Steam auto updates

[zagood]

Moved to Alaska, got my internet set up, best option (that I found) is through a local cable company, 6Mbps down/512Mbps up for about $50/month. 15gb cap, overages are charged (they don't just shut you down).

I thought, hey, 15gb isn't that great, but I'm not filesharing nor running a server.

Opened up Steam for the first time in a few weeks and it was pretty much non-responsive. Deleted the blob file. Same thing. Restarted, same thing. Started looking into what would cause a problem like that and ran across a post describing the same situation, plus "a huge amount of data being downloaded..." Checked my bandwidth monitor, and sure enough, I had just downloaded 2gb of data.

Having non-capped broadband at home I never really thought about it, so left auto-updating on. When you don't start up steam for a while and you have 20+ games, yeah, they all try to update at once.

So, I'd highly recommend anyone with bandwidth limitations, or anyone who just doesn't like the concept, to go into their Games Library, right click on every game individually, click the update tab, and select "Do not automatically update."

Drawback: can't play in offline mode if the game isn't fully updated, or at least if Steam knows that the game you're trying to play isn't updated.

This is my first negative experience with Steam. I can't see how I would ever be able to purchase and download distributed games on a regular basis with a bandwidth limitation like this.

 

[Zenoth]

Understandable, but on top of the poor 15GB cap limit what happened is something that under the "best" circumstances wouldn't happen often at all, and what I am referring to is that you downloaded a total 2GB of data worth of updates for the number of games which happened to not have been played during your absence from Steam. It's not that we don't have "the right" to be away from Steam, the computer, or from playing video games, but you should objectively consider, in my opinion, that being away from Steam long enough so that when you come back there's 2GB worth of updates for the installed games isn't something that will happen each and every single months.

So right now you do realize the "limitations" of Steam (at least with default automatic updates being activated, that is) are indeed frustrating (also referring to not being able to play in off-line mode if a game isn't updated) but as I view this situation it's primarily a mere consequence of a rare event, because let's say it, had you not been absent for so long from Steam and had the games regularly updated individually as the updates were released you probably wouldn't have downloaded even a third of that data under an even longer period of time.

But yes, I do agree and I do honestly understand this situation, I'm simply saying basically that such a scenario is rare, but it doesn't excuse the lack of playability in off-line mode if a game isn't updated which is something I myself always overlook due to having lived through no such frustrations as yours and because I'm extremely rarely away from Steam or computer games for more than two or three days, a period during which usually no more than perhaps one or two of my 48 games currently installed on Steam would be updated (and those that do update enough are usually the same ones, and currently it happens to be Valve games such as TF2, or Source-based games).

 

[Lonyo]

It's entirely possible to have a 1.5GB+ update for a single game, so even 1 day of being away would require a large download (example being Company of Heroes).

 

[Inspector Jihad]

is the internet situation that bad in alaska?

 

[xboxist]

You're allowed 500 MB a day, on average. That seems... abysmal, especially for the cost. I'm sorry man.

 

[CPA]

Negative Steam impact? Why, it's your ISP's fault, not Steams.

 

[Skurge]

You're allowed 500 MB a day, on average. That seems... abysmal, especially for the cost. I'm sorry man.

You think that bad, over here a 256kbps connection $72, although everything here is uncapped.

a 2Mb connection is $400, thats the fastest you can get.

 

[Martimus]

This is my first negative experience with Steam. I can't see how I would ever be able to purchase and download distributed games on a regular basis with a bandwidth limitation like this.

You can use other Digital Download services. I use Impulse quite a bit, and Good Old Games, and neither have the same issues (they don't require you to update everything to play offline, and infact don't need to be running to play offline). I haven't used Direct2Drive, but it is another option that might not have the same issues.

 

[KMFJD]

Negative Steam impact? Why, it's your ISP's fault, not Steams.

Well seeing as Steam is updating all the games at once, yes it's a steam issue. The software should be aware enough not to try and update multiple applications at once, should pop up and ask you which you want to update first.

 

[pugh]

Negative Steam impact? Why, it's your ISP's fault, not Steams...

..

 

[Liet]

Word. That ISP stinks. We should all take a moment to appreciate how good we have it in large cities like NYC.

I can't imagine a GB cap, and I don't even file share, just play games. Having a GB cap is just plain insulting, and I'd fight my ISP tooth and nail about it. Can you talk to a supervisor maybe and have an exception made?

 

[zagood]

Understand, this isn't a rant about steam so much as a warning to those like me who are new to bandwidth caps and how digital services that rely on broadband can tax that immediately. This particular instance may have been rare, but the fact that it exists at all can get ignorant people (like myself) into hot water pretty quickly.

Considering I didn't even let the updates finish, I have no idea how much data each one is trying to push.

You can use other Digital Download services. I use Impulse quite a bit, and Good Old Games, and neither have the same issues (they don't require you to update everything to play offline, and infact don't need to be running to play offline). I haven't used Direct2Drive, but it is another option that might not have the same issues.

Average game size these days is what, 8gb? Unless D2D has developed a delivery engine with 90% compression, no, downloading full games is not an option.

I can upgrade to the next tier for another $20 a month, but that's only for another 10gb. We'll see after this first month if it's worth it, may very well be, overage charges are $5/gb. DSL and satellite services are pretty much the only other options, both of which are slower and much more expensive.

I'm just annoyed, the internet is supposed to be about breaking limitations, not imposing them.

 

[zagood]

Blah. Just called, the only unlimited DL package is $149 for tv, internet, phone etc. They are, however, having a promotion for the ULTIMATE XTREME package, 10Gbps/1Gbps with a 40gb limit. $15 bucks more than I'm paying for 3 months. Now I'm gonna go download porn...i mean updates...

 

[Arglebargle]

My issue with Steam comes from the way it updates games. In my experiance, every time Steam updates itself, it resets its game flags to 'automatically update'. I have games on Steam that are set to not do this, because the game saves are not always compatible across patches. Playing through a campaign, I'd like to finish it before Steam updates it to a new version. But twice, Steam has overridden my 'no update' order.
Goodbye saves.....

I live in a service provider monopoly area, so I am lucky to see 1MB download. At least, no caps.

 

[Rifter]

Well seeing as Steam is updating all the games at once, yes it's a steam issue. The software should be aware enough not to try and update multiple applications at once, should pop up and ask you which you want to update first.

This is completly the users fault, you can set steam not to update automatically if you want to manage the updates. Its only steams fault if you let it be.

 

[magomago]

wtf you can't play non updated games in offline mode if its aware there is an update? Isn't that farking annoying? D/L in background, let me play offline in the mean time!