Is Steam okay for you?

[Hakazaba]

What's with all these people saying you have to be online to go into offline mode? My internet had a little hiccup when I turned the computer on and then Steam popped up with a failed to connect message and gave me the option of either retrying the connection or starting in offline mode.

The option is there but it fails to connect if you haven't set it to offline mode before exiting. The only other problem i have with steam is forced updates since my internet connection sucks.

 

[Maze1125]

Please explain to me, without using strong language and insulting me, how can I play a game without internet connection, since every time that I start the game I must first connect to my Steam account?

Top left corner:
Steam -> Go Offline...

*facepalm* Dude, you only get that far if you're connected normally or already in offline mode.

So?
I answered his question exactly "how can I play a game without internet connection?"
Yes, he still would've have had to have gotten on to Steam first, but once he was on there, he could have used my method to play a game entirely without the internet. Which is precisely what he asked.

Yes, my answer could have been more inclusive, but I felt no need to make it so given that it had all already been explained earlier in the thread.

Dude, if you don't have internet connection, and you're not already in offline mode, then you don't get the giant Steam window where you can access the Steam menu. If you can access "top left corner" where the Steam menu is, then either a) he's already in offline mode, and the point is moot, or b) he is connected to Steam normally, which means he has internet connection.

Yes, like I said, he would have had to have gotten on to Steam somehow first but, given that he had (and we already know he has been able to in the past), my answer precisely answers his given question.

Whether or not he can access Steam without an internet connection is beside the point, he asked "how can I play a game without internet connection?" not "how can I access Steam without internet connection?"

 

[Joccaren]

It doesn't turn the ads off automatically for the same reason you see advertisements every 15 minutes on TV...

Dependent on which station you watch. I rarely watch TV though, so it doesn't aggravate me as much. Besides, there are usually online screenings of episodes without the add breaks I can watch at my convenience.

I'm pretty sure your shift glitch is a user error

If you'll explain to me how, I'll agree. Fact of the matter is I can release alt and tab, leave for half an hour, come back and hit shift and it will open up the overlay (Tried this at lunch today). No, its not my keyboard keys getting stuck down. I hit shift again it doesn't work. I need to hold down tab and shift for it to close. Likewise, sticky keys are always disabled.

Many good games DON'T give you the option to update or just play. And just because you don't use an Xbox or PS3 doesn't mean that you can just disregard them completely from games that do force update. GFWL, PSN, Xbox live, Steam all force you to update. I'm going to assume Origin probably does but then I've never used it nor do I think I ever will use it.

What if the PC versions of those games don't force you to update before you play?
This is why I hate digital distribution platforms as a whole. Quite often a large update will come out, and I can't download it because I'm nearing my Internet cap and my family needs to use the Internet too. My options are to either wait until my Internet clocks over to play the game, or deal with my family being as annoying as they can be because I used the last of the Internet.
I can understand required updates for multiplayer, but a required update for single player is useless and annoying.
Hell, not even all digital distribution platforms require you to update. Impulse. I have Sins on it. It loads up fast, and it does not force me to update to play my games. It will inform me there is an update, but I don't need to update to play.

As for having to load up steam, not much I can say.. it's the same as turning on a console or the TV.

I don't use consoles, but it is not the same as loading up my PC. My PC loads up, I log in, and then I have to wait longer for Steam to load up. Steam loads up slower than it takes windows to load up and me to log in, and it simply adds time to how long it takes me to play a game.

You can't even blame steam for that part, you should blame the devs of the game for using steam for it.

I can blame the developers for using Steam yes, but I can also blame Steam for implementing that system. Neither of these either is a good reason for why I should like it. It annoys me, I don't like it. Simply 'You should blame the devs' does not stop me from being annoyed by Steam.

 

[Skizle]

Steam does have an offline mode. Read more about it [link = https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=3160-AGCB-2555]here[/link], though it really is what is says on the can; being able to play your games, without Steam having connection to the internet.

Try saying that when you lost access to the internet for a week or more unexpectedly and can't access your games because you have to be able to go online to go into offline mode. I think it's a bit of backwards logic there. "You can play offline. But you have to go online first then set it so your computer is in this special mode that lets you play offline." That's why I always have either my desktop or laptop on offline mode at all times as a precaution.

Finally someone with a brain that understands this problem. Nothing is more frustrating than this, especially when a storm knocks out your internet and even though your computer doesnt detect an internet connection, Steam still detects that you are connected to a modem or router and you should be getting an internet connection. Oh and don't bother disabling your network drivers or unplugging your ethernet cord, we saw what you were trying to do and we still wont let you go into offline until you log in and go into offline mode. /rant

other than this, its ok

 

[theultimateend]

Steam does have an offline mode. Read more about it [link = https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=3160-AGCB-2555]here[/link], though it really is what is says on the can; being able to play your games, without Steam having connection to the internet.

Try saying that when you lost access to the internet for a week or more unexpectedly and can't access your games because you have to be able to go online to go into offline mode. I think it's a bit of backwards logic there. "You can play offline. But you have to go online first then set it so your computer is in this special mode that lets you play offline." That's why I always have either my desktop or laptop on offline mode at all times as a precaution.


Personally, my problem with Steam is that they can legally cut off access to every single game you have through them whenever they want. Yes, other programs do this too (like Origin), but this is something that is kinda glossed over by many for Steam. And I know what a lot of people will say. This is Valve, who is a kind company who always works with gamers when there's an issue, right? Not quite so much. I've heard of people losing access to their accounts (and by extension every game they own on Steam), and having to wait about a week to find out why they did in the first place because Steam support is just awful. And when they do, that doesn't always mean the people can get access right away.

The fact they can make you unable to play your games at all is enough to make me consider the service a bit iffy. I could understand cutting people off from buying anymore games, or taking back games that have payment issues (which yes, if there is a payment issue, they take away total access to your account). But to take away access to the games people paid for either through them or through other places since many games are going Steamworks just seems wrong.

uh...

Last time my internet was out steam switched to offline automatically >_>. I played games till it was fixed.

 

[Kapol]

Finally someone with a brain that understands this problem. Nothing is more frustrating than this, especially when a storm knocks out your internet and even though your computer doesnt detect an internet connection, Steam still detects that you are connected to a modem or router and you should be getting an internet connection. Oh and don't bother disabling your network drivers or unplugging your ethernet cord, we saw what you were trying to do and we still wont let you go into offline until you log in and go into offline mode. /rant

other than this, its ok

uh...

Last time my internet was out steam switched to offline automatically >_>. I played games till it was fixed.

Well, we figured it out earlier in the thread that there's an issue with the file allowing permission to access offline mode when not connecting to the internet. Due to high rate of packet loss, the file doesn't work for everyone depending on their internet connection. So a lot of people have different experiences. A lot seem to not be able to access Steam while not connected, but quite a few seem to be able to. So it IS an issue because the number of not able to seems to be fairly high, but it's not one that everyone has.

 

[Aprilgold]

I agree with you. Steam is definitely the best form of DRM out there, but it's still DRM. The store is good, I guess... but then you compare to, say, GOG.com - which has no DRM - and it starts to falter again.

And no, it doesn't have an offline mode. It does not count if you have to be online first.

Want to know why? To stop people from logging on as anyone they want, the online mode is there so that you can log in, and is to stop people from accessing your account on another computer. If I want to log in as my friend, then I can do so from a different computer, however, they will verify that you want to use Steam on another computer VIA E-mail. Its a form of DRM for your account to keep your account safe. However, it will some...

The point - you're missing it.

My problem with it is that it is DRM. Your reason for excusing it is that it is DRM.

Yaaaaaaay.

Welp I learned something. But while I'm making this post, isn't everysingle way to play games DRM in a form, such as consoles? Think about it.

 

[Murahk]

I shouldn't NEED Steam for any game that isn't made by Valve under any circumstances.

Why does Valve get a free pass?
Just because they own the system, doesn't mean they're required to make every game they make require the system. Valve are just as capable of making both a Steam version and a non-steam version as any other company is.

Valve make Steam exclusive games because there are many benefits to the company in having their games require Steam, that is the exact same reason the other developers and publishers make Steam exclusive games.

Either it's okay for anyone to exploit Steam exclusivity, or Valve are just as wrong in doing so.

They're not REQUIRED to, but they have every right in doing so as both the game and the system belong to them. It's just integrating their software.
It'd be like creating a text file type that can ONLY be opened with Microsoft Word and then other competitor's making use of that file type. Nobody would stand for that, because it requires you to use a third-party program that is entirely unnecessary. However, if Microsoft released a specific text document that used that file type, it would make perfect sense. (I apologise, the analogy was MUCH better in my head, but hopefully it conveys my point well enough.)

I never actually said it was right, but I can tolerate it. However, if I must take one of those two options, I'll say that Valve are just as wrong in doing so.