Family Library Sharing Question

[run_level2]

So, a little while ago my brother and I were sharing Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet and were able to play it with online features at the same time via family library sharing. Now a different brother of mine got a game, Naruto to Boruto: Shinobi Striker and it lets us play that together online as well. However, when we tried playing Fatal Bullet together it wouldn't work. If it matters, before I had 2 people in the family and now I have 4 but it used to work for that game and now it won't work, maybe it has to do with the computer? I'm not sure, so if anybody as an idea please let me know.

[it's a gabe]

Actually, that you could run the game in two different accounts could be a bug or something. Family sharing works this way:

- You share your library with other users by adding the machines they'll be connected to as trustworthy.
- Then you allow those users to use family sharing (you must be fully aware of these two aspects).
- Your library then becomes accessible by the other users. Your entire library, meaning only one person can use it at a time.
- So, for example, if I have family sharing with you (you sharing your library with me), I can't play ANY of the games from your library unless I buy them so that they're available from my library.
- If I'm playing a game from your library, no one else who also has access to your library besides you can access your entire library until I'm done with it.
- If you launch a game from your library while I'm playing a game from it, Steam will kick me out and ask me to purchase the game or wait until you're done.

So you see, it shouldn't be possible to even use the same library on different accounts even if two users are playing different games. I bet there must be ways to get around these restrictions, but if you didn't do anything of the sort, it's weird that you could play the same game while it's registered to the same library.

Unless Steam changed how family sharing works? I find that to be a little unlikely due to the possibility of a decrease in sales, but it's definitely not impossible. If that's the case, could anyone correct me on how family sharing works now?

Otherwise, I don't know what you did to achieve that, but I bet a lot of people would love to know how. Myself included, cuz I got plenty of friends who I want to share libraries with, both mine and theirs.

[run_level2]

Originally posted by unnecesaurus 🌈:

Actually, that you could run the game in two different accounts could be a bug or something. Family sharing works this way:

- You share your library with other users by adding the machines they'll be connected to as trustworthy.
- Then you allow those users to use family sharing (you must be fully aware of these two aspects).
- Your library then becomes accessible by the other users. Your entire library, meaning only one person can use it at a time.
- So, for example, if I have family sharing with you (you sharing your library with me), I can't play ANY of the games from your library unless I buy them so that they're available from my library.
- If I'm playing a game from your library, no one else who also has access to your library besides you can access your entire library until I'm done with it.
- If you launch a game from your library while I'm playing a game from it, Steam will kick me out and ask me to purchase the game or wait until you're done.

So you see, it shouldn't be possible to even use the same library on different accounts even if two users are playing different games. I bet there must be ways to get around these restrictions, but if you didn't do anything of the sort, it's weird that you could play the same game while it's registered to the same library.

Unless Steam changed how family sharing works? I find that to be a little unlikely due to the possibility of a decrease in sales, but it's definitely not impossible. If that's the case, could anyone correct me on how family sharing works now?

Otherwise, I don't know what you did to achieve that, but I bet a lot of people would love to know how. Myself included, cuz I got plenty of friends who I want to share libraries with, both mine and theirs.

Oh, that's weird.. since it lets me play with both of my brothers, I forgot to mention but it also let him play Naruto while I played Fatal Bullet from my shared library, at the same time. So it's a bug? That really sucks, since I only use library sharing to play with my brothers.

[it's a gabe]

Originally posted by run_level2:

Originally posted by unnecesaurus 🌈:

Actually, that you could run the game in two different accounts could be a bug or something. Family sharing works this way:

- You share your library with other users by adding the machines they'll be connected to as trustworthy.
- Then you allow those users to use family sharing (you must be fully aware of these two aspects).
- Your library then becomes accessible by the other users. Your entire library, meaning only one person can use it at a time.
- So, for example, if I have family sharing with you (you sharing your library with me), I can't play ANY of the games from your library unless I buy them so that they're available from my library.
- If I'm playing a game from your library, no one else who also has access to your library besides you can access your entire library until I'm done with it.
- If you launch a game from your library while I'm playing a game from it, Steam will kick me out and ask me to purchase the game or wait until you're done.

So you see, it shouldn't be possible to even use the same library on different accounts even if two users are playing different games. I bet there must be ways to get around these restrictions, but if you didn't do anything of the sort, it's weird that you could play the same game while it's registered to the same library.

Unless Steam changed how family sharing works? I find that to be a little unlikely due to the possibility of a decrease in sales, but it's definitely not impossible. If that's the case, could anyone correct me on how family sharing works now?

Otherwise, I don't know what you did to achieve that, but I bet a lot of people would love to know how. Myself included, cuz I got plenty of friends who I want to share libraries with, both mine and theirs.

Oh, that's weird.. since it lets me play with both of my brothers, I forgot to mention but it also let him play Naruto while I played Fatal Bullet from my shared library, at the same time. So it's a bug? That really sucks, since I only use library sharing to play with my brothers.

It could be that that's how family sharing works when every account and computer are on the same house. Everyone I've had family sharing with so far lived abroad. So yeah, from my knowledge and experience with it, that is weird. But let's double check Steam's FAQ for family sharing just to be sure I'm not mistaken, cuz that's a possibility seeing as how the feature seems to worky quite differently for you:

https://store.steampowered.com/promotion/familysharing

Can I share specific games, or do I have to share my whole library?
Libraries are shared and borrowed in their entirety.

Can all Steam games be shared with friends and family?
No, due to technical limitations, some Steam games may be unavailable for sharing. For example, titles that require an additional third-party key, account, or subscription in order to play cannot be shared between accounts.

Can two users share a library and both play at the same time?
No, a shared library may only be accessed by one user at a time.

When I authorize a device to lend my library to others, do I limit my own ability to access and play my games?
As the account holder, you may always access and play your games at any time. If you decide to start playing when another user is already playing one of your games, he/she will be given a few minutes to either purchase the game or quit playing.

Sometimes the games I’ve been given access to are unavailable for me to play. Why?
Shared games are only available on devices that have been authorized by the account holder. Shared games will be unavailable on even an authorized device when the account holder’s library is currently in use on another computer.

So yeah, pretty weird that you're able to do what you've been doing. Maybe there's a chance you actually had your account logged on other computers that your brothers have been using and therefore, they were playing from your account? Although, it'd be even weirder if they were keeping their own progress, unless you don't have Steam Cloud enabled for certain games. I think first we need to figure out what you guys are doing that makes it possible for everyone to access your library at the same time. Then we can think of a solution.

[run_level2]

Yeah. So, as far as I know, all I did was enable sharing for them. they area ll logged in their own accounts and yet it lets us play. Heck I even played naruto with my brother this morning. As far as I can tell, nothing is out of the ordinary for me. Perhaps it's because we're in the same house, on the same wifi, but then why wouldn't Fatal Bullet work? Anyways I hope we find a solution.

[it's a gabe]

Yeah, I think those are good points (same house, same connection). It could have something to do with that. I think you might have better luck finding an answer on Steam's forums, though.

https://steamcommunity.com/discussions/

Also, there's a group specific for family sharing. There could be answers there as well.

https://steamcommunity.com/groups/familysharing/discussions/

[run_level2]

Oh, thanks a ton. I was looking for a forum about being able to play together but didn't see one, and haven't seen anything about wifi/houses, but I'll check it out.

[doo]

Well, I have a bro who live in the next room to mine, but I can't play games at the same time as him, no matter what game or if we play different game. It only works if we own separate copy. :\

[run_level2]

Maybe I'm just really bugged or something. I haven't found anything on this happening to anybody else, so it could be a glitch with me.

[run_level2]

Sorry, I did a dumb...it did used to let me and my brother play Fatal Bullet but now it doesn't. The dumb part was the reason I can play Naruto with him is we own separate copies. Sorry guys :/