What the hecks going on with steam?

[iviv]

All was going well with it last night while downloading a game, then when the game finished downloading it auto logged me out. Have turned it off for the time being.

It seems a really good idea in principal, but automatically logging you out after a set time of no use seems a bit daft.

Not a problem with Steam. Had it on the past 72 hours or so on my PC without it auto logging me out.

Hmm... somethings telling me i need to read up on steamguard if its autoactivated ><

Basically, your main PC is automatically authenticated (Assuming you verified the email address for it). When you attempt to sign onto Steam on a different PC, it will first send a 5 character code to your verified email address. This happened instantly for me, put the code into Steam and it authenticates that laptop/PC.

You also need to authenticate individual web browsers like this as well.

 

[HNR1]

I can understand doing it once but i'm fed up of doing it repeatedly, yes i have more than one computer but, it just seems like it likes doing it all the time.

request to access your Steam account from a new computer

 

[infernox]

Id rather steam guard than losing hundreds of pounds worth of games imo.

Stop being a drama queen it hasn't failed me yet.

 

[Pixel]

I disabled it because it kept asking me for verification every single day on the same bloody PC.

It's clearly broken, so why they enable it automatically is beyond me.

 

[arc@css]

For a short time, only a couple of days or so, it did keep on asking for verification. Been fine ever since, and that 'hiccup' was months ago now.

 

[Gerard]

Meh, i just disabled it on mine, had no issues.

 

[MissChief]

back when the summer sale was on i waited 36 hours for a code after reinstalling windows when i upgraded. nothing. So i went onto my other PC, signed in and disabled it. Fair enough I know it's there to protect my games, but it's a pain in the behind when it screws up and you're waiting for Steam to mail the code which never did arrive.

 

[MeMeMeMe]

I'm another who disabled it, after it kept asking for a code on the same computer, and wouldn't accept the one it was given.

I'm sure it works fine for most people, which is why you get some of those people (insensitive jerks, really) saying stop being drama queens. But no DRM system is perfect, it always fails for some people.

I rely on my verified email address and not having unique passwords for my email and steam account. Steam Guard is nice for those who it works for, but it's not essential.

 

[megatron]

"How do I get a new access code?

Exit Steam, restart your computer, and log back into your account. This will generate a new verification email.

Ensure that you enter the most recent code sent to you - older codes will not work."

Looks relevant.

If you have a verified email address in steam, it will auto-activate steam guard.

Read more about Steam Guard here.

 

[orderoftheflame]

I can understand doing it once but i'm fed up of doing it repeatedly, yes i have more than one computer but, it just seems like it likes doing it all the time.

I disabled it because it kept asking me for verification every single day on the same bloody PC.

It's clearly broken, so why they enable it automatically is beyond me.

Meh, i just disabled it on mine, had no issues.

I'm another who disabled it, after it kept asking for a code on the same computer, and wouldn't accept the one it was given.

This is fixed in the current beta.

http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2047727

- Fixed a case where Steam Guard would unnecessarily re-ask for activation in the Steam Client.

It's always been enabled by default so that it helps people that would benefit from it most. Non-technical people that wouldn't even realise it's there most the time, the people most susceptible to phishing attacks.

I'm sure it works fine for most people, which is why you get some of those people (insensitive jerks, really) saying stop being drama queens. But no DRM system is perfect, it always fails for some people.

SteamGuard isn't remotely DRM. It's entirely a security feature...

 

[Linkex]

The people moaning about how it keeps asking them to verify, and that we should be sensitive and that steam shouldn't have enabled it by default etc etc - have you actually logged the fault with Valve? Its hardly fair to complain about problems with a service if you haven't let them know you have one.

 

[Rezident]

I got the SteamGuard code inexplicably a couple of times (on the same PC) but the code worked and when they iron out the bugs I think it will be a good security feature. But I have been having several other problems with Steam lately also. I shut down my PC and Steam tried to stop it because it was doing something (what was Steam doing when I wasn’t gaming on it?). Next day steam would not start, steam.exe was completely gone from the system and the Steam Support fix for the error code was invalid. Now I always separately shut down Steam before shutting down the PC and even then it always does the Steam Cloud sync even if I’ve only been gaming on a non-steam cloud game (why waste time with that? What is it really doing? It already does the immediate sync after leaving a cloud game, like TF2 so what is the separate cloud sync when you close Steam for? Seems inefficient). Steam also feels slower and more clunky lately, I’m worried that they’re adding too much to it. Just hope they sort out all the bugs as they are very annoying and Steam had previous been perfect for me for years.

 

[Evilsod]

The only time i've had issues with steam guard lately have been when the community/store break and require me to log in.

Tried it a couple of days ago the last time the community went down. Went to log in to it and it prompted a steamguard email. Once the community came back up and I restarted steam it worked fine.

 

[Sin_Chase]

Never had issues with it personally.

As far as multiple layer security systems go Steams implementation here is actually very transparent and unintrusive.