Something I find particularly contentious about Steam: If you haven't saved your login credentials--a no-no for security wonks--the client disables its "offline" mode (it lets you play games without connecting to Steam's network). Lose your internet connection, and if you're into security "best practices," lose your ability to access or play anything.

Here's the error message:

Unable to connect to the Steam network. 'Offline mode' is unavailable because there is no Steam login information stored on this computer. You will not be able to use Steam until you can connect to the Steam network again.

It's a "feature" I recently became acquainted with while moving and subsequently waiting three weeks for my new ISP to turn up service.

And then you have those irritating game updates. When Steam connects online, it checks to see if a game you've downloaded has an update in the offing. If yes, you're locked out until the update's been downloaded and applied. Once an update's been applied, you can't roll back (say the patch muddles something) without removing and re-downloading the game from scratch. You can disable auto-updating, but it's "on" by default. "Off," with a note about optionally enabling it seems like the more transparent, consumer-friendly option.