Auto-Update with Patches.

[Hiro Protagonist II]

Would like to know if the game will ship with detecting if you are online and if you can disable it. Some people like myself may want to play on a computer which isn't connected to the internet. For example traveling while not being connected. Also, are we able to manually update by downloading patches like the previous IE games.

 

I'd like to see an option where we can disable the game from detecting if we're online and download the latest patch anytime we want. I don't always want to click on a game and then it starts downloading a huge file.

[Sensuki]

Something like the NWN loader or whatever would be fine. Dunno where you'd host the files though (for the DRM-free DVD version / GoG version etc)

[Ark Evensong]

Even with the Steam version, this should be possible. You can disable auto-updates on a game by game basis. Not sure about actually running the game without steam at the very least querying your online status, but depending on integration you might even be able to run it without booting up steam at all. (But you'll probably miss out on those steam achievements. Oh Noes!)

[Ashen Rohk]

If you want to run offline on Steam I think you need to first go online to install it and register it, then set Steam to offline mode so you can play on the go. If you're steaming you need to go online at least once.

[Lohi]

There are some Steam games with mandatory updates (right now Portal 2 says "Update required" for me). It won't auto-download if you turn off that feature, but it forbids you from playing until you patch it.  Just ridiculous.  Also, even with auto updates turned off, I have seen Steam download and install an update anyway, against my wishes.  Seriously, I wish they'd just get rid of the whole automatic update thing, it causes so many problems and it's unfriendly to the customer.

 

I'll be getting P.o.E. from gog.com anyway.

[Ark Evensong]

You'd like Steam specifically to do away with auto-updates, or the industry as a whole? Either way, not going to happen.

 

It's only unfriendly to a small subset of customers. Those with stringent bandwidth limits and/or those grognards that want to keep control of everything themselves. I sometimes count myself among the latter group, but in this ever-more-so world of "it just works" computers, this is very customer friendly. Should the option to turn it off exists? Yes. Should you be locked out for not updating to the latest version of a single player game? Heck no. (Portal 2 is a bit of an edge case, considering it has co-op multiplayer. You're right that it's problematic that you're not allowed to play the singleplayer campaign without updating, though.) Do auto-updates fix more problems than they create? Yes, I do believe so.

[ShadySands]

Something like the NWN loader or whatever would be fine. Dunno where you'd host the files though (for the DRM-free DVD version / GoG version etc)

 

I would love something like this

 

Seems like a good middle ground

[bonarbill]

If you want to run offline on Steam I think you need to first go online to install it and register it, then set Steam to offline mode so you can play on the go. If you're steaming you need to go online at least once.

 

If Obsidians make its so it doesn't require steamworks systems, then you can play the game without loading Steam even if you installed it with steam (in other words, DRM free).  Games like Divinity Original Sin already do this.

Edited July 10, 2014 by bonarbill