I got free dlc bug?

[dankye]

Hi recently I bought just the base game of fallout 4 from the steam summer sale for $25NZD which is about $20USD meaning no dlc. Due to limited broadband issues I managed to work around actually downloading the game by copying files from my friends computer of fallout 4 onto my external hard drive and installing it into the steam common apps on my own pc, this works perfectly fine as steam discovers the fallout 4 files I copied and doesn't require me to use my broadband to download. After playing the game perfectly fine and discussing with my friends I realised that the quests I've been doing (far harbour and nuke world ones) were actually dlc I thought this was odd considering i never paid for the dlc of the game which was $20usd on the summer sale and have came to the conclusion that since my friend had bought those dlc content I had actually copied those dlc files and this somehow allowed me to play the dlc without actually purchasing them? My theory is that when you actually purchase dlc your actually paying for access to download the content on ur pc and steam doesn't actually track if the dlc is bought but if it's installed to allow you to play the game (ignore that if that didn't make sense)

Could someone explain to me if this is true and a exploit to get free dlc or I missed out some key fact thanks guys!

[juskom95]

You copied your friends files. That is not free DLC, you essentially just stole the DLC by copying the files.

[Tesityr]

I read somewhere that if this is found by Steam it can Ban your Account...

I wouldn't try using game material that you didn't purchase, it may only "look good at first" (like when Banks IRL make mistakes/errors and you have an extra few thousand dollars and then they take it back the next day).

[dankye]

Originally posted by juskom95:

You copied your friends files. That is not free DLC, you essentially just stole the DLC by copying the files.

Hahaha oops, I guess this is a exploit then?

[dankye]

Originally posted by Tesityr:

I read somewhere that if this is found by Steam it can Ban your Account...

I wouldn't try using game material that you didn't purchase, it may only "look good at first" (like when Banks IRL make mistakes/errors and you have an extra few thousand dollars and then they take it back the next day).

Can steam really detect if I have dlc installed on my computer or not?

[Tesityr]

Originally posted by ♥dankye♥:

Originally posted by Tesityr:

I read somewhere that if this is found by Steam it can Ban your Account...

I wouldn't try using game material that you didn't purchase, it may only "look good at first" (like when Banks IRL make mistakes/errors and you have an extra few thousand dollars and then they take it back the next day).

Can steam really detect if I have dlc installed on my computer or not?

Yes it is possible, as it can "Verify Files" manually and checks your Login periodically. It also checks for Updates automatically and checks if you Purchased games or not (I can't play some Games that are shared through the Family sharing, etc. so it must check it).

I don't know 100% how it works of course, as I don't work for Steam, but since it can Sell/Unlock the material, it must be able to check the material.

Everything through the intertubes is traceable... Always remember that.

[juskom95]

Originally posted by ♥dankye♥:

Originally posted by juskom95:

You copied your friends files. That is not free DLC, you essentially just stole the DLC by copying the files.

Hahaha oops, I guess this is a exploit then?

Pretty much. Best bet, delete the files.

[OutsidR]

Should have kept your mouth shut, they do read these files you know. Good luck if they don't notice and I would not laugh about ti.

[dankye]

Alright does anyone know where to find and safely delete these files and will it corrupt my current save? I have about 40 hours into it so far

[Tesityr]

Originally posted by ♥dankye♥:

Alright does anyone know where to find and safely delete these files and will it corrupt my current save? I have about 40 hours into it so far

I can help mostly but not 100%... If you right-click on the game in Steam and select Properties, then in the Local Files tab, click Browse Local Files, it will show you where the game files are being kept by Steam (for any game).

The files themselves have different names (most have the DLC name right in them), but I don't know past those types of files... If there are any files that the game needs in other game folders/directories or system files put there by Windows, I don't know about any 'extra files' like those, sorry. Maybe someone else can complete the steps/knowledge.

[Tesityr]

Originally posted by Taldirok:

Originally posted by Tesityr:

I read somewhere that if this is found by Steam it can Ban your Account...

I wouldn't try using game material that you didn't purchase, it may only "look good at first" (like when Banks IRL make mistakes/errors and you have an extra few thousand dollars and then they take it back the next day).

Lol,what kind of ban exactly haha??
He just copied the dlc's esm's inside his folder,it works the same for skyrim,fallout 3/NV,you won't get banned because of this,just play the game normally.

A Valve/Steam ban, it just disables your Account on Steam and stops access to any Games on that Account (but you can make a new one of course and re-purchase all your games). Read it a few places when I looked it up...

I wouldn't take the chance, but if you don't really care what can happen to you, that's fine. To each their own...

[Coffee]

Someone walks into a police station "Hey guys, I got free money at the bank. Money was just being passed on the counter to someone else, and I picked it up and left. Was the money a mistake and can I get arrested for this? How do I fix it?"

[Tesityr]

Originally posted by Taldirok:

Originally posted by Tesityr:

A Valve/Steam ban, it just disables your Account on Steam and stops access to any Games on that Account (but you can make a new one of course and re-purchase all your games). Read it a few places when I looked it up...

I wouldn't take the chance, but if you don't really care what can happen to you, that's fine. To each their own...

It's not how it works for this kind of games (Flnv,F3,skyrim ...)
Even if steam scans the F4 folder and that it finds that there is far harbor.esm or whatever dlc's esm's it finds,nothing will change,dlc's format in this game works exactly like mods,you're not getting banned because you have other esm's other than the vanilla ones,are you?
OP don't stress out because of this,just buy the dlc's when you'll be able to.
And just to mention that i played over 200 hours with cracked skyrim's dlc's,for over 3 years,so yeah,i should have been banned by that time don't you think?

It really doesn't matter too much, but...

You've probably bought the product now, so they don't care anymore and no action will be taken anymore. Also, it is the DLC and not the Full Product so they may not care as much (if he copied the whole vanilla game over and didn't buy it at all, he would not be able to play it I wager, and Steam wouldn't like that at all, I reckon).

People have "gotten away with" hacking/cheating/MODs/etc in games all over the place, from MMORPGs to Single Player games - then comes a 'Ban Wave' and thousands of Accounts are disabled and people cry on the forums of the different games.
I've seen it in a bunch of games now, (the 'delayed action taken'..).
Again, if you don't care what can possibly happen, go ahead man, noone is going to stop you. To each their own...

[Tesityr]

Originally posted by Taldirok:

Originally posted by Tesityr:

It really doesn't matter too much, but...

You've probably bought the product now, so they don't care anymore and no action will be taken anymore. Also, it is the DLC and not the Full Product so they may not care as much (if he copied the whole vanilla game over and didn't buy it at all, he would not be able to play it I wager, and Steam wouldn't like that at all, I reckon).

People have "gotten away with" hacking/cheating/MODs/etc in games all over the place, from MMORPGs to Single Player games - then comes a 'Ban Wave' and thousands of Accounts are disabled and people cry on the forums of the different games.
I've seen it in a bunch of games now, (the 'delayed action taken'..).
Again, if you don't care what can possibly happen, go ahead man, noone is going to stop you. To each their own...

People getting banned for using mods/trainers in solo games???
how's that even possible?

I know, I don't really agree with that, but a few games have gotten after people who use cheats (UBIsoft I believe was one Publisher, iirc). It was games that 'call home' periodically, checking to make sure you 'own the game' (bought a license to play it).

Remember, all of these games are never "yours" (any game, from any place), they always belong to the Companies involved still, even if you "buy" them - you're really just paying for a License to access and 'play' the game. Technically, you aren't supposed to Modify it in ways that the Developer/Publisher/etc don't like or allow (don't want you to)...

[Incunabulum]

Originally posted by Tesityr:

Originally posted by ♥dankye♥:

Can steam really detect if I have dlc installed on my computer or not?

Yes it is possible, as it can "Verify Files" manually and checks your Login periodically. It also checks for Updates automatically and checks if you Purchased games or not (I can't play some Games that are shared through the Family sharing, etc. so it must check it).

I don't know 100% how it works of course, as I don't work for Steam, but since it can Sell/Unlock the material, it must be able to check the material.

Everything through the intertubes is traceable... Always remember that.

Steam won't know if he has or doesn't have the DLC - the DLC work like any other mod plugin because they have no DRM. Not even FO4.esm has DRM. A verifiy files check won't even look for them because STEAM doesn't know he has them.

But yeah OP - you didn't get it through a bug, but an exploit. Same as torrenting them off a pirate site.