Seriously Steam...

[Owyn_Merrilin]

Spoken like someone who has neither used offline mode nor read the thread. Offline mode doesn't work unless you deliberately go into it while connected to the service. If you suddenly find yourself without internet -- you know, the main reason people have to use a mode labeled "offline mode," it doesn't work. It just endlessly tries to connect to a server that it can't find because there's no internet.

Edit: in case you didn't catch it, that means that Steam has those dreaded "repeated checks" that you said it doesn't. The only thing further from a one time activation that doesn't bother you after the first check it Ubisoft's always online crap. Steam isn't quite always online, but it's damned close.

And nowhere in my post did I say that was how it worked. I'm fully aware of how offline mode works, and as I clearly said, you just need to have working internet ONCE and then sign in and click the go offline button. Thats it. Nowhere in that process requires you to be online multiple times. And if you are talking about not being able to log in bcause of server maintenance etc, then that is irrelevant to the process because that exists with all online based DRM, and isn't specific to that type.

I also find it amusing that you mention Ubisofts DRM method when you previously stated Steam " it's one of the most intrusive forms of DRM on the market."

On top of that, Ive used offline mode a ton of times and it works perfectly fine. I plan to have a LAN the next day, so I turn it into offline mode and then I can access all my games without problem during the LAN. If you lack the forward planning to use that feature then that is not a problem with the service, thats a problem with you being lazy. And if you are telling me that the entire day before the planned event that you have internet problems and cant sign onto Steam for 30 seconds then THAT is a problem with your ISP.

Im not going to deny that Steam is DRM, of course it is, but it is easily one of the easiest to use and least restrictive of all platforms that exist, and offers a ton of benefits that outweigh the tiny negatives.

Look, man, if you need offline mode for pretty much anything but a LAN (so, 90% of the reason you'll need offline mode), you're not going to know ahead of time. It's not a lack of forward planning, it's unexpected shit. It's not even necessarily a problem with the ISP. I've had problems with everything from bad weather knocking out the power, to being at a hotel or other place with free wifi but terrible, unreliable coverage. In situations like that, I'm unable to play my games, and the only reason for it is Steam's heavy handed DRM. I've got games on numerous DD services, Steam is the only one that does this. It sucks, royally. It's only where it is today because of how early it was getting to the market, and because of how frequent the sales are.

Edit: and yes, I listed Steam as one of the most intrusive forms of DRM on the market. It's sitting around number 2 or 3, after Ubisoft's always online bull, and very, very close to Securom's limited install crap. Steam has almost all of the problems Ubisoft's DRM does, it's only better in that it doesn't kick you out of a game if you lose internet while playing it. Just about every other problem with Ubisoft's DRM is matched point for point by Steam. But it gets a pass with the majority of gamers because, hey, Valve.

Edit Edit: It's also by definition multiple times. You have to have internet for when you first register the game with steam, and then every time after that which you decide to play it, unless you're in offline mode at the time -- in which case you have to be connected to the internet when you enter offline mode.

 

[NiPah]

They did it to stop piracy, but it didn't so all it's doing now is screwing over legit customers.

It's one of the reasons why I don't use Steam.
I'm not a criminal, don't treat me like one.

But, hey, in this forum Steam can do no wrong...even if they act like EA/Activision (or is it that EA/Activision acts like Steam?).

You have an awesome avatar so it's hard to get mad at you, but let me point out that:
1) Yes Steam can do wrong on this forum, as you can see above your post people still have a hatred of Steam and how it mimics DRM
2) The only issue the op mentioned was the trouble he had with Steam offline mode, if this was the only issue plaguing EA/Activision then we'd no be so bitter towards them. Yes requiring users to log in to verify their account before switching their account to offline is a pain, but it hardly buts it into the EA/Activision camp.

 

[Ultra Man30]

When steam failed to connect online, it used to ask if you'd like to start in offline mode.

Due to reasons, they got rid of it. either because of hacking (using a third party to run through steam to download any game on steam. A real thing.) or account theft/piracy (In offline mode, you can play other accounts games, even if they're logged on.) So now you have to verify it by logging in, then going offline. Which I guess doesn't help a whole lot, but..you know...whatever.

Anyway, you can still start steam in offline mode, it's just a little more advanced now than it was before.

http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2641233

I'd just like to thank you for posting that. Now I have finally gotten rid of the most annoying part of Steam.

 

[camazotz]

I have a netbook that I periodically log in on, update Steam, then set to offline mode. Generally this works fine. However....the problem with Steam's offline mode first requiring an online connection to establish is that usually it demands this when my internet has gone down unexpectedly (thanks Comcast, or bad weather, or router, or whatever) and so its not something I can plan for. I can keep my service online 95% of the time....it's that 5% I can't that I need the offline to work, and its usually a crapshoot of bad timing and Steam getting unexpectedly ornery. So yeah...I love Steam (mostly) but theirunreliable offline option is a big fail. I am sure this is one way Steam curves a sort of lender's piracy on different PCs, but it hardly seems worth the effort. I have purchased over 500 titles on Steam, maybe they could, say, recognize the heaps of money I have supported them with and let me use offline on those rare occasions I need it without having to validate it online. Would be nice...

 

[Doom-Slayer]

Look, man, if you need offline mode for pretty much anything but a LAN (so, 90% of the reason you'll need offline mode), you're not going to know ahead of time. It's not a lack of forward planning, it's unexpected shit. It's not even necessarily a problem with the ISP. I've had problems with everything from bad weather knocking out the power, to being at a hotel or other place with free wifi but terrible, unreliable coverage. In situations like that, I'm unable to play my games, and the only reason for it is Steam's heavy handed DRM. I've got games on numerous DD services, Steam is the only one that does this. It sucks, royally. It's only where it is today because of how early it was getting to the market, and because of how frequent the sales are.

Then you quite simply misinterpreting what offline mode is for. Offline mode is a mode designed so that you can play games offline in a planned situation. So really it doesnt make sense to complain about the way the offline mode works, because quite simply its working perfectly fine, just not the way you want it to.

Edit Edit: It's also by definition multiple times. You have to have internet for when you first register the game with steam, and then every time after that which you decide to play it, unless you're in offline mode at the time -- in which case you have to be connected to the internet when you enter offline mode.

No, by its definition it is not multiple times. Each game that you install REQUIRES only 1 time online. It requires you to be online to validate the game and to turn Steam into offline mode. From then on if you swap back and forth between online and ofline that is entirely your own choice, but Steam REQUIRES you to be online only that one time per game.

And anyway, all you need to do is leave Steam in offline mode all the time and youll never have a problem then, just come online a one time for each new game. Unless of course you use the Steam features a lot in which case I sadly need to inform you that -USING ONLINE FEATURES REQUIRES A STABLE INTERNET CONNECTION-

Also..if Steam is heavy-handed..what in the world is good DRM to you? Other than the cliched response of "no DRM is good DRM".

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

Look, man, if you need offline mode for pretty much anything but a LAN (so, 90% of the reason you'll need offline mode), you're not going to know ahead of time. It's not a lack of forward planning, it's unexpected shit. It's not even necessarily a problem with the ISP. I've had problems with everything from bad weather knocking out the power, to being at a hotel or other place with free wifi but terrible, unreliable coverage. In situations like that, I'm unable to play my games, and the only reason for it is Steam's heavy handed DRM. I've got games on numerous DD services, Steam is the only one that does this. It sucks, royally. It's only where it is today because of how early it was getting to the market, and because of how frequent the sales are.

Then you quite simply misinterpreting what offline mode is for. Offline mode is a mode designed so that you can play games offline in a planned situation. So really it doesnt make sense to complain about the way the offline mode works, because quite simply its working perfectly fine, just not the way you want it to.

Edit Edit: It's also by definition multiple times. You have to have internet for when you first register the game with steam, and then every time after that which you decide to play it, unless you're in offline mode at the time -- in which case you have to be connected to the internet when you enter offline mode.

No, by its definition it is not multiple times. Each game that you install REQUIRES only 1 time online. It requires you to be online to validate the game and to turn Steam into offline mode. From then on if you swap back and forth between online and ofline that is entirely your own choice, but Steam REQUIRES you to be online only that one time per game.

Also..if Steam is heavy-handed..what in the world is good DRM to you? Other than the cliched response of "no DRM is good DRM".

Good DRM: A Disc check, a CD Key, or at the absolute most, an online validation that only occurs once per installation. Not once per time you log into the internet, once per installation. Really good DRM: None at all.

If what you're saying about offline mode is correct (which, by the way, it's not. I did some research and it turns out that the issue we're discussing is actually a bug with a highly non-intuitive workaround. It involves making a backup copy of a .GCF file, and otherwise never shutting down your computer without first shutting down steam separately. It's discussed <link=http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2569938>here and explained <link=http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showpost.php?p=29406104&postcount=27>here), how is it /not/ intrusive DRM? On the contrary, it makes it highly intrusive. It means that you have to keep re-validating your games. And don't feed me that BS about being able to log into offline mode after buying the game and never logging into online mode again. Even if that were possible (and it's not, you have to re-validate everything once a month or so), you'd be crippling your games intentionally. Offline mode is meant to be used when something has gone wrong. It's not meant to be the default setting for Steam.

 

[Naeras]

While I generally don't have too many complaints about Steam, the lack of a proper offline mode is just freaking dumb. They had it previously, I have no idea why they removed it.

And no, before I hear "multiple people playing the same account hurr" or "piracy durr" as excuses for this bullshit: I know a couple of people who used to play on the same accounts in offline mode. When it got removed, they just switched to pirating their games in other ways instead. So it didn't really help against piracy and it's inconveniencing legitimate customers instead.

Downright idiotic.

 

[Ccx55]

Instead of simply clicking away Steam, deliberately exit it by clicking the little "Exit" button from the top-left drop-down menu.

How much simpler must Valve make it? I've never had this problem, and my internet is as reliable as a drunk Robert Kotick.

 

[Doom-Slayer]

Good DRM: A Disc check, a CD Key, or at the absolute most, an online validation that only occurs once per installation. Not once per time you log into the internet, once per installation. Really good DRM: None at all.

If what you're saying about offline mode is correct (which, by the way, it's not. I did some research and it turns out that the issue we're discussing is actually a bug with a highly non-intuitive workaround. It involves making a backup copy of a .GCF file, and otherwise never shutting down your computer without first shutting down steam separately. It's discussed <link=http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2569938>here and explained <link=http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showpost.php?p=29406104&postcount=27>here),
how is it /not/ intrusive DRM? On the contrary, it makes it highly intrusive. It means that you have to keep re-validating your games. And don't feed me that BS about being able to log into offline mode after buying the game and never logging into online mode again. Even if that were possible (and it's not, you have to re-validate everything once a month or so), you'd be crippling your games intentionally. Offline mode is meant to be used when something has gone wrong. It's not meant to be the default setting for Steam.

How I just described to you is how offline mode is designed to and how it NORMALLY works, and funny enough how it has worked every time I have used it. If it isn't presently working that say due to a bug that is an entirely separate issue and why in the world are we bothering to discuss it.

Also the re-validating after a a month or 2 is and has been for as long as I can remember a myth. I have heard of a bunch of people staying in offline mode for months on end, sometimes a year or more and some people have reported it cuts out after a day. If you have any kind of official report that says otherwise, or states that you cannot remain in Offline mode indefintly, feel free to enlighten me but I have never heard of one.

And really overall, lets say I concede to these problems..what else would you suggest as an alternative. There are very very few other large scale services like Steam that exist and none of the others worth noting have no DRM. On top of that, none of the other services offer anywhere near a comparable service to Steam. You can say what you like about Origin, but it doesn't have the game selection, it doesn't have the sales and cheap prices and it lacks basic features we are all used to. Retail has bad prices and most games have their own DRM systems anyway, OR are connected to Steam or another service. DRM free is basically limited now to isolated games, and those games are now starting to appear on services like Steam ANYWAY. And funny enoguh, I would rather have The Witcher 2 on Steam than a standalone copy even it its DRM free. Arguing about the issue is fine, but it seems like arguing for arguing sake when you offer no alternative or solution to the problem.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

Good DRM: A Disc check, a CD Key, or at the absolute most, an online validation that only occurs once per installation. Not once per time you log into the internet, once per installation. Really good DRM: None at all.

If what you're saying about offline mode is correct (which, by the way, it's not. I did some research and it turns out that the issue we're discussing is actually a bug with a highly non-intuitive workaround. It involves making a backup copy of a .GCF file, and otherwise never shutting down your computer without first shutting down steam separately. It's discussed <link=http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2569938>here and explained <link=http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showpost.php?p=29406104&postcount=27>here),
how is it /not/ intrusive DRM? On the contrary, it makes it highly intrusive. It means that you have to keep re-validating your games. And don't feed me that BS about being able to log into offline mode after buying the game and never logging into online mode again. Even if that were possible (and it's not, you have to re-validate everything once a month or so), you'd be crippling your games intentionally. Offline mode is meant to be used when something has gone wrong. It's not meant to be the default setting for Steam.

How I just described to you is how offline mode is designed to and how it NORMALLY works, and funny enough how it has worked every time I have used it. If it isn't presently working that say due to a bug that is an entirely separate issue and why in the world are we bothering to discuss it.

Also the re-validating after a a month or 2 is and has been for as long as I can remember a myth. I have heard of a bunch of people staying in offline mode for months on end, sometimes a year or more and some people have reported it cuts out after a day. If you have any kind of official report that says otherwise, or states that you cannot remain in Offline mode indefintly, feel free to enlighten me but I have never heard of one.

And really overall, lets say I concede to these problems..what else would you suggest as an alternative. There are very very few other large scale services like Steam that exist and none of the others worth noting have no DRM. On top of that, none of the other services offer anywhere near a comparable service to Steam. You can say what you like about Origin, but it doesn't have the game selection, it doesn't have the sales and cheap prices and it lacks basic features we are all used to. Retail has bad prices and most games have their own DRM systems anyway, OR are connected to Steam or another service. DRM free is basically limited now to isolated games, and those games are now starting to appear on services like Steam ANYWAY. And funny enoguh, I would rather have The Witcher 2 on Steam than a standalone copy even it its DRM free. Arguing about the issue is fine, but it seems like arguing for arguing sake when you offer no alternative or solution to the problem.

Impulse, Gamer's Gate, GoG, Desura, and Capsule are all direct competitors to Steam, and they all have one thing in common: No platform specific DRM. In fact, Steam and Origin are the only two DD stores that have heavy DRM. DRM is unnecessary. It only punishes paying customers, never pirates. Heavy handed DRM is even worse.

As for the bug: the functionality you're describing is the bug. The workaround I found gets it to work in the situations you're saying it shouldn't.

 

[Daveman]

It's not that bad a system. It's only preventing you from playing if the internet is going to be down when you don't know about it. That's one scenario. In your case steam isn't stopping you, it's just 1) you didn't prepare for the internet to be down by switching to offline mode beforehand and 2) you have to move your computer to connect it to the internet temporarily.

If you're so used to playing offline one wonders why you were online at all. Was it perchance to take advantage of the steam sales?

 

[Zoe Castillo]

--

 

[Ledan]

That's why I avoided steam like the plague when I lived in Africa and went to boarding school. Steam's ip was blocked, so i could never turn it offline due to needing to be online. The steam client has a host of problems, that being the most prominent problem.
Used to boycott steam exclusive games because of this.

EDIT: oh! Forgot to mention that I hate that I can't play my games when they are updating. I can on impulse/gamestop online, so why not steam? It breaks a game when you have slow internet connection (say like in Kenya), and haven't turned of automatic updates (because you are new to steam and there is no tutorial or something to warn you), and then you can't play your game at all. If you turn off the update, well then the game has an unfinished download so bollocks to you.

 

[Ledan]

Yes, woe is you. You need to go online ONCE to enable the offline feature.

Damn Steam.

No, you need to be online every time you want to go offline or get screwed over during a power out/other event with sudden lack of internet. wtf?

 

[General Twinkletoes]

This is why DRM scares the daylights out of me.

20 years from now, every game you've bought on Steam will still need to have its loader. If this loading software falls out of use or becomes bugged, then wouldn't that just mean all your digital property is now lost in limbo?

Nope. Valve has said they'll take out the client and let it be used offline in the case that they have to shut down steam. Every single one of your games will be safe.

Only games that actually have their gameplay server side like diablo will be lost.

 

[General Twinkletoes]

Yes, woe is you. You need to go online ONCE to enable the offline feature.

Damn Steam.

Spoiler: Eugh

In most situations where you want offline mode, you can't get online in the first place, like on a train or in a sudden power outage.

 

[Ledan]

I thought if you closed steam from the steam drop down menu in the top left corner each time before you shut down your PC it would be ready to boot up in offline mode if it cant connect to the internet, I've never had any problems booting steam up in offline mode when I need to.

????
Why should that matter? Ive tested it and see that it works, but why isn't this a recomended thing? And why should this specific way of closing steam be different from clicking the x button?

I'm so confused......

EDIT: Maybe it's a bug they haven't fixed?

 

[Vigormortis]

I use Steam's offline mode quite often. Both by choice and because my internet, while (at times) fast, can be very unreliable. Thanks Comcast!

But anyway, besides a few times wherein I screwed up or there was some bug present because I was using the latest beta build of Steam, I've never really had issue with Offline Mode. At least, not within the past few years.

It's not hard. If you know you'll be wanting to play a game, just make sure it's up-to-date with the Steam Client version. Easily achieved by just running the game once while Steam is online. Then, the next time (and frankly, every time) you shutdown Steam, make sure it actually closes out and syncs with your account BEFORE you shutdown your computer or unplug from your network/internet connection.

Then, the next time you open Steam without a viable internet connection, it will (with few exceptions) open into offline mode. At which point, any games that were up-to-date and synched with your client version will open and run like usual. Sans online features, of course.

Is it a perfect system? Hell no. Not even close. It needs a LOT of work. But the amount of trouble I hear some people have with it tells me that, more often than not, these people don't fully understand how Offline Mode works.

As a side note: The idea that you have to go online to set yourself to offline mode is ridiculous. Does that method work? Sure. Sometimes. But it's the needlessly convoluted way of doing it.

 

[ThirtySilver]

OK WOW. Please log into steam, click on Steam in the top right corner, click settings,
UNCHECK "Don't save account credentials on this computer. This option is recommended for public computers. NOTE THAT THIS WILL DISABLE 'OFFLINE MODE'. Facepalm at this entire thread.

 

[SpAc3man]

This may seem a bit harsh but in a first world country not having an internet connection is very abnormal. These are modern times where you should get your shit together and admit we live in a networked world. Get a lan over power setup (homeplug) or get a better access point.