I just played civ4 for about four hours offline today...So, no problems with the offline mode here.

Well firstly offline mode isn't completely offline. It still contacts Steam servers, just not as much as online mode. Secondly we're talking about a lot longer than four hours. We're talking about weeks or months.

5 months without any internet connection at all? Then it would seem Steam did allow longish term offline play in 2010. Is this still true in 2013 though? Could you go a year without internet?

Yeah, like I just said, it also works fine for me, except when it doesn't. :) Just earlier today I had to enable the internet connection again before Steam client let me log in. For some reason it just suddenly decided that "offline mode is not available, sorry!".

It's been confirmed that it's supposed to at least, barring problems of course.

And what is a person who's actually lost internet connection permanently (due to it's cost) supposed to do when one of those "problems" comes up???

Because if the answer is "Either get a new internet connection or you can't play your own games you bought and paid for", then Steam hate is not only legitimate, it ought to be universal. That is, if human beings actually cared about other human beings. Wait, what I did just say?? Nevermind, even if the hate is warranted it will never be unviversal. Most humans today appear to not give one little fuck about their fellow man.

Same thing as when his HD would fail or his mouse would break or something like that I guess? Focus on more important things, like having more disposable income, or food on the table.

I once tried Steam's offline mode to play Torchlight II, but the game kept crashing and freezing. If Steam was in normal online mode, the game ran okay. Steam's offline mode is a lie.

I don't know. I feel sorry for Steam users.

And they probably feel sorry for me too, knowing I won't get to play Skyrim, Bioshock Infinite and Fallout New Vegas.

This forum might have just broken through the roof of weirdness.

How's that?

Should I be cursing them instead for supporting Steam?

It's the developer's I'm not happy with. I hope they'll stand by their products and provide workarounds to all users such as OldFatGuy if Steam's "offline" mode breaks and suddenly prevents them from playing their games.

There's sufficient uncertainty in this thread about if offline mode really works, and for how long it works, to make non-Steam users such as me very glad I don't have to deal with this issue.

Nope, not even close to the same thing.

In that case, it's HIS equipment failing, thus s/he can fix it or not play the games s/he purchased. In the case of someone not having internet access and Steam's software develop's a "problem," yet the owner's machine is perfectly capable of playing the games s/he purchased, then that's wrong, and should be unacceptable to consumers (gamers are consumers).

However, in today's 'everyone is for themselves" world, consumers have no interest in acting together in their best interests, they'd rather not give a shit as a long as they're ok.

This phenomena is not limited to consumers either. Labor has been heading down this same road for decades in my country, with the expected results. (Wealth distribution is at an all time high and productivity gains go entirely to the owners with the workers realizing nothing in real terms. Gee, really? You don't say?? Workers no longer behave together in their own interest and now are losing out?? Who could have predicted.....)

The sad part is, the workers (and consumers) probably deserve it for being so damn stupid.

It worked for me for 6 months straight, as I wrote before.

And I guess more importantly I don't go into it expecting it to work forever, it does have DRM after all. The issue is how strict that DRM is, and the vast majority have voted it to be very tolerable if not beneficial. Whether you or agree or not is, of course, your own decision.

Yeah, unsure as the length of offline mode can go without an internet connection. I don't have that problem...as long as it works for a couple weeks offline that is good enough for my use. And the few times I have used it is has had no problems.

First of all, the agreement that I and everyone else agreed to ONLY stipulated you interenet service was required for INITIAL INSTALLATION.

Second of all, if someone can no longer afford internet, there is nothing whatsoever wrong with them demanding to be able to use assets they ALREADY OWN (games purchased are just like TV's purchased, you own them).

And finally, how dare you insinuate that you can judge what is or isn't the "least of his problems" without spending five minutes in "his" shoes.

Try again.