all purchased games are tied to the account

This isn’t exactly hidden detail. I do wish you could sell/transfer a game license though.

However it’s not quite clear to me how to go about finding that out and how to do it for each game.

Nothing special. Install the game. When you’re offline, play it. Of course things like multiplayer won’t work, or games that require you to be online like an MMO, but that’s about it. The online and offline experience are identical.

#2 Support sucks. It’s automated as hell far as I’ve experienced. Nobody human to speak with.

What do you need support for that isn’t documented, out of curiosity? I’ve been on Steam for 20 years and have never needed to contact support.

it’s a Monopoly.

It’s the biggest, but it’s not a monopoly.

Privacy issues. Mainly, no access to full friends list chat logs. Surely Steam has full access. Why withhold it?

Why would you assume that Steam has access? Chats are auto-deleted after 14 days per Steam policy. This has been the case for at least 5 years now.