Why is account sharing not allowed, even with someone from your family

[Coolhead34]

Originally posted by Cathulhu:
Originally posted by Black Mamba:
Wait so you mean you can get your acc suspended because you let others use your account??
That is correct. Maybe you should have read the Steam Subscriber Agreement before accepting it.
Why can your account get banned bc of that? What is wrong with it and why is it against the rules


I am saying here bc apparently I nercoed a old thread

[rawWwRrr]

It's against the rules because it's against the rules. There is no debating the rule. There is no "why?"

[Zekiran]

Because Steam is a store.

And games are products which require a lot of money, manpower, skill, and time to develop and get to you the user.

Account sharing basically says, "well I want to play those games but I don't want to actually buy them" and "screw developers and artists rent, I can pay in exposure".

[crunchyfrog]

Because it's in the terms you already AGREED TO.

I'll explain the legal points of it:

Steam accounts are free, as they contain no games or anything as is. This means that Valve ALLOW you to use an account, free. The point here is that for every account you open it is UNIQUE in itself.

So when you buy a game LICENCE on here, it means you have bought the right to USE the game. YOU meaning "you personally via YOUR UNIQUE Steam account".

It makes things abundantly clear in the agreement that accounts are NON-TRANSFERABLE. So you cannot transfer ownership either, even temporarily.

It is quite normal and quite acceptable legally and once you know this, it's fair.


However, you CAN share some games with your family, through Family Sharing. They require their own account and you go into your account and set it to share with this other account.

This means that on certain games that have this feature set up, when you're not using your games, the person you have set up Family Sharing with can use them. Once you log on, they cannot.

So that's ABOVE what is legally required, and again, quite normal.

Of course the WHY it's the rules is quite obvious. If it weren't people would happily defraud this like a ♥♥♥♥♥. Patently obvious.

[Swarmfly]

Is it okay if your family members are technically part of a hivemind controlled by you?

I mean, I'd like to play my games in the comfort of my home while at the same time slaving away at work.

[C²C^Guyver |NZB|]

Steam accounts are free to create.

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

Problem solved.

[C²C^Guyver |NZB|]

As for sharing accounts, here's the article:

https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=5406-WFZC-5519&l=english

[Theblaze]

Beside the point Valve can freeze the account from making any new purchases on the steam store or game activation for violating the SSA, do you also want to risk your account getting game or VAC banned for sharing your accounts with other people?.

Keep in mind: The SSA also says, you (as the account holder) are responsible for everything made on the account regardless of who used the account at the time of the infraction (e.g cheating infractions).

So in short: If someone caught cheating using "your" account, "you" are responsible for it and won't be unbanned*.

* Policies may variety on the developers/publishers but most of them likely have the same policy as Valve - non-tolerance policy.

[Coolhead34]

Originally posted by crunchyfrog:

Because it's in the terms you already AGREED TO.

I'll explain the legal points of it:

Steam accounts are free, as they contain no games or anything as is. This means that Valve ALLOW you to use an account, free. The point here is that for every account you open it is UNIQUE in itself.

So when you buy a game LICENCE on here, it means you have bought the right to USE the game. YOU meaning "you personally via YOUR UNIQUE Steam account".

It makes things abundantly clear in the agreement that accounts are NON-TRANSFERABLE. So you cannot transfer ownership either, even temporarily.

It is quite normal and quite acceptable legally and once you know this, it's fair.


However, you CAN share some games with your family, through Family Sharing. They require their own account and you go into your account and set it to share with this other account.

This means that on certain games that have this feature set up, when you're not using your games, the person you have set up Family Sharing with can use them. Once you log on, they cannot.

So that's ABOVE what is legally required, and again, quite normal.

Of course the WHY it's the rules is quite obvious. If it weren't people would happily defraud this like a ♥♥♥♥♥. Patently obvious.

I do use family sharing, but what if you have someone who is not old enough to make a account, so you let them play baby games, like a toddler, could you do that, im asking for in the future incase I get a kid

[Snapjak]

Originally posted by coolhead34:

Originally posted by crunchyfrog:

Because it's in the terms you already AGREED TO.

I'll explain the legal points of it:

Steam accounts are free, as they contain no games or anything as is. This means that Valve ALLOW you to use an account, free. The point here is that for every account you open it is UNIQUE in itself.

So when you buy a game LICENCE on here, it means you have bought the right to USE the game. YOU meaning "you personally via YOUR UNIQUE Steam account".

It makes things abundantly clear in the agreement that accounts are NON-TRANSFERABLE. So you cannot transfer ownership either, even temporarily.

It is quite normal and quite acceptable legally and once you know this, it's fair.


However, you CAN share some games with your family, through Family Sharing. They require their own account and you go into your account and set it to share with this other account.

This means that on certain games that have this feature set up, when you're not using your games, the person you have set up Family Sharing with can use them. Once you log on, they cannot.

So that's ABOVE what is legally required, and again, quite normal.

Of course the WHY it's the rules is quite obvious. If it weren't people would happily defraud this like a ♥♥♥♥♥. Patently obvious.

I do use family sharing, but what if you have someone who is not old enough to make a account, so you let them play baby games, like a toddler, could you do that, im asking for in the future incase I get a kid

The 13 y/o requirement is to make the account. You make the account for them and when the time is right hand it over.

[Judgmental Amaterasu]

Originally posted by coolhead34:

Originally posted by crunchyfrog:

Because it's in the terms you already AGREED TO.

I'll explain the legal points of it:

Steam accounts are free, as they contain no games or anything as is. This means that Valve ALLOW you to use an account, free. The point here is that for every account you open it is UNIQUE in itself.

So when you buy a game LICENCE on here, it means you have bought the right to USE the game. YOU meaning "you personally via YOUR UNIQUE Steam account".

It makes things abundantly clear in the agreement that accounts are NON-TRANSFERABLE. So you cannot transfer ownership either, even temporarily.

It is quite normal and quite acceptable legally and once you know this, it's fair.


However, you CAN share some games with your family, through Family Sharing. They require their own account and you go into your account and set it to share with this other account.

This means that on certain games that have this feature set up, when you're not using your games, the person you have set up Family Sharing with can use them. Once you log on, they cannot.

So that's ABOVE what is legally required, and again, quite normal.

Of course the WHY it's the rules is quite obvious. If it weren't people would happily defraud this like a ♥♥♥♥♥. Patently obvious.

I do use family sharing, but what if you have someone who is not old enough to make a account, so you let them play baby games, like a toddler, could you do that, im asking for in the future incase I get a kid

Then they technically aren't supposed to be using Steam in the first place.

[cSg|mc-Hotsauce]

Originally posted by Fiddle:

Originally posted by coolhead34:

I do use family sharing, but what if you have someone who is not old enough to make a account, so you let them play baby games, like a toddler, could you do that, im asking for in the future incase I get a kid

Then they technically aren't supposed to be using Steam in the first place.

Adults/guardians can create accounts for kids under 13.

OP... Use Family View in conjunction with Family Sharing on their account.

[The Giving One]

Valve can actually go after people legally, depending on specifics, for certain violations of the SSA. That's just a fact.

Problem is, the cost of doing so usually will far outweigh the benefit of doing so. So, they just will often suspend the account. Again, there are specifics and it can get pretty broad of a topic depending on those specifics.

[C²C^Guyver |NZB|]

To elaborate, a suspended Steam account is the worst thing that can happen to a Steam account.

Depending on the severity of what happened, the account can be permanently locked, which renders the account pretty much useless....or the account can be frozen, meaning that no new games can be added to the account, the account is still usable.

People need to understand that while you do own the account, you cannot do whatever you want with it.

[Muppet among Puppets]

There is a family share feature. For people who are glued to ssa texts.
This removes the non-logic and what is beyond the reality in families. That way you can act like a normal person would, and not telling
child A it can play
but
child b will never play....... and you explain in lawyer terms to that kid what the ssa says, and what an ssa even is and how its only effectively valid as a "no, you dont" for child b but not a.

In case you manage to get this through, your kid will question you and the role you play for the rest of teh life.

[crunchyfrog]

Originally posted by coolhead34:

Originally posted by crunchyfrog:

Because it's in the terms you already AGREED TO.

I'll explain the legal points of it:

Steam accounts are free, as they contain no games or anything as is. This means that Valve ALLOW you to use an account, free. The point here is that for every account you open it is UNIQUE in itself.

So when you buy a game LICENCE on here, it means you have bought the right to USE the game. YOU meaning "you personally via YOUR UNIQUE Steam account".

It makes things abundantly clear in the agreement that accounts are NON-TRANSFERABLE. So you cannot transfer ownership either, even temporarily.

It is quite normal and quite acceptable legally and once you know this, it's fair.


However, you CAN share some games with your family, through Family Sharing. They require their own account and you go into your account and set it to share with this other account.

This means that on certain games that have this feature set up, when you're not using your games, the person you have set up Family Sharing with can use them. Once you log on, they cannot.

So that's ABOVE what is legally required, and again, quite normal.

Of course the WHY it's the rules is quite obvious. If it weren't people would happily defraud this like a ♥♥♥♥♥. Patently obvious.

I do use family sharing, but what if you have someone who is not old enough to make a account, so you let them play baby games, like a toddler, could you do that, im asking for in the future incase I get a kid

Generally speaking, yes. Although Steam mention in the rules that an account should be for anyone 13 years old, or 8 with parental guidance (iirc - can't recall exactly offhand).

But I can't see that being much of a problem for the simple reason family sharing would need to be done under your guidance.