WHY doesn't steam count offline playtime? Not DO THEY, but WHY don't they?

[Shalashaska]

I've seen the question asked 'does steam count your offline hours towards your playtime', with the resounding consensus being "NO". But there is never an explanation as to WHY they don't. I know they count all the hours, I know they only count online hours as playtime on your profile. My. Question. Is. WHY? Please provide me some explanation here as to WHY they don't count offline hours towards total playtime. I've almost beaten hollow knight, and I would very much like to leave a review, BUT MY 40+ OFFLINE HOURS DON'T SEEM TO COUNT, SO I APPARENTLY HAVEN'T PLAYED THE ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ GAME. I've only played offline, so I can't leave a review. WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY, WHAT IS THE LOGIC HERE?

[Ogami]

Because the time is counted while being connected.
Your playtime is saved on their profile servers and need a internet connection to update.
At the end of a gaming session if you close the game and are not online it tries to send the playtime to the servers, if it cant, it goes "poof".

Same reason it does not display playtime you had offline after closing the game.
If you Alt Tab out of the game while offline you see it actually counting your current session playtime but when you close the game and it cant connect to the servers to update your online profile time it resets to zero.

Thats just the way the whole "profiles and all info are hosted on the server side of Steam" works.
People have asked for offline hours to count for 15 years or so and the answer is always the same, "cant be done with the server system".

So yeah, if you want playtime, go online before starting a game.

Luckily you only need 5 minutes of registered playtime to write a review so just do that.
Just start your review with mentioning you played the game offline, i seen quiet a few reviews like that.
I never hold that against them if they are written well and make sense otherwise.

[mimizukari]

Because if you're offline you don't have an internet connection and there's no server-sided way to count your playtime if you change your clock or do some kind of exploit or modify some file that stores that data... There's no real reliable way to transfer offline data online and validate it.

[rawWwRrr]

Originally posted by Shalashaska:

WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY, WHAT IS THE LOGIC HERE?

Because while offline, the Steam servers can't verify your hours played, so they don't count them. Think of it as being on trial for murder and you need to establish an alibi. If you're entirely off the grid, you can't provide proof of your whereabouts.

[Lithurge]

Which begs the question as to whether or not offline playtime counts for refund purposes (I suspect it does), which would make it odd it can't be used for review purposes?

[MancSoulja]

Originally posted by ロザリンド:

Originally posted by Lithurge:

Which begs the question as to whether or not offline playtime counts for refund purposes (I suspect it does), which would make it odd it can't be used for review purposes?

it doesn't, but any steamworks game that uses Steam for its online functionality will have disabled online features if you try to launch it in Offline mode

Time spent in offline play does count toward your refund time even though that time isn't reported on your profile.

[J4MESOX4D]

Originally posted by Shalashaska:

But there is never an explanation as to WHY they don't

Because the data is garnered from the SteamAPI which requires an online connection to generate such information. Really isn't hard to understand.

Originally posted by Lithurge:

Which begs the question as to whether or not offline playtime counts for refund purposes (I suspect it does), which would make it odd it can't be used for review purposes?

Offline playtime counts and Support can retrieve this data from the client. I remember a classic thread way back where a guy who had 0.5 hours on Metal Gear Solid V made a big song and dance about being rejected by Support who said he had over 2 hours. So I looked at his achievements and one unlocked would require at least 25 hours of gameplay and in the end they came clean and said they were playing entirely offline yet Support was still able to detect it as a safeguard.

[Hanomaly]

Of course.. if Offline play time can count *against* Refunds ... then people here saying that Steam can't count offline play time because you are Offline or the APT doesn't work while offline are misinformed.

it can't be both ways. It can't be "offline play time can't be detected by Steam"... AND ALSO.. ."Steam Support is able to see Offline play time and count it against your Refund request".

My thoughts are Steam doesn't record your offline playtime on your profile as a *privacy courtesy* to keep your activity from other "general users". If you play offline your *friends* won't realise how much you play a particular game. It's not added to your profile because it's assumed you want that play time to be "secret".

Steam Client/Steam Support can still see this "secret play time" tho when it comes to looking at your account, however. Which is obvious by many people who try to get Refunds for games they claim they have only played "1 hour", when really they have played many hours Offline, and Steam Support clearly sees this.

~
It would be neat if there was an option, however, that said "Record my Offline Play time to my profile" for people who want the "hidden" time Steam Support sees to be officially added to their profile play time.

[Shalashaska]

COOL!!! I seem to have sparked a sub-argument! Thanks for the answer, I'd not considered the fact that you can screw around with the pc clock, although it's still suspicious that they can (somehow) track those hours for refund purposes. To the asshat that said 'it really isn't that hard to understand', my point was that I had to post THIS to get the answer, INSTEAD OF JUST GETTING THE ANSWER FROM A GOOGLE SEARCH LIKE I TRIED ORIGINALLY. That being said, I'm wondering how much of the previous conversation was just speculation. Anyways, I'm satisfied enough with that answer, whether or not it's a bunch of bullsheat. Anyways, don't mind me! I'd be overjoyed to continue watching you argue among yourselves! It's pretty gotdam entertaining!!!!

[Shalashaska]

BTW, thanks ogami. Best answer. Not like anyone would have given a dam about my review anyways, I just like putting my opinion out there and pretending like I'm a movie critic instead of an electrical service tech.

[dAVE]

Yeah I'm not sure I was camping for a month and beat rdr2 twice on my steam deck still only says only 4 hours or something lol

[moon]

Originally posted by rawWwRrr:

Originally posted by Shalashaska:

WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY, WHAT IS THE LOGIC HERE?

Because while offline, the Steam servers can't verify your hours played, so they don't count them. Think of it as being on trial for murder and you need to establish an alibi. If you're entirely off the grid, you can't provide proof of your whereabouts.

What in the world is that analogy bro you're cooked

[Rex]

This thread was quite old before the recent post, so we're locking it to prevent confusion.