About Steam
I have used Steam since 2005
Steam is a Third Party Program, which is used for many games, and has became a very big third party game seller over the years, recently supporting Free 2 Play games.
Steam is required for certain games such as Red Faction Armageddon, Brink, and possibly others including Skyrim.
*Steam DRM does suck*
In other words, there is a program out there called Phoenix, I really do not want to go into any details about cracking, or malcious software, but any game that comes from steam is more than likely found on TPB, or you can simply go to google and search for a crack, or steam bypass and find what I did to crack any game which works for any steam game, and doesn't require an account.
However there really isn't a reason why you shouldn't trust steam, as I have used steam myself for many years, and never had a problem with it, the only thing that ever concerns me is if I get caught being a cheater by VAC, my account actually gets compromised, or something of the such, and I loose access to my games which I have legally purchased a lot of games through steam, and could loose access to a lot of software titles I own licenses to, however if you do not accept the EULA most stores will allow you to return your copy of the software, or contact the game company and request a refund from them.
The most malicious software I have found through Steam is a program called Punk Buster which was installed on my system without my express consent through a game called All Points Bulletin that I purchased which was run by Real Time worlds back in the day before Gamers First purchased lincense rights and the game and made it free 2 play. I was never shown any agreement or EULA prior to its install, and therefore they installed spyware on my PC, this was not Steam's fault but they still should have delisted the game and posted a warning there as the game company add this to their launcher as an updater service, and I consider punk buster to possibly be able to be used to harm a users computer for example I believe that it could be used to steal senstive information which is the reason why I disable PB every single time I am not playing a game, or when I do not trust it, but that is another thing.
Steam Itself in my opinion can be trusted, but it is up to the user of such if they want to accept the agreement, to me honestly NO agreement through the internet means crap, You can easily Hide, forge spoof your MAC address, and IP get around bans for any game really, change out hardware if you know what you are doing, and while a digital agreement may mean something in the software industry to me it means nothing unless signed and agreed on by me in real life, and the only time I ever look at an agreement is if I have a serious issue with a game company, or an issue which has only happend to me in three isntances before which two of those companies went out of business, and the other one I got my account back and everything after a debate with the company.
Although I would just sugguest installing Skyrim, and Enjoy the game, as it just requires steam for the DRM, although you do have the option to crack the game or modify the files as it is a single player game, given the fact that you are not going to give it to others to illegally pirate, or use I do not see why there would be an issue, as long as you have a legit copy of the software, and key registered to your steam.
**Opinions**
If you ask me about piracy, I really couldn't care I support Cracking, Modifying, and what Hotz did for the Ps3, In other words sony got slapped and paid back for what they did, no one ever signed an agreement saying they couldn't mod their PS3 for example, but they tried to sue him, used their money and legal power for disclosure of IP addresses, and brought harm to Thousands of customers who did nothing all simply because of a PS3 mod which harmed no one.
I believe that All Software, Cellphones, and devices sold in the U.S should not have stupid agreements, or Be Locked to certain providers, why? Because if I purchase a Phone from a certain provider, and then switch, I have to throw away that phone or resell it, waste of naturual resources, and Software I shouldn't have a problem using software I legally purchased for example a game tied to one steam account, or a friend died RL and wants to give me his software he owns that should be totally legal, but some software companies say you can't transfer this license, and I believe that a user should be able to do what they want with their own software/hardware after they buy it for PERSONAL use, as long as it doesn't make illegal copies, and if they want to give it to a friend, or give their MMORPG account away to someone it should be legal to do.
If it were me, and I had the power to make changes I would make these changes and laws I would make these changes so that Blocked Phones, Strict rules about what a person can do with stuff they own even software has to be made so the license can be transfered at any time to a friend, and all MMORPG accounts would have to follow such or it wouldn't be allowed to be hosted in the U.S.
I don't support piracy, and I have and will always support software developers, but I will not support Greed, or Lame digital agrements that say we can change this at any time, and the most they will more than likely do is Ban my account the most they can or will do.
Also Software DMCA Claims I hear and understand about are a Civil Court issue, not a actual crime.
** Note **
As far as the comments I made above it is my Opinion and the only thing that I really follow is the Law, and our U.S Constitution, other than that I really don't care about these so called software agreements, and for actual legal advice I would sugguest contacting a lawyer.
*** As For Steam.***
Once you register an account on Steam you have to launch and use the product through steam, and keep hold of the account, NEVER share your account with anyone not even your friend, your brother, any other family have them create their own seperate accounts.
You can then.
1. Download the game through steam should you loose your CD key it will be avalable for download through steam.
2. You will get automatic updates, and can purchase DLC from the steam store.
3. You can install it from the CD of course, but no need can just install it from steam once it is registered whatever game it is.
4. Steam Achivements you actually get to see them.
5. I would just say honestly in my opinion give steam a chance.
You don't have to buy a lot of games to have or use steam, but just download it, give it a try, I once myself did not like steam because it slowed down my PC, and this was when steam first came out, but since I updated to a system with 8GB+ Gigs of ram I have no issue running steam, no lag, all my games stay updated, Never had any problems on my account, and it is great.
**OFF Topic**
** If you are afraid of **
1. Collection of IP/MAC Addresses, these are easily changed hardware by changing a network card, or spoofing the information, also if you are like me you can simply call your ISP and get a new modem, or buy a new modem/rotuer at any time have them switch it, but thats a perk I have and know, so the most they use it for is tracking when you accessed the account incase it gets hacked and or bans.
2. If you are afraid of datamine like this, know that any software program can data mine a user including but not limited to Norton McAfee, or any antivirus, or program you install and give full access to your system to protect you.
3. Also know that simply by clicking a Link I could post here, I could use a VPS server to obtain your IP address, Operating System, Browser, and possibly even run a geolocate, and anyone can do that by simply clicking a link, being redirected from one site to another fact is you would never know, but I know this becuase I know some people who did it, and I have the scripts on a VPS server to do it which can then relay the information to any account I choose or email it to a user or email account.
4. It is good that you are being aware of what you do, what you sign up for and such, but the internet and the security of the internet can be compromised, modified, or a persons information can get disclosed by many ways simply by clicking of a link, although most companies like Steam and such would not use your information for anything illegal either.
5. Other ways to protect yourself -OFF Topic-.
1. Check your Credit Report yearly for fraud.
2. Use a Good Anti Virus, Anti Root Kit, Malaware, know your PC where its sending its data, terminate connections you do not trust, aka get a packet watcher, or sniffer to monitor all network traffic.
3. Use debit cards online, Make sure it has a 0 Fraud Liability incase should your card ever get hacked or compromised by someone.
4. Use PayPal, never give your information directly to RPG Gold Sellers aka chineese farmers.
5. By just plugging in your pc to the internet, you are pretty much giving a person with experience the right to hack your computer, while it is illegal, it is a unwritten rule should I say, also the other thing is installing software, or programs or stupidly damage your own PC, I have doen this once before to myself, but fixed it myself as well, lets just say I knew the risks, but now I test software on Virtual Box.
6. Do not poke the Bear, aka White-Hat, or hacker with more experience to you, and do not challenge people, or you might get served take Hotz, and Sony as an example.
7. Know the Rules of the Internet.
8. Do not mess with the wrong people take HB Gary as an example, Look at Sony, and look at Operation Occupy Wallstreet if you are into politics some people are still confused about it all saying WHO is leading it LOL? Well Im into politics and all this stuff constantly looking into what I can and enjoying games as well as covering and watching my back.
9. Should I actually get a virus, or my PC get messed up I got all my Data Backed up safe, but I can say that Steam has never given me a problem and I have used it since 2005.
** As far as Developers Stopping Piracy**
Simple Answer Developers, make Elder Scrolls, and all popular games a MMO Game, require that all the data be stored outside the server on a Public Server such as a Elder Scrolls MMORPG, with CoOP option, would be great, this would prevent piracy, although its either Piracy, or the cost for the servers and free access although it is possible and while people could possibly illegally run a crack or emulated version im sure they would miss out on a lot of updates, and such, although I can say from experience that People who support the game will actually pay for a legit copy and support it, I really want to see Elder Scrolls 6 myself, so I am supporting it, I would even love to see Elder Scrolls as a MMORPG Title one day and a great one constantly changing and updated for CoOP like Guild Wars would be awesome.
Piracy will always be around, but all this causes is problems for people who want to just run a Single Game for example you buy Elder Scrolls you just want to play that game not have to install Steam, I can support that for those that want that.