Universal DO NOT FCKING UPDATE ANYTHING UNTIL I LAUNCH IT

[r¡sê ºƒ çhaös]

Please turn off auto updates until you actively select a game and tell it to keep it updated.

[Dranak]

Things has Change. ( you are not in control ) if you dont use option that limit it. in many ways.
https://steamcommunity.com/discussions/forum/1/2155476542897476692/

[r¡sê ºƒ çhaös]

No game should EVER be set to auto update by default. You launch the game, it updates. If its a game that you play regularly and would like to keep it updated automatically, you can go in and change the setting on that title.

This is a stupid, obnoxious blunder and most developers abuse the feature to advertise their game. It is disrespectful of people's property, i.e their hard drive. Users agree to allow a title to be on their hard drive and take up a certain amount of space.

[Crazy Tiger]

Steam is originally build as an auto updater by Valve before it became a storefront, that default behaviour never changed. Since Valve is a firm advocate of "always up to date", don't expect this to change unless laws force it or publishers/gamers massively drop Steam.

The only way to not update is if the games support beta-branches.

[ShelLuser]

There are ways around it for some games, but this is definitely a good mechanism for multi-player. It would be plain out unfair if an exploit got fixed and 'some' players choose not to update their game.

It's not always the black / white scenario players make of it. Not to mention that this is fully covered by the TOS.

[r¡sê ºƒ çhaös]

Being forced to update to play the game is another issue. Most steam libraries have thousands of games. There is no reason to always have games auto updating themselves that are not being played. If you play it, let it update. If its something that is used regularly and you want it to be ready to go, change that game. There is no reason to have dozens of unplayed games constantly queuing themselves up for large updates.

[Crazy Tiger]

Games can be set to "only update on launch". It does miss a global toggle and has to be set on a per game basis.

[Nx Machina]

Originally posted by r¡sê ºƒ çhaös:

Being forced to update to play the game is another issue. Most steam libraries have thousands of games. There is no reason to always have games auto updating themselves that are not being played. If you play it, let it update. If its something that is used regularly and you want it to be ready to go, change that game. There is no reason to have dozens of unplayed games constantly queuing themselves up for large updates.

Uninstall games or back them up if you are not playing them. I personally only have the games i am playing installed.

[Mad Scientist]

Originally posted by r¡sê ºƒ çhaös:

No game should EVER be set to auto update by default. You launch the game, it updates.

Literally an option for that, but if you launch a non updated game it still must update before you play - so either way you'll automatically update, or you'll update on launch.
Pick One.

Originally posted by r¡sê ºƒ çhaös:

This is a stupid, obnoxious blunder and most developers abuse the feature to advertise their game.

No, it really isn't - that's just you blatantly making stuff up. The downloads page is not for advertising, it's a list telling you what's going on, in-progress, scheduled, or completed.

Originally posted by r¡sê ºƒ çhaös:

It is disrespectful of people's property, i.e their hard drive. Users agree to allow a title to be on their hard drive and take up a certain amount of space.

It's not disrespectful to peoples property. If anything, it's disrespectful to assume some sort of negative connotation due to not liking how something is operating, which operates in a manner you legally agreed to.
You should re-read the ToS/SSA.

If this is another thread made because mods break when a game updates, go here:
https://steamcommunity.com/discussions/forum/10/2961670087553670118/

Originally posted by r¡sê ºƒ çhaös:

Being forced to update to play the game is another issue. Most steam libraries have thousands of games.

I highly doubt "most libraries" have "thousands of games".
Even then, having a lot of games does not mean they are all installed; a lot of people with a large library usually appear to only have so many games of the total installed.

It's also "do you want to play the game or no?" - seeing as you can keep it from updating until launching the game, which is you saying you want to play it, so you need any update(s) accordingly. Keep in mind a lot of the updates solve stability/crashes/incompatibility as well for users.

Originally posted by r¡sê ºƒ çhaös:

There is no reason to always have games auto updating themselves that are not being played. If you play it, let it update.

Then use the option to only update when you launch the game, problem solved.

Originally posted by r¡sê ºƒ çhaös:

There is no reason to have dozens of unplayed games constantly queuing themselves up for large updates.

Either choose the option to only update when you launch it, or let them be scheduled.
Pick one.

[Edifier]

Originally posted by r¡sê ºƒ çhaös:

Being forced to update to play the game is another issue. Most steam libraries have thousands of games.

um No, having installed a thousand games is not normal. Owning a thousand games might be more common but having them all installed? Absolutely not.
Also it's only the bigger titles that might have large patches and having a thousand of them installed basically needs several harddrives that each have a TB or more on them.

Originally posted by r¡sê ºƒ çhaös:

There is no reason to always have games auto updating themselves that are not being played.

There is. If for example you want to play the game, having to update right before you want to play it is going to annoy a person who wants to play the game right at that moment.
I've seen plenty of console users posting pictures of having to download a 56 GB patch for the game they just bought.

So having Steam download a patch in the background when you're doing something else isn't gonna cause any problems.


Ironically I want Steam to update my games right away without waiting but due to corona they put it on hold. Bit annoying actually.

[ploppo]

I think developers and publishers like forced updates because they can force DLC out via it - ie the days of buying DLC and then downloading and installing have turned into paying to unlock DLC that is pre-installed - you already have it hogging space on your hard drive.

Steam probably like it that way too when they have a sale on and tempt people to pay to unlock data as opposed to downloading it when you want it installed.

[Zekiran]

Originally posted by r¡sê ºƒ çhaös:

No game should EVER be set to auto update by default. .

Yes it should, that's why Steam exists.

[Mad Scientist]

Originally posted by ploppo:

I think developers and publishers like forced updates because they can force DLC out via it - ie the days of buying DLC and then downloading and installing have turned into paying to unlock DLC that is pre-installed - you already have it hogging space on your hard drive.

Steam probably like it that way too when they have a sale on and tempt people to pay to unlock data as opposed to downloading it when you want it installed.

You know a lot of those "Dlc hogging drive space" is for games where you're playing with other people that have it so you need to be able to see it, right?

Other games only download the data when you need it, ie single player games.

[Eagle_of_Fire]

While I do not agree that games should have the tag on by default I really wish to convey my utter disappointment in the current auto-updating scheme going thru the one option which is supposed to block it. If this is not a bug then what is it?

[Zekiran]

It was never an option.

It was always - ALWAYS - "update when launched". NEVER "don't update at all".

If you want your game to never update, install it and play it only on an entirely offline computer. Ask the publisher to maintain a second version. But then remember that if they do that, it will get more and more out of line with their updated versions, and eventually you will have to use the real one.

And yes, that's "real" one. The one that the developers put out IS in fact "the game they sold you".

Mods don't matter.

Config changes don't matter.

The only thing that does matter is that Steam is not in any way responsible for the content of any of the updates provided to them. Steam facilitates the thing that publishers want you to be playing.

If you really, really need a game to not update, you have one option. Play it completely apart from the rest of your games. And never expect it to be 'fixed' if something goes wrong - and it invariably will, because that's ALSO what Steam helps facilitate: FIXES and patches for older broken versions of games.

What happens when that old version you love so much can't be used with an update to your COMPUTER? Don't come whining about it to Steam - because steam provided you the correct version as per their agreement with the publisher, and to which you also agreed when you use this client to play those games.

Broken old versions have their place. Sometimes it's in history, sometimes it's in our hearts, but almost never are those old versions going to be easily maintained by a company that is ALSO attempting to put out content and fixes for the CURRENT version of their product.

I'd love to see more companies allow modders to work on those old versions and keep them patched or updated "as is", but that's a legal mess that most companies and publishers do NOT want to deal with. Anything at all can go wrong there. Anything. from viruses to ransomware to spyware to just Not Being What They Thought.

[Eagle_of_Fire]

We are indeed talking about the "update at launch". No clue why you are typing a wall of text which is irrelevant to the current discussion.