FO:NV, Steam, and Pirating

[JimboUK]

That messing with the .ini that it does is a pain though, even when you do go offline. I use some mods that require NVSE so I launch with FOMM, and have just had a bit of a tussle getting my .ini changes for DarnUI to stick. The general rule of thumb seems to be to edit all the ini files - Fallout.ini, Falloutprefs.ini and FalloutDefault.ini - with the changes that you require.

 

That is a pain in the backside, no other Steam game I have does that without the user manually getting Steam to verify the games files.

[KDStudios]

Steam is a good idea but inconvinient for single player games like NV, this was a bad call.

But we have no choice but to accept it, or just simply don't play it.

There are no excuses to get around steam, its small, it works and can have some good offers oon other games.

 

However it is terrible for people like me.

I have slow internet, so updates, downloads and other steam stuff is very... mundane for me.

and some of the patches conflict with mods we are all using. Which is also a big pain in the backside.

 

So yeah it has its plus side and its down side.

 

For me personally... Only thing I like about steam is the ingame web browser =P It can come in handy.

But you also lose what you were doing if the game crashes ¬_¬

 

People who get around steam or pirate the game should be banned.

Why should we have to put up with steam and spend god knows how much on a game these guys think they can get around?

It's rude and they don't deserve to be here among us Fair people.

 

 

[bben46]

While the probability of the content owner filing an 'action' against an individual for a alleged violation of their DRM or EULA is almost nil. The probability they will file against a high profile site that has nearly 2 million members and has a lot of influence on those individuals is much higher. If The Nexus is seen as a site where DRM and EULA violations are condoned - we will be sued and put out of business. Whether the suit has any merit or not as we cannot afford the expense of an army of lawyers. In order to protect ourselves, and indirectly our membership we are strict in our interpretation of OUR rules (not the DRM rules or Eula rules) on piracy.

 

That said, without breaking the DRM or EULA, you cannot install FONV without steam. And if you do bypass the install requirement, you cannot update it without steam. We constantly get requests for help from those who have bypassed steam for whatever reason, and the answer is most often - if you followed the instructions that came with the game and used steam, you would not be having this problem. Often abbreviated as RTFM. (Read The Freakin Manual)

Bben46, Moderator

[urbex]

As bben said, it's due to the chance of a lawsuit. One day we're condoning it, the next we're uploading cracks, and finally we give premium members a warez section. I've seen it happen on various forums. The Nexus has really become the only place for Fallout mods and will likely stay on top with further bethesda releases. Even with the minuscule chance of it getting taken down, I'd hate having to visit 10+ portals to get my mods from.

 

All that aside, as all patches are done through steam, and mods will require a patched version to work, playing with an unpatched game will likely prevent any mods from working properly, especially ones which make use of NVSE or similar large changes. So in not using steam, you are really only hurting yourself...

To be fair, that isn't true. Patches are released trough warez as well, although I do enjoy having the steam version as it's a lot simpler and less prone to screw-ups.

[Pronam]

All that aside, as all patches are done through steam, and mods will require a patched version to work, playing with an unpatched game will likely prevent any mods from working properly, especially ones which make use of NVSE or similar large changes. So in not using steam, you are really only hurting yourself...

To be fair, that isn't true. Patches are released trough warez as well, although I do enjoy having the steam version as it's a lot simpler and less prone to screw-ups.

 

I think vagrant meant using the legal ways >.> . In doing stuff that can be depicted as accepted (I'd classify/say legal, but not everyone likes that in the 10 topics that around about this subject..) you can use steam online or offline..but that's it. There's no official way but steam to get the official patches in any other way than non-authorized uploads that would be taken down by bethesda if they knew about.

[Vagrant0]

To be fair, that isn't true. Patches are released trough warez as well, although I do enjoy having the steam version as it's a lot simpler and less prone to screw-ups.

I would point out that patches which are uploaded to sites like that occasionally have other components added to them and that stuff like this has actually become a favorite means of distributing spyware. Afterall, most of the places you would find this stuff have anonymous uploads, no quality checks, and have no accountability for anything that gets installed instead of a patch. Such sabotaged patches can have several thousand downloads before anyone even realizes that they are infected, and the sites hosting them have no obligation to remove malicious files. The ends do not justify the means, and in taking such actions one should be reminded that they are dealing with a criminal element who should not be trusted.

 

The "screw ups" as you call them are also rather numerous as many of these illegal patches are distributed by people who just don't care about the content working or about what other harm is done to the user of those patches.

 

Even if one entertains paranoid notions of Steam, the alternative simply is not a good idea and in this case seems to be the source of more problems than it aims to solve. FONV was, quite simply built with steam in mind and trying to run it without steam would seem to have issues beyond just a simple lack of updates.

 

To put it in simple terms, Steam is the devil you know and can hold accountable rather than some random warez site which you almost certainly cannot. To put it in more complicated terms, unlike Ubisoft or EA, Stream actually seems to have both good intentions toward gamers (sponsoring indie projects and in the cases of FOSE/OBSE, supporting modders) and doesn't make any unnecessary requests from customers, although they probably could (like Ubisoft).

Edited November 16, 2010 by Vagrant0

[urbex]

Even if one entertains paranoid notions of Steam, the alternative simply is not a good idea and in this case seems to be the source of more problems than it aims to solve. FONV was, quite simply built with steam in mind and trying to run it without steam would seem to have issues beyond just a simple lack of updates. I don't personally like steam, but between this and Ubi Soft's "you must be online at all times when playing this game or else", or EA's "You must register this product online and use our downloader software which secretly installs actual malware on your computer that can't be removed" policy; I see this as being not only the lesser of two evils, but a more reasonable platform toward a DRM given the non-DRM aspects that are part of Steam.

I actually like steam, the way it interlinks games and provides a surprisingly good community is great. Same with the ease of purchasing games, and the ability to link games bought from retailers with CD Keys.

I can understand why someone would dislike it though. If I lived in a rural where I had no connection I'd probably be as mad as the rest of the forum. The thing is most of them are just jumping on the bandwagon.

 

To be fair, that isn't true. Patches are released trough warez as well, although I do enjoy having the steam version as it's a lot simpler and less prone to screw-ups.

I would point out that patches which are uploaded to sites like that occasionally have other components added to them and that stuff like this has actually become a favorite means of distributing spyware. Afterall, most of the places you would find this stuff have anonymous uploads, no quality checks, and have no accountability for anything that gets installed instead of a patch. Such sabotaged patches can have several thousand downloads before anyone even realizes that they are infected, and the sites hosting them have no obligation to remove malicious files. The ends do not justify the means, and in taking such actions one should be reminded that they are dealing with a criminal element who should not be trusted.

 

The "screw ups" as you call them are also rather numerous as many of these illegal patches are distributed by people who just don't care about the content working or about what other harm is done to the user of those patches.

 

That's all true for the most part. Although there are private communities that circumvent those problems.

[ginnyfizz]

OK, first of all, I bought and installed FONV completely legally and have never pirated a single game, before anyone says anything. Secondly, although I live in a rural area I do have a stable fast broadband internet connection. And guess what - I STILL hate Steam. Against the grain it makes me install games where I never would normally on Vista or Windows 7. With FONV, no matter what you say, I have NOT been able to turn off auto updates. I turned them off in the prescribed manner, so I thought, and they just turned themselves on again. I get over that .ini pain in the botty by saving copies of all three .ini files after each play session, or after each time that I mod them, in a separate folder.

 

Quite apart from my FONV woes, thinking that maybe a game that I was not likely to mod might not have the hassles, I bought Arcania - Gothic 4 from Steam and the heap of ordure will not run AT ALL, and they have never replied to my support ticket. Parting with GB£35 for beggar all never makes me well disposed to anything.

 

And now I must go and game to get away from the dratted Royal Wedding drooling we are getting on the evening news here.

[KDStudios]

I know, the news is covered in it.

A ltitle OTT if you ask me, no one really cares. It means nothing. Literally.

 

But back on subject.

I noticed that with me too.

Steam re-activated the updates after I turned them off.

And since the latest update its been crashing a lot more, before it never crashed once!

 

I'm thinking it's beginning to become more of a pain than a convinience.

 

My internet connection may not be the best but I put up with it and put up with having steam.

But I would like some independance back, I want to disable the updates before they render my game useless. =P (Slight sarcasm but with a tone of seriousness)

[JimboUK]

OK, first of all, I bought and installed FONV completely legally and have never pirated a single game, before anyone says anything. Secondly, although I live in a rural area I do have a stable fast broadband internet connection. And guess what - I STILL hate Steam. Against the grain it makes me install games where I never would normally on Vista or Windows 7. With FONV, no matter what you say, I have NOT been able to turn off auto updates. I turned them off in the prescribed manner, so I thought, and they just turned themselves on again. I get over that .ini pain in the botty by saving copies of all three .ini files after each play session, or after each time that I mod them, in a separate folder.

 

Quite apart from my FONV woes, thinking that maybe a game that I was not likely to mod might not have the hassles, I bought Arcania - Gothic 4 from Steam and the heap of ordure will not run AT ALL, and they have never replied to my support ticket. Parting with GB£35 for beggar all never makes me well disposed to anything.

 

And now I must go and game to get away from the dratted Royal Wedding drooling we are getting on the evening news here.

 

Gothic 4 not running is a huge improvement over it working, the game is a real stinker. To be honest if you'd bought a game from any retailer that didn't work they wouldn't be interested either, the sooner the EU bring consumer rights for software into line with other products the better. I'd contact Steam and ask for a refund, if they refuse contact your card issuer. As for the Royal Wedding, if they don't shut up about it soon the TV is going through the window. :verymad: