Steam Offline Mode needs an overhaul

[Anarchisteve]

Originally Posted by Robert Pooner

I'm sort of new to Steam, so please be patient with me. I'm having problems with Off Line mode when I boot up my laptop without an Internet connection. I've gone through all of the steps recommended by Steam to make sure my games are up-to-date and ready to play off line. I switch Steam to off line mode and it works fine. BUT when I take my laptop away from an Internet connection and boot it up, Steam just tells me that there's a problem connecting to its servers and shuts down. WTF?! What's the point of an off line mode if you have to be on line first?

You have to close Steam before exiting Windows. If you close Windows with Steam still open it does not save your credentials (or whatever) and will not allow offline mode to work.

[Robert Pooner]

Originally Posted by Anarchisteve

You have to close Steam before exiting Windows. If you close Windows with Steam still open it does not save your credentials (or whatever) and will not allow offline mode to work.

Thanks for the tip. That sounds like it makes perfect sense! I will definitely give that a try...

[Zefar]

Originally Posted by Mr SmokesAlot

I doubt it. "My pc" != hundreds maybe thousands of people sharing the same problem. We'll see how great it works for you and your brother when your connection cuts out.

That is all.

I've been without broadband for like a month(Moved and got a new company) and during that time I played Steam games in offline mode just fine.

So I'm speaking from experience and not blind loyalty.

[Syragar]

Originally Posted by Zefar

I've been without broadband for like a month(Moved and got a new company) and during that time I played Steam games in offline mode just fine.

So I'm speaking from experience and not blind loyalty.

You're lucky. If you are able to use offline mode, you will continue to be able to use offline mode indefinitely until you go back online again. So until you have broadband back, you will still be able to successfully use offline mode. Offline mode won't work when one of two things happen.

1) Your connection cuts out while you are online. (It seems to be about a 50% chance you can use offline mode when this happens... at least from my experience.)
2) You try to launch Steam on a network in which Steam is blocked. (From my experience, there is a 100% chance offline mode will fail when this happens.)

Note that if you manually switch to offline mode while you are online, offline mode will work successfully.

Once offline mode fails, you can't use offline mode until you go online.

This is not a problem with our PCs. This is an issue that MANY people are having, and we can easily reproduce the error by doing what I mentioned above (especially #2). Offline mode is useless if you have to manually go offline to use it. The main reason most people want to use offline mode is because they suddenly lost connection or they are on a network that won't allow Steam.

Edit:

Originally Posted by Anarchisteve

You have to close Steam before exiting Windows. If you close Windows with Steam still open it does not save your credentials (or whatever) and will not allow offline mode to work.

This might explain why I get the 50/50 chance when internet goes out. I'll try to keep in mind how I close Steam. However, I still shouldn't have to worry about being blocked from offline mode because of how I closed Steam.

Also, if you have offline mode working, and you attempt to switch to online mode while on a network where Steam is blocked, then try to go back to offline mode, it will no longer work. I have confirmed this in one sitting without a reboot. It's like Steam thinks "Oh! I'm online! I can dump whatever account information I have!" before it realizes that it can't access the server.

[DarthPsymon]

Syrager,
You imply that if I were to unplug my ethernet cable or switch off my modem with steam still in online mode, I would not be able to get into offline mode.
Kind of faking a lost connection.
I don't have time this morning to test it, but I'll give it a try tonight and see what happens.
If I can be moved from the 'offline mode works' to 'offline mode is broken' camp then I can only see that as a good thing.

[Syragar]

Originally Posted by DarthPsymon

Syrager,
You imply that if I were to unplug my ethernet cable or switch off my modem with steam still in online mode, I would not be able to get into offline mode.

Actually, I said I've had about a 50% success rate in that situation... and it may be how I shutdown Steam as I've mentioned in my edit (which still shouldn't be a factor). However, if you want to try a way that will cause offline mode to die with 100% accuracy (at least for me), block Steam on your network... so you have an active internet connection, but can't access Steam. It will kill offline mode from that point on... even if you completely kill your internet connection after that. It's like it thinks, "Hey! I have an internet connection! It's okay for me to dump all of the account info because I can just download all of the info from the server!" Then it can't access the Steam server so it goes "Oops! I dumped all of your account info... so, um... you can't play any games until I can access the server again. Sorry, you're outta luck!"

It should check to see if you have access to the server before it dumps account info... but instead it seems to just check for an internet connection.

[DarthPsymon]

test 1:
steam open, online mode, disconnect ethernet, exit steam, open steam.
result 1: windows claims 'not connected'
box saying 'retry' or 'go offine'. Words to that effect...
Click start in offline mode. Starts in offline mode.
Exit steam, open steam, options box, starts in offline.

test 2:
steam closed, last in online mode, unplug ethernet, open steam.
result 2: windows claims 'not connected'
options box
starts in offline.

test 3:
steam open, online mode, unplug DSL cable from modem, exit steam, open steam.
result 3: windows claims 'no internet access'
'updating steam' window appears
'retry or offline' options appears after 2 mins
starts in offline mode.

test 4:
steam closed, last in online mode, unplug DSL cable from modem, open steam.
result 4: windows claims 'no internet access'
'updating steam' window appears
'retry or offline' options appears after 2 mins
starts in offline mode.

test 5:
block steam on my network
result 5: TBA
How do I shot web?

[Steelclaw]

Last night I had Steam open and put my computer into sleep mode. During this time my cable went out for several hours. I woke the computer, Steam was 'connected' but couldn't start any games, then it complained about having no connection. I tried to restart it in offline mode, but the 'updating steam' (I had updated it just earlier that day already) window appeared for about a minute, then it said I couldn't connect, and I should try offline mode. Clicking offline mode and it said..basically that it couldn't switch to offline mode and I had to connect to the servers.

THIS is what makes me angry. The only reason I want to USE offline mode (aside from trips with a laptop, etc) is because my net has died unexpectedly. I had no access to my entire library, and that's just not acceptable.

[Badshooter270]

Could steam record the time played offline and then post it on the profile once it goes online again.

[wazups 2x]

Originally Posted by Zefar

It works for me and works for my brother. It's working for a lot of people in fact. So when it doesn't work there is a problem on your PC that conflicts with Steam Offline mode.

Nope, it won't work if you shut your PC off while Steam is still running. It's completely messed up.

I love Steam but offline mode is a big problem.