Full Steam Ahead – or not
Alex Hempel tries to get his mind around Steam’s offline mode, which isn’t as offline as one might hope.
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Full Steam Ahead – or not
Alex Hempel tries to get his mind around Steam’s offline mode, which isn’t as offline as one might hope.
Soz I didn't read the message for a while...
LOL I always laugh when I see this message, so conflicting >.<
I don't think Alex Hempel quite understands whats going on.
So crash course:
Steam arose from Valve's efforts to distribute their own games (actually patches initially). These games were & are encrypted. This is what the GCF files are. The keys needed to decrypt do not come with the GCFs...else it would be too easy to decrypt. Instead they are temporarily grabbed off the server once Valve made sure you paid. That is the way it was initially designed.
After this a bunch of other features were added by means of duct-tape, without changing the underlying fundamentals. To keep things simple, retail games are treated the same way as Valve games even though they aren't actually encrypted (NCF files & data). The offline mode effectively grabs these keys and stores them a bit more permanently....this is why you must be online when selecting offline mode...the keys aren't going to arrive via smoke signals.
Some of the above might have changed with the new content system, but I doubt it.
We using porn now to promote our articles? Didn't bother to read past the picture...
My offline mode always works perfectly. I can unplug my PC while Steam is in online mode, take it to a friend and it'll go into offline mode no problem. I just always have to make sure I have launched a game in online mode once before it will run while in offline mode.
It seems to be hit or miss. Mine's flawless, but I hear about a lot of people who have to be online before they can go into offline mode. Guess I'm just lucky.
Yeah, not particularly classy, even from an opinion column.Quote:
Originally Posted by Pr⊕phet
My offline mode also works flawlessly. Even when Telkom cut my line ahead of schedule.
Although I don't agree with it, seeing as this a family orientated site.Quote:
Originally Posted by Pr⊕phet
I have to say the female form is something beautiful to behold...and I say that with utmost respect..:)
Kind of a useless comment..but anyway xD
It's not porn, if you look really, really close...Quote:
Originally Posted by Pr⊕phet
... sorry I forgot what I was going to say.
:P
Quote:
Originally Posted by The Joker
Point is I can't surf mygaming in respectful places such as work if this is going to be the norm. It takes one person there to look upon my monitor see that banner and think wtf is this person looking at. In no way do you need sex to help your article, it just says to me that the person writing really needs to something to spice up his words or there is something seriously lacking.Quote:
Originally Posted by MOnk
I won't be stereotyped in that manner as a gammer saying that offline equals no porn, or do you like to be categorized as a helpless fapper ?. I don't see Tyran using pictures of woman to help out when she writes, nor does she stereotype gamers like that.
Hi there,Quote:
Originally Posted by Pr⊕phet
For the record - Alex had nothing to do with that headline image, opinion columns are often submitted with no images, and so the subs often create these based on the content of the article - in this case, that was me.
I'm sorry you interpreted the humorous approach to contextual frustration in such a negative light, but it's definitely not using "porn" to "sell" any article. The lady in question is a Victoria's Secret model named Adriana Lima. I'm not entirely certain on your interpretation of pornography, but she's definitely not an adult-content model.
Furthermore - the image is also blurred out, and 80% covered by a massive Steam Error message - which is the focus of the idea. If I had intentions of using sex to sell, I would have taken a page out Namco Bandai's Soul Calibur V marketing book and posted Ivy's breasts all over the show. Which in fact we have done. Or simply left it as is (links to original picture).
The meaning behind the image is not, as you say, to imply that offline gamers are masturbatory losers - or to push any stereotype at all - but that rather, as mentioned, a humorous nod towards the Steam Error popping up in frustrating contexts. I'm sorry you chose not see it in this light.
Once again, Alex had nothing to do with the picture; if you have an issue with it, you can blame me.
I've removed the picture in question - apologies for any offense causes. We'll be less risqué in the future.