Valve Working to Make Steam's Offline Mode Not Suck as Much

Steven Bogos

The Taco Man
Jan 17, 2013
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Valve Working to Make Steam's Offline Mode Not Suck as Much


The fact that Steam requires you to go online once every few weeks is a bug rather than intentional design, according to Valve.

Steam has an offline mode, but, since the vast majority of Steam users don't really use it (who doesn't have their PC constantly connected to the internet these days?) it sort of sucks. Valve says that this isn't good enough, and is working to make it not suck so much. In particular, the fact that Steam requires you to go online once every few weeks is a bug rather than intentional design, and something the company aims to fix.

"There are many components involved in Offline Mode," writes Valve poster Henryg in a post on the official forums [http://steamcommunity.com/discussions/forum/1/864969953572102601/#c864969953730401285], "some of them have known issues and bugs which we are continually working to improve. We're aware that it doesn't always work as flawlessly as we want it to, but please keep reporting bugs with Offline Mode. It is not broken 'by design'."

Henryg also mentions that Valve are planning to completely overhaul the way Steam authenticates its games in the near future. Anyone who has had problems with Steam in the past knows of the dreaded ClientRegistry.blob file, which, thankfully, will soon go the way of the dodo. "Some day soon, once this work is completed, we will eliminate the old authentication system and Offline Mode should immediately become much more robust."

Back when everyone was up-in-arms about Microsoft's vision of an always-online Xbox One, no-one was willing to talk about the elephant in the room: Valve's Steam. It is technically already an always-online system, as a large portion of it's library doesn't function properly without an internet connection, and you had to go online to authenticate every game purchased on the system at least once. Good to see them taking steps to improve it.

Source: PC Gamer [http://www.pcgamer.com/2013/11/04/steam-client-should-allow-you-to-run-in-offline-mode-for-as-long-as-you-like-say-valve/]

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008Zulu_v1legacy

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Sep 6, 2009
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This is a very pleasant surprise.

On a similar note, I would also express my joy over how Always Online DRM has become all but extinct.
 

marurder

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Jul 26, 2009
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Always online isn't good from an international standpoint. It isn't so much an issue that a consumer isn't connected to the internet - but if an ISP or site is blocking/blocked. I cannot play some games because I am in China. I cannot do micro transactions to some games because the payment sites are blocked. So if a service decides to shut down everything because it cannot say 'hello' that is a poor service. This move by Valve is positive.
 

heroicbob

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Aug 25, 2010
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I would have liked this back when i hated steam and i wanted to be able to play half-life 2 without constantly installing updates, of course back then i was still on dial-up
 

Grabehn

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Sep 22, 2012
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I kinda like how this "news" is based on a forum post made back in July. Quite funny how news spread this "fast".
 

Imre Csete

Original Character, Do Not Steal
Jul 8, 2010
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Now, if they'd kindly remove region locks from some retail games which require Steam anyhow (like Skyrim, Deus Ex HR, Torchlight 2, Magicka, just from my own experience)...

It's a travesty really, and all that the Customer Service said was to ask for a refund at the shop I bought it?! The hell? They require a once and only registry to an account, making it unrefundable, WHICH THEY DAMN WELL KNOW.

Seriously. You skip borders for a few months and your games are gone.
 

Magmarock

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Sep 1, 2011
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Sorry, but you're too late Valve at least for me you are. I have GOG, Deura and DotEmu. There's nothing on Steaming that really tantalizes me to sacrifice my consumer rights to play.

The first reason Steam was used, was because people stole HL2's source code adn with no sign of HL3, I can't even sympathize with you any more.
 

munx13

Some guy on the internet
Dec 17, 2008
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Actually, Steams offline mode has been working flawlessly for me for over a year now - lots of trips with my netbook, several internet outages due to maintenance, etc.
 

Solo-Wing

Wanna have a bad time?
Dec 15, 2010
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You know what they need to fix? How shitty the in game web browser is. Same with the store browser. Steam takes forever to load the store page when I can just open Firefox and get to the site page in no time at all.

Also Steams current DRM is pretty awesome. I can totally deal with needing to check in like once a month. It is completely reasonable to me.
 

Strazdas

Robots will replace your job
May 28, 2011
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I never used steams offline mode. probably because i havent used steam all that much to begin with. but guess its nice that they are making it more robust.

marurder said:
Always online isn't good from an international standpoint. It isn't so much an issue that a consumer isn't connected to the internet - but if an ISP or site is blocking/blocked. I cannot play some games because I am in China. I cannot do micro transactions to some games because the payment sites are blocked. So if a service decides to shut down everything because it cannot say 'hello' that is a poor service. This move by Valve is positive.
But thats really kinda localized problem to great firewall of china. there is a reason companies put a seperate servers in china and you decribed it quite well. everywhere else in the world ISPs dont block sites, ever. well excelt the failed attempt of UK legislating TPB blockage.

Solo-Wing said:
You know what they need to fix? How shitty the in game web browser is. Same with the store browser. Steam takes forever to load the store page when I can just open Firefox and get to the site page in no time at all.

Also Steams current DRM is pretty awesome. I can totally deal with needing to check in like once a month. It is completely reasonable to me.
The store things laod instantaneously for me. no difference to firefox. i didnt try ingame web browser, because i play games to play games not to browse internet.
 

Saelune

Trump put kids in cages!
Legacy
Mar 8, 2011
8,411
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...I didn't even know this online check was a thing... Offline mode needs to be better, but who is offline for so much? I only use Offline mode for traveling, but I connect to the internet as soon as I can.
 

Ed130 The Vanguard

(Insert witty quote here)
Sep 10, 2008
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ClientRegistry.blob is going away? Joy!

I have a copy of that bloody file on my desktop to ensure that if something does go wrong I can quickly fix it.
 

Candidus

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Dec 17, 2009
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OP, Valve's Steam was never the elephant in the room begging comparison to Xbone80's always-online restrictions.

Because Valve's Steam is one digital outlet of many on an open platform, and if they abuse it or you feel mistreated, you can- in not all games' cases, but in most cases- go elsewhere.
 
Oct 10, 2011
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I only used offline mode when I traveled, but it was annoying to restart Steam 3-5 times for it to stop telling me that "offline mode cannot be launched while offline". Good they are finally fixing it.
 

Teoes

Poof, poof, sparkles!
Jun 1, 2010
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This is good news, although from my recent house move and fortnight with no internet access, I was so grateful for the offline mode they had.

Solo-Wing said:
You know what they need to fix? How shitty the in game web browser is. Same with the store browser. Steam takes forever to load the store page when I can just open Firefox and get to the site page in no time at all.
Amen. Some bookmarks, a speed bump and not randomly closing/resetting would be a start.
 

Arawn

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Dec 18, 2003
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I did notice they've tinkered with offline mode. I recall not long ago offline mode would load the store pages. Yes, while offline I could still view the Steam store. That was rather odd. Really don't have a problem with checking in every other week or so when I get emails about games on my wishlist going on sale.
 

Oskuro

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Nov 18, 2009
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Maiev Shadowsong said:
All these people that bang on about consumer rights and DRM - I have to wonder how many of them read EULA, enter all their information on god knows how many websites to join forums, save passwords in their web browser, allow cookies, own a mobile phone, browse the internet without relay tunnels, etc. Because you're getting fucked every day for convenience you probably don't even think about. But I'm sure having to connect to the internet every few weeks is the major issue you need to worry about.
One thing does not invalidate the other. The big issue with consumer protection is that all those invasive practices that abuse user lazyness or misinformation shouldn't be able to do so. Consumer protection is about protecting people from things they don't know can hurt them, since requiring everyone to be a computer security expert is ridiculous. Think it's a silly opinion? Think how easy it'd be to fool you next time you depend on people with knowledge you couldn't possibly have (at the Doctor, at the Bank, when dealing with a lawyer, when buying a car, when dealing with insurance, housing, groceries...), and think how important it is to have laws that prevent those people with superior knowledge from abusing their consumers' lack of knowledge.


In any case, a working offline mode is not about security or convenience, is about my right as a consumer to play the games I payed money for whenever the heck I feel like it, with or without an internet connection.
I'd only excuse the online requirement for games with exclusively online content (such as MMOs), but there should never be a connection requirement for single player content.

And the whole "It's not a product, it's a service" can go screw itself. A service must offer an ongoing value, such as an MMO's constant customer support or content addons. Digital retailers rarely offer such added value beyond cloud storage, which I would gladly op-out of, since I keep local copies of my games (Usually on the retail DVD that still requires Steam).


So, bottom line, Valve keeps earning points by turning away from the usual market-locking practices of its major competitors. I so hope they don't end up being corrupted.
 

Anachronism

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Apr 9, 2009
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This is good news. Offline Mode has been a pain in my arse for quite a long time now. It never seems to work properly when I actually need it to.

I still remember turning on my computer one time only to find that the internet was down. I opened up Steam to kill some time, only to be told that because I had no connection, I could either quit or start offline mode. Naturally I chose the latter... only to be told that the action couldn't be completed because Steam couldn't connect to the internet.

What is the bloody point in having an offline mode if it doesn't work properly offline?
 

Kahani

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May 25, 2011
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Steven Bogos said:
Back when everyone was up-in-arms about Microsoft's vision of an always-online Xbox One, no-one was willing to talk about the elephant in the room: Valve's Steam. It is technically already an always-online system, as a large portion of it's library doesn't function properly without an internet connection, and you had to go online to authenticate every game purchased on the system at least once.
What nonsense. "Always" is in no way synonymous with "once" or even "occasionally".

Maiev Shadowsong said:
Never seen the issue. When my net goes down, I just can't talk to my friends. Everything still works. Offline Mode is not working as intended? Ok then. You guys get right on "fixing" that problem.
Same here. Just moved house and was without internet for weeks, but had absolutely no problem with offline mode. I've used it in the past for months with to trouble. I certainly won't claim there are no possible bugs in it, but it really doesn't have the issues some people seem to think.

Solo-Wing said:
You know what they need to fix? How shitty the in game web browser is. Same with the store browser.
I have to disagree there. I already have a browser, there's absolutely no need for Valve to waste time writing another one. Just remove the shit one from Steam entirely and make it use my PC's default browser the way every program is supposed to.