Offline mode functionality needs to be fixed/revamped..

[Malakie]

Today I learned that offline mode does NOT work as it should.

And in fact requires an internet connection.

I have a couple systems that are in locations that do not have access to the internet. I had steam setup to run in offline mode on those systems. Yesterday I went to use one of those systems only for Steam to tell me it could not access the servers to login... even though I had selected offline mode.

I tried a second system, SAME result.

So I contacted support. And I was told that offline mode requires an active internet connection every so often... to remain offline!

THAT is ridiculous. It is ALSO not acceptable. In essence this means that unless you have access to the internet, at some point in a short amount of time, you will lose the ability to use, play or access all products you paid for. And that is a problem because Steam is NOT an MMO where I subscribe each month to have access.

The ONLY time Steam should 'require' online access is for initial setup of something you buy and should you need or want to download updates. Once you go into offline mode, Steam should never REQUIRE access to the internet until you try to go online.

I purchased products in good faith knowing that if for some reason I did not have access to the internet, I could still use that which I paid for. But apparently that is not how Steam has set this up or changed things up in this regard...

I have wondered why so many I talk with are not fans of Steam and have moved to other services. I always thought they were a bit over the top on their issues and problems with Steam.. I can't count how many times I argued that I have never had issues like they said..

So my surprise at finding out the hard way, that they are right, does not sit well with me being it literally keeps me from having access to that which I paid for.

And this is not acceptable in any manner. I am not some kid out here nor are many gamers I know. We don't purchase products to only use them when Steam decides we can or cannot.

In all honesty, you can damn well bet I would never have built my library up on Steam had I known this.. and I am willing to bet a WHOLE lot of others out there are not aware of this issue as well.

I understand now why other companies like GOG and some others are growing so fast. With those, this problem does not exist. So I have to wonder why Steam quietly has this as part of their client setup?

I would like to hear from Steam about what they intend, if anything, to do about this? Is this something that will be fixed or resolved? Or is this going to be one of those, 'oh well' type situations and Steam has no intention of resolving a major issue that deals with customers having access to that which they paid for?

An honest answer would be nice to have in reply... Because if the latter is what Steam is going to do, i.e. ignore this and basically say there are no plans to change it/fix it, then I can take steps for myself on where I go from here and whether I continue to give Steam my money.

And just for those that might want to reply with stuff like 'get internet' or whatever, you pay for it, I will gladly buy internet around the world in places that don't even have electricity many times... And BTW, many of those friends I talked about.. are also military as well.... and I bet those that replied in many cases, were assuming something else... None of us that I know of, walk around with portable generators and broadband internet connections in our pockets.

We end up all over the planet, we end up not having dedicated internet access that most take for granted. But even if that were not the case, what about other situations? Things happen. People lose internet for all sorts of reasons, even the inability to pay for it.. Does that 'oh well, too bad you can't use what you paid for unless you get internet back...'?

I look forward to hearing from STEAM in this regard.. and it was customer service that literally sent me to this forum for an answer, which I find just as incredible... CS could not answer me which also does not bode well for this at all.

I will await a reply..

[76561198407601200]

I can use offline mode without internet connection.

https://store.steampowered.com/subscriber_agreement/

Just for a refresher to the terms you've agreed to.

2. LICENSES ⏶

A. General Content and Services License

Steam and your Subscription(s) require the download and installation of Content and Services onto your computer. Valve hereby grants, and you accept, a non-exclusive license and right, to use the Content and Services for your personal, non-commercial use (except where commercial use is expressly allowed herein or in the applicable Subscription Terms). This license ends upon termination of (a) this Agreement or (b) a Subscription that includes the license. The Content and Services are licensed, not sold. Your license confers no title or ownership in the Content and Services. To make use of the Content and Services, you must have a Steam Account and you may be required to be running the Steam client and maintaining a connection to the Internet.

Pay close attention to the last sentence there and read it as many times as is require to comprehend it.

[Black Blade]

I may be wrong, but I will guess that it's possible that something just messed up and the files that keep the save data got messed up and therefor it needs you to login again
Overall I think I heard on many that used offline mode for a very long time without any real issue

Regardless of that I like to point out some games on Steam are DRM free and will not even need Steam to run, you can try to open the game from the local folder and see if you can access the game from there and if it opens without Steam running

If you really want to be sure to have compele access to your games offline without any issue possibly rising you may want to try to get games from gog.com the games there are DRM free so you will not have issue like this
But again I do not think Steam should have stuff like this happen to being with

By the way for extra Steam stability its recommended to exit Steam before you turn off the PC or the like

[Garou]

I only used offline mode twice over the years and it failed me both times when I needed it.

1. Haven't had connection for several days once after moving to a new place several years ago. Played FF7 from start to finish. Went online a few days later: no time recorded, no achievements recorded.

2. A month ago or so lost connection for 2 days. Wanted to play Deus Ex MD. Launched the game and was greeted by "you need to be online for the first launch" message even though I launched this game a hundred times before and the last time wasn't even that long ago. That's not all. Decided to play another game and it worked. But this time after coming online achievements earned showed up at the same time (a day after actual achievement time).

So offline mode gives you:
- a chance of being able to play a game you want.
- a possibility of your stats being lost.
- a guarantee(?) of you looking like an achievement cheater if you play for an extended period of time while offline.

Obviously this is not working as intended.

Also, support always sends people here, but probability of your idea/problem being read or considered is .. how do I word it ... closer to the 0% than it is to a 100%.

[Black Blade]

Escrito originalmente por F35:

I only used offline mode twice over the years and it failed me both times when I needed it.

1. Haven't had connection for several days once after moving to a new place several years ago. Played FF7 from start to finish. Went online a few days later: no time recorded, no achievements recorded.

2. A month ago or so lost connection for 2 days. Wanted to play Deus Ex MD. Launched the game and was greeted by "you need to be online for the first launch" message even though I launched this game a hundred times before and the last time wasn't even that long ago. That's not all. Decided to play another game and it worked. But this time after coming online achievements earned showed up at the same time (a day after actual achievement time).

So offline mode gives you:
- a chance of being able to play a game you want.
- a possibility of your stats being lost.
- a guarantee(?) of you looking like an achievement cheater if you play for an extended period of time while offline.

Obviously this is not working as intended.

Also, support always sends people here, but probability of your idea/problem being read or considered is .. how do I word it ... closer to the 0% than it is to a 100%.

1 and 2 sound like a game related issue, not related to offline mode
Yes achivments unlock when you get back online
Not great but pepole shuld stop searching cheaters on that to be honest
Cheating achivments is meangless

[Quint the Alligator Snapper]

OP, you're basically only ever gonna get a true offline mode if you have standalone installers for the game (assuming the game itself doesn't contact servers), or some other means of accessing the game that doesn't require going through authentication servers.

Here's a recent suggestion that Steam allow people to download standalone installers.

Unfortunately, Steam doesn't work like this, and since it gets used as DRM (be it de facto or by intention), I don't expect Steam to offer such an option anytime soon. (It would be awesome if Steam did, though.)

So for now, your only way of getting truly permanently offline access to your games is to buy your games from DRM-free sources. Generally, DRM-free games (except the ones you get on Steam) will get you standalone installers that you can then use on entirely offline machines.

[Malakie]

Escrito originalmente por The Living Tribunal:

I can use offline mode without internet connection.

https://store.steampowered.com/subscriber_agreement/

Just for a refresher to the terms you've agreed to.

2. LICENSES ⏶

A. General Content and Services License

Steam and your Subscription(s) require the download and installation of Content and Services onto your computer. Valve hereby grants, and you accept, a non-exclusive license and right, to use the Content and Services for your personal, non-commercial use (except where commercial use is expressly allowed herein or in the applicable Subscription Terms). This license ends upon termination of (a) this Agreement or (b) a Subscription that includes the license. The Content and Services are licensed, not sold. Your license confers no title or ownership in the Content and Services. To make use of the Content and Services, you must have a Steam Account and you may be required to be running the Steam client and maintaining a connection to the Internet.

Pay close attention to the last sentence there and read it as many times as is require to comprehend it.

Oh I read it and that last line has NO bearing what so ever on the software I paid for. That refers to running STEAM and connecting.. not playing or using the software purchased. Steam has NO license what so ever to determine my ability to play or use something bought from another company.. Steam is a HOST, nothing more, nothing less.

You contradicted yourself.. Your first line states you can play games offline then you point out the contradiction because once you are offline for a period of time, YOU LOSE ASSESS to playing those games even offline.. THAT is the problem.

I did not leave a post for people to come in here and defend Steam.. I came in about a legit issue and I expect support from STEAM regarding this.

[Malakie]

Escrito originalmente por Black Blade:

I may be wrong, but I will guess that it's possible that something just messed up and the files that keep the save data got messed up and therefor it needs you to login again
Overall I think I heard on many that used offline mode for a very long time without any real issue

Regardless of that I like to point out some games on Steam are DRM free and will not even need Steam to run, you can try to open the game from the local folder and see if you can access the game from there and if it opens without Steam running

If you really want to be sure to have compele access to your games offline without any issue possibly rising you may want to try to get games from gog.com the games there are DRM free so you will not have issue like this
But again I do not think Steam should have stuff like this happen to being with

By the way for extra Steam stability its recommended to exit Steam before you turn off the PC or the like

No Customer support confirmed this is how it is currently setup to work. Which is why they sent me to this forum.

[Malakie]

Escrito originalmente por Quint the Alligator Snapper:

OP, you're basically only ever gonna get a true offline mode if you have standalone installers for the game (assuming the game itself doesn't contact servers), or some other means of accessing the game that doesn't require going through authentication servers.

Here's a recent suggestion that Steam allow people to download standalone installers.

Unfortunately, Steam doesn't work like this, and since it gets used as DRM (be it de facto or by intention), I don't expect Steam to offer such an option anytime soon. (It would be awesome if Steam did, though.)

So for now, your only way of getting truly permanently offline access to your games is to buy your games from DRM-free sources. Generally, DRM-free games (except the ones you get on Steam) will get you standalone installers that you can then use on entirely offline machines.

I might be one person out of the whole.. the little guy compared to Steam.. But put enough little guys together and things will change...

If Steam wants someone as a customer, then it is time they step up and do something about it.. If they don't, my money can work somewhere else I guess.

I don't complain or whine about Steam etc etc as a rule. I use it, it works for the most part. BUT when it suddenly DENIES ME access to that which I paid real money for, THAT is not acceptable for any reason what so ever.

It would be like me buying a car, driving it for 6 months then suddenly it won't start again until I take it to the dealer for them to change some setting for it to run again for another 6 months.

To get updates, new products, workshop etc, I am fully understanding and in agreement that an online connection should be part of the deal. That's common sense.

But turning off access OFFLINE, is not.

[Quint the Alligator Snapper]

Escrito originalmente por Malakie:

Escrito originalmente por Quint the Alligator Snapper:

OP, you're basically only ever gonna get a true offline mode if you have standalone installers for the game (assuming the game itself doesn't contact servers), or some other means of accessing the game that doesn't require going through authentication servers.

Here's a recent suggestion that Steam allow people to download standalone installers.

Unfortunately, Steam doesn't work like this, and since it gets used as DRM (be it de facto or by intention), I don't expect Steam to offer such an option anytime soon. (It would be awesome if Steam did, though.)

So for now, your only way of getting truly permanently offline access to your games is to buy your games from DRM-free sources. Generally, DRM-free games (except the ones you get on Steam) will get you standalone installers that you can then use on entirely offline machines.

I might be one person out of the whole.. the little guy compared to Steam.. But put enough little guys together and things will change...

If Steam wants someone as a customer, then it is time they step up and do something about it.. If they don't, my money can work somewhere else I guess.

I don't complain or whine about Steam etc etc as a rule. I use it, it works for the most part. BUT when it suddenly DENIES ME access to that which I paid real money for, THAT is not acceptable for any reason what so ever.

It would be like me buying a car, driving it for 6 months then suddenly it won't start again until I take it to the dealer for them to change some setting for it to run again for another 6 months.

To get updates, new products, workshop etc, I am fully understanding and in agreement that an online connection should be part of the deal. That's common sense.

But turning off access OFFLINE, is not.

Hey, you're not the only one.

I've gradually switched my purchases to be DRM-free whenever possible, and ever since last year I simply haven't bought anything on Steam, albeit for mainly unrelated reasons (i.e. the Steam client UI being screwed up).

[Brian9824]

Escrito originalmente por Malakie:

Today I learned that offline mode does NOT work as it should.

And in fact requires an internet connection.

I have a couple systems that are in locations that do not have access to the internet. I had steam setup to run in offline mode on those systems. Yesterday I went to use one of those systems only for Steam to tell me it could not access the servers to login... even though I had selected offline mode.

I tried a second system, SAME result.

So I contacted support. And I was told that offline mode requires an active internet connection every so often... to remain offline!

THAT is ridiculous. It is ALSO not acceptable. In essence this means that unless you have access to the internet, at some point in a short amount of time, you will lose the ability to use, play or access all products you paid for. And that is a problem because Steam is NOT an MMO where I subscribe each month to have access.

That is how most systems work. It needs to periodically check to make sure you actually have those licenses still.

When you download movies via amazon prime for viewing offline it works the same way, as do other sites. It needs to periodically check to make sure you are still entitled to the content you are accessing.

[Malakie]

Escrito originalmente por brian9824:

Escrito originalmente por Malakie:

Today I learned that offline mode does NOT work as it should.

And in fact requires an internet connection.

I have a couple systems that are in locations that do not have access to the internet. I had steam setup to run in offline mode on those systems. Yesterday I went to use one of those systems only for Steam to tell me it could not access the servers to login... even though I had selected offline mode.

I tried a second system, SAME result.

So I contacted support. And I was told that offline mode requires an active internet connection every so often... to remain offline!

THAT is ridiculous. It is ALSO not acceptable. In essence this means that unless you have access to the internet, at some point in a short amount of time, you will lose the ability to use, play or access all products you paid for. And that is a problem because Steam is NOT an MMO where I subscribe each month to have access.

That is how most systems work. It needs to periodically check to make sure you actually have those licenses still.

When you download movies via amazon prime for viewing offline it works the same way, as do other sites. It needs to periodically check to make sure you are still entitled to the content you are accessing.

I don't download movies via Amazon.. in fact, I don't buy stuff that limits me in this fashion.. I was not aware of this small part about Steam's offline mode.. I Offline means offline to me.

I refuse to give money to companies that I buy something from only to then be told I have to pay them or somehow have live access by internet just to use the product I bought.

[Malakie]

Escrito originalmente por Quint the Alligator Snapper:

Escrito originalmente por Malakie:

I might be one person out of the whole.. the little guy compared to Steam.. But put enough little guys together and things will change...

If Steam wants someone as a customer, then it is time they step up and do something about it.. If they don't, my money can work somewhere else I guess.

I don't complain or whine about Steam etc etc as a rule. I use it, it works for the most part. BUT when it suddenly DENIES ME access to that which I paid real money for, THAT is not acceptable for any reason what so ever.

It would be like me buying a car, driving it for 6 months then suddenly it won't start again until I take it to the dealer for them to change some setting for it to run again for another 6 months.

To get updates, new products, workshop etc, I am fully understanding and in agreement that an online connection should be part of the deal. That's common sense.

But turning off access OFFLINE, is not.

Hey, you're not the only one.

I've gradually switched my purchases to be DRM-free whenever possible, and ever since last year I simply haven't bought anything on Steam, albeit for mainly unrelated reasons (i.e. the Steam client UI being screwed up).

Got your private message.. Thanks.

Also, I am deciding to do the same as I mentioned.. I cannot and will not support a company that plays this 'game' with its customers.

AND the deciding factor was actual Steams Customer Support. They gave me a generic reply with a link to this forum.. and then LOCKED my customer support ticket from any other interaction...

As far as I am concerned, Steam has lost a customer for good. And while I may be but one person, if you see my account, I actually spend quite a bit of money on things.

[Black Blade]

Support will lock the ticket as they have nothing more to add, when support was Valve employs replies where slow but you could have gotten deeper replies as it was the developers themself to a degree that reply
Today support is out souced (and so much faster) with that you get the support that only knows mostly what they are told, and gets to the max of where they can get to

I do understand your pain, honestly, I guess Steam did not fit you in this case, I mean support may be right about it, or they may just mean that you need to get online from time to time as of some issue, I mean local time tracking to see how long you had the game while offline is likely messy
They may have changed something but pretty sure I remember someone a while back that had offline for a very long time till he did not, and that as simply as his files got corrupted and therefore he was "logged off"
If I had a PC to run indefinitely I world have maybe try to see how long offline holds, but sadly with my current electric having a pretty common issue I don't think il be able to test this correctly

Besides that best of luck on your journey mate, I hope you do find games you enjoy and have fun

[Tito Shivan]

Escrito originalmente por Malakie:

Oh I read it and that last line has NO bearing what so ever on the software I paid for. That refers to running STEAM and connecting.. not playing or using the software purchased. Steam has NO license what so ever to determine my ability to play or use something bought from another company...

The developers do.

They're the ones setting up their games to require Steam or not in order to launch. There's a sizeable ammount of Steam games that do not require the Steam client to be running in order to work or be launched. But not all developers follow that policy. Some even implement their own DRM layer (be it a DRM system or account-tied service) on top of the Steam one.

Steam simply gives developers the choice and the tools. The developers are the one who implement them into their software or not.

Escrito originalmente por Malakie:

Also, I am deciding to do the same as I mentioned.. I cannot and will not support a company that plays this 'game' with its customers.

It's going to be a rough road ahead.

At the core it's a DRM issue and there's lots of developers and publishers who don't really like to release their games without some DRM layer. You can look at GOG which purely deal with DRM Free games, but you'll notice lots of titles are missing from their store for that precise policy.

[Malakie]

Escrito originalmente por Tito Shivan:

Escrito originalmente por Malakie:

Oh I read it and that last line has NO bearing what so ever on the software I paid for. That refers to running STEAM and connecting.. not playing or using the software purchased. Steam has NO license what so ever to determine my ability to play or use something bought from another company...

The developers do.

They're the ones setting up their games to require Steam or not in order to launch. There's a sizeable ammount of Steam games that do not require the Steam client to be running in order to work or be launched. But not all developers follow that policy. Some even implement their own DRM layer (be it a DRM system or account-tied service) on top of the Steam one.

Steam simply gives developers the choice and the tools. The developers are the one who implement them into their software or not.

Escrito originalmente por Malakie:

Also, I am deciding to do the same as I mentioned.. I cannot and will not support a company that plays this 'game' with its customers.

It's going to be a rough road ahead.

At the core it's a DRM issue and there's lots of developers and publishers who don't really like to release their games without some DRM layer. You can look at GOG which purely deal with DRM Free games, but you'll notice lots of titles are missing from their store for that precise policy.

Perhaps but then I don't buy games just to buy them either.. There is a reason I no longer buy EA games for example. Plenty of others out there. And most games I have on Steam are available elsewhere.. the few that are not, I can probably live without if need be.

While I obviously won't throw away what I already have, I can still make a change and should someday Steam change their way, then I can always send my money back to them..

Part of the whole problem is people do not fight back, they just do whatever they are told and that's how we end up in these situations.

If people don't wake up soon, the day is coming where nothing you have is yours anymore and corporations force control over anyone wanting to use something they have.

For me, I will go without before I give in to that. They can take their greed someplace else because I won't be buying in.