Oh Steam...

[A Moogle In Disguise]

I don't know how many people on here feel the same as me but Steam is becoming increasingly more disappointing.

The new big picture mode is a broken mess and will soon completely replace the old big picture, showing how little Valve cares about PC gamers, prioritising the Stream Deck.

Steam used to be discreet, there was an option to have Steam start up minimised. Correct me if I'm wrong but that feature has been removed. Now Steam intrusively pops up in the foreground every time I launch a game.

What's up with chat? Every time I open Steam the chat box pops up with it and there's no way to default it offline. I hate being forced to be social, I just want to buy games and play them.

These features don't bug me, it's the fact Steam had options in place to change these features but now they've taken them away, making the platform more awkward to use, for me at least. I don't trust the direction Steam is going and I'll be repurchasing all my games on Gog and console and then uninstall Steam. I see a lot of people complaining about Steam but they do nothing about it.

But what's your thoughts? Is Steam going in the right or wrong direction for you?

[ReBoot]

Pretty much this same thread keeps creeping up every now and then over the years. I've seen people become disilusioned with Steam 10 years ago, with threads REALLY similar to this one. A sensible interpretation of the events, I've read from a back-then moderator: honeymoon period coming to an end, rose-tinted glasses coming off, is a natural part of life.

That talk about Big Picture is a good example. Not only has it already replaced the old one, it also isn't broken (unless you're in the beta, I've heard things are broken in the beta right now). I am not kidding, I've been using it for PC games on my PC since it got released a while ago and it works. That said, if you like troubleshooting, we can start some troubleshooting. If you rather reminisce about the good old times when you still had said rose-tinded glasses when it comes to Steam, I won't be able to help with that one.

[IFIYGD]

Originally posted by A Moogle In Disguise:

I don't trust the direction Steam is going and I'll be repurchasing all my games on Gog and console and then uninstall Steam. I see a lot of people complaining about Steam but they do nothing about it.

Maybe because not everyone can afford to re-purchase every game they have on Steam on anther platform, or the game they love the most and play the most is not easily available on another platform. Or some of the more social features keep them here- GOG forums are a nightmare to navigate and read, Epic has no forums, forums are almost desolate abandoned cities for consoles- there may be life still there, but it you may have a hard time finding it if it isn't trying to drag your pizza slice down a set of subway stairs.

Me? I have a PS4, an XBox Series X, an account on GOG holding games I rarely play, an account on Epic holding games I never play (except for 1 that I played years ago, and the rest collect digital dust). I don't use Big Picture Mode, so the changes to BPM don't really affect me- I never used it, and am not likely to suddenly start using it. I enjoy collecting badges here, I enjoy collecting achievements here, I enjoy collecting emotes here and using them on forums at time, though I am only active on a few game hub forums, and here on the Steam Discussion Forums from time to time. I am not thrilled with all of the client bugs that still need fixed (like the Back button *grumble grumble*), but Steam works well enough for me, and my experience here is fine for me. I am older, and just want to be able to play some games when the mood strikes me. I rarely ever use Steam chat- I play mostly singleplayer games, and don't feel the need to constantly be chatting with random people I don;t know IRL while I play my games- I "chat" on the forums, when I decide I want to talk to other random people here (like right now).

Could things be better?

Yep. They sure could. They absolutely could.
But they aren't bad enough *for me* to make me want to ditch the platform altogether.

And before you ask- no. I do not own a Deck, and probably never will.

[A Moogle In Disguise]

Originally posted by ReBoot:

Pretty much this same thread keeps creeping up every now and then over the years. I've seen people become disilusioned with Steam 10 years ago, with threads REALLY similar to this one. A sensible interpretation of the events, I've read from a back-then moderator: honeymoon period coming to an end, rose-tinted glasses coming off, is a natural part of life.

That talk about Big Picture is a good example. Not only has it already replaced the old one, it also isn't broken (unless you're in the beta, I've heard things are broken in the beta right now). I am not kidding, I've been using it for PC games on my PC since it got released a while ago and it works. That said, if you like troubleshooting, we can start some troubleshooting. If you rather reminisce about the good old times when you still had said rose-tinded glasses when it comes to Steam, I won't be able to help with that one.

I welcome change, I love new things. But the new big picture really doesn't work for me. I've tried troubleshooting but there's a lot of broken parts to the new big picture. And dismissing my argument by saying I have rose-tinted glasses is as effective as me dismissing your argument by calling you a steam fanboy, it doesn't prove anything.

And it hasn't replaced the old big picture yet, you can still revert to the old one.

[ReBoot]

Originally posted by A Moogle In Disguise:

And it hasn't replaced the old big picture yet, you can still revert to the old one.

... via undocumented workarounds. Yeah, sure, TECHNICALLY it hasn't replaced anything yet.

Anyway, the now-current BP works fine for a ton of people. If it didn't, we'd have way more complaints about it than we are having. So let's fix your BP not working properly, shall we?

[A Moogle In Disguise]

Originally posted by IFIYGD:

Originally posted by A Moogle In Disguise:

I don't trust the direction Steam is going and I'll be repurchasing all my games on Gog and console and then uninstall Steam. I see a lot of people complaining about Steam but they do nothing about it.

Maybe because not everyone can afford to re-purchase every game they have on Steam on anther platform, or the game they love the most and play the most is not easily available on another platform. Or some of the more social features keep them here- GOG forums are a nightmare to navigate and read, Epic has no forums, forums are almost desolate abandoned cities for consoles- there may be life still there, but it you may have a hard time finding it if it isn't trying to drag your pizza slice down a set of subway stairs.

Me? I have a PS4, an XBox Series X, an account on GOG holding games I rarely play, an account on Epic holding games I never play (except for 1 that I played years ago, and the rest collect digital dust). I don't use Big Picture Mode, so the changes to BPM don't really affect me- I never used it, and am not likely to suddenly start using it. I enjoy collecting badges here, I enjoy collecting achievements here, I enjoy collecting emotes here and using them on forums at time, though I am only active on a few game hub forums, and here on the Steam Discussion Forums from time to time. I am not thrilled with all of the client bugs that still need fixed (like the Back button *grumble grumble*), but Steam works well enough for me, and my experience here is fine for me. I am older, and just want to be able to play some games when the mood strikes me. I rarely ever use Steam chat- I play mostly singleplayer games, and don't feel the need to constantly be chatting with random people I don;t know IRL while I play my games- I "chat" on the forums, when I decide I want to talk to other random people here (like right now).

Could things be better?

Yep. They sure could. They absolutely could.
But they aren't bad enough *for me* to make me want to ditch the platform altogether.

And before you ask- no. I do not own a Deck, and probably never will.

Could you elaborate what you meant by the "pizza slice" sentence, you lost me.

As for the chat issue, that is literally the argument I was making. I don't like to chat, I just want to play games. That's exactly what I said. I don't understand how that was misinterpreted. But Steam keeps forcing the chat box on me and enabling it online by default without any option to turn it off.

[A Moogle In Disguise]

Originally posted by ReBoot:

Originally posted by A Moogle In Disguise:

And it hasn't replaced the old big picture yet, you can still revert to the old one.

... via undocumented workarounds. Yeah, sure, TECHNICALLY it hasn't replaced anything yet.

Anyway, the now-current BP works fine for a ton of people. If it didn't, we'd have way more complaints about it than we are having. So let's fix your BP not working properly, shall we?

There are a lot of complaints. I made a thread about it and got at least 2 pages of nothing but people complaining about it.

But sure, if you can help me fix my big picture issue I won't say another word about it. I'll even remove my thread complaining about it.

[ReBoot]

Originally posted by A Moogle In Disguise:

As for the chat issue, that is literally the argument I was making. I don't like to chat, I just want to play games. That's exactly what I said. I don't understand how that was misinterpreted. But Steam keeps forcing the chat box on me and enabling it online by default without any option to turn it off.

... except there is. I'm staring at it right now! It's about signing into Friends when Steam starts. Disable it, Steam won't sign into chat, will leave you the ♥♥♥♥ alone with the chat.

[IFIYGD]

Originally posted by A Moogle In Disguise:

Could you elaborate what you meant by the "pizza slice" sentence, you lost me.

As for the chat issue, that is literally the argument I was making. I don't like to chat, I just want to play games. That's exactly what I said. I don't understand how that was misinterpreted. But Steam keeps forcing the chat box on me and enabling it online by default without any option to turn it off.

Lol. Okay- the pizza slice bit- do an internet search for the Pizza Rat meme and video. Abandoned cities aren't generally full of people who will welcome you with open arms- but the little things that scurry around in the shadows will pop out if you show up with pizza.

And I misinterpreted nothing about what you said about chat or anything else- you are reading more into what I said than you should.
You asked what other peoples' thoughts were-

But what's your thoughts? Is Steam going in the right or wrong direction for you?

I gave you my POV and opinion on Steam and why I am sticking around. In other words, I shared my thoughts on it, like you asked.

[J4MESOX4D]

I don't really mind Steam adding features as long as they work - the major client update released back in June shipped with many issues including problems with the back button and ghost notifications which have affected many users. Not only is this not fixed for many even today, it's not been acknowledged by Valve either so everyone affected is in the dark, not knowing when, or if it will ever be fixed. This was reported to death even as early as May back in a later beta.

So even users who are welcoming of such improvements to the platform may end up being alienated if they release buggy or simply cause more inconvenience. I had the back button problem for a week back in June and I can safely say it absolutely ruined my experience of this platform in the most infuriating way. To think users are still affected to the tune I was is absolutely disgusting.

It would help if the client didn't feel like it was being held together by glue as it is - they usually add or fix something and then several other elements break.

[A Moogle In Disguise]

Originally posted by ReBoot:

Originally posted by A Moogle In Disguise:

As for the chat issue, that is literally the argument I was making. I don't like to chat, I just want to play games. That's exactly what I said. I don't understand how that was misinterpreted. But Steam keeps forcing the chat box on me and enabling it online by default without any option to turn it off.

... except there is. I'm staring at it right now! It's about signing into Friends when Steam starts. Disable it, Steam won't sign into chat, will leave you the ♥♥♥♥ alone with the chat.

Not since I updated it. Now every time I boot up Steam it pops back up and I'm displayed online again.

[ReBoot]

Originally posted by A Moogle In Disguise:

Originally posted by ReBoot:

... except there is. I'm staring at it right now! It's about signing into Friends when Steam starts. Disable it, Steam won't sign into chat, will leave you the ♥♥♥♥ alone with the chat.

Not since I updated it. Now every time I boot up Steam it pops back up and I'm displayed online again.

Looks like a bug then. I've just tried and it did not sign me in nor did it open the chat. Again, if this was systemic, there would be more complaints about it. I don't mean about 2 pages replies to your thread, I mean 2 pages of threads only about that topic, that is quite literally what happens when therere's a systemic issue.

With that out of the way, wanna go trouble-bugshooting?

[IFIYGD]

Originally posted by A Moogle In Disguise:

Originally posted by ReBoot:

... except there is. I'm staring at it right now! It's about signing into Friends when Steam starts. Disable it, Steam won't sign into chat, will leave you the ♥♥♥♥ alone with the chat.

Not since I updated it. Now every time I boot up Steam it pops back up and I'm displayed online again.

And I have it disabled, and I don;t leave Steam running 24/7- I don't get signed into chat when I login to the client. I only use the client, I never sign into Steam on the website. Though I do know other people who have been having the same issue- but it doesn't show me online right now, in spite of me being here typing away, and it says I've been offline for 198 days.
I also only use the mobile app for Trades/confirmations. I don;t use it to chat or post on forums, and on the rare occasions when I do use chat, I am signed in in Invisible Mode. I do wonder if that affects it in any way- never signing into chat as "Online" and only as "Invisible" and never changing that setting.

[A Moogle In Disguise]

Originally posted by ReBoot:

Originally posted by A Moogle In Disguise:

Not since I updated it. Now every time I boot up Steam it pops back up and I'm displayed online again.

Looks like a bug then. I've just tried and it did not sign me in nor did it open the chat. Again, if this was systemic, there would be more complaints about it. I don't mean about 2 pages replies to your thread, I mean 2 pages of threads only about that topic, that is quite literally what happens when therere's a systemic issue.

With that out of the way, wanna go trouble-bugshooting?

You probably could find a total of 2 pages of threads if you gathered them up. And yeah absolutely, I'd appreciate it if you helped me troubleshoot it because I've tried everything I could think of so far.

[A Moogle In Disguise]

Originally posted by IFIYGD:

Originally posted by A Moogle In Disguise:

Not since I updated it. Now every time I boot up Steam it pops back up and I'm displayed online again.

And I have it disabled, and I don;t leave Steam running 24/7- I don't get signed into chat when I login to the client. I only use the client, I never sign into Steam on the website. Though I do know other people who have been having the same issue- but it doesn't show me online right now, in spite of me being here typing away, and it says I've been offline for 198 days.
I also only use the mobile app for Trades/confirmations. I don;t use it to chat or post on forums, and on the rare occasions when I do use chat, I am signed in in Invisible Mode. I do wonder if that affects it in any way- never signing into chat as "Online" and only as "Invisible" and never changing that setting.

That's exactly how it worked for me until the most recent update. Maybe our versions are different. I do know other people are experiencing this same issue, but I could be a local issue.

[ReBoot]

Originally posted by A Moogle In Disguise:

Originally posted by ReBoot:

Looks like a bug then. I've just tried and it did not sign me in nor did it open the chat. Again, if this was systemic, there would be more complaints about it. I don't mean about 2 pages replies to your thread, I mean 2 pages of threads only about that topic, that is quite literally what happens when therere's a systemic issue.

With that out of the way, wanna go trouble-bugshooting?

You probably could find a total of 2 pages of threads if you gathered them up. And yeah absolutely, I'd appreciate it if you helped me troubleshoot it because I've tried everything I could think of so far.

... except there's a difference between "I could find 2 pages in total" and "it's really hard to find anything else". I am talking about the latter, you are talking about the former. With that out of the way, I've yet to observe this case personally, but there's a couple of general troubleshooting steps working for Steam and software in general.

One possibility is the visual state of the setting and the internal state of the setting getting desynchronized. To solve that, toggle the setting to the state undesireable to you, restart Steam. Observe the behavior, it should sign you in. Then toggle this setting to the desired state, restart Steam. See if still signs you in.