"Non-Steam", the meaning.

[McclaudEagle]

Hi.

 

Ever since Fallout New Vegas was released, I've seen a lot of people saying they have the "non-Steam" version of games that actually require Steam to play them. Many also admit they pirated it and as a result get banned, which is fair enough. However, I have seen the staff ban members who said they don't have the "non-Steam" version of games, even if they haven't publically admitted where they got it. If I am wrong on this point, I apologize.

 

To me, "non-Steam" has two meanings...

 

1. It is either a game that has been purchased through other means, such as retail, rather than buying it through Steam, and as a result, the player does not consider it to be a Steam product. This means they refer to it as non-Steam.

 

Or...

 

2. They have indeed got an illegal version of the game that does not use Steam when it should.

 

Now, I understand that on the Nexus, non-Steam generally means the product was pirated (if the product legally requires Steam), however, do the staff wait for an explanation before banning, or just ban there and then under the assumption that they meant they had an illegal version?

[hexorcist]

1. It is either a game that has been purchased through other means, such as retail, rather than buying it through Steam, and as a result, the player does not consider it to be a Steam product. This means they refer to it as non-Steam.

 

I'm not sure why they would consider it to be non-Steam. Steam is still required to play it even if you bought it at places like GameStop, like I did.

[McclaudEagle]

Regardless of why, people still do. At first, I referred to FNV as a non-Steam product because I purchased it at GAME, not through Steam.

[ub3rman123]

A person might refer to a retail copy as non-Steam, but if they do they usually message the staff to explain and they're unbanned, no harm done.

[McclaudEagle]

But harm is done. That person has to go through all the hassle of having to prove the purchase, which sometimes isn't possible if the receipt has been thrown out. It also makes the staff look unprofessional, as if they're operating under a "guilty until proven innocent" basis, which in turn, gets people annoyed. So there is actually a degree of harm done.

[hexorcist]

It also depends on what you're talking about, specifically. Skyrim? There is NO such thing as a non-steam version, and I'm not really sure how someone could be confused into thinking a "retail" copy isn't Steam. FNV? Couldn't tell you - never played it.

[Vagrant0]

Skyrim has to be installed and updated through Steam, and both the physical disk version and the one purchased through Steam behave in exactly the same way. It is both on the package and abundantly clear when one installs the game. So explain to me how someone can have a non-steam version of the game installed, patched, and is reporting problems installing a mod that isn't using a pirated version. These people aren't talking about problems working their game installed from disc. They're talking about problems with their game that they've either pirated or decided to install illegal cracks on to bypass Steam. If people are going to resort to illegal methods to get around something like Steam, which can be blocked completely after game installation, that's their own dumb fault.

 

When I was playing with FONV, my Steam was always in offline mode, never installed updates, and never connected. You can also block Steam connection with firewalls and peer blockers if you're technically minded enough.

 

Unless it's conclusive enough, related to the comment or what issues they're mentioning there or elsewhere, we usually hold off on the ban. Usually.

[McclaudEagle]

Some people mistake the meaning on the Nexus to the purchase method, I know I did. I kept referring to FNV as non-Steam until I learned the other meaning. I have actually seen some people say they have the non-Steam version, meaning they had the retail version. Well, thanks for the answer :thumbsup:

[Vagrant0]

Some people mistake the meaning on the Nexus to the purchase method, I know I did. I kept referring to FNV as non-Steam until I learned the other meaning. I have actually seen some people say they have the non-Steam version, meaning they had the retail version. Well, thanks for the answer :thumbsup:

That excuse doesn't really work when they're asking for a non-steam version of a mod that specifically needs an officially updated .exe to work. Like SKSE and mods which use SKSE.

[Arthmoor]

With Skyrim there is also one other possibility that's perfectly legal. Someone who bought the game at launch, or within the first week, and is still playing under the TESV.EXE that did not actually require Steam to operate if you set your shortcut to run that way. Valve stealth patched this after about 10 days or so and after that point trying to launch from TESV.EXE would force the Steam client to start.

 

I had my game configured exactly this way right up until Bethesda issued the official LAA version of the game, at which point I fired up Steam and allowed it to update. There are still people who are on the original 1.1 version of the game though who will not update. I've kept a backup copy of my 1.1 installation in a safe place on the off chance one of these forced Steam updates breaks things beyond playability.