Could I run 2 instances of this game if I bought the steam version too?

[Zoey]

Basically, I want to know if I can have two separate installs and instances of the game running if I bought it here and used it combined with my BNET copy I had at launch.

If anyone is curious on why, this would make farming twice as effective. I could just power level my new account in the pits while it afks (and double loot drops from there too) and run boss summons earning double loot in this manner. I suppose I could just use my Steam Deck for that purpose right now, but I'd prefer to just run both instances on my PC at once.

*edit* Plus it would be a way to expand storage which is sorely needed.

[fragball]

well, you should read the ToS for the game first and see if it's mentioned (usually only when explizit forbidden - not meaning that blizzard won't trouble you if they forget to do so but then you have the law on your side at least ^^).
also, you should see if you can run the game twice at your computer - something that might not even work for the best rigs out there (usually, the OS won't be able to handle this). if you intend to run the game on two seperate computers though, then there is no problem at all, neither hardware nor ToS wise - afterall, you could have your whole family playing the same game from inside your home network. and vlizzard should'nt care about it (they would even more than happy about it, i guess).

[Zoey]

Originally posted by fragball:

well, you should read the ToS for the game first and see if it's mentioned (usually only when explizit forbidden - not meaning that blizzard won't trouble you if they forget to do so but then you have the law on your side at least ^^).
also, you should see if you can run the game twice at your computer - something that might not even work for the best rigs out there (usually, the OS won't be able to handle this). if you intend to run the game on two seperate computers though, then there is no problem at all, neither hardware nor ToS wise - afterall, you could have your whole family playing the same game from inside your home network. and vlizzard should'nt care about it (they would even more than happy about it, i guess).

I have a pretty high spec rig so I am not worried about performance. Besides you can even control with in game settings the max fps for the minimized game. Meaning it would be basically taking nothing.

As for the ToS I would imagine they would be similar to WoW where multiboxing is allowed. As long as I would refrain from using any methods to control both characters at once like mirroring my inputs. Which I wouldn't be doing as my main would be doing the work while the secondary would be mostly just afk at a pit entrance, summoned boss, or infernal hordes.

https://eu.battle.net/support/en/article/24258#:~:text=Multiboxing%2C%20or%20playing%20multiple%20World,our%20End%20User%20License%20Agreement.

I just need to know if it is possible with the game to run more than once.

[IchigoMait]

You only can be logged in one platform with 1 account.
So the only thing you can do is have 2 separate blizzard accounts open, one through one platform and the other from another platform.
But as you mentioned expanding storage, then yeah.

I saw some chinese guy posting a video in the forums, showing how items can be duplicated via having at least 2 games open. Point of his post/video was that devs should fix it, but would've been better if he had posted in the bug section, not in general.
https://steamcommunity.com/app/2344520/discussions/0/4633734370401781888/

[Zoey]

Originally posted by IchigoMait:

You only can be logged in one platform with 1 account.
So the only thing you can do is have 2 separate blizzard accounts open, one through one platform and the other from another platform.
But as you mentioned expanding storage, then yeah.

I saw some chinese guy posting a video in the forums, showing how items can be duplicated via having at least 2 games open. Point of his post/video was that devs should fix it, but would've been better if he had posted in the bug section, not in general.
https://steamcommunity.com/app/2344520/discussions/0/4633734370401781888/

Interesting, but I have no intentions on exploiting. Hopefully they do patch that because that would kill the entire in game economy. Good to know that I can in fact run two instances one through Steam and the other through just BNET though.

[Bacon Overlord®]

Originally posted by Zoey:

Basically, I want to know if I can have two separate installs and instances of the game running if I bought it here and used it combined with my BNET copy I had at launch.

If anyone is curious on why, this would make farming twice as effective. I could just power level my new account in the pits while it afks (and double loot drops from there too) and run boss summons earning double loot in this manner. I suppose I could just use my Steam Deck for that purpose right now, but I'd prefer to just run both instances on my PC at once.

*edit* Plus it would be a way to expand storage which is sorely needed.

1. Storage is fine
2. Unless you have a separate account and haven't linked your b.net and steam then this won't work anyway
3. You're not getting EXTRA exp, you're getting the same exp on two separate characters that you'll eventually end up playing independently anyway, so this really does nothing "better".
4. Yes, you'll "double" your loot, and also the time it takes to start PITs, sell, etc.

[IchigoMait]

Originally posted by Bacon Overlord®:

Originally posted by Zoey:

Basically, I want to know if I can have two separate installs and instances of the game running if I bought it here and used it combined with my BNET copy I had at launch.

If anyone is curious on why, this would make farming twice as effective. I could just power level my new account in the pits while it afks (and double loot drops from there too) and run boss summons earning double loot in this manner. I suppose I could just use my Steam Deck for that purpose right now, but I'd prefer to just run both instances on my PC at once.

*edit* Plus it would be a way to expand storage which is sorely needed.

1. Storage is fine
2. Unless you have a separate account and haven't linked your b.net and steam then this won't work anyway
3. You're not getting EXTRA exp, you're getting the same exp on two separate characters that you'll eventually end up playing independently anyway, so this really does nothing "better".
4. Yes, you'll "double" your loot, and also the time it takes to start PITs, sell, etc.

You do get extra exp, when some player is nearby you get multiplicative 5% extra, when in party that bonus is doubled, hover over your buff bar next time.
But yeah, for the sake of xp it's pointless.

The only benefit is more storage, but ironically you get also more loot, so the storage is little bit nullified, but yeah you can collect more.

[Zoey]

Originally posted by Bacon Overlord®:

Originally posted by Zoey:

Basically, I want to know if I can have two separate installs and instances of the game running if I bought it here and used it combined with my BNET copy I had at launch.

If anyone is curious on why, this would make farming twice as effective. I could just power level my new account in the pits while it afks (and double loot drops from there too) and run boss summons earning double loot in this manner. I suppose I could just use my Steam Deck for that purpose right now, but I'd prefer to just run both instances on my PC at once.

*edit* Plus it would be a way to expand storage which is sorely needed.

1. Storage is fine
2. Unless you have a separate account and haven't linked your b.net and steam then this won't work anyway
3. You're not getting EXTRA exp, you're getting the same exp on two separate characters that you'll eventually end up playing independently anyway, so this really does nothing "better".
4. Yes, you'll "double" your loot, and also the time it takes to start PITs, sell, etc.

1. - Not really with how trading is so bothersome without an auction house this makes me often have to hold onto items much longer than I'd wish to.

2. I have not linked either as I have yet to play a Blizzard game on Steam.

3. That's not really what I was getting at. But as IchigoMait pointed out you're wrong on this anyways. The fact is I could take character and power level it with ease and once it gets into the pits be able to get it paragon levels in the fastest way possible through the pits. As sitting at the entrance still gives all XP to any player present.

4. While pits wouldn't be ideal for loot in this manner they are also the only way to level glyphs and are the best xp farm so they would be a requirement anyways. Infernal hordes would still be a massive benefit as even if I let the alt die and Aether still drops. Meaning I can easily earn tons of extra gold which I can trade over to my main. Then of course there is the benefit of summoned bosses giving me 2x loot each kill. This will make farming high quality unique items much easier.

*Edit* Now that I think about it, mostly likely my alt wouldn't even die in IH. Because of easy it would be to get it a shroud of false death and just stealth through the entire thing. I could also earn merc coins which can help with aspect farming too. Probably anyone who could do this, should do this.

[Morkonan]

Originally posted by Zoey:

Basically, I want to know if I can have two separate installs and instances of the game running if I bought it here and used it combined with my BNET copy I had at launch.

If anyone is curious on why, this would make farming twice as effective. I could just power level my new account in the pits while it afks (and double loot drops from there too) and run boss summons earning double loot in this manner. I suppose I could just use my Steam Deck for that purpose right now, but I'd prefer to just run both instances on my PC at once.

*edit* Plus it would be a way to expand storage which is sorely needed.

You'll need to check Blizz's policy on "dual-boxing."

AFAIK, from what I can recall in the distant past, they're fine with Dual-Boxing (one player playing two instances of the game) as long as those game instances are on separate accounts.

I do not know if the software, itself, has a separate ID that would flag such an account nor whether or not it will allow itself to be run in separate instances on the same hardware. (Some other Blizz titles did, though.)

You truly need to check Blizz's FAQ/Forum/TOS/Eula and maybe ask there or in an email before attempting to do this. When Blizz gets mad, they're pretty heavy handed and it may take quite a bit of effort to crawl back this kind of potential issue...

Note: For "Inventory Space" you can create extra characters and use their Inventory window for storage. It's not great, but that's what we have atm.)

[IchigoMait]

Originally posted by Morkonan:

Originally posted by Zoey:

Basically, I want to know if I can have two separate installs and instances of the game running if I bought it here and used it combined with my BNET copy I had at launch.

If anyone is curious on why, this would make farming twice as effective. I could just power level my new account in the pits while it afks (and double loot drops from there too) and run boss summons earning double loot in this manner. I suppose I could just use my Steam Deck for that purpose right now, but I'd prefer to just run both instances on my PC at once.

*edit* Plus it would be a way to expand storage which is sorely needed.

You'll need to check Blizz's policy on "dual-boxing."

AFAIK, from what I can recall in the distant past, they're fine with Dual-Boxing (one player playing two instances of the game) as long as those game instances are on separate accounts.

I do not know if the software, itself, has a separate ID that would flag such an account nor whether or not it will allow itself to be run in separate instances on the same hardware. (Some other Blizz titles did, though.)

You truly need to check Blizz's FAQ/Forum/TOS/Eula and maybe ask there or in an email before attempting to do this. When Blizz gets mad, they're pretty heavy handed and it may take quite a bit of effort to crawl back this kind of potential issue...

Note: For "Inventory Space" you can create extra characters and use their Inventory window for storage. It's not great, but that's what we have atm.)

Dude they won't mind.

You have crossplay, if you're in a household with console and pc, you literally can do the same thing, just on different hardware platforms, not just store platforms on a single machine.
Or lel even without crossplay, when having 2 pcs next to each other.
It's basically arguing about semantics, can you use two accounts on a single machine, or can you use two accounts on separate machines next to each other.
If they don't like people running multiple instances of the same app, they can patch it, there are games that don't allow running the same app, even if it's from a different store.

[Many-Named]

this is against ToS, mainly for botting purposes, you may get banned.

[Shazoo]

Originally posted by Many-Named:

this is against ToS, mainly for botting purposes, you may get banned.

and you're going to link to the source when, or do we just take your word for it.

[Morkonan]

Originally posted by Many-Named:

this is against ToS, mainly for botting purposes, you may get banned.

"Dual-Boxing" isn't "botting."

Yes, the OP needs to check with Blizz's official position. Way back when I used to play other Blizz games, like WoW, they were not against dual-boxing, but did require separate accounts. I can't say with any authority that is the case now or with Diablo 4, though.

[Neithan]

Originally posted by Zoey:

Basically, I want to know if I can have two separate installs and instances of the game running if I bought it here and used it combined with my BNET copy I had at launch.

If anyone is curious on why, this would make farming twice as effective. I could just power level my new account in the pits while it afks (and double loot drops from there too) and run boss summons earning double loot in this manner. I suppose I could just use my Steam Deck for that purpose right now, but I'd prefer to just run both instances on my PC at once.

*edit* Plus it would be a way to expand storage which is sorely needed.

While multi(dual)-boxing might be possible if you use two games linked to two differrent accounts (like, getting the game on Bnet, then getting it on Steam again but link to another Bnet account), I don't think the game warrants such approach in any way.

It's not like WoW or other games where you might want to have several farm chars with different jobs, nor does the current storage situation have you need Mule chars. Since the rework for legendary aspects so that they go into the codex and are unlimited in use makes is so that you barely need to storage any gear other than uniques and good GA leggies.

So I wouldn't worry about multiboxing, it really does offer little to no advantage, so wether or not it is legal, it is simply useless.

If you play season, every 3 month your stash will be "wiped" (moved to eternal) anyway, and if you play eternal, well... first of all, your fault, and there is no real economy on eternal anyway, so no use to play the trade game (in the long run).

[Neithan]

Originally posted by IchigoMait:

It's basically arguing about semantics, can you use two accounts on a single machine, or can you use two accounts on separate machines next to each other.

Well, yes! Thats exactly what the OP is asking. Noone is arguing that playing the game from two different machines (PC or console) on the same household is a problem, it's specifically about running two instances of the game on the same machine.

And while Blizzards stance regarding multiboxing in WoW might seem like it would be fine in Diablo as well, it's not a given.

[Gobbo, The Lootest]

Originally posted by Zoey:

Basically, I want to know if I can have two separate installs and instances of the game running if I bought it here and used it combined with my BNET copy I had at launch.

If anyone is curious on why, this would make farming twice as effective. I could just power level my new account in the pits while it afks (and double loot drops from there too) and run boss summons earning double loot in this manner. I suppose I could just use my Steam Deck for that purpose right now, but I'd prefer to just run both instances on my PC at once.

*edit* Plus it would be a way to expand storage which is sorely needed.

Or you could just play and level like a normal person. You don't need to treat games like a factory, churning out the highest efficiency for blah blah blah. I have 5 level 60's and it doesn't take long at all. I just started a Sorcerer earlier and within 2-3 hours, I'm already around level 25 and I'm not really doing much. I haven't even bothered to use Elixirs yet.