Need help with offline mode

[Western Warrior]

A short while ago a steam update seems to have broken offline mode. While it appears that I can play games in offline status, I still have access to the steam store, an online function. Steam support has not been very helpful and cannot even tell me if it actually is a bug or working as intended (I wouldn't put it past Valve to make the store unavoidable)

[Western Warrior]

So I was wondering if anyone else has come across this and might have a fix for this other than just pulling the plug. Also blocking steam.exe using windows defender does not fix this either

[Lavie]

Hi!

Why this a is a problem for you?

[Western Warrior]

Originally posted by Lavie:

Hi!

Why this a is a problem for you?

Why wouldnt it be? why offer offline mode if its not offline mode?

[Lavie]

I'm willing to help, but I need to understand what you're trying to accomplish. You can play offline on Steam, it doesn't mean that the internet stops working.

https://help.steampowered.com/en/faqs/view/0E18-319B-E34B-B2C8

Steam support has not been very helpful

What is the answer they sent you exactly?

[J4MESOX4D]

Originally posted by Western Warrior:

Originally posted by Lavie:

Hi!

Why this a is a problem for you?

Why wouldnt it be? why offer offline mode if its not offline mode?

Are you sure you have selected the 'Go Offline' option rather than just appearing offline? It's possible they've made changes under the table to how 'offline' mode operates i.e you may still be indirectly connected to the store but wont receive updates for games because you aren't tied to any servers.

If you think it might not be working as intended, contact support https://help.steampowered.com/en/wizard/HelpWithSteamIssue/?issueid=805

[Ogami]

Thats normal and came with the new Steam UI a few weeks ago.
Games are still "offline" (wont update, wont get playtime and so on) but the store link in the client will start a new process opening the store separately.
Its so users can look something up on the store without needing to leave the Steam offline mode.

As long as you have a active internet connection in the background it will work that way, only if you have no internet at all or disconnect your router will that function be disabled.

[Western Warrior]

Originally posted by Ogami:

Thats normal and came with the new Steam UI a few weeks ago.
Games are still "offline" (wont update, wont get playtime and so on) but the store link in the client will start a new process opening the store separately.
Its so users can look something up on the store without needing to leave the Steam offline mode.

As long as you have a active internet connection in the background it will work that way, only if you have no internet at all or disconnect your router will that function be disabled.

well thats a shame, I had a sneaking suspicion that it was working as intended. I just hate it when companies force advertising to you at every opportunity

[Western Warrior]

Originally posted by Lavie:

I'm willing to help, but I need to understand what you're trying to accomplish. You can play offline on Steam, it doesn't mean that the internet stops working.

https://help.steampowered.com/en/faqs/view/0E18-319B-E34B-B2C8

Steam support has not been very helpful

What is the answer they sent you exactly?

They said they were not aware of this bug and directed me to opt into the beta steam version to see if this would fix it. Other than that, they couldnt offer me any other solutions.

Also the issue is not playing offline, it is the fact that the store is now shoved in my face now when I start steam.

[Ogami]

Originally posted by Western Warrior:

[ware of this bug and directed me to opt into the beta steam version to see if this would fix it.

Also the issue is not playing offline, it is the fact that the store is now shoved in my face now when I start steam.

You can change the page it opens when starting the client in the INTERFACE setting in the client.
I have it set to show my library as the starting page.
I dont see the store at all.

Alternatively you could switch to "Small Mode", then you have nothing but a list of your games when starting STEAM in offline mode.

[Western Warrior]

Originally posted by Ogami:

You can change the page it opens when starting the client in the INTERFACE setting in the client.
I have it set to show my library as the starting page.
I dont see the store at all.

Thats a nice little work around, thankyou

[crunchyfrog]

Originally posted by Western Warrior:

Originally posted by Ogami:

Thats normal and came with the new Steam UI a few weeks ago.
Games are still "offline" (wont update, wont get playtime and so on) but the store link in the client will start a new process opening the store separately.
Its so users can look something up on the store without needing to leave the Steam offline mode.

As long as you have a active internet connection in the background it will work that way, only if you have no internet at all or disconnect your router will that function be disabled.

well thats a shame, I had a sneaking suspicion that it was working as intended. I just hate it when companies force advertising to you at every opportunity

Here's the thing - it doesn't affect you.

Bcause it changes nothing for you adversely.

If you are truly offline then you wouldn't know this anyway, so what's the issue?

[Western Warrior]

Originally posted by crunchyfrog:

Here's the thing - it doesn't affect you.

Bcause it changes nothing for you adversely.

If you are truly offline then you wouldn't know this anyway, so what's the issue?

No, it does affect me. I wouldn't be here otherwise. The adverse effect is that my experience has been downgraded with the update making the store always connected and being the first thing shown to me. It should be very obvious that this has been implemented to help sales. Now if it was to make the user experience better, it would have been an opt in feature. I have nothing against companies making profits, but I don't have to like being nickel and dimed every time I spark a game.

[xarvn]

By the way, it seems one can read the posted discussions but cannot comment or pose questions while in offline mode.

[Lavie]

Also the issue is not playing offline, it is the fact that the store is now shoved in my face now when I start steam.

Yes, I had the same problem after the big update and I also found it very annoying. Then it fixed itself after 3-4 days... So it's a bug (which seems to still affect several).

[xarvn]

Originally posted by Western Warrior:

Also the issue is not playing offline, it is the fact that the store is now shoved in my face now when I start steam.

If you still have this problem and if your main objection is to ads then you can do the following:

1. Set steam to show something other than the default store page when you start Steam: Go to Settings --> Interface and change "Start Up Location."
2. Disable popup ads: Turn off "Notify me about additions or changes to my games, new releases and upcoming releases" in the Interface settings. Note you can still view popup ads by manually selecting View --> Update News.