As for offline mode, dont make me laugh, do you really believe that?
Check your net traffic while your in so called offline mode, use your heads, how on earth does it know theres patches available when its supposed to be offline?
Believe it? I no for a fact that it works in offline mode. The only way my laptop is connected to the internet is either I plug in an Ethernet cord from a router or I plug in my wireless adapter. Guess what, I play my single player games all the time in offline mode when not connected to the internet.
Thats the only real offline mode, when you unplug it, but when it decides that it does want to connect you wont be able to do squat with it untill you connect
Steams intentions are making money and having total control, so keep feeding the monster if you wish, but it will all end in tears.
Only speculation on your part. I could say the same exact opposite and it would only be speculation on my part. In other words what you just said there is meaningless, you have no proof or even an example of it happening in the industry.