New Patch Locks Skyrim to Steam Forever and Ever
A new patch released on Steam binds Bethesda's The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim to Valve's service, preventing third-party mods.
When id Software released the first patch for RAGE on the PC, it seemed to calm the natives furious over several launch issues. Bethesda, on the other hand, launched its first update for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim for the PC and apparently created even more problems than before. In fact, it has reportedly locked the game's executable to Valve's Steam service forever and ever, preventing the just-released RPG from running on its own.
But that's not the only issue. Gamers are complaining that the new 18 MB patch has broken the unofficial "large address aware" third-party patch that allowed Bethesda's RPG to use more memory than 2 GB, support more modifications, and reportedly resolved crashing issues and texture corruption problems. However a new LAA workaround has been released that does the same thing without altering Skyrim's now-modified executable.
"Activating this made the game more stable, and meant it could support more mods and tweaks – including the fabled uGrids .ini file tinker that made the game’s icy landscapes look significantly more gorgeous," RPS reports. "Once Steam auto-updates Skyrim, that opportunity is dead. And we once again have a game that, for many of us, ignores most of our PCs’ memory. What a waste."
In related Skyrim news, one gamer located in Finland has discovered that the entire virtual world of Tamriel includes the landmasses from Morrowind and Oblivion. They were discovered after the player discovered a closed path at the archway of Stendarr's Beacon, the closest point to Morrowind. Curious, he used the noclip command to move past the invisible wall. The trail continued on for a bit until it thinned out with scaled down textures.
"Bethesda has made the landmass for Morrowind," he writes in a blog. "The entirety of Morrowind. Solstheim is there, the mainland is there, Vvardenfell is there. It’s all there. It’s scaled down slightly however, since the scaling in Morrowind, Skyrim, And Oblivion are all obscured towards each other. But it’s still very large."
To read the full blog, head here.
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This is even worse than putting the games on a console - they're taking away that which makes the PC different and better. It's the mod community and other third party people that are fixing and improving the game - since Bethesda lack the motivation to do it themselves.
Not that I support piracy, but....
Thank god the game can be pirated.