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avatar! Nov 15, 2011

The game looks amazing, but the PC version requires steam to run. I refuse to purchase any PC game which requires me to activate it using steam or some other such BS!

At any rate, I was wondering who here has purchased Skyrim, and what are your impressions/thoughts and which system is it running on?

TerraEpon Nov 15, 2011

Buy you could buy a boxed version and pirate the game, I know a couple people who have done that. I know some people would frown on it, but hey...

Still, I utterly love it. The game really has pretty much total freedom which I've never encountered before -- not that I've played wRPGs before much, but nothing ever like this. There's a few nitpicks here and there, but otherwise it's completely immersive experience and just has so fricken much to do.
On my $700 computer from a year and a half ago it runs only slightly jerky, and most of the sliders are at about half way (though I think the game still called it 'high' quality).

Razakin Nov 15, 2011

avatar! wrote:

The game looks amazing, but the PC version requires steam to run. I refuse to purchase any PC game which requires me to activate it using steam or some other such BS!

This baffles me, why people still hate Steam nowadays? Sure it might have been pile of steaming shit ages ago, but nowadays?

Or is it just some crusade against really light DRM?

avatar! Nov 15, 2011

Razakin wrote:
avatar! wrote:

The game looks amazing, but the PC version requires steam to run. I refuse to purchase any PC game which requires me to activate it using steam or some other such BS!

This baffles me, why people still hate Steam nowadays? Sure it might have been pile of steaming shit ages ago, but nowadays?

Or is it just some crusade against really light DRM?

First off, I don't have internet at home. Are you totally shocked? Well guess what, I'm still leading a happy, productive, fun, life! So now, if I purchase Skyrim, how exactly do I play it at home? Secondly, WHY should I have to go online to verify that my purchased product is legit, is there no other way to verify this? If people really want to pirate the game, they will. I'm sure it's not that hard to find pirated copies that do NOT require steam. So in essence, by requiring legitimate people to use steam, they are just punished for purchasing the game legally! Also I've heard the following:

1)It takes hours to download the game from steam, since the game gets downloaded from steam even though you actually have a physical copy (although I heard this can be bypassed).
2)I've read numerous people who claim steam messes with their system. Obviously I can't prove nor deny this, but it sounds reasonable, since even "small" programs can cause big errors.

why bother with this? I believe that Oblivion just checked to see whether a legitimate copy of the game was in the drive every time before you played. To me, this makes much more sense. In fact, it's basically the same thing with a console, since you can't play those games unless you have a legitimate copy.

So to summarize, it comes down to 1)I don't have internet at home. 2)I just don't like the idea of steam which makes me feel like I'm renting a game. I think this guy summarized it best:

"I bought Crysis on 12/28/2010. That's 9 days ago. And I STILL cannot play it. Why? Because Steam isn't quite ready to let me play yet. And what can I do, to whom can I complain? Nothing. To no one.

This is the problem with both digital distribution, and software-as-a-service concepts. Nobody is responsible for anything, and if you get shafted, that's your own damn fault.

Some of you have been laughing when I told you that one day Steam will simply close and you will lose your games. Sure, that will not happen tomorrow or next year. But it will happen one day. (Or do you think Valve and Steam are forever?) And on that day all the games that you paid money for will be gone. And there will not be anything you can do about it."

http://www.alaric.ws/comments.asp?record=1188

Razakin Nov 15, 2011

avatar! wrote:

First off, I don't have internet at home. Are you totally shocked? Well guess what, I'm still leading a happy, productive, fun, life! So now, if I purchase Skyrim, how exactly do I play it at home? Secondly, WHY should I have to go online to verify that my purchased product is legit, is there no other way to verify this? If people really want to pirate the game, they will. I'm sure it's not that hard to find pirated copies that do NOT require steam. So in essence, by requiring legitimate people to use steam, they are just punished for purchasing the game legally! Also I've heard the following:

1)It takes hours to download the game from steam, since the game gets downloaded from steam even though you actually have a physical copy (although I heard this can be bypassed).
2)I've read numerous people who claim steam messes with their system. Obviously I can't prove nor deny this, but it sounds reasonable, since even "small" programs can cause big errors.

Very fair reasons, especially not having internet at home, which in books is an odd choice but a good one. People have gotten too reliant on the tubes of web nowadays.

And yes, it's kinda backwards having to install Steam to install a non-Valve game, but I wonder how much that was of Valve's behalf or Bethesda's. And who knows what the contract says even. And yes, not being to able to install a physical copy and let Steam recheck the files to make it 'legal' wouldn't be bad, but maybe someday.

why bother with this? I believe that Oblivion just checked to see whether a legitimate copy of the game was in the drive every time before you played. To me, this makes much more sense. In fact, it's basically the same thing with a console, since you can't play those games unless you have a legitimate copy.

avatar! wrote:

"I bought Crysis on 12/28/2010. That's 9 days ago. And I STILL cannot play it. Why? Because Steam isn't quite ready to let me play yet. And what can I do, to whom can I complain? Nothing. To no one.

This is the problem with both digital distribution, and software-as-a-service concepts. Nobody is responsible for anything, and if you get shafted, that's your own damn fault.

Some of you have been laughing when I told you that one day Steam will simply close and you will lose your games. Sure, that will not happen tomorrow or next year. But it will happen one day. (Or do you think Valve and Steam are forever?) And on that day all the games that you paid money for will be gone. And there will not be anything you can do about it."

http://www.alaric.ws/comments.asp?record=1188

To be honest, I feel it's not Steam's error but more so of EA's on this case, not being able to connect to key server. I'd assume that different companies do check keys themselves, but I might be wrong.

The day Steam will simply close will probably be a long way, and who knows if our current games can be even played (or even allowed to play) on those times. Though, who's stopping Valve to manage to make a deal where people could actually download DRM-free copy of the install files ala GOG.com or various Indie Bundles. Where you could backup the game.

Anyways, enough of Steam-talks, have at Skyrim. Which I won't be playing probably never, never been much into Bethesda's works and I don't even want to support them after that idiotic lawsuit towards Mojang.

avatar! Nov 15, 2011

I don't know when the lawsuit started, but I would be willing to bet it was after Beth was purchased by Zenimax. Pretty much any time a large corporation purchases a smaller but succesful game company, expect things to go downhill. Origin (Ultima) is gone after being purchased by EGA, New World Computing (Might and Magic) is nearly gone, except for a couple of intermittent Heroes games (purchased by 3D0 then Ubisoft), Wizardry is gone (not sure what happened to them).

Anyway, back to Skyrim, I would like to hear some thoughts!

Wanderer Nov 15, 2011

It's a lot like Oblivion. If you enjoyed that game, you'll probably love Skyrim. But ten hours in and I'm already burnt out. I feel like I've played this game before and there isn't enough new to really separate it from its predecessor. Bethesda still can't write to save itself and dialogue remains stiff. They're not known for their epic plots but I think that they could pull it off, if they wanted. Instead, it feels detached, because there's no one to root for and no memorable NPCs.

Aside from writing issues, there's plenty here to enjoy, if you like endless fetch and "kill the monsters" quests. Some of those are fun because the dungeon design is much better than Oblivion's. The world itself is gorgeously detailed and Jeremy Soule's score effective.

avatar! Nov 15, 2011

Wanderer wrote:

It's a lot like Oblivion. If you enjoyed that game, you'll probably love Skyrim. But ten hours in and I'm already burnt out. I feel like I've played this game before and there isn't enough new to really separate it from its predecessor. Bethesda still can't write to save itself and dialogue remains stiff. They're not known for their epic plots but I think that they could pull it off, if they wanted. Instead, it feels detached, because there's no one to root for and no memorable NPCs.

Aside from writing issues, there's plenty here to enjoy, if you like endless fetch and "kill the monsters" quests. Some of those are fun because the dungeon design is much better than Oblivion's. The world itself is gorgeously detailed and Jeremy Soule's score effective.

Hmmm, what exactly do you mean by epic? I'm not sure how much more epic it gets than saving the world? I guess if you're used to JRPGs were the characters constantly move the plot, then I can see why you would get tired. I haven't played the game so I can't comment on dialogue. I did however hear that there were romance aspects to the game, which is a nice addition, so maybe you just need to find some of these NPCs? I do think that the Elder Scrolls games tend to be as open as games get, where you really create your own history, which is probably daunting for some people. However, judging by the reception and how well it has sold, apparently not too daunting for many players.

avatar! Nov 16, 2011

XLord007 wrote:

Everything you need to know about Skyrim in one handy video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sv1VWb6nLK0

yeah, amusing, but as expected said nothing about the game.

Wanderer, how are the controls on the PC version?

Wanderer Nov 16, 2011

Hmmm, what exactly do you mean by epic? I'm not sure how much more epic it gets than saving the world? I guess if you're used to JRPGs were the characters constantly move the plot, then I can see why you would get tired. I haven't played the game so I can't comment on dialogue.

Characterization contributes to the epic feel, yeah. And there's very little of that here. It's hard to feel invested in the stakes when there's no one to care about. Just a thing of mine. The story feels very empty, like most Bethesda games.

I'm playing the PS3 version (which is unfortunately the worst version of them all) so I can't comment on PC controls.

Amazingu Nov 16, 2011

Wanderer wrote:

I'm playing the PS3 version (which is unfortunately the worst version of them all) so I can't comment on PC controls.

Seriously?
Everyone I've heard says the 360 is the worst version, since it has texture problems and stuff.

Anyhoo, I got my PS3 copy in the mail yesterday, even though I probably won't be able to get around to it for a long time. Pretty excited, though.

XLord007 Nov 16, 2011

The PS3 version suffers from slowdown once the save file gets too big.  Bethesda is known for continually releasing games on all platforms that suffer far more bugs than other publishers' games, and Skyrim is no exception.

http://kotaku.com/5859983/do-not-let-sk … /gallery/1

Amazingu Nov 16, 2011

XLord007 wrote:

The PS3 version suffers from slowdown once the save file gets too big.  Bethesda is known for continually releasing games on all platforms that suffer far more bugs than other publishers' games, and Skyrim is no exception.

http://kotaku.com/5859983/do-not-let-sk … /gallery/1

Well that's totally unsurprising.

I was going to wait playing it until they patched it anyway.

avatar! Nov 17, 2011

XLord007 wrote:

The PS3 version suffers from slowdown once the save file gets too big.  Bethesda is known for continually releasing games on all platforms that suffer far more bugs than other publishers' games, and Skyrim is no exception.

http://kotaku.com/5859983/do-not-let-sk … /gallery/1

That's true, they do have wonderful games, but often are buggy at first. Well, most likely the publishers are on their arses about getting it out on this date "or else"!

BethSoft: uh, we need more time to fix everything, so how about we push the release day back?
Zenimax: Oh, well, no problem. You can push it back as far as you want, since you'll be out of a job.
BethSoft: um, OK, you're overly early release date is fine. Sure, I'll just start working on those bug fixes    tonight, after you know, spending all night working on the game too...

avatar! Nov 17, 2011

Wanderer wrote:

Hmmm, what exactly do you mean by epic? I'm not sure how much more epic it gets than saving the world? I guess if you're used to JRPGs were the characters constantly move the plot, then I can see why you would get tired. I haven't played the game so I can't comment on dialogue.

Characterization contributes to the epic feel, yeah. And there's very little of that here. It's hard to feel invested in the stakes when there's no one to care about. Just a thing of mine. The story feels very empty, like most Bethesda games.

I'm playing the PS3 version (which is unfortunately the worst version of them all) so I can't comment on PC controls.

From what I've read, the Xbox version is also the "worst". Hopefully they'll fix any bugs soon. I would like to get this eventually for the PC, but not if steam is a requirement. At any rate, I don't really plan on getting this until the GoTY edition anyway smile

Wanderer Nov 17, 2011

Both versions have issues. It's just that the 360 shaves ahead ultimately because it's actually playable in the end.

The 360 has that texture bug but on the other hand, it looks quite a bit better than the PS3 version, which has a glossy feel to the graphics (as if they artificially smoothed them out). The 360 version has screen tearing in places which the PS3 version does not but the latter has occasional frame-rate chugging instead.

And yes, there's the dreaded PS3 game-save bug which ultimately renders the game unplayable once you've played it long enough (as the save file just gets bigger and bigger each time you save).

Ashley Winchester Nov 17, 2011

Wanderer wrote:

And yes, there's the dreaded PS3 game-save bug which ultimately renders the game unplayable once you've played it long enough (as the save file just gets bigger and bigger each time you save).

That seems like a pretty big flaw...

brandonk Nov 20, 2011 (edited Nov 20, 2011)

I remember something similar happening on the PS3 for Oblivion...I think it was erasing game progress...

I barely remember completing Oblivion - it was a fairly memoryless experiences...granted I was on alot of pain medications post a major surgery - still it wasn't all that great from what i remember...lots of repitition, while the world was 'vast' alot of it just looked recycled...I noticed the same approach in battke / fighting that they had in Oblivion, swing weapon, see a cheap version of a 'hit' response from the enemy....killed me when you're just swinging and swinging for hours because you need to level up - just looked silly to me.

Everything I've read about Skyrim seems to say it's a much greater improvement over the previous game, but I'm not seeing anything that's justifying the purchase, I really would like a great RPG to play...but I miss those elements of classic JRPGs that made them so enjoyable...Also, Bethesda games appear a little sloppy to me in general - just not as 'tight' of an experience as I would like...I think they're paving the way to better games, but they're not there yet.  I dunno, just a bit hesitant...Maybe if they had some KILLER VGM in it, I would be along for the ride...

avatar! Nov 20, 2011

brandonk wrote:

I remember something similar happening on the PS3 for Oblivion...I think it was erasing game progress...

I barely remember completing Oblivion - it was a fairly memoryless experiences...granted I was on alot of pain medications post a major surgery - still it wasn't all that great from what i remember...lots of repitition, while the world was 'vast' alot of it just looked recycled...I noticed the same approach in battke / fighting that they had in Oblivion, swing weapon, see a cheap version of a 'hit' response from the enemy....killed me when you're just swinging and swinging for hours because you need to level up - just looked silly to me.

Everything I've read about Skyrim seems to say it's a much greater improvement over the previous game, but I'm not seeing anything that's justifying the purchase, I really would like a great RPG to play...but I miss those elements of classic JRPGs that made them so enjoyable...Also, Bethesda games appear a little sloppy to me in general - just not as 'tight' of an experience as I would like...I think they're paving the way to better games, but they're not there yet.  I dunno, just a bit hesitant...Maybe if they had some KILLER VGM in it, I would be along for the ride...

These games are certainly not for everyone. I personally love the open-world experience, and find most JRPGs constricting. A notable exception would be Demon's Souls, but that plays like a western RPG smile

If you have a 360, I HIGHLY recommend you play the Dragon Knight Saga. Amazon has it for $19.99, and it INCLUDES the amazing soundtrack on CD for free! The press gave DKS decent, although not great reviews. Well as a long-time RPG fan, I'm here to say this is a gem that has gone below the radar. Although the world is fairly open-ended, it's far from Oblivion. The storlyine is fantastic, and it has elements that I've never seen before in a game, and it is extremely well done. The graphics are great, the humor and dialogue are top-notch as is the voice acting (take not NINTENDO... voice acting... it works), and of course, the music is a 10/10! This was developed by Larian Studios a small Belgian company. You get a very different game than you do by a large US-based company such as BethSoft. I'm not knocking on BethSoft, I think they're awesome, but it's nice to get a "different" take on the RPG (and it is Western style). I think you'll really enjoy this game. Although it's not perfect, I would still consider it one of the best RPGs I've played. They really were able to make the "fun" factor shoot through the roof. It's a good balance of challenging, exploring, and story. Anyway, this game gets my highest possible recommendation! Needless to say, if you end up not enjoying the game, I'm willing to bet you'll still love the music! However, I'm also willing to bet you'll enjoy this gem of a game...

http://www.amazon.com/Divinity-II-Drago … B004JHJHCC

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