Going in-person is yesterday.
Preordering on Amazon and getting the game a few days before official release date, is the way I've chosen. I then can activate the game on official launch.

Steam with preload would be just as good, but I preordered on Amazon.de for those reasons:
- cloth map (preorder bonus)
- mini OST CD (preorder bonus)
- cheaper than on Steam (I'll pay a maximum of 37,50€, because I used a Quakecon-special discount)

I go either way :hubbahubba:

I will purchase where I can get Skyrim the cheapest. I am assuming Best Buy or Frys will have a one day sale for $49.99 (as opposed to $59.99) on the day of release. That $10 savings is enough to make me get the in store purchase over Steam.

Pre ordered for the map and physical game copy. ^_^

I don't really have an issue with steam or downloading games, I use steam to buy older games and to buy the games they have on sale. But as for new games, I will go retail every time. Besides, I bought the CE, so I will be standing in line at 12 waiting to get my hands on my copy.

This.

My boyfriend preordered through Amazon, but I kinda wish he had done a game store of some kind. I have fond memories of waiting in line for WoW years ago. There is something to be said about hanging out with a bunch of misanthropic geeks, all pumping each other up with stories and talk of the game to come

Well don't you guys get it anyways?

Or maybe you just get even better swag.

Yeah. Until someone pulls up and says Snape kills dumbledore.

I ordered it online at a store, its 10 bucks cheaper there and when i boughtnew vegas at that site i got it a day before release

There's really no point in getting a physical copy, the disc doesn't even have game data on it.
All it does is A-Ok the Steam Client too download a digital game from their own network onto your account.
There is literally no reason to get a physical copy, unless you want the "Feelies" that come with it like the map and guidebook.
Personally I'll save the money on shipping, thank you very much, and get my game sooner anyway besides!

The disk does have the game info on it Steam is just a DRM with it that's the only purpose it has and why it is required.

Bought mine off of Steam since I don't care for the physical box / contents.

I always prefer physical over digital - I'd rather not spend lots of bandwidth & time downloading some huge files, when I can just install off a disc. Also, makes reinstalling easy (one huge download is bad enough, let alone doing it multiple times). Plus, I like things like paper maps, and manuals.


Steam is great for what it does. Especially as a distribution method for indie and old/hard to find games. But any time there's an option for getting something on a disc, that's what I'm going to pick. (To the point that, when I saw that Lord of the Rings Online had gone "free to play", instead of doing the free download, I bought it on disc from Amazon instead. On the plus side, registering a "retail" box code got me some extra content unlocks in the F2P system.)




Why yes, I do buy my CDs in physical form. Only time I've bought something off iTunes is when someone's given me a giftcard. It's not the same - between the liner notes, the case art, the CD art, not having to burn my own CD of it to use in the car (yeah, I don't own any kind of digital player, either... my car has an actual CD player in it)..... much rather have the actual CD. :shrug:

I am getting the hard copy for two reasons.

One: Game takes forever to download through Steam. I wish it stays at 160kbs not going up and down like a bleeding yo-yo and stay mostly down.
Two: I have only 12GB download limit.

I'll just get it on Steam.

All problems that plagued Steam during their first few big releases are mostly gone.

I get in excess of 1 MB/s on steam, sometimes even 3 mb/s +, so the download will probably take about as long as the install. If we get a pre-load on Steam, I'll be playing it before the retail people.



And god knows I don't need more [censored] to clutter up my space.

Steam works great for me, I buy most of my games through it and being able to pre-load means playing at the stroke of midnight (or thereabouts) on release day. However, I always buy a physical copy of my most anticipated/favorite games...naturally that includes Skyrim. You get a map, a reliable copy of the game without having to wait for a download if you need to reinstall it, and hopefully a good manual and cool artwork on the box.

Because I'm getting the collectors edition, it will be cool the day I can download a box with contents.

Because Skyrim is a Steamworks title, EVERYONE will have it in their Steam library, with all the "ease of access" and free download-if-I-can't-find-my-disk that entails. Having a physical copy pre-ordered also means I get the cloth map which Steam purchasers cannot get.

I prefer a digital version these days, for various reasons - eg. I've not been able to find my FO3 disk for around 18 months and my Oblivion disk is quite scratched and only works when it feels like it, and one of the cats tore the manual to Caesar 4 and chewed the key code into a mushy wad of paper which became a problem when I wanted to install it on my newest PC. I've also run out of space to put yet more DVD boxes.

Some people do prefer a physical copy, but I'm not one of them - hence I'll be getting Skyrim on Steam, the same way I get all games nowadays (or older classics from GOG of course!)

I just wanna lick the case !!!! XD

no need to install, just download

I am wondering this as well. Can anyone speak to what the preload period has been on past Betheseda/Steam games?

I'm guessing there will be a lot of traffic so I would like to know that I can allow plenty of time for the game to DL before midnight 11/11/11.

I like a physical copy of the game. That way I can look at my library of games and say "Hey, I bought this game last year (or two years ago) and never installed it to play it!"

But I do like to have all my games lined up on the shelf.

Don't forget to sniff the manual.

Seriously there is a pleasure in getting and opening a game package that you've been waiting to get your hands on. It's like sort of xmas all over again

I'm not sure what governs when the preload period opens up but in the past, it has commonly been at least a couple of days ahead of time. It should be plenty of time to have it loaded up, I remember using it at least once and I had it all downloaded a day or two ahead of the release date, I just couldn't actually access anything within the game yet.

I know they sometimes run into problems with loads of people downloading it at the same time, but they have continued to improve the service quite a bit over the past year.