a rolling 30 day period (in other words, no resets). Since I first have to think of security, that means OS updates etc. happen first. Then if I have bw left, I get to play games that require connection (though I'm not playing MMOs right now - and may never play them again, don't know yet).

So games that require me to download something I bought in a box really chap me. I still haven't had the bw available to download BG1 Enhanced Ed. (from Steam - and I bought it in 2013....) And while I live in the US, I do NOT live in a thriving population center, we still have 50 year old anolog copper phone lines.... AND I can't get cell service at my house, because I have no LOS to the mountain the towers live on. Nor can we get "real" tv here - we've had DirecTV since we moved here in 1994. Groceries are a minimum of an 80 mile round trip; the town I prefer to shop in is a 170 mile round trip - but they don't have a Costco....

I love where I live, for few neighbors, no crime, and the cleanest air and water in the country. But it's like living on Alaska's North Slope about some things....

[Al, I have a cell - it's never turned on. Only time we've ever used it is if we have problems while traveling. I hate phones. My family can always reach me by email. I don't want to talk to ANYONE....]

As far as I know, the Skyrim disk DOES contain the game, and I am absolutely sure the Legendary Edition included in the Elder Scrolls Anthology does. Yes, the base game and all DLCs on a single DVD! I am quite certain that they did not put a different Legendary Edition in the Anthology than is sold separately. There are apparently versions of it which only include a Steam code, but I don't know if they come with disks in the first place. Anyway, if you have a disk that says "Legendary Edition", I am quite certain that it actually contains the Legendary Edition. It is a matter of (un)checking a box in during the installation whether the game is installed from disk or downloaded from Steam.