Nope, you can actually start in Offline mode even if you haven't signed in before hand. Steam has a "decay counter" so to speak that will kick in the moment you get disconnected. As long as this decay counter is still alive and kicking, you can still run it in Offline mode. Once it expires, it then disables Steam completely until you get online again.

Now, the big question that everyone is wondering, is how long does this decay counter last (Some say its 2 weeks, some say 6 months) and in some cases, how it can sometimes get deactivated (Like hardware changes, etc.)

erm...can actually start the game without open steam?
go in steamapps, go in common, click on ur game
go in binaries, find the launcher out...
but i doubt u would earn any achievement if successfully play game this way..

Yeah, I know, but its not 100% (Like all Valve games can't work like this and certain Steamworks games as well), so I didn't want to mention it since I'm not too sure about the exceptions list.

yea, but i guess all single player only games should work fine..
from the sound of the concern, the player only want to play the game offline,..
so try try no harm lo~

I think GG has faster download due to its small file, why is that?

GG download the installer file instead of the game file which already compressed, which also mean smaller in size. While steam download the game file instead of the installer, which is bigger.

just my 2cent. I beginning to like GG

Do a comparison between H.A.W.X. 2 in GG & Steam. In GG, the price is $69.90 & it needs 29% discount to even it with the price offered by Steam. I'm kind of curious who's the real culprit here.

EDIT: Apparently 1 of the guys that I introduced to GG failed to get his Saints Row 2 installed properly.

any idea why?
i have no problem installing games
submit any ticket to GG or try redownload?
actually, for single player games, i prefer GG
as long as it does not require massive patching...

I've also never encountered any issue with GG so far, except the outdated pricing.

He has redownloaded 3 times & 1 of the files kept getting corrupted. He has submitted support to GG's Game Tutor, so just have to see if someone can assist him as I didn't purchase Saints Row 2 myself.

I got feeling that his anti virus auto delete the game file
some noob anti virus cincai detect file as some virus eventhough its not a virus

Hmm... that could be 1 of the reason, though I was under the assumption that even the worst antivirus will usually prompt the user first prior to deleting or quarantining any file.

im using kaspersky 2010 genuine copy i dont think that would be the issues. anyway i got reply from gamertutor to ask me try the activation code on steam. i manage to activate it. lest see if it will corrupt like gamersgate do.

Huh? But I noticed that your entry in the Game Tutor disappeared!

And they actually provided you a key & request that you activate it in Steam? Wow... I'm very very surprised!

if u activated on steam, then the file will be differently downloaded, like i mention earlier, GG download installer while Steam download game files directly.

Hard so say, if u face prob like this, recomended you check for your antivirus history see if they auto delete. mostly antivirus auto delete the file infected by virus without asking but will giv u a short notice, u probably will miss it if u AFk

Okie. anyway im fine with steam install or gg install.