Account Sharing

[=CrimsoN=]

I know that account sharing is against the Steam subscriber agreement or whatever, but im curious. How would Valve even know that someone is sharing an account with someone else?

I live alone () so I don't have anyone to share an account with anyway, but I was just curious.

[Mikasa Ackerman]

generally they have no way of telling , other than maybe the ip you sign into your account changing frequently , but then again , you could just be playing from a internet cafe ( which isnt safe either )

the problem with account sharing is less that valve can detect it , more that its simply risky in almost 6 years on steam i never got banned , because its just me using the account and i dont cheat , the moment a 2nd person has access to an account ,its already far less secure , also , who says its just a 2nd person ,what if the 2nd person shares with a 3rd person and so on , its just risky

if 2 people simply share a pc and account , valve has no real way of telling , and generally its not a problem either , but you agreed to the rules and you are breaking it by sharing ( i also constantly had to hear this in league of legends , i shared my account with my best friend , whenever i bought a new champion , i let him try it in bot games and 1-2 casual matches , i knew i could trust that friend enough that he wouldnt go play ranked (as that would be boosting as he was higher ranked than me ) he wont go insult people on my account ,and he wont go around tell anyone hes playing on someone elses account ,when i contacted support they also asked "who has access to this account" i honestly told them "me and this friend , im letting him test champions "
they just told me "its risky ,be careful and be aware you are technically breaking the rules "


and another thing , accounts arent meant to be like "1 guy buys games ,10 guys play them" so thats another reason why account sharing generally isnt really allowed

i have a person i share my account with , once we just played x blades together, he played 20 minutes , then i played 20 , we just played together locally , thats also something you can do and its not detectable

[=CrimsoN=]

Thanks for the reply. Yes, I actually created this thread after reading some threads in the VAC discussion about people being banned and not realizing it, sometimes because of account sharing.

Someone responded about how account sharing is against the rules and it got me thinking about how Valve could even enforce something like that.

[=CrimsoN=]

Just seems silly imo to have a rule that can't be systematically enforced

[Spawn of Totoro]

Originally posted by Space🕱Pirate🕱Red:

Thanks for the reply. Yes, I actually created this thread after reading some threads in the VAC discussion about people being banned and not realizing it, sometimes because of account sharing.

Someone responded about how account sharing is against the rules and it got me thinking about how Valve could even enforce something like that.

VAC bans are for cheating, not account sharing. Typically the user shared their account and the person they shared it with cheated and didn't tell them.

[=CrimsoN=]

Originally posted by Spawn of Totoro:

Originally posted by Space🕱Pirate🕱Red:

Thanks for the reply. Yes, I actually created this thread after reading some threads in the VAC discussion about people being banned and not realizing it, sometimes because of account sharing.

Someone responded about how account sharing is against the rules and it got me thinking about how Valve could even enforce something like that.

VAC bans are for cheating, not account sharing. Typically the user shared their account and the person they shared it with cheated and didn't tell them.

Yes, that's what I mean. Someone replied in one of the threads about the rules of account sharing and it got me thinking about how Valve could even enforce that.

[Spawn of Totoro]

Originally posted by Space🕱Pirate🕱Red:

Just seems silly imo to have a rule that can't be systematically enforced :rfacepalm:

It is, though, under some circumstances. Cross country sharing, for example. Renting out accounts, ect. Then there are those who go around and brag about doing so.

While not technically allowed, Valve is not likely to do much if a brother and sister share and account. The fact they are sharing one has it's own issue latter on as the games can not be transferred and what one does effects the other.

[=CrimsoN=]

Originally posted by Spawn of Totoro:

Originally posted by Space🕱Pirate🕱Red:

Just seems silly imo to have a rule that can't be systematically enforced

It is, though, under some circumstances. Cross country sharing, for example. Renting out accounts, ect. Then there are those who go around and brag about doing so.

While not technically allowed, Valve is not likely to do much if a brother and sister share and account. The fact they are sharing one has it's own issue latter on as the games can not be transferred and what one does effects the other.

Ah okay. Thanks for the explanation.