Skyrim - System Reqs Announced

Thanks for the Steam clarification everybody.

This is a Typo from Bethesda like Rage the min specks are:

Min: PS3 or Xbox 360
Required: PS3 or Xbox 360



I hope I am wrong but ....

Ovenall said:

Thanks for the Steam clarification everybody.

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As far as DRM goes it has the potential to be one of the least obtrusive and games which only use it for activation but still require it to be running in offline mode in the background are often quite capable of being launched without it running after they are activated. Other developers can make the steam requirements more stringent and intrusive if they so desire and some even include multiple layers of their own DRM on top of it; I point to UbiSoft and their Steam version of Heroes VI in particular as examples of this. Bethesda's use of steam has been less obnoxious by comparison so far at least. I believe the Fallout New Vegas Script Extender got some heat on mod sites because it was able to launch the game without Steam running - but this was not intended to crack anything and it only did so because in-memory extensions like that are not treated well by Steam.

Anyways for people worried about Steamworks, it will likely be trivial to run the game you purchased without Steam after activation. Some mod tools such as the script extenders will do this as a side effect - though to be clear they will not crack an unactivated game.

Terry said:

This is a Typo from Bethesda like Rage the min specks are:

Min: PS3 or Xbox 360
Required: PS3 or Xbox 360



I hope I am wrong but ….

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These are my favorite types of game, but I don't know that I'd buy a console just to play a game; even one as loved as TES. I wouldn't be surprised to see TES leave the pc though. It really looks like the pc gets less and less love each iteration. Hope I'm wrong.

kalniel said:

And the game will also automatically download and apply patches when they are available and you are signed into Steam/it's connected to the net.

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Just to clarify, this is the default behavior, but you can opt out of it if you chose to. There is a setting you can untoggle that will stop the automatic patching from happen.

They might even leverage Steam so that save games are backed up on the Steam severs, meaning you can move them between different computers and have an extra layer of security in case of deletion.

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They almost certainly will allow for cloud save. A few months ago they added that as a feature to Oblivion and even Morrowind on Steam. Since Morrowind is nearly a decade old and has Steam cloud save I can't see them not doing it for Skyrim.

Cloud save, by the way, is also optional and you can opt out of it as well.

Motoki said:

Cloud save, by the way, is also optional and you can opt out of it as well.

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What if I want it part of the time, but not always? Can I get partly cloudy?

I tried to save my house on Cloud and it let everything but the Kitchen sync.

So what is the big deal about cloud save? I mean, how many people actually (or would want to) alternate between multiple PCs playing the same game?

I guess it's great for the slackers at work.

About the interface - it does look rather non-PC - but it's never been a huge issue for me. I'm pretty good at adapting to such things, as long as there's a reasonable basic functionality.

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Bethesda has nowhere to go but up in the interface department. Morrowind's interface was designed for the PC and it was awful, and the Oblivion/Fallout interface was far from perfect. The Skyrim interface looks to be very different and hopefully, much better.

Thrasher said:

So what is the big deal about cloud save? I mean, how many people actually (or would want to) alternate between multiple PCs playing the same game?

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Given the number of people who complain about limited activations for that reason, I'd guess a few

Limited activations also apply to installations at different times, so limited activation complaints don't imply playing the same game on multiple platforms at the same time.

@Ovenall:

About disabling Steam auto updates - apparently that is not guaranteed. Some games do not allow you to toggle off auto-update (I have seen people mention this on Steam forums - fortunately my small selection of games does). These games will update when they feel the need. There is also no Steam-sanctioned way to turn off ALL updates without going through every game in your library.

rune_74 said:

OK, I don't get your arguement? The xbox 360 numbers was 803000 or so…so that kind of blows your stats out of the water. That shows that their are over 1 million console presales.

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And the PC sales are likely at least 300,000, if not more, depending on the total number of digital downloads.

That's a significant portion of the total revenue and so far, within North America at least, it appears more revenue has been derived from sales of the PC version than the PS3 version.

Not to mention the fact that each sale of a PC copy generates a higher margin because there is no need to pay the MS or Sony license, which is typically around $10 or so.

Thrasher said:

So what is the big deal about cloud save? I mean, how many people actually (or would want to) alternate between multiple PCs playing the same game?

I guess it's great for the slackers at work.

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Honestly, I wish I had backed up all my Morrowind saves to a cloud years ago. I had some on disc but I can't tell you where the hell they are. Probably lost and gone for good.

I did find my Oblivion ones however and I copied them off the disc and had the Steam cloud save back them up (plus I also backed them up to dropbox just in case ).

It's just nice to never have to go 'Oh hell, where did I put that disc again?'. I've moved around a lot over the years and new computers come and go, hard drives get reformatted and discs get lost.

*Edit: Oh and with regards to disabling auto-updates New Vegas allowed it, as do Oblivion and Morrowind. Not that I'm expecting updates for those, but still. If we go by current and prior Bethesda games I think it's a fairly safe assumption there will be an option to opt out of auto-updates. I don't really think that is the best idea, but I think it will be an option.

Well I guess I am too organized to need a cloud. There's a joke in there somewhere.