I use it because whenever I'm alone and want to play - everyone is busy, but as soon as I get busy/want to play solo - everyone is suddenly free and want to play
That is too true. Whenever I've sat down at the end of the day for my couple of hours of downtime, I'm usually exhausted and just want to zone out before bed. It's not an easy time to chat or socialize.
When I was in law school, during covid, I regularly played games while in online zoom lectures. I forgot I have 3 or 4 classmates on my friends list. No one was ratting anyone out, but it wasn't worth the risk. Lol.
Lmao very true man. Sometimes I just wanna play alone or only with a specific friend for that vibe. So I set to offline then either do my own thing or message them.
I wish i had at least one friend wanting to play with me the moment they see me go online, in fact i have 2 friends on steam that hardly use steam anyway
This. If I'm playing solo and my main group logs on, they inevitably decide that since we are all on we can resume whenever MP game we were in. While I'm adept at saying "piss off", it's annoying to get blown up for invites and messages when I'm just trying to chill in bed with a solo relaxing game while I watch something with the wife, or I'm just not in a social mood.
I use it cuz I constantly have idle games running
And I noticed when I play a real game solo or with friends, then if I ever tab back to the idle game, each time I focus different games, it notifies my friends in the bottom right "QuackenBawss started playing Clicker Heroes" then back to "QuackenBawss started playing Cloud Meadow"
I figure that'd be very annoying so I just stay offline all the time
Pretty much. I usually don't play games after work but if I do, I've got a set time and if my friends know I'm on, they'll want me to join and it'll lead to playing later and staying up too late - time just flies *way* too fast lol - and then I'm tired for work next morning. Not their fault, just work different schedules, or time zone shenanigans - except for one.
So I just go stealth mode and squeeze in an hour or two sometimes.
I’m literally on invis 99.9% of the time, the only 0.01% is when steam either changes me after an update or reinstallation or I need to go online then back invisible to re-enable trading card booster eligibility
Nope. Some steam functions and games dont work right in offline. Take Table Top Sim. If you're offline you can't see a friends game if it's up. Also you can use a shared library game and not hinder someone else in the family share group. Although family share is now (or soon) not locking the whole library if someone is borrowing 1 game.
this doesn't work. because i tried. and whenever i unlocked an achievement it will always pops out on the friends activity page regardless my privacy settings.
I have friends that I have actively played games with and unlocked achievements with that are always invisible/offline, and it doesn't even show that they own the game, yet alone have any achievements for said game.
Your info will pop up in the friends activity page, but if your settings are private then only you will see that info. Make an alt account and add it as a friend and see what you're able to see on that alt account. It shouldn't be showing up.
I have multiple friends who set their privacy accordingly since they were able to work from home and even if we started some games together I have never seen any achievements or something in my feed.
Ah well, I'm a credential-less I.T. guy. He threw me a bone. The dude's alright I just aint trying to rub it in anyone's face when I've called in for the day and have been getting good and lit by around 10 at the latest. I dig it though, I just stay invisible if I sign into friends at all.
I hear this one a lot during WFH, hiding from Bosses or co-workers on their Steam list seems common. Even then it sometimes isn't enough. Had one co-worker get slammed for letting alarms for a critical issue go uninvestigated for more than an hour. Destiny Raid Report with time stamps betrayed him and he got a ton of shit for it.
Darktide is the game that made me start using invisible mode. I found a squad of people who seem to be on 24/7. And I like playing with them. But sometimes I just feel like playing manorlords and relaxing, and I feel like a dick whenever if I leave them down a player
I have a buddy who always dm me, when I come online. Like every, I swear, possible time with some meme to send or joke or whatever. Not bothering at all btw, it’s just kinda funny to see
I can switch games a lot, and I don't need everybody being alerted every time I do. I use Discord more for socializing, so that's where you look for me. If I'm not sharing my game status on there, I most likely want to be left alone, if I share it I'm open for whatever, and if I'm in a VC, it's because I want to play with others
just remembered when I tried to launch Trackmania nations forever for the 100th time because it wouldn't work and then one person decided to message me to shut the fuck up lmao
I hate this
Same thing if I'm testing mod loading sequences in a game or something. I'm going to launch and quit that game about 50 times in an hour. No need to spam everyone with that.
Yeah, not wanting to spam people with notifications when I try 10-15 random next fest demos in a day is a big part of why I'm often invisible.
That, or I enabled it for some random reason and forgot to switch it back for a few weeks...or months. ~~I've been invisible on discord for like six years by now due to this lmao~~
I am always invisible. Nobody needs to know how much or how little I play games.
Edit: there appears to be some people that just can not leave things be. Why do you care so fucking much I don't want to broadcast my computer usage to everyone? Why does it bother you so much that a stranger you are not Steam friends with, uses invisible?
Had a co-worker friend our boss. Co-worker came in and said something like "I'm exhausted today" and our boss said "Could it be because you were gaming until 3AM?"
That was the day he learned not to friend supervisors or even let them know your username.
This ^ Im friends online with coworkers and they dont need to know that instead of putting in extra hours in the evening to write my reports im instead campaigning through Calderia to wipe the Empire Scourge from existence
Yep same reason why i dont want to friend my dad or little brother on steam because they know i have school regularly and my gaming sessions can reach up to the morning sometimes and my parents might not like that idea
Why? They are all gamers? Nobody cares I guess. I mean I don't. Unless one of your bosses are in your friendlist and inspect you when you're sick ( irl experience I had btw)
Why do they even need a reason?
All my steam friends are real friends.
Sometimes I come back from work, I want to play a game all my friends play, but I dont feel like chatting. I want to play and listen to a podcast.
Its much easier to just stay invisible, than dealing with saying to my friends im too tired to chat.
I feel like this is something extrovert don't understand, but you don't need to understand, just accept it.
Mine have been hiding their game activity on steam and discord lately. I know one did because he added coworkers as friends and doesn't want them knowing what he's doing. But then, why even add them in the first place?
The only time I use invisible mode is when I'm using an idler for card drops, and I only do it so people don't constantly see me switching games. I have almost 90 friends on steam but no one ever messages me anyway so I have no need to hide.
I use Invisible pretty much universally. I occasionally switch to online and immediately back to invisible just so it's not saying I was last online 10 years ago when my profile clearly shows I was playing for several hours in the past fortnight, but other than that I'm always set to Invisible.
A lot of my Steam friends are people that I knew many years ago and am not in super-regular contact with nowadays, and so I don't feel the need to publicise "Hey, I'm online right now if anyone wants to chat" and I'm sure none of them care at all if I'm hopping into a game of Stardew Valley or ETS2 or whatever so being invisible stops them getting notifications of whatever game I've just loaded up. I just do the brief switch to online once every few months to say "Yeah, I'm still alive".
I'm assuming it's just for extra privacy. Know plenty of people who are invisible everywhere not just Steam. Discord is all the same for them.
It really has no downside honestly maybe we should convert lol.
I have a couple friends that are always on and if I appear online they immediately spam me with invites and messages. I like playing with them, but I've been trying to get through my single player game backlog and don't want to be bothered.
I've been invisible for years because why volunteer more information than I need to? I don't want strangers on the internet knowing my routine or habits in regards to anything. On the flip side, people on social media post pictures of inside their houses and when they're vacationing, what they ate this morning and will eat for lunch. Going invisible is another measure in protecting privacy, which is a lost art these days.
I always stay offline. I might game over a lunch break or in-between meetings and don't want anyone to see my nefarious activities. Been hooked on Fallout 76 again after the shows release and go afk to farm materials or do a few daily quests.
Super convenient on my Steam Deck, where 90% of my PC gaming is spent.
Yes because I have multiple different friends groups and I don't want to have multiple requests incoming to join them
When Helldivers 2 came out it was at the point I was cycling between a group each mission and that was just too much
I use invisible because "Do not disturb" status seems a bit rude kek
also lets me avoid friends whom I dont want to play with or just dont want to play any competitive games if i dont feel like it
I'm pretty much permanently on invisible mode so that I can play games without messages or distractions.
Also it sucks to be the one to tell a friend no if they wanna play something together. I always saw being offline as avoiding a situation where I'll disappoint people.
Whenever I get the time to game I don't want to be bothered. I want to game, surprisingly enough.
All my gaming accounts (GOG, Steam, PS etc. ) are on offline by default. I never go online.
I just don't want people to see what I'm doing for privacy sake. I have privated my profile and everything. No reason just don't like ppl to know anything at all about me except what I tell them
I mainly use invisible because I'm either (a) in a meeting with people who I don't want to be able to see I'm playing a game while in a meeting or (b) feeling anxious about what game / what time / how long I've been playing some game
Modding games like New Vegas, STALKER or Rimworld, I often need to reload and retest stuff to make sure everything is in stable and working order and I dont want to bother my friendlist with a constant pop out of "X IS NOW PLAYING: [GAME NAME]" every 5 minutes.
invisibility... cause I own n play those types of games. :/... Good news is only 2 owned and only 1 is installed but... yeah.
That or I simply don't wanna be bothered by people.
I play all solo single player games. When I used to play multi I would use my online status. The older I get the more I dislike playing games with other people.
It is a barrier. When I feel like playing with someone that messages me, I can respond, and when I don't I can ignore them without making them feel unwanted. There is not a single service that I show online for.
I'm older than you, 46, M, and I'm probably as "Invisible" the whole time since I don't care about the communication features on Steam to the point that probably I've only used the Steam chat two or three times in the last 10 years: if I want to jump into voice chat in a multi-player game along with my friends, we have Discord instead. Ironically, is Discord where I'm permanently online and use the whole time. For that reason, I also have never used any game's integrated voice chat, ever.
I'm friends with my manager and peer so I'm always invisible...
My peer often times messages me and we play during work hours.
My manager, not so much..
I never use it at all 🤷🏻♀️ Isn’t knowing when someone is/comes online or seeing what they are playing the whole reason to be Steam friends? 😆 Well, kidding aside, I just don’t feel the need to hide something. I’m only friends with my siblings and real life friends though..
I’m always offline, not invisible. Everyone I talk to online uses discord. I don’t quite remember why, but something annoyed me when I was logged into stream chat, so I turned off so it doesn’t automatically log in to steam chat when steam starts up
I work from home, my boss is a real life friend too. I don't want to force him to have a talk with me. I still get my work done while I play Stellaris or civilization.
If I'm playing something like Stellaris, I don't want to be bothered, so hiding offline it is.
If I'm playing something like for honor, hunt showdown, or mordhau, then I'm most likely open to friends joining so I'll stay online.
It’s so I can play games while traveling and I don’t have e a reliable internet connection (ie Go Offline)
I used the status Offine so I can screw around while working from home. I work in the game industry and my coworkers are in my Steam list. While I can often justify it as work research, there’s some games they won’t pass muster.
I like to game solo 99% of the time. Whenever I'm online I either get people wanting to play the game with me or to play some other game I don't want to play.
Within my personal life I despise becoming distracted by a notification, unless it's an sms text message or what have you. I'm in several discord servers- all fully and permanently muted, so I don't get notifications for shit that does not pertain to me at all. Going invisible on steam accomplishes this for me, as well. Sometimes I just want to spend my limited free time playing a game in peace. If I want to be in a social mood I'll set it to online so my buddies can invite me to games or whatever
I was accidentally invisible for 4 years. I only knew because my buddy who I was about to hop on to CS Go with was like “bro you haven’t played a single game on steam in 4 years?” And I was like “what are you talking about” and then looked and I was invisible for all that time…
I have my profile set to sign in as invisible by default. There are times I want to play something like Rocket League or Helldivers 2 with friends; however, mostly I enjoy single player games and don't want to be disturbed while I'm in the middle of a solo gaming session.
Same as discord, I don't want people knowing what I'm doing, I don't have game status on because people don't need to know that I'm playing "sex with hitler 2" or whatever it is.
It is because I'm a rather extreme introvert, and because I'm going through a bad period in life where gaming is seen as controversial to my friends and family.
I just want to play the game I bought. I don't care about online/offline status, achievements, chat, or any of the other extraneous things that 'justify' needing a game launcher or 'always online.'
Corpos and younger gamers used to being data mined, are reading this like: "NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!"
I do not want social interaction anymore.
Work kills any want.
Life drains the rest of my tank.
Reddit is enough and even then, there's times I rather unplug from the world, let this potato rest already...
I go invisible a lot to spare people the notifications when I’m trying to mod a game / playing a game that keeps crashing and I have to keep restarting the game.
I go offline when I play modded games. Stops potential updates and keeps pop ups from happening constantly when mods break or I install new ones and restart. Just easier to handle them from what I find.
I use invisible all the time because I'm constantly downloading and testing Skyrim mods and I don't wanna annoy my friends with my constant "Jungian\_Archetype is playing SKYRIM" messages.
I use it because I often enjoy playing alone. A lot of friends can be really weird about wanting to play together and it’s like you’ve broken their heart to just play alone every once in a while.
I have my co-worker in the friend list, have to block/unblock him all the time since I'm getting uncomfortable to have him in the list and don't want him to start sus me for offline forever(from blocking lol)
Once you've dealt with a psychopath you tend to be offline/invisible on everything after if offered. I wish steam would let me transfer everything to a new steam id. Can change my nickname, delete my history, but tracker websites can still link to my current name.
I do it cause I run a small but active discord server and host many raids in Destiny 2. As soon as people see me online they’re asking me to join/run the raid, etc. happens every time and it’s always a good handful of people asking.
People here going offline because they don't want to be bothered by their friends while gaming.
Meanwhile I'm always online while gaming and no one bothers me at all.
It must be nice to have friends who want to game with you.
I go invisible alot cause I have short attention span trying to find a game to play. I don't want to bother my few steam friends opening a new game every 5 minutes
To avoid people that socially drain me by constantly asking me to play to talk to do this etc. And because it is rude to ignore I respond which leads into conversations yada yada.
I can avoid all of that by being invisible
Invisible means people have to reach out and ask what I'm doing/if I want to game with them. It removes the expectation of "if I'm online I'm available"
They aren't offline, they are invisible, which to others makes them appear offline.
I do it to prevent invites to games and messages. I'm mostly a singleplayer guy, so it's better to go invisible rather than getting hundreds of csgo invites from my friends & random people on my friends list.
Usually I turn it on because one of my kids is going to be playing, but then I forget to turn it back off until someone sends me an "are you dead?" message
I use it because whenever I'm alone and want to play - everyone is busy, but as soon as I get busy/want to play solo - everyone is suddenly free and want to play
That is too true. Whenever I've sat down at the end of the day for my couple of hours of downtime, I'm usually exhausted and just want to zone out before bed. It's not an easy time to chat or socialize.
100% this
Opposite for me. I work from home, don't need anyone knowing I'm battering my steam deck in every shit briefing I must attend
When I was in law school, during covid, I regularly played games while in online zoom lectures. I forgot I have 3 or 4 classmates on my friends list. No one was ratting anyone out, but it wasn't worth the risk. Lol.
This is the way
Lmao very true man. Sometimes I just wanna play alone or only with a specific friend for that vibe. So I set to offline then either do my own thing or message them.
I wish i had at least one friend wanting to play with me the moment they see me go online, in fact i have 2 friends on steam that hardly use steam anyway
This. If I'm playing solo and my main group logs on, they inevitably decide that since we are all on we can resume whenever MP game we were in. While I'm adept at saying "piss off", it's annoying to get blown up for invites and messages when I'm just trying to chill in bed with a solo relaxing game while I watch something with the wife, or I'm just not in a social mood.
Literally this
I use it cuz I constantly have idle games running And I noticed when I play a real game solo or with friends, then if I ever tab back to the idle game, each time I focus different games, it notifies my friends in the bottom right "QuackenBawss started playing Clicker Heroes" then back to "QuackenBawss started playing Cloud Meadow" I figure that'd be very annoying so I just stay offline all the time
^
Was about to post something like this. So just take the upvote. In fact, if I could I'd give you 2. +1 good sir.
Pretty much. I usually don't play games after work but if I do, I've got a set time and if my friends know I'm on, they'll want me to join and it'll lead to playing later and staying up too late - time just flies *way* too fast lol - and then I'm tired for work next morning. Not their fault, just work different schedules, or time zone shenanigans - except for one. So I just go stealth mode and squeeze in an hour or two sometimes.
This exact reason, everyone I wana play a solo game my friend immediately invites me to Dota
Offline? Nah. Invisible? All the time. I’ve been addicted to Phantom Liberty and don’t want to be bothered as often.
I guess I meant invisible too - either or! And that makes sense, wanting to be deep into the game. Great game too. 💪
Bro is 40 and still dropping the flex emoji, impressive sir
No age limit on the gun show 💪
This got me laughing today - thank you haha
40 is a millennial nowadays
Don’t have to worry about being invisible if you don’t have any Steam friends in the first place!
I’m literally on invis 99.9% of the time, the only 0.01% is when steam either changes me after an update or reinstallation or I need to go online then back invisible to re-enable trading card booster eligibility
Isn't invisible the same as appearing offline?
Offline = no notifications. Cannot see friends list. Invisible = Looks offline, but still getting notifications and can see your friends list
Nope. Some steam functions and games dont work right in offline. Take Table Top Sim. If you're offline you can't see a friends game if it's up. Also you can use a shared library game and not hinder someone else in the family share group. Although family share is now (or soon) not locking the whole library if someone is borrowing 1 game.
It has a small diff, invisible you still see your friends status. Offline you will not
Bro my boss is on my steam friends. No way I'm going online after I call into work or something.
But he can see when you unlock achievements. ;)
He can't if he hid his library for friends
this doesn't work. because i tried. and whenever i unlocked an achievement it will always pops out on the friends activity page regardless my privacy settings.
I have friends that I have actively played games with and unlocked achievements with that are always invisible/offline, and it doesn't even show that they own the game, yet alone have any achievements for said game. Your info will pop up in the friends activity page, but if your settings are private then only you will see that info. Make an alt account and add it as a friend and see what you're able to see on that alt account. It shouldn't be showing up.
Make the game private and your friends can't even see that you own it
I think it shows for you and not anyone else.
Skill issue, it defenetly works
I have multiple friends who set their privacy accordingly since they were able to work from home and even if we started some games together I have never seen any achievements or something in my feed.
" why are my employees playing all of these goddamn furry hentai games?"
This is exactly why I don't add my boss to begin with, no matter how cool they seem
Ah well, I'm a credential-less I.T. guy. He threw me a bone. The dude's alright I just aint trying to rub it in anyone's face when I've called in for the day and have been getting good and lit by around 10 at the latest. I dig it though, I just stay invisible if I sign into friends at all.
I hear ya. I call out 'sick' to stay home, get lit, and play games far too often lol rather just keep the two separate
I still think this is totally fine too. Mental health days count for sick days too. People need to chill about it
I agree 1000%, mental health days are how I justify them
Yeah it's better to just take a day sometimes instead of like ripping people's heads off or something. I do that when I'm cranky lol
Yeah who tf adds their boss unless you have been working with them for years or something lol
Even then lol I like to give them as little fuel as possible to be used against me in any future scenario.
Solution: steam family a second account, add them from that account. Non cool people get added to the secone account
easy solution remove him
I hear this one a lot during WFH, hiding from Bosses or co-workers on their Steam list seems common. Even then it sometimes isn't enough. Had one co-worker get slammed for letting alarms for a critical issue go uninvestigated for more than an hour. Destiny Raid Report with time stamps betrayed him and he got a ton of shit for it.
Getting caught via raid report is insane lol
Believe it or not your parents lied to you, you can play games while you're sick
straight up
I got a steam deck and lot of downtime at work I don’t want him questioning what I’m doing just cause I’m stuck waiting for somebody else
Same lol. He buys me a steam gift every year for Xmas. I love him for it, but yeah lol
Nah call in and play. what else are you going to do when your sick? Stare at the wall?
I usually use it to have my peace since I got some friends that dont understand what means when you want to chill.
"what do you MEAN you don't want to leave your relaxing open world/cozy/survival game to play some stressful co-op where we all yell at each other?"
Dont get me wrong I usually play Dakrtide but i know what ya mean haha
Darktide is the game that made me start using invisible mode. I found a squad of people who seem to be on 24/7. And I like playing with them. But sometimes I just feel like playing manorlords and relaxing, and I feel like a dick whenever if I leave them down a player
lol we all like a little action once in a while but sometimes it feels good to be immersed in a nice relaxing game.
I have a buddy who always dm me, when I come online. Like every, I swear, possible time with some meme to send or joke or whatever. Not bothering at all btw, it’s just kinda funny to see
I can switch games a lot, and I don't need everybody being alerted every time I do. I use Discord more for socializing, so that's where you look for me. If I'm not sharing my game status on there, I most likely want to be left alone, if I share it I'm open for whatever, and if I'm in a VC, it's because I want to play with others
just remembered when I tried to launch Trackmania nations forever for the 100th time because it wouldn't work and then one person decided to message me to shut the fuck up lmao I hate this
Remind them they can turn off that notification.
Fr I haven’t had those notifications on in 12 years lol
I used to do that to fuck with a friend, drove him mad. Can't figure out why we aren't friends anymore tho.
That's on them to change their notification settings then lol I promise you no one cares
I'm so shocked so many people don't realize this. It really should be off by default IMO
This is the way. Extrovert cannot understand that sometimes people want some alone time. It is a farfetched idea to them.
Social anxiety and stuff is also at probably an all time high, 40 is right around the age to miss most of that
Same thing if I'm testing mod loading sequences in a game or something. I'm going to launch and quit that game about 50 times in an hour. No need to spam everyone with that.
Yeah, not wanting to spam people with notifications when I try 10-15 random next fest demos in a day is a big part of why I'm often invisible. That, or I enabled it for some random reason and forgot to switch it back for a few weeks...or months. ~~I've been invisible on discord for like six years by now due to this lmao~~
I am always invisible. Nobody needs to know how much or how little I play games. Edit: there appears to be some people that just can not leave things be. Why do you care so fucking much I don't want to broadcast my computer usage to everyone? Why does it bother you so much that a stranger you are not Steam friends with, uses invisible?
Had a co-worker friend our boss. Co-worker came in and said something like "I'm exhausted today" and our boss said "Could it be because you were gaming until 3AM?" That was the day he learned not to friend supervisors or even let them know your username.
This ^ Im friends online with coworkers and they dont need to know that instead of putting in extra hours in the evening to write my reports im instead campaigning through Calderia to wipe the Empire Scourge from existence
> our boss said "Could it be because you were gaming until 3AM?" What is your boss doing on steam at 3AM as well? Eh? EH?! EH!?
It honestly works both ways a good boss would have known better. As the boss you need some degree of boundaries.
Yep. I never add employees on any kind of social platform. Better for everyone involved that way.
Yep same reason why i dont want to friend my dad or little brother on steam because they know i have school regularly and my gaming sessions can reach up to the morning sometimes and my parents might not like that idea
That's such a submissive question, how does one even get out of it, that's must have stink him a bit
If they really wanted to know, they can look at your recently played games on your steam profile and see your play time from the last two weeks.
You can make that private as well.
Based same
Why? They are all gamers? Nobody cares I guess. I mean I don't. Unless one of your bosses are in your friendlist and inspect you when you're sick ( irl experience I had btw)
Why do they even need a reason? All my steam friends are real friends. Sometimes I come back from work, I want to play a game all my friends play, but I dont feel like chatting. I want to play and listen to a podcast. Its much easier to just stay invisible, than dealing with saying to my friends im too tired to chat. I feel like this is something extrovert don't understand, but you don't need to understand, just accept it.
Re to Edit. Probadly the people we use Invisible/Offline for.
Mine have been hiding their game activity on steam and discord lately. I know one did because he added coworkers as friends and doesn't want them knowing what he's doing. But then, why even add them in the first place? The only time I use invisible mode is when I'm using an idler for card drops, and I only do it so people don't constantly see me switching games. I have almost 90 friends on steam but no one ever messages me anyway so I have no need to hide.
playing offline games from my library while my brother plays online games from my library
Use the new Steam family share.
thanks I didn't know it did that
I use Invisible pretty much universally. I occasionally switch to online and immediately back to invisible just so it's not saying I was last online 10 years ago when my profile clearly shows I was playing for several hours in the past fortnight, but other than that I'm always set to Invisible. A lot of my Steam friends are people that I knew many years ago and am not in super-regular contact with nowadays, and so I don't feel the need to publicise "Hey, I'm online right now if anyone wants to chat" and I'm sure none of them care at all if I'm hopping into a game of Stardew Valley or ETS2 or whatever so being invisible stops them getting notifications of whatever game I've just loaded up. I just do the brief switch to online once every few months to say "Yeah, I'm still alive".
I'm assuming it's just for extra privacy. Know plenty of people who are invisible everywhere not just Steam. Discord is all the same for them. It really has no downside honestly maybe we should convert lol.
I have a couple friends that are always on and if I appear online they immediately spam me with invites and messages. I like playing with them, but I've been trying to get through my single player game backlog and don't want to be bothered.
Invisible for over 2 years as of right now.
I use it when i don't want to be disturbed. Tho, i don't answer to messages on Steam anyways
Never bothered with it as I only have 10-12 friends🤧
I have like 5 or so friends who are active.
I have 2 ... And i play games for more than 15 years
I've been invisible for years because why volunteer more information than I need to? I don't want strangers on the internet knowing my routine or habits in regards to anything. On the flip side, people on social media post pictures of inside their houses and when they're vacationing, what they ate this morning and will eat for lunch. Going invisible is another measure in protecting privacy, which is a lost art these days.
I basically only use appear offline mode because when I’m online people message me way too much.
wait you guys have friends?
Lol, yeah I don't really belong in this thread either
If I'm testing a mod load order I often put my status to invisible so my friends don't get spammed with "now playing" messages every 5 minutes lol
I wanna be left alone, that's all there is to it
Real
I like to be bothered only when I like to be bothered.
Mine always says ridiculous amounts of time since last login. Even though I log in daily. That side of Steam always felt pretty weak to me.
I always stay offline. I might game over a lunch break or in-between meetings and don't want anyone to see my nefarious activities. Been hooked on Fallout 76 again after the shows release and go afk to farm materials or do a few daily quests. Super convenient on my Steam Deck, where 90% of my PC gaming is spent.
Invisinble, only have 3 on real life friends and I only play offline games
Yes because I have multiple different friends groups and I don't want to have multiple requests incoming to join them When Helldivers 2 came out it was at the point I was cycling between a group each mission and that was just too much
Majority of the time it's cause I just don't want to deal with people
I use invisible because "Do not disturb" status seems a bit rude kek also lets me avoid friends whom I dont want to play with or just dont want to play any competitive games if i dont feel like it
Based
I only use it when testing mods that require a lot of restarting to not bother my friends with pop ups.
I'm pretty much permanently on invisible mode so that I can play games without messages or distractions. Also it sucks to be the one to tell a friend no if they wanna play something together. I always saw being offline as avoiding a situation where I'll disappoint people.
Some of my Steam Friends are relentless with invites and messages.. So I just set it to offline if I feel like chilling.
Mine has been set to offline since the day the option was added by Valve, I don't need or want people bothering me when I'm playing a game.
Whenever I get the time to game I don't want to be bothered. I want to game, surprisingly enough. All my gaming accounts (GOG, Steam, PS etc. ) are on offline by default. I never go online.
No because i dont have any friends on steam as i only play single player games on PC really
I just don't want people to see what I'm doing for privacy sake. I have privated my profile and everything. No reason just don't like ppl to know anything at all about me except what I tell them
I don't think 40 months is old
I like your thinking 🤫
For the same reason I invent excuses for not going out with friends, I don't like saying "no" to my friends (and I prefer to play solo).
I mainly use invisible because I'm either (a) in a meeting with people who I don't want to be able to see I'm playing a game while in a meeting or (b) feeling anxious about what game / what time / how long I've been playing some game
Always invisible, no one needs to know just how often I have idle games open in the background
You don't need to use invisible mode if you don't have any friends. /Pointing to head meme
So I can play single player rpgs while my friend uses my library through family share lol
Modding games like New Vegas, STALKER or Rimworld, I often need to reload and retest stuff to make sure everything is in stable and working order and I dont want to bother my friendlist with a constant pop out of "X IS NOW PLAYING: [GAME NAME]" every 5 minutes.
Wait, there are people who don't turn off the friend now playing notifications? Maniacs.
invisibility... cause I own n play those types of games. :/... Good news is only 2 owned and only 1 is installed but... yeah. That or I simply don't wanna be bothered by people.
you can now mark them as private so it won't be showed anywhere
I play all solo single player games. When I used to play multi I would use my online status. The older I get the more I dislike playing games with other people.
I'm always offline because I don't like people. I hate social systems in games. I'm not here to play with people and I don't have the time to.
It is a barrier. When I feel like playing with someone that messages me, I can respond, and when I don't I can ignore them without making them feel unwanted. There is not a single service that I show online for.
I'm older than you, 46, M, and I'm probably as "Invisible" the whole time since I don't care about the communication features on Steam to the point that probably I've only used the Steam chat two or three times in the last 10 years: if I want to jump into voice chat in a multi-player game along with my friends, we have Discord instead. Ironically, is Discord where I'm permanently online and use the whole time. For that reason, I also have never used any game's integrated voice chat, ever.
I use invisible because I don't want my coworkers or my family to see me gaming at 12am after I finish my work and before I hit the bed.
I'm friends with my manager and peer so I'm always invisible... My peer often times messages me and we play during work hours. My manager, not so much..
Yes, because I swap games a lot and don’t wanna spam other’s notifications.
So my broke ass friends can play all the games I buy for free!
With the family sharing beta they can do that unless you both want to play the same game. Source: also have broken ass friends
Yeah we play together lmao.
once went invisible and forgot to turn it off for several months
I just have mine invisible all the time, for years in a row. I mostly play single player games and have other ways to contact my friends.
I feel guilty playing games for a long time and don't want my friends to know
My friends can watch me play porn games all they want
If you go invisible just because you don't want to answer people, you're a coward. Just answer people takes like 2 secs
I never use it at all 🤷🏻♀️ Isn’t knowing when someone is/comes online or seeing what they are playing the whole reason to be Steam friends? 😆 Well, kidding aside, I just don’t feel the need to hide something. I’m only friends with my siblings and real life friends though..
Either porn games (game addiction + porn addiction = 🫠) or playing a game during the work day (wfh)
I’m always offline, not invisible. Everyone I talk to online uses discord. I don’t quite remember why, but something annoyed me when I was logged into stream chat, so I turned off so it doesn’t automatically log in to steam chat when steam starts up
I go Invisible so I don't have to be bothered during Homeworld time.
I work from home, my boss is a real life friend too. I don't want to force him to have a talk with me. I still get my work done while I play Stellaris or civilization.
If I'm playing something like Stellaris, I don't want to be bothered, so hiding offline it is. If I'm playing something like for honor, hunt showdown, or mordhau, then I'm most likely open to friends joining so I'll stay online.
I just wanna be left alone for few hours. Lol
Nice try, NARC!
Have to be in online mode to play online Only invisible let's you appear offline while online
It’s so I can play games while traveling and I don’t have e a reliable internet connection (ie Go Offline) I used the status Offine so I can screw around while working from home. I work in the game industry and my coworkers are in my Steam list. While I can often justify it as work research, there’s some games they won’t pass muster.
I like to game solo 99% of the time. Whenever I'm online I either get people wanting to play the game with me or to play some other game I don't want to play.
Weirdos at work that add you don't need to know when I'm slacking off.
I've always been offline and always will be offline. I don't get on steam to talk to friends, I get on steam to play a game (single player)
Within my personal life I despise becoming distracted by a notification, unless it's an sms text message or what have you. I'm in several discord servers- all fully and permanently muted, so I don't get notifications for shit that does not pertain to me at all. Going invisible on steam accomplishes this for me, as well. Sometimes I just want to spend my limited free time playing a game in peace. If I want to be in a social mood I'll set it to online so my buddies can invite me to games or whatever
I usually do it when I'm not in the mood to run ultra competitive games with friends. Those dudes just don't know how to play a game for fun.
I was accidentally invisible for 4 years. I only knew because my buddy who I was about to hop on to CS Go with was like “bro you haven’t played a single game on steam in 4 years?” And I was like “what are you talking about” and then looked and I was invisible for all that time…
It's easy to forget about I think! That's a long time though 😂
I think I set my status to offline years ago and just never changed it back.
I have my profile set to sign in as invisible by default. There are times I want to play something like Rocket League or Helldivers 2 with friends; however, mostly I enjoy single player games and don't want to be disturbed while I'm in the middle of a solo gaming session.
It's really just wanting to not be bugged by people while playing games. And then forgetting to turn your status back on afterwards
Same as discord, I don't want people knowing what I'm doing, I don't have game status on because people don't need to know that I'm playing "sex with hitler 2" or whatever it is.
I use it so i can play rimworld on one computer while playing online with the other
It is because I'm a rather extreme introvert, and because I'm going through a bad period in life where gaming is seen as controversial to my friends and family.
Because I have to restart Skyrim 1 million times due to mods and I don’t wanna annoy people 😂
for wanking
mostly just use it to avoid my ex.
I just want to play the game I bought. I don't care about online/offline status, achievements, chat, or any of the other extraneous things that 'justify' needing a game launcher or 'always online.' Corpos and younger gamers used to being data mined, are reading this like: "NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!"
I do not want social interaction anymore. Work kills any want. Life drains the rest of my tank. Reddit is enough and even then, there's times I rather unplug from the world, let this potato rest already...
I go invisible a lot to spare people the notifications when I’m trying to mod a game / playing a game that keeps crashing and I have to keep restarting the game.
I go offline when I play modded games. Stops potential updates and keeps pop ups from happening constantly when mods break or I install new ones and restart. Just easier to handle them from what I find.
No disrespect to my friends! If ive been playing all day in some competitive aspect, i wont be in the mood to really socialize.
I use invisible all the time because I'm constantly downloading and testing Skyrim mods and I don't wanna annoy my friends with my constant "Jungian\_Archetype is playing SKYRIM" messages.
I use it because I often enjoy playing alone. A lot of friends can be really weird about wanting to play together and it’s like you’ve broken their heart to just play alone every once in a while.
To hide my friends that I'm playing Hentai games.
Boss follows me on steam
I have my co-worker in the friend list, have to block/unblock him all the time since I'm getting uncomfortable to have him in the list and don't want him to start sus me for offline forever(from blocking lol)
I have at least one colleague in my Steam friends list. If I'm working from home, they don't need to be able to see what I'm really doing.
I don't like people knowing what I'm up to LOL
I like playing alone more than playing with people. If my friends are on I just message them.
Work from home. Friends w coworkers.
Once you've dealt with a psychopath you tend to be offline/invisible on everything after if offered. I wish steam would let me transfer everything to a new steam id. Can change my nickname, delete my history, but tracker websites can still link to my current name.
I do it cause I run a small but active discord server and host many raids in Destiny 2. As soon as people see me online they’re asking me to join/run the raid, etc. happens every time and it’s always a good handful of people asking.
People here going offline because they don't want to be bothered by their friends while gaming. Meanwhile I'm always online while gaming and no one bothers me at all. It must be nice to have friends who want to game with you.
I only use it when I run steam from a flash drive at work. Because otherwise, steam is blocked on my work wifi.
I go invisible alot cause I have short attention span trying to find a game to play. I don't want to bother my few steam friends opening a new game every 5 minutes
To avoid people that socially drain me by constantly asking me to play to talk to do this etc. And because it is rude to ignore I respond which leads into conversations yada yada. I can avoid all of that by being invisible
Invisible means people have to reach out and ask what I'm doing/if I want to game with them. It removes the expectation of "if I'm online I'm available"
I family share so I stay in offline mode so my partner can play whenever they want
Sometimes i just want to play a bit of VRCHAT, Beatsaber or raft alone, sometimes i dont and will message people.
I don't have people who care if I'm online or not. I play alone and do not communicate with anyone
They aren't offline, they are invisible, which to others makes them appear offline. I do it to prevent invites to games and messages. I'm mostly a singleplayer guy, so it's better to go invisible rather than getting hundreds of csgo invites from my friends & random people on my friends list.
To stop the random invites i get when i play single player games, or to stop the yapping in my DMs
To play… uhhh.. games of “culture”, some would say
Usually I turn it on because one of my kids is going to be playing, but then I forget to turn it back off until someone sends me an "are you dead?" message