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General discussion (archive)Steam "offline mode" not really offline anymore?(427 posts)(427 posts)
(427 posts)
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This is my favourite topic
Posted September 01, 2013
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Azrael360: snip
Anyone that has the issue you couldn't reproduce now should try rolling back the time on their desktop and see if Steam stops bothering them about the need to update or whatever message that arrive.
Posted September 01, 2013
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SpikyGOG: ...and when you say something bad about steam here, you instantly get -1, nevermind.
Really?-) Even though GOG is Steam's direct competitor? GOG crowd is usually not enthusiastic about Steam, because of all the Steam's DRM sickness. Many GOG users don't use Steam at all.

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Crosmando: I love Steam games, I get them all the time from TPB
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Profanity: Those aren't really just Steam games. You just pirate stuff people put work into.
What if he gets them on TPB after buying on Steam? It essentially means removing the DRM. Yeah, it's violating some DMCA 1201 and the like which is idiotic and shouldn't exist to begin with. But it's not piracy.
Post edited September 01, 2013 by shmerl
Posted September 01, 2013
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Azrael360: I don't know what KingofGnG posted, but judging from the posts of everybody else, using The Pirate Bay as a way to download "free" and "open source" games was clearly not what I was asking for, not even close... ("where to request a proper Offline Mode for the Steam client".)
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KingofGnG: I just linked the Pirate Bay homepage, and I still mean it: if you want to run off-line (and forever) your Steam-powered games, you need to get a cracked version of 'em. It's your best option, plain and simple. It's not my fault, it's Valve's.
Also, while I'm not a lawyer, I understand the law in germany in that way that for explicitly (and only) personal use of a rightful bought software product this is completely legal (here). Valve can't stop you legally here in your personal use of a bought product (offline use in this case), even if this involves "patches" from shady sites like TPB.
Post edited September 01, 2013 by shaddim
Posted September 01, 2013
Those who don't appreciate idiotic laws which forbid breaking DRM for legitimate purposes should pressure their lawmakers to repeal laws and trade agreements which forbid DRM circumvention. Here is an example:

http://fixthedmca.org
Posted September 01, 2013
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shaddim: Also, while I'm not a lawyer, I understand the law in germany in that way that for explicitly (and only) personal use of a rightful bought software product this is completely legal (here). Steam can't stop you legally here in your personal use of a bought product (offline use in this case).
While they wouldn't be able to prosecute people in EU for that they have every right to ban anyone who bypass their terms of agreement and I think using game fixes and the likes is considered reverse engineering and I've never read a T&A where that's okay. At the same time I've never read of a case where someone was even warned that they used a game fix for offline mode with their Steam games so I think it's safe to use (I would say it's common sense to avoid using the client when you use the fix though to avoid potential issues if the client could siphon some information about the current .exe but I doubt even that is necessary).
Posted September 01, 2013
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KingofGnG: You're welcome.
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JudasIscariot: Please don't post links to the Piratebay here. Thanks.
I want blue font! D:
Post edited September 01, 2013 by Somegamer786
Posted September 01, 2013
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Nirth: they have every right to ban anyone who bypass their terms of agreement
I'm not sure about this in germany. Our organisation for customers rights () is in continous struggle with steam about their policies and EULAs ([url=http://www.gamepolitics.com/2013/07/22/vzvb-promises-lawsuit-over-steam-software-resale-rights#.UiOUU3_spXg]VZVB Promises Lawsuit Over Steam Software Resale Rights) with good chances in court... as far as I know several EULAs from other companies were considered invalid when tested in german courts. Someone knows about a case were a steam ban was tested in a german court?

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shmerl: Those who don't appreciate idiotic laws which forbid breaking DRM for legitimate purposes should pressure their lawmakers to repeal laws and trade agreements which forbid DRM circumvention. Here is an example:
http://fixthedmca.org
Thanks, wasn't knowing about this campaign.
Post edited September 01, 2013 by shaddim
Posted September 01, 2013
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shmerl: Those who don't appreciate idiotic laws which forbid breaking DRM for legitimate purposes should pressure their lawmakers to repeal laws and trade agreements which forbid DRM circumvention. Here is an example:
http://fixthedmca.org
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shaddim: Thanks, wasn't knowing about this campaign.
Feel free to pass the word around. This is not limited to DMCA. The same groups which created it constantly try to push it around into ACTA, TPP and the like. The main thread about it was here.
Post edited September 01, 2013 by shmerl
Posted September 01, 2013
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JudasIscariot: Yes, too bad the negative connotations completely outweigh any possibly positive ones. Also, Sourceforge offers the same thing as far as free and open source software goes :P
Ahem, please don't post links to the Sourceforge here. Thanks.

(jk)
Post edited September 01, 2013 by Tranquil.Suit
Posted September 03, 2013
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Pheace: The problem was that the feature is far from perfect, it broke a lot (one common reason was because shutting Windows down with Steam running broke the shutdown process), and then people started assuming it was required to be online to go offline.
Ah, is that the key to my problems. I will have to remember to exit out of the application before shutting down next time I use offline mode.
Posted September 03, 2013
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Pheace: The problem was that the feature is far from perfect, it broke a lot (one common reason was because shutting Windows down with Steam running broke the shutdown process), and then people started assuming it was required to be online to go offline.
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jjsimp: Ah, is that the key to my problems. I will have to remember to exit out of the application before shutting down next time I use offline mode.
Actually 'supposedly' that was fixed, although I've seen people say otherwise after they did. Either way, that was merely an example, sadly there's probably more ways your Steam might be having problems with it. But i'd say it's worth a shot still.
Posted September 03, 2013
At work (steam app blocked), I noticed if I click the steam icon I actually get a prompt telling asking me if I want to go offline.
I usually just click the game icon I want, which usually will error out telling me I do not have an internet connection. And does not give me an option to go offline mode. Perhaps, I just have to start using the stupid client window first and then click on my game icon. Extra step, but if it keeps the client offline I will have to start using it again.
Posted September 28, 2013
So... now I seem to be blocked from Steam on my Windows XP machine. I am writing this from it, so obviously the internet connection works.

If I start the client and log into it, it says after awhile "Could not connect to Steam network. This could be due to blaa blaa blaa...". And there is only an ok button which makes it exit the client.

If I disconnect the LAN cable (no internet at all), then Steam first offers to either retry the connection, or go to offline mode. If I select the offline mode, the same "Could not connect to Steam network..." complaint comes, and I have to exit the client. issteamdown.com says Steam is up, so it doesn't seem to be that either. And even then it should let me log in in the offline mode, right?

Any known workarounds for this? I always exit and close Steam before I exit Windows. Maybe I try to uninstall and reinstall the client.

Steam still supports Windows XP, right? After all, now Steam is selling games like Gorky 17 which prefer to be run from Windows XP, not Windows 7 or later.
Post edited September 28, 2013 by timppu
Posted September 28, 2013
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timppu: So... now I seem to be blocked from Steam on my Windows XP machine. I am writing this from it, so obviously the internet connection works.

If I start the client and log into it, it says after awhile "Could not connect to Steam network. This could be due to blaa blaa blaa...". And there is only an ok button which makes it exit the client.

If I disconnect the LAN cable (no internet at all), then Steam first offers to either retry the connection, or go to offline mode. If I select the offline mode, the same "Could not connect to Steam network..." complaint comes, and I have to exit the client. issteamdown.com says Steam is up, so it doesn't seem to be that either. And even then it should let me log in in the offline mode, right?

Any known workarounds for this? I always exit and close Steam before I exit Windows. Maybe I try to uninstall and reinstall the client.

Steam still supports Windows XP, right? After all, now Steam is selling games like Gorky 17 which prefer to be run from Windows XP, not Windows 7 or later.
Maybe some of the files have been corrupted? Redownload steam? You can also try to delete the registry.blob in the steam's folder?
Posted September 28, 2013
There don't seem to be other instances of people experiencing it currently on the help forums
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This is my favourite topic
Community
General discussion (archive)Steam "offline mode" not really offline anymore?(427 posts)(427 posts)
(427 posts)