A
response from Valve to a thread about offline mode on Steam indicates that
the way offline mode currently requires users to go online periodically to allow
them to play their Steam games without being connected to the Internet is a bug,
and not working as intended. He does not offer a timeframe for when this might
be fixed, but clearly states the requirement to go online once your game is
authenticated is a "bug" (thanks Creston). Here's word:
This is not
actually true - Offline Mode is designed to be indefinite. You can't access any
of Steam's online features such as friends lists or saved game synchronization,
of course, but the client should allow you to run in Offline Mode for as long as
you like.
That said, there are many components involved in Offline Mode, and some of them
have known issues and bugs which we are continually working to improve. We're
aware that it doesn't always work as flawlessly as we want it to, but please
keep reporting bugs with Offline Mode. It is not broken 'by design'.
Lumenox Games now offers an official
playable demo for
Aaru's Awakening, their upcoming action/platformer,
superseding the alpha demo
released in the
summer. They also offer a
new "Domain of Dusk"
trailer showing off the game, hoping these releases will inspire support for
their
Steam Greenlight campaign. Continue here to read the full story.
WoW Insider has word on a freebie now available to everyone with a
Battle.net account, as Blizzard is offering
Blackthorne for free under
the "Classic Games" heading on your
Battle.net Game Downloads page.
Here's word from
Wikipedia
on the almost 20 year-old game:
Blackthorne is set on the planet Tuul,
which has existed for centuries without human knowledge. All of this time,
Tuul's people have been ruled over by a single shaman who "was blessed with all
knowledge". Years before the game begins, Thoros, the latest ruler, finds it
near impossible to choose between his two sons as the next ruler. Believing it
will solve the dilemma, he leads them to the deserts and kills himself. His body
becomes two stones, light and dark, and he gives one to each boy to rule their
own kingdoms respectively. The people of the lightstone form the kingdom of
Androth, and the people of the darkstone form Ka'dra'suul. But while Androth
respects their stone, Ka'dra'suul reject theirs, and are eventually transformed
into monsters by it. In this time, a ka'dra named Sarlac seizes power. He forms
an army and leads them against Androth.
A
new trailer from
Thief is titled "Stories from The City - Part 1 - 'Basso's Gamble'," as it
offers Basso's perspective on the setting of the upcoming stealth/action sequel.
They say: "The first trailer focuses on Basso, a former boxman (safe-cracker)
turned fence, who uses his vast connections to The City’s underworld to organize
thieving jobs for Garrett. He owns an intelligent, but bad tempered magpie
called Jenivere who delivers messages for him. Garrett might consider himself a
loner, but Basso is the nearest thing he has to a friend - and whether he
readily admits it or not; he rather likes the fellow."
Continue here to read the full story.
RuneFest 3 kicks off tomorrow
at 11:00 am GMT (6:00 am EDT - set your alarms), offering a celebration of all
things RuneScape. Their
Schedule of Events and
FAQ
cover all the details on this, including how to view a livestream of the
festivities. On a related note,
RuneScape announces
they now offer players a way to share their in-game wealth with charity.
Finally, this is all accompanied by a free weekend for
Old School RuneScape, the retro
installment in the series:
Non-members of RuneScape will be able to
indulge in waves of nostalgia between now and 23:59pm on Monday 4th November, as
the gates of Old School RuneScape open for free! The free access weekend enables
non-members to experience the full members feature set, and coincides with the
RuneFest 3 fan convention in London, the release of PvP worlds and the Halloween
holiday event into Old School RuneScape.
Ghosts are abroad in Gielinor this year and if you can overcome your fear to
help banish them you will be able to get your hands on the fabled black
Halloween mask, the first new Halloween mask since 2002.
The launch of PvP worlds sees the most hardcore RuneScape experience to date,
freeing players from their shackles to take part in PvP gameplay, everywhere and
all the time, in these very special worlds.
Any progress made in Old School during the open access weekend will be saved,
enabling non-members to continue their adventures where they left off, should
they wish to purchase membership in the future.
We had a great Halloween yesterday, but for the third year in a row we had
weather issues, though in this case the mild drizzle that started shortly after
sundown only seemed to end the festivities a little early. But we still had a
great turnout, and as always the local kids were just lovely, acting very
polite, with many of them showing more interest in the doggies than the candy.
This is Hudson the wonder dog's holiday, and in spite of all her recent health
issues, the old girl was feeling particularly well and energetic, so she had an
especially great time, as she has always adored children (her first 10 weeks at
the breeder were spent surrounded by foster kids). There was an incident where
all the cars on the block got shaving creamed, but that's only our second such
incident in 13 years so we're not going to complain (especially since the first
was after MrsBlue provoked a couple of teenagers by scolding them they were too
old for trick-or-treating).
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