[Jhenna lee Lizama]

Oh please! Look what just happened to Amazon and the Playstation network. Steam isn't invulnerable to those sorts of issues, it can happen to any online entity. They've just been fortunate to have good IT people working for them. But a change in management down the road, with an eye to cut a few corners in order to save money, could change that very quickly.

My harddisk sprouted bad sectors just a few days ago and I had to stop playing Rift for 5 days until I fixed it up with a new HD. I blamed WD for producing low endurance product, not blaming HD as a whole.

Risk always happens no matter what medium. Amongst my hundreds of discs collections, I can say I found it more comfortable to convert them all to images and store them across several cloud service companies.

[Emma-Jane Merrin]

My harddisk sprouted bad sectors just a few days ago and I had to stop playing Rift for 5 days until I fixed it up with a new HD. I blamed WD for producing low endurance product, not blaming HD as a whole.

Risk always happens no matter what medium. Amongst my hundreds of discs collections, I can say I found it more comfortable to convert them all to images and store them across several cloud service companies.

yeah, things happen. To me it seem that lately most publishers (that I know of) have been putting all of their eggs in one basket. & to me that is a bit dangerous.

[Tracy Byworth]

Lately I've been seeing posts that pretty much say "It's confirmed that Skyrim PC will be a Steamworks game." So.. is this true? Is there a source for this?

[Multi Multi]

That's the rumor. Apperantly some Bethesda employee twittered that thay loved how Steam worked for the past few games, but so far thats the most official word on the matter. It could also be folks who are confused about Skyrim being available on Steam versus having Steam being required for Skyrim.

Even though I enjoyed it; I really hope that Fallout 3 is not the last Bethesda game I ever play.

[Phillip Hamilton]

Even though I enjoyed it; I really hope that Fallout 3 is not the last Bethesda game I ever play.

Are you saying GFWL is better? :blink:

[Lynette Wilson]

GFWL was better implemented in Fallout 3 than in other games. I installed Fallout 3, uninstalled GFWL and never had any problems. I never even saw the GFWL login screen much less setup and account and put in my activation code. Granted I did not get the DLC until they were available on disc. I never understood the angst surrounding GFWL until I bought another game GFWL title thinking it would be the same setup procedure and was sadly mistaken.

[Becky Palmer]

GFWL was better implemented in Fallout 3 than in other games. I installed Fallout 3, uninstalled GFWL and never had any problems. I never even saw the GFWL login screen much less setup and account and put in my activation code. Granted I did not get the DLC until they were available on disc. I never understood the angst surrounding GFWL until I bought another game GFWL title thinking it would be the same setup procedure and was sadly mistaken.

Oh I didn't know it was different in Fallout 3. I only have FO3 for the 360, but I have Resident Evil 5 and GTAIV for PC, and they made me detest GFWL.

[Jade Muggeridge]

Yes. GFWL was quick and easy to get rid of for FO3, sadly you cannot do the same with steam.
I just miss the simple cd check.

[Matt Fletcher]

I just miss the simple cd check.

The funny thing is, nothing stops piracy and yet these companies pump $ into their DRM anyways.

[phillip crookes]

Exactly. There's no way to stop piracy and they're just hurting the genuine buyer of the game.

[Misty lt]

That's the rumor. Apperantly some Bethesda employee twittered that thay loved how Steam worked for the past few games, but so far thats the most official word on the matter. It could also be folks who are confused about Skyrim being available on Steam versus having Steam being required for Skyrim.

Ah, Ok. thank you.

Even though I enjoyed it; I really hope that Fallout 3 is not the last Bethesda game I ever play.

I am so with you on that.

GFWL was better implemented in Fallout 3 than in other games. I installed Fallout 3, uninstalled GFWL and never had any problems. I never even saw the GFWL login screen much less setup and account and put in my activation code. Granted I did not get the DLC until they were available on disc. I never understood the angst surrounding GFWL until I bought another game GFWL title thinking it would be the same setup procedure and was sadly mistaken.

Yeah I bought both the Collector's & the GOTY & didn't need to use the "live Access keys" that came with either of them.

Exactly. There's no way to stop piracy and they're just hurting the genuine buyer of the game.

This may sound strange but to me that seems to be the goal for DRM (it doesn't seem to be about piracy any more)

[Nick Swan]

Funny how you people say that GfWL is better than Steam since you can get rid of it easy, can't help but think you're missing the point a little. In other words: would it be better if you couldn't get rid of it?

Anyway, seeing how all the latest Bethesda games have been using Steamworks, i'd say it's a good bet Skyrim will too.

[Dan Endacott]

Funny how you people say that GfWL is better than Steam since you can get rid of it easy, can't help but think you're missing the point a little. In other words: would it be better if you couldn't get rid of it?

Anyway, seeing how all the latest Bethesda games have been using Steamworks, i'd say it's a good bet Skyrim will too.

I'm not sure what point it is that I'm supposed to have missed, but to answer your question; The only reason I liked GFWL (in Fallout 3 only) was because it was essentially optional. If there were no way to get rid of it then no I would not say it is better than Steam, I would say it is all part of the same big steaming pile of useless DRM. Had there been no way around GFWL then my first playthrough of Fallout 3 would have been my only playthrhrough and I'd never have even considered the use of mods. On the only other GFWL title I have I rushed through the game so quickly that I never took the time to really enjoy it, I then uninstalled it and it collects dust in the back of the closet never to be touched again. I can't even give it away to someone who I think would get more enjoyment out of it. Maybe someday there will be a legitimate way to disable GFWL, Steam and/or the Always-Online DRMs and I can finally play the games that I spent so much time looking forward to.

[Mr. Ray]

Funny how you people say that GfWL is better than Steam since you can get rid of it easy, can't help but think you're missing the point a little. In other words: would it be better if you couldn't get rid of it?

When I first heard that FO3 was a GFWL game I was nervous that I wouldn't be able to use the game, especially after reading on the GFWL site that "Broadband was required" so I waited & found out that it wasn't required to play the game. so I bought it. So, no it wouldn't have been better for me or Bethesda.
Besides, Securom was the DRM used not the LIVE,

Anyway, seeing how all the latest Bethesda games have been using Steamworks, i'd say it's a good bet Skyrim will too.

So it's a good bet that Bethesda wont get my money then. But, I still hold out some hope that "Steam or no sale" wont be the only choices we have on PC.

Maybe someday there will be a legitimate way to disable GFWL, Steam and/or the Always-Online DRMs and I can finally play the games that I spent so much time looking forward to.

that would be the day I would start buying so many games, it's not funny.

[MatthewJontully]

Just because a game is steam doesn't mean you can't get a CE. Steam games do come in boxes with discs too, they just have an activation code with them to activate them on steam.

[Valerie Marie]

Maybe someday there will be a legitimate way to disable (...) Steam and/or the Always-Online DRMs and I can finally play the games that I spent so much time looking forward to.

Like, putting Steam in offline mode after you finish installing and patching the game?

[Adriana Lenzo]

my problem with steam is that i have slow internet, so i dont play multiplayer games,
for a single player game like fallout NV and soon to be released skyrim why should i have to download some more software that dosen't have an effect on the game. plus then i just have to wait longer for steam to load before i can get into the game.

i dislike how game devs believes everyone in the world has high speed internet

[Jessie]

i dislike how game devs believes everyone in the world has high speed internet

It's not game devs who believe but publishers who don't care.

[Kevin Jay]

It's not game devs who believe but publishers who don't care.

They only care if it will cut into their profits. I guess not enough people lack high-speed internet for it to matter to them. :nope:

[Princess Johnson]

Like, putting Steam in offline mode after you finish installing and patching the game?

No, more like putting the disk in and having the installer ask:

Do you want this game tied to your Steam account?

No

Your game is installed Have fun!


Because unless I missed something you still have to irrevocably tie your game to the good graces of Steam/Valve before you can make use of any offline mode.

[Siobhan Wallis-McRobert]

Ive been playing Fallout New Vegas for some time now and my character is up to level 29. Here's what happened and yes this is a Steam post.

Started up my pc and then Steam crashed. First, there was no login screen as normal. Then Steam only ran in the background but no way to pull up the login screen. It just would not come up no matter what I did. I got on the net and saw someone post to remove a file with the extension .blob. I did that and nothing. Uninstalled Steam completely after it was not responsive for 2 days. Reinstalled Steam and now the game it is taking forever to re-install the game through the net. I moved my save games to another directory. Questions are as follows:

(1) Should I just reinstall from the disc... will it help, do any good?
(2) Do i have to start the entire game over even though I have saved the save games folder?

I emailed Steam support but as of today no response.

Another question is:
If I buy the game, why do I have to go through a 3rd party to access what I paid for? If they fail (as in their software failed for some reason) am I now without access to my game?

I was able to play the game in offline mode but since Steam crashed it doesn't give me any option. Now on the reinstall, I get the splash screen and it recognizes me, which I think is good. If the game is installed on my computer, why must I go through some other avenue to access it. What is the purpose of this.

I realize I am a bit uneducated on this and have spent some time reading through various forums but am still a bit in the dark about it all. Could someone break it all down in one post?

Thanks to everyone!

[Soph]

Game publishers are convinced that if a one game does not sell as well as another it is because of software piracy. Equating games to movies this means that because Ironman 2 made more money than Eat, Pray, Love it is because EPL was obviously pirated and the millions of dollars worth of viewers watched it illegally. As a result game companies spend large amounts of money on DRM schemes to assuage the effects of piracy. Then along comes Steam who offers to handle all DRM needs free of charge. The catch is that fans of the individual game company will now become Steam customers, this is how Steam has grown to the size that it is. Steam is a service and any service is measured by its customer base.

[WTW]

I was able to fix the problem and here's what I did:

(1) I un-installed Steam
(2) Found the save game folder and copied it to the desktop
(3) Removed all files related to Fallout New Vegas
(4) Reinstalled steam from the original disc that came with the game. I had attempted to go the online route several times but for some reason that route always caused an issue.
(5) Reinstalled the game files FROM THE DISC as well. Found a recommendation to do this in a forum somewhere and tried it and it worked.
(6) Game and steam client updated online
(7) Placed save game file
(8) Started steam and game 5 times to be sure everything worked
(9) Everything is working smoothly

Hope this helps some people out there

[Jaki Birch]

I have a question about Steam. When I went to go look at Honest Hearts, it asked me my birthdate. I accidentally left the year as 2011 and since according to Steam I have another four months before I'm born, I can't view the honest hearts page. Which is annoying as hell. Will I soon be able to key it in again or will I not be allowed to buy Honest Hearts off Steam for another 18 years!?

[Alexandra Louise Taylor]

I have a question about Steam. When I went to go look at Honest Hearts, it asked me my birthdate. I accidentally left the year as 2011 and since according to Steam I have another four months before I'm born, I can't view the honest hearts page. Which is annoying as hell. Will I soon be able to key it in again or will I not be allowed to buy Honest Hearts off Steam for another 18 years!?

Restart steam, that should work.