• Happy holidays, folks! Thanks to each and every one of you for being part of the Tom's Hardware community!

New Patch Locks Skyrim to Steam Forever and Ever

Page 2 - Seeking answers? Join the Tom's Hardware community: where nearly two million members share solutions and discuss the latest tech.
Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
Status
Not open for further replies.
So, THAT'S what happened! When you install the game it puts a shortcut on your desktop to steam, which take a few to load, then you can select your game, and it takes a while to load a splash screen, which then you can finally click "Play" and it will load your game... Or, a few weeks ago, you could just change the shortcut to point to TESV.exe and it would go right into the game (cut load time to about 1/4 of what it was) all of a suddden, now it loads that splash screen again asking if I really want to play. Sweet patch Bethesda, don't fix glitches or quest bugs, just your precious DRM. (and everyone on pirated version not affected... so that worked out well)

OH and I LOVE tha fact I didn't want to put steam on my PC forever, finally everyone talked me into it and I figured, what's the harm? 10 days later, steam sends an annoucement that their database was comprimised with credit card and password info being stolen... Wonder why people pirate stuff?
 
[citation][nom]longliverock1974[/nom]Damnit. I specifically bought a physical copy of the game to avoid this nonsense.[/citation]

The more I read about the, the more disappointed I become. I mean seriously....I feel like I bought a Bugatti Veyron and now the dealer is slapping on a 55mph governor and welding the hood shut.
 
Damn you Bethesda, what in F are you doing?. Not buying this until they get is fixed. The PC version is the way to go because of the cool user mods.
 
[citation][nom]longliverock1974[/nom]Damnit. I specifically bought a physical copy of the game to avoid this nonsense.[/citation]
That has always been in the back of my mind when using Steam. I like it and Valve has done a great job with the service, and I'm glad it's making gaming better in some ways, but I always worry that not actually owning the game is going to come back and bite me someday.
 
[citation][nom]nottheking[/nom]Well, it also throws a wrench in the works of the OTHER mods currently in development; as I recall, there was already a Skyrim graphics extender mod, (to make the PC version not look so woefully dated and cut to console specs) and I was pretty sure that there's also a script extender in the works, just like how there was one for both Morrowind and Oblivion, that drastically increased the scripting programmability available in other mods.A lot of mods need to modify the executable, or rely on other mods that do. (late in OB's lifespan, most good mods coming out REQUIRED use of the OBSE, which modified OB's executable) And before anyone tried to interject, no, the vast majority of people using these mods are using legit, non-pirated copies: with that much user-made content, $50US for a copy of the game is a steal anyway. And these mods I speak of do NOT aid in piracy of the game.But, given BethSoft's choice to ignore the PC gamer in favor of the console kiddies, it's those third-party mods that make the game worth buying in the first place. Take most of them away... (or just delay a lot of them, as this will do) And that's a big middle finger to that entire market, and really hurts the justification for more people to buy. And do keep in mind that it's quite probable that Skyrim sold more on the PC than the Xbox 360; while Steam's exact sales figures weren't released, it is known that the game massively surpassed everything in Steam's history in terms of playing level, hitting 300,000 simultaneous players on simultaneously. (and even during slumps, hasn't dropped below 100k)[/citation]


i persoanlly hated the oblivion script extender and never cared for the mods that used it ( who needs to watch two game characters hump each other? or any of teh toerh frivilous animatiosn that OBSE opened up). again back to why i hated tehs cript extender , it was buggy was cosntantly gettign updated so you had to constantly re download your mods that used , it and it was generally a head ache for mods that were really not addign that much to the game in the first place. (or mods that changed the delicately crafted atmoshpere that the developers made, such as oblivion's weather mod) in genrally they werent always sueful mods and the few i did care aobut annoyed teh piss out of me taht they used the extender which always gave me hell.

Further more the game still allows mods , so this article is totally misleading.
 
Oh give it time someone will have a hack to get rid of Steam off TESV.

Modding is what makes Elder Scrolls fun. It adds things to the game and makes it more of an enjoyable experience.

 
P.S. quit calling people console kiddies , the statistics show most console gamers are 18-35 not kids.

(i game on pc and console , (pc more though) but palygina consoela dn enjoyign ti deosn't make me a kid
 
I sometimes wonder if I am the only one the buys games and then torrents/cracks them asap so that I can legally have a good experience.

The only games I can't really do this with are the competitive multiplayer games and thank god I really only devote myself to one such game at a time and I usually play that single game for years so it becomes a nonfactor for such a game (currently for me this is sc2 and while it is beyond annoying to go a tourny and not have lan support I can overlook it because 350 days out of the year I am just playing at home).

Software companies have to realize at some point that they are going to lose out on people using thier product in the 100% intended way. Skyrim is a very pretty game with a great idea behind it (hey guys, we created an entire fantasy universe that you can explore and play with!) and there is no reason for me to care if it is linked to the online company that made it.

I highly advise everyone that owns this game that wants to have alot more control over how they use the product that they own to go check out tpb's version as it will not update itself into a useless POS.

In fairness, it seems as if this patch can be worked around but WHY should you have to do that and what does this patch say about what Bethesda wants to do? Will future patches limit the work arounds? Will future patches futher limit modding/community patching?

No thank you Bethesda. I paid for the game and its awesomely unique world. I did not pay for patches like this.
 
[citation][nom]mmxcore[/nom]So, THAT'S what happened! When you install the game it puts a shortcut on your desktop to steam, which take a few to load, then you can select your game, and it takes a while to load a splash screen, which then you can finally click "Play" and it will load your game... Or, a few weeks ago, you could just change the shortcut to point to TESV.exe and it would go right into the game (cut load time to about 1/4 of what it was) all of a suddden, now it loads that splash screen again asking if I really want to play. Sweet patch Bethesda, don't fix glitches or quest bugs, just your precious DRM. (and everyone on pirated version not affected... so that worked out well) OH and I LOVE tha fact I didn't want to put steam on my PC forever, finally everyone talked me into it and I figured, what's the harm? 10 days later, steam sends an annoucement that their database was comprimised with credit card and password info being stolen... Wonder why people pirate stuff?[/citation]

Wait a few days. All steam/steamware games are cracked pretty quickly. I would imagine that this game will be no exception. Then you can play without Steam.
 
Sigh, just bought the game last night. I guess it will sit on the shelf until a hack is available.
 
A hack/crack IS out there and, as far as I know (correct me PLEASE if I am wrong!!!) it is completely legal to download. Check the torrent sites out.
 
So much effort to manage to provide those modding abilities... So little effort from the wrong guy at the wrong place to decide to remove them...
 
This is so damn annoying. I bought Skyrim on PC day 1, and after installing it, it forces you to launch Steam in order to play the game.

Why do developers insist on locking their games to some annoying third part software? Between Steam and Windows Live, I'm about to say screw PC gaming! Just let me play the freaking game that I paid good money for!

While I love Bethesda, they really did stick it to PC gamers with Skyrim. It is blatantly obvious they made it for console and then ported it over to PC. The graphics could be way better, the interface could be way better, and now why are they crippling the only good thing left about the PC version? (the mods)
 
[citation][nom]demonhorde665[/nom]P.S. quit calling people console kiddies , the statistics show most console gamers are 18-35 not kids. (i game on pc and console , (pc more though) but palygina consoela dn enjoyign ti deosn't make me a kid[/citation]

A kid? No. A scrub? Yes.
 
[citation][nom]beardguy[/nom]This is so damn annoying. I bought Skyrim on PC day 1, and after installing it, it forces you to launch Steam in order to play the game. Why do developers insist on locking their games to some annoying third part software? Between Steam and Windows Live, I'm about to say screw PC gaming! Just let me play the freaking game that I paid good money for! While I love Bethesda, they really did stick it to PC gamers with Skyrim. It is blatantly obvious they made it for console and then ported it over to PC. The graphics could be way better, the interface could be way better, and now why are they crippling the only good thing left about the PC version? (the mods)[/citation]

You dont buy games anymore. You pay Bethesda so they authorize you, lowly peon, to play the game (for as long as THEY see fit). You should thank them. lol
 
[citation][nom]dickcheney[/nom]You dont buy games anymore. You pay Bethesda so they authorize you, lowly peon, to play the game (for as long as THEY see fit). You should thank them. lol[/citation]

Lol, sad but true.
 
[citation][nom]jacekring[/nom]I have a pretty good computer...i7 460 (clocked at 3.9 ghz), 8 gigs of DDR3 ram (clocked at 1,943 mhz), a pair of MSI N460GTX2 cards in SLI (clocked at 825/1720), powered by a 1000w Seasonic 80+ Platinum PSU, and a bunch of other hardware which is irrelevant to what I wanted to say.But with that setup the official steam copy (which I bought) runs my graphics cards at just under 50% with all graphics turned to max, FXAA turned off, 8xAA and 16xAS, distances set to maximum, everything set to high/ultra (ultra where possible, some options only have high). Distant objects set to ultra, distance fade turned off. Game runs smooth as butter, constant 59-60 fps (game is locked into 60 fps max, fluctuates between 59/60 not sure why...maybe it's just MSI's afterburner not being accurate enough)Now same settings on the torrent version, and it maxes out both my video cards to 100% and runs at about 52 fps with occasional drops to 32 fps. Same game, same exact settings....the torrent version is slow, I wouldn't recommend it. And besides, this game is (graphics could use more GPU power.....but otherwise) amazing. The patch also changes the UI a bit, so mouse clicks register on things that you couldn't click on in the menu before. But it does lock it into steam.....[/citation]

Taken from Tom's review of Skyrim:

[citation]Skyrim employs a 60 FPS frame rate cap, but we turned it off by adding the line “iPresentinterval=0” to the Skyrim.ini file.[/citation]


This will let you take off the FPS cap. I used it, and it works just fine.
 
[citation][nom]sanityvoid[/nom]Taken from Tom's review of Skyrim:[citation]Skyrim employs a 60 FPS frame rate cap, but we turned it off by adding the line “iPresentinterval=0” to the Skyrim.ini file.[/citation]This will let you take off the FPS cap. I used it, and it works just fine.[/citation]

Until they implement a patch to "fix" the game, preventing us from having the ability to edit the file.
 
That's odd, I have both Morrowind and Oblivion on Steam and never had any serious issues playing modded versions. You just have to make sure you shut off auto updating. Sometimes I need to do a 10-20 minute bout of googlin' research to get the more extreme mods to work but I wouldn't consider it anything beyond the capabilities of at least semi-competent users.

I haven't picked up Skyrim yet as I'm waiting for the inevitable GOTY 33-50% steam sale in a few months.
 
[citation][nom]halls[/nom]That has always been in the back of my mind when using Steam. I like it and Valve has done a great job with the service, and I'm glad it's making gaming better in some ways, but I always worry that not actually owning the game is going to come back and bite me someday.[/citation]

in all honesty i prefer steams method. the whole come back to bite me someday thing is kinda odd considering we are talking about video games. the majority of games after you play them enough something new and shiney comes out. with the exception of HL and HL2, i haven't played a game worth coming back to. yeah i got a solid year out of oblivion, but maybe i don't have enough spare time to go back to play old games (well.. i could bust out the nintendo from back in the day, but that is entirely different).

the whole CC info thing is annoying, but it isn't the first time and surely wont be the last time this happens to a company that has my information (banks/sony/online murchants etc). if you connect to the internet at all, its a risk of doing business, and there are ways to mitigate and avoid that risk... (aka use your credit card not your debit card, get a po box for your billing information, hell my cc's insure fully against any ID theft stuff).
 
While TES games are great in their original form, its the modding that really makes them special and makes people play the game for the years in between releases. If they want users to stick around to pay for their DLC then they need to fix this issue, or at least provide workarounds. Either way, now that the game is released this will do absolutely nothing to hinder piracy. DRM only hurts legitimate users.
 
Makes me wonder - does the box list Steam as a system requirement? If so, then you shouldn't be surprised... if no, then maybe those upset would have legal recourse to at least get reimbursed for the purchase price of the game plus legal fees.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom