# Call of Duty and Stream. Argggggggggggg **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 1, 2014, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/call-of-duty-and-stream-argggggggggggg/677656 "2014-01-01T20:10:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![obbn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/d6d6ee/32.png) [@obbn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obbn)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2014, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/call-of-duty-and-stream-argggggggggggg/677656/21 "2014-01-07T15:35:00Z")
> [@control-z](#): > > Arrg. If you are only playing single player, right click on the game, pick Properties, and somewhere should be an option to tell Steam not to keep the game up to date. It might still insist on downloading this update though. > > In fact you might want to put Steam in Offline mode altogether. That’s a great idea, Everitt it won’t let me go into offline mode because it had to update first. I’ve come to the conclusion that Stream is a sadist corporation. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2014, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/call-of-duty-and-stream-argggggggggggg/677656/22 "2014-01-07T16:05:52Z")
> [@obbn](#): > > That’s a great idea, Everitt it won’t let me go into offline mode because it had to update first. I’ve come to the conclusion that Stream is a sadist corporation. It is largely for people with good internet, that’s for sure. ---
**Author:** ![GreasyJack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df705f/32.png) [@GreasyJack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreasyJack)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2014, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/call-of-duty-and-stream-argggggggggggg/677656/23 "2014-01-07T19:52:52Z")
Yeah, if you weren’t before you really need to be in offline mode. Steam (not Stream, BTW) has actually gotten _much_ better about offline mode. Now you can actually get into offline mode if you’re not connected to the internet (gee, why would anyone ever want to do that?), and it doesn’t just decide to go online without your permission once you are in offline mode. The only real pitfall left is that when you start Steam in offline mode (including if you click directly on the game icon), it’ll come up with a box asking if you want to go online or stay offline. You just need to make absolutely positively sure you click the “stay offline” button and not the “go online” one. I sympathize. I do most of my gaming at a location where we have super slow satellite internet that causes lots of things to say “hey, internet!” and try to automatically update. Steam used to be among the worst in that regard, but now that offline mode works better it’s not as big of a problem. ---
**Author:** ![Kinthalis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kinthalis/32/16084_2.png) [@Kinthalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kinthalis)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2014, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/call-of-duty-and-stream-argggggggggggg/677656/24 "2014-01-07T21:58:10Z")
> [@Habeed](#): > > Amusingly, if you had taken your laptop to McDonald’s and downloaded a pirated copy of the game, you wouldn’t have this problem. Pirate versions generally work without updates or internet access just fine… Bull shit. Most pirated copies of games (unless there is a DRM free version available) are a pain to setup, are buggy and crashy and require all sorts of work around to update. Not to mention that a lot of downloads come complete with malware attached. I remember posting about this a while back when someone said pretty much the same thing, and pointed to the readme of a SKyrim torrent. It was like 10 pages of instructions on how to install the damn thing. I’m sure pirates have gotten that process simplified by now, but you can also just pick up the trouble free legitimate copy (well, Bethesda bugs not withstanding) for like $10 on sale. It takes savvy, and a decent understanding of pirating to have a half-decent gaming experience. The OP’s case is fairly unique for PC gamers. When you have a broadband connection Steam is transparent, as all DRM should be and offers a decent service IMHO. I’ve probably saved thousands of dollar son ym gaming habit Vs buying retail. ---
**Author:** ![Habeed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a587f6/32.png) [@Habeed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Habeed)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2014, 9:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/call-of-duty-and-stream-argggggggggggg/677656/25 "2014-02-02T09:28:28Z")
> [@Kinthalis](#): > > Bull shit. Most pirated copies of games (unless there is a DRM free version available) are a pain to setup, are buggy and crashy and require all sorts of work around to update. Not to mention that a lot of downloads come complete with malware attached. The overwhelming majority of pirated games are trouble-free to install and work just fine. Generally they are just an image of the install files for the game. Sometimes you use the official installer, sometimes the pirates give you an installer. You just run the installer, then usually the game release has a folder labeled “crack”. You copy in the crack. I have run pirated skyrim before, and that was all that it required. I’ve probably installed several hundred pirated games over the years, and at least 90% of them were this easy. With that said, it is a form of stealing, and you shouldn’t do it…unless you are forced to due to problems like in this thread, or you want to demo the game before paying for it, or you are too poor to afford the game because you live in Russia, etc. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2014, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/call-of-duty-and-stream-argggggggggggg/677656/26 "2014-02-02T15:53:34Z")
> [@obbn](#): > > That’s a great idea, Everitt it won’t let me go into offline mode because it had to update first. I’ve come to the conclusion that Stream is a sadist corporation. That’s weird. As long as I stay in offline mode, I’ve never had a problem with being forced to update, and I haven’t ever bothered to turn off updates to any individual games. Unless you actually use the built-in web browser in-game, I don’t see any reason you should ever need to not be in offline mode if you only play singleplayer. If you continue having problems, I’d suggest blocking Steam from going online using your firewall. If it can’t go online, it can’t know it needs updates. If you actually wind up needing to do that, feel free to ask here for instructions. > [@Habeed](#): > > With that said, it is a form of stealing, and you shouldn’t do it…unless you are forced to due to problems like in this thread, or you want to demo the game before paying for it, or you are too poor to afford the game because you live in Russia, etc. I’d argue it isn’t actually stealing if you’ve already acquired the game legally and only use it to allow use of the game on your computer. It’s a copyright violation, sure, but not stealing. You paid for the ability to play that game. (I’ve gotten pirated versions of games I already own because I didn’t have a disk drive on my laptop.) ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2014, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/call-of-duty-and-stream-argggggggggggg/677656/27 "2014-02-02T23:30:12Z")
> [@obbn](#): > > That’s a great idea, Everitt it won’t let me go into offline mode because it had to update first. I’ve come to the conclusion that \*\*Stream \*\*is a sadist corporation. Reading this thread drove me mad. It’s STEAM ! Steam Steam Steam Steam. STEAM! For the record, it’s the game publisher who determines whether any of Steam’s DRM functions are used by a particular game. The folks at Paradox, who I do some volunteer work for, don’t use any Steam DRM (or their own in fact), nor do you need to be online to play - in fact the Steam client doesn’t even need to be running (unless playing MP or Ironman mode). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/call-of-duty-and-stream-argggggggggggg/677656.md?page=1)