Steam won't let me go offline

**Cincinnatus** · May 05, 2010, 03:59 PM

I can get on to Steam - but it won't let me go offline. Every time I try to restart in offline mode, I get an error message stating that I cannot connect to Steam. This happens even if I am connected to Steam online.

I wonder if this is deliberate, so Steam can continue to barrage me with ads, offers, and the DLC I will never, ever buy.

Do you ever long for the days when you could just pop the cd in the drive, and start playing?

CA, Steam has ruined your games for me. I will never buy another mandatory Steam game.

Plenty of good non Steam games out there.

**Flavius Silvanus** · May 05, 2010, 05:05 PM

No, I have never had that problem. Are you online already when you try to restart in offline?

**Humble Warrior** · May 05, 2010, 05:52 PM

Originally Posted by Cincinnatus

I can get on to Steam - but it won't let me go offline. Every time I try to restart in offline mode, I get an error message stating that I cannot connect to Steam. This happens even if I am connected to Steam online.

I wonder if this is deliberate, so Steam can continue to barrage me with ads, offers, and the DLC I will never, ever buy.

Do you ever long for the days when you could just pop the cd in the drive, and start playing?

CA, Steam has ruined your games for me. I will never buy another mandatory Steam game.

Plenty of good non Steam games out there.

I have discovered that Steam has a Time-limit reactivation on it that just about no one knows about (or those who know don`t care). If you stay Offline disconnected from Steam for too long about 2-3 weeks, it will refuse to allow you to continue to allow you to play until you go online again. It can take a while. Then afterwards, miraculously, you can go offline again.

This should not be happening, but so few complain since it is so sneaky, hardly anyone notices it.

It is why I choose to never buy a Steam game unless it`s less than a £5 in the bargain and there`s no way to get it non-Steam. Most of the time I simply ignore any steam game that`s new, no matter how much I would love playing it and I would have paid full wack if it wasn`t Steam.

I wanted Warband, but it`s on steam for £15, happily there`s a direct download `non-steam` version for £25 direct from the Devs. I paid extra and bought that, knowing I can play whenever I want, whether on the net or not.

The days of non-steam games are still here, you just need to be selective now, unfortunately.

**Shabby_Ronin** · May 05, 2010, 06:18 PM

It's mildly annoying at times, but the benefits of Steam outweigh the negatives for me.

When are you bombarded by ads? You start the game and that's it, you act like when you're in online mode your game is being interrupted by advertisements. I play mostly in offline mode, but I've never went so long that it made me go online for a minute. I usually go check the store on Saturdays to see if there is a sale or something.