I was a player in the closed beta, but I haven't bought or played the game since then. I'd like to try the game, but is Steam necessary? It's telling me this. "The purchase of a Tamriel Unlimited or Gold Edition game cannot be combined with any existing Elder Scrolls Online account and must be accessed separately through the Steam client." I've also heard that if I buy the game outside of Steam, I cannot play through Steam, however, if I buy through Steam, can I play it without Steam through the launcher?

Thanks for reading.