[mxlm]

I hate how it's in your face all the time, with the big ads it shows every time I start it up

Steam -> settings -> interface -> notify me

[Dragon]

EDIT: And while steam USED to be good about working in offline mode, I've had several times more recently, though, where when away from the internet, I get constant errors trying to get into offline more.

The best solution would be again, reporting it to Valve. They're pretty good about fixing bugs in Steam. And if a particular game doesn't work, check the forums.

[FireSpawn]

Steam is the reason I've never played HalfLife 2...
....
....
....
On PC.

[KyadCK]

I've got a nice 6 Mbps DSL line, perfectly reliable, I still think steam requiring you to update your game is stupid as hell. They're never small downloads either, no, its always some 50-175MB file, and with how often I play any one game, there is always an update waiting for me. Sorta kills that 'Spur of the moment' gaming, as by the time its done downloading you're not in the mood anymore, or found something else. Installing a game from disk? Here's another 1.5GB worth of updates on top of that.

I've also never gotten steam to play nice in offline mode, not in the years sinse I got Half-Life 2. Now, granted, I don't play that often, but I have installed a few games on my laptop, went on a road trip and... oh right, steam... sat there and listened to music untill we got someplace close enough to wifi for me to start the game. Which, when going south through Illinois (all farm land) is a nice long wait.

To top it off, I really could not care less about anything 'special' steam offers. Ingame chat? Waste of CPU power. Game launcher? Waste of RAM space. Advertisements after closing every game, or waiting for verification of my ID to play? Waste of my time. It is a download client that I can buy games from, remembers what games I own, and my keys for them. That is all, and everything else is bloat with no off switch.

[LHN91]

Just wanted to add, now that I think about it, the only times I've managed to get steam to cooperate in Offline mode was when I remembered to grab the updates and put it into Offline mode when I still had an internet connection. If steam had a connection last time it started and was in online mode when it was shut down, it refuses to start in Offline mode.

[Klaustrophobia]

offline mode just irritates me even more.  it doesn't really go offline.  it still checked for client updates, but then wouldn't install them after i said yes.  and i does that stupid nag window every time you start a game, "are you SURE you want to start offline?  cuz, ya know, we can show you all kinds of other stuff to buy if you just click this little 'no' button over here...."

[Nuke]

No offense to those living in rural areas, but that demonstrates precisely why I would make good broadband access the top priority when choosing a new residence. And it has nothing to do with just Steam...if I can't even use YouTube properly, there's something wrong. 

And yes, if offline mode isn't working with a particular game, then that's unintended behavior, and contacting Steam support might be a good idea.

no, im not moving so that i can play games that i bought.

[CP5670]

I hate how it's in your face all the time, with the big ads it shows every time I start it up

Steam -> settings -> interface -> notify me

I can't see how their sale ads are supposed to be "updates to your games" as that option indicates, but it's good that you can get rid of those.

[Spicious]

Hell, while GOG.com is doing well, there was just an article the other day estimating that The Witcher 2 had been torrented about 4 million times, give or take.

They have plans to make money from that too: http://torrentfreak.com/drm-free-witcher-2-cashes-in-on-bittorrent-pirates-111207/

[karajorma]

I actually find Steam to be more irritating than the other DRM systems in some ways.

I tend to agree. I just thought that the argument was stupid even if you don't consider it to be more annoying. What I find especially hilarious is that the kind of sophistry being practiced here would be looked down up were the subject anything other than Steam.

[FireSpawn]

Hell, while GOG.com is doing well, there was just an article the other day estimating that The Witcher 2 had been torrented about 4 million times, give or take.

They have plans to make money from that too: http://torrentfreak.com/drm-free-witcher-2-cashes-in-on-bittorrent-pirates-111207/

!!!   

 

j/k: I've never played a witcher game in my life.

[LordMelvin]

I actually find Steam to be more irritating than the other DRM systems in some ways.

I tend to agree. I just thought that the argument was stupid even if you don't consider it to be more annoying. What I find especially hilarious is that the kind of sophistry being practiced here would be looked down up were the subject anything other than Steam.

Steam is the most irritating form of DRM that I use. This is because it makes it just barely under the threshold of 'I will burn that to a disc so that I can light the disc on fire' irritation, and is therefore the only form of DRM that I'll use.

Also, didn't this thread used to be about EA and how much they suck? Because they totally do, or at least did a year ago when I last tried to install any of their games. (eventually leading to said fire incident. I love having a woodstove around sometimes.)

[karajorma]

It did, but everyone agrees that they suck so there's not much to debate there.

[Bob-san]

Can I ask: why do people buy EA anymore? I mean really, I keep reading these posts, here and on other sites, *****ing about EA's service, customer support, etc...yet people still buy their games? Why?

Granted, I have one more game I'm going to buy from EA, unless they do something ridiculous to it: Mass Effect 3. I'm so invested in the series, I really want to see how it ends. But that's it, and I know what I'm getting into; I'm not going to use their forums, I'm going to avoid their ****ty Origin service as much as possible, and once I'm done with the game I'm done with EA.

Really, with gamers it's like crack addicts, it's disgusting sometimes. Anyone remember that whole thing with COD:MW2 or whatever, with the Steam "we're not going to buy MW2" all playing it on release day?

Actually their customer support is pretty decent. I've used their "Call Me" option a few times--you login to Origin, stick in your phone number, and receive a call (typically within 2 hours). Far better than waiting on the phone for even 10 minutes.

Anyways, I really disagree with EA's policy here. Forum violations are one thing--ban them from the forums--but don't ban them from the game (unless they're caught hacking on a Punkbuster-secured server).

[QuantumDelta]

Just don't use their web-chat thing.
.....And call me ......does it work outside the US?

[Klaustrophobia]

if it didn't work in india that would be horrifically ironic.

[BloodEagle]

Wait, wait, wait.  People still use Punkbuster? 

[Commander Zane]

If you play Joint Operations: Typhoon Rising I think you have to.
Unless that changed over the years.

[Davros]

It did, but everyone agrees that they suck so there's not much to debate there.

We should have a poll

Does E.A suck...

1: yes
2: yes
3: yes
4: Snuffleupagus, but e.a still suck

[Aardwolf]

Hell, while GOG.com is doing well, there was just an article the other day estimating that The Witcher 2 had been torrented about 4 million times, give or take.

They have plans to make money from that too: http://torrentfreak.com/drm-free-witcher-2-cashes-in-on-bittorrent-pirates-111207/

On the one hand, good that they dropped the DRM.

On the other hand, what the ****. I hope a stop is put to this **** ASAP.