Steam has taken my games hostage and I can't play them (off-line mode sucks)

[Rifter]

This is one of my biggest complaints about steam. Why would you set up an offline mode that has to be set up when you are online??.

You obviously missed post # 47 which explains exactly why thats a horrible idea.

 

[frozentundra123456]

IMO Steam should do whatever it needs that you need to click 'go offline' when online for automatically, so you don't need to. A lot of people would get bit by this.

This is like calling 911 and having it say "sorry, you needed to call once when there isn't an emergency to prepare the 911 feature."

I agree totally. Very good analogy.

I got "bit" by this just as you say. I could not play any of my games for several days because my log-in information got mixed up somehow and even after reinstalling Steam I could not log in or go to offline mode. Finally, without any real help from Steam support, I got it working again, but still dont know why it was not working and how I got it to work again. And believe me the first thing I did was set up offline mode.

They should at least set up some kind of dialog box when setting up steam that asks you if you want to set up offline mode and explain that it will not work until you set it up properly while online.

 

[frozentundra123456]

You obviously missed post # 47 which explains exactly why thats a horrible idea.

Would it not prevent piracy just as well to have offline mode set up automatically when you install Steam?

 

[PingSpike]

I feel about as much sympathy for you as I do for people that don't prepare for natural disasters. All you had to do was go into offline mode one time.

Are you sure about this? I don't have much experience with offline mode, but I feel like it resets every time there is an update for at least the game. So if you want to always run offline mode and only patch once you're all set...but most people want to keep up with patches and go online, which I think means you'd have to pick offline again.

Regardless, wouldn't it make sense to have an option to always keep your game files prepared for offline mode rather then making this a manual process? Let's face it most people aren't going to even think about offline mode until their internet goes out.

 

[arredondo]

You obviously missed post # 47 which explains exactly why thats a horrible idea.

No, it explains nothing at all. There's is absolutely no benefit towards thwarting piracy by making me go through that stupid extra step AFTER the four days I really needed it to work. Steam could have simply made me do those steps when I first installed it on my machine.

If doing yet another authentication procedure like this is an important anti-piracy step, fine, I'm all for it. But make me do it when I actually have the internet working so offline mode operates when I am forced to use it.

You can tell Valve dropped the ball on this by the very fact that when it can't access the internet Steam politely asks you, "would you like to retry or go into offline mode?", and when you click offline mode it glitches out with double response windows stacked on top of each other (one completely hidden), neither of which explaining why offline mode doesn't work. It's a big, ugly, unnecessary mess. Nobody can defend that as being well planned out.

 

[Kalmah]

I agree with OP and disagree with the dumbasses in this thread.

 

[Wyndru]

People have no common sense. If offline mode worked when offline, it would be really easy to pirate games. You could let 1000 people use your account to download Steam games, then they all disconnect from the internet and "go offline". Voila, free games for 1000 people.

How is that any different than how it is set up now? I currently give my sister my steam account info right now, she logs in and downloads whatever games she wants when I'm not on, then she just resets it back to offline so she can play any time.

[edit] Oh, I forgot, I set it up for her the first time so I could register her computer (they sent me an email with a code to put in her computer)

 

[Jeffg010]

Did not know you needed to do this. When I get home I will set up for offline just in case. Now people are acting like this is common knowledge which it is not. I'm glad you elite people were in the know on this.

Now people are claiming that this will stop pirating but I had Titan Quest running on my parent’s laptop and my home PC but not at the same time. I used my parent’s laptop to download Titan Quest a second time so I could have it on vacation and I had to get an E-mail to register the laptop.

Here is the thing once my parents laptop and my PC are set up for offline mode how in the hell would steam know I was running it twice if I was in offline mode?

Sounds to me like people are talking out their ass if this works. I would test this tonight but the laptop is at my parent’s house. I bet you any money this is why it is not well know because you could pirate the game if this works.

 

[frozentundra123456]

Did not know you needed to do this. When I get home I will set up for offline just in case. Now people are acting like this is common knowledge which it is not. I'm glad you elite people were in the know on this.

Now people are claiming that this will stop pirating but I had Titan Quest running on my parent’s laptop and my home PC but not at the same time. I used my parent’s laptop to download Titan Quest a second time so I could have it on vacation and I had to get an E-mail to register the laptop.

Here is the thing once my parents laptop and my PC are set up for offline mode how in the hell would steam know I was running it twice if I was in offline mode?

Sounds to me like people are talking out their ass if this works. I would test this tonight but the laptop is at my parent’s house. I bet you any money this is why it is not well know because you could pirate the game if this works.

It works for some games if you set up both computers (or even one of them for that matter) for offline mode and then disconnect it and play in offline mode without going back online while having steam open on that computer. You could still use online mode on one of the computers. And I dont know if this would work for outright piracy for a large number of users, because I bet Steam would catch on if you installed the same account on too many computers.

However, it only works with games that allow local saves. Unfortunately I fear we are someday going to see cloud saves only, and if a game is set up this way, only one person could play it because two different players would mess up each other's saves. Under these circumstances, I dont see how offline mode could work at all.

I have a feeling that Steam's touting of how wonderful their cloud saves are is a way of leading up to this.

 

[you2]

Are they dumbasses because you disagree with them ?

I agree with OP and disagree with the dumbasses in this thread.

Steam has a few issues; one of them is that if you turn your computer on and inet is down you might not be able to play a lot of your games (or install them for that matter if they are not installed). You don't have to use steam there are alternatives (some worse; some better). If the steam model does not work for you then don't use it. However, if it mostly works and you have a well thought out suggestions email value and see where it goes. Maybe there will be improvements.

Saldy this is the route most (not all) new games are taking. Some are worse (imho) i.e, EA's origin and UBI-SOFT always connected drm and some are better Gog (witcher 2) but the fact is that most publishers feel this system works best (for them) so until they have reason to believe otherwise this is the nature of gaming (pc or (soon) otherwise).

 

[Kalmah]

Are they dumbasses because you disagree with them ?

While I agree that it is a bad move to make it so you have to go into offline mode once before offline mode will actually work, it's the dumbass elitists who came in here stroking their own egos by suggesting everybody should just know this as if it's instinct. There is no warning or reminder of such a thing. And I do believe it should be done automatically on a normal basis.

On the other hand, you have the other dumbasses who somehow think an authentication system should never have to authenticate.

I love Steam and buy practically everything from it, but for it to not auto-authenticate periodically is a flaw in my eyes.

 

[Rifter]

While I agree that it is a bad move to make it so you have to go into offline mode once before offline mode will actually work, it's the dumbass elitists who came in here stroking their own egos by suggesting everybody should just know this as if it's instinct. There is no warning or reminder of such a thing. And I do believe it should be done automatically on a normal basis.

On the other hand, you have the other dumbasses who somehow think an authentication system should never have to authenticate.

I love Steam and buy practically everything from it, but for it to not auto-authenticate periodically is a flaw in my eyes.

There are 2 flaws with it auto authenticating all the time.

1. Some people dont let the PC save the passwords, which will make offline mode not work.

2. Some people prefer to auto load their freinds list when steam starts, which will stop offline mode from working.

In order for auto authenicate to work they would have to force everyone to save passwords, and to not auto load freinds list. Which would piss off just as many people as offline mode not working when they start crying they are missing their friends list.

 

[Phynaz]

While I agree that it is a bad move to make it so you have to go into offline mode once before offline mode will actually work, it's the dumbass elitists who came in here stroking their own egos by suggesting everybody should just know this as if it's instinct. There is no warning or reminder of such a thing.

What do you think about dumdasses that don't read the Steam documentation?

Please note that you must connect to the Steam Network and test each of the games you would like to use in Offline Mode at least once to set up your account and configure Offline Mode on your machine.

 

[arredondo]

So what do you suggest?

A} That Steam members who have had the service since the beginning (before off-line mode was set-up) should randomly read the entire documentation for it every week in case they need to learn about stuff they may want to use unexpectedly some day?

B} Or should Steam do the logical thing and automatically allow gamers to include off-line mode to be included with each new install if they so choose from a blatantly obvious option menu setting?

 

[lord_emperor]

People have no common sense. If offline mode worked when offline, it would be really easy to pirate games. You could let 1000 people use your account to download Steam games, then they all disconnect from the internet and "go offline". Voila, free games for 1000 people.

Which, according to this very thread, you could do if you had each of those 1000 people enter offline mode before blocking Steam's internet access.

So, locking out legit customers from their legit single-player games isn't preventing any piracy.

But, in an epic twist of irony, it is easier for both pirates and legit customers to use pirated versions of said games.

 

[Phynaz]

So what do you suggest?

A} That Steam members who have had the service since the beginning (before off-line mode was set-up) should randomly read the entire documentation for it every week in case they need to learn about stuff they may want to use unexpectedly some day?

B} Or should Steam do the logical thing and automatically allow gamers to include off-line mode to be included with each new install if they so choose from a blatantly obvious option menu setting?

Hey, look there's this new feature on Steam, right in the login screen. Let's click on help and see what it's about.

You are the one who didn't bother to RTFM.

 

[PingSpike]

There are 2 flaws with it auto authenticating all the time.

1. Some people dont let the PC save the passwords, which will make offline mode not work.

Last I heard, offline mode already doesn't work if you don't save the password.

2. Some people prefer to auto load their freinds list when steam starts, which will stop offline mode from working.

So? Why wouldn't steam just abort the login to friends at that point? If you're 'offline' friends isn't going to work anyway.

In order for auto authenicate to work they would have to force everyone to save passwords, and to not auto load freinds list. Which would piss off just as many people as offline mode not working when they start crying they are missing their friends list.

So in conclusion the reason auto authenticate won't work is because it would require things to be exactly how they already are?

 

[PingSpike]

While I agree that it is a bad move to make it so you have to go into offline mode once before offline mode will actually work, it's the dumbass elitists who came in here stroking their own egos by suggesting everybody should just know this as if it's instinct. There is no warning or reminder of such a thing. And I do believe it should be done automatically on a normal basis.

On the other hand, you have the other dumbasses who somehow think an authentication system should never have to authenticate.

I love Steam and buy practically everything from it, but for it to not auto-authenticate periodically is a flaw in my eyes.

Agreed. Steam actually has quite a few stupid ways of doing things, although its certainly better than any other offerings so far. That doesn't mean things couldn't be improved.

I really don't see why this process requires user intervention.

 

[PingSpike]

It works for some games if you set up both computers (or even one of them for that matter) for offline mode and then disconnect it and play in offline mode without going back online while having steam open on that computer. You could still use online mode on one of the computers. And I dont know if this would work for outright piracy for a large number of users, because I bet Steam would catch on if you installed the same account on too many computers.

Whenever you start steam on a new PC for the first time you have to do an email activation for that PC. I think the idea here was simply to reduce the amount of stolen accounts. I'd also imagine if your account was found to have been activated on 500 different PCs it might be flagged for a closer look.

However, it only works with games that allow local saves. Unfortunately I fear we are someday going to see cloud saves only, and if a game is set up this way, only one person could play it because two different players would mess up each other's saves. Under these circumstances, I dont see how offline mode could work at all.

I have a feeling that Steam's touting of how wonderful their cloud saves are is a way of leading up to this.

I thought cloud saves were an option that you turn on and off? And mine has failed connection a few times and for control options it just tells me any changes I make won't be saved 'to the cloud' or whatever. Saves seem like they could work the same way. I mean, there's no reason the last used saves on the current PC you're on couldn't still be there...they have to be downloaded to be opened anyway and steam wouldn't need to delete them.

 

[zebano]

Are you sure about this? I don't have much experience with offline mode, but I feel like it resets every time there is an update for at least the game. So if you want to always run offline mode and only patch once you're all set...but most people want to keep up with patches and go online, which I think means you'd have to pick offline again.

Regardless, wouldn't it make sense to have an option to always keep your game files prepared for offline mode rather then making this a manual process? Let's face it most people aren't going to even think about offline mode until their internet goes out.

This is my problem with it. I like the autoupdates but then I need to manually go offline again... =( I've been specifically trying to buy a few games at d2d and amazon just so I have games I can play if I lose internet.

 

[arredondo]

Hey, look there's this new feature on Steam, right in the login screen. Let's click on help and see what it's about.

You are the one who didn't bother to RTFM.

Boy genius, as I said above it wasn't in TFM when I read it because it wasn't a feature then. I am not going to read the manual every week hoping to catch a random, newly added hidden process that should work in a logical fashion to begin with. Believe it or not, people do have real lives and aren't aware of every tech tidbit that trickles out.

And now that I know about it, the process as it stands right now is still unbelievably stupid and poorly designed. Valve can and has done a much better job with almost eveything else Steam related, but this issue is ridiculously dumb.

 

[Clinkster]

This is one of my biggest complaints about steam. Why would you set up an offline mode that has to be set up when you are online?? Talk about the mother of all catch 22s.

I know you should set up offline mode first thing, but this is not really clear what you have to do, (or that you cannot use offline mode until you set it up properly), until you have a problem and start searching around that you have to set up offline mode while logged in.

People have no common sense. If offline mode worked when offline, it would be really easy to pirate games. You could let 1000 people use your account to download Steam games, then they all disconnect from the internet and "go offline". Voila, free games for 1000 people.

Should read some of the posts, people. I used to do this for friends who didn't buy portal and other offline games. Sucks that the ability is gone, but it makes sense.

 

[Wyndru]

Should read some of the posts, people. I used to do this for friends who didn't buy portal and other offline games. Sucks that the ability is gone, but it makes sense.

The ability isn't gone, you just have an extra stage of authentication (they email you a code to register another computer). Talk to your friend on the phone/vent when they are logging in for the first time and give them the code when steam emails it to you. Let them dl whatever games they want, then set they set their computer to offline mode.

It really only prevents accounts from being used by any random person, but still allows you to share your account without too much hassle.

 

[AdamK47]

What you need to do is get a 3.5" floppy disk and place it in a computer that has Internet access. Download as much of the Internet as you can onto the disk. Place the disk into the PC that does not have Internet access and copy the files to your desktop. Launch Steam immediately after that. There will be enough Internet on your PC for Steam to connect.

I solve problems. It's what I do.

 

[PingSpike]

What you need to do is get a 3.5" floppy disk and place it in a computer that has Internet access. Download as much of the Internet as you can onto the disk. Place the disk into the PC that does not have Internet access and copy the files to your desktop. Launch Steam immediately after that. There will be enough Internet on your PC for Steam to connect.

I solve problems. It's what I do.

This is almost as good of advice as the ehow.com article I saw yesterday that told me to connect my floppy drive to a IDE to USB converter yesterday to make it a USB device.