LAN Help?

[👁]

I want to play Valheim with my Niece, we have two devices, my new PC is in one room and my old one is hooked up in the living room.

The problem I'm running into is that when I launch Valheim in one room, it forcibly shuts it down in the other, Steam won't allow me to run two instances of the same game in two separate rooms for LAN.

How do I resolve this? I looked through settings and couldn't find a solution.

[nullable]

Correct me if I'm wrong. You bought the game on your account. You have two PC's and you're running your account on both PC's and are trying to run that single game license twice so you can play multiplayer with your niece over LAN?

Well yeah, Steam isn't a free for all, you can't generally buy one game and share it with two or more people and run it multiple times.

Get your niece her own Steam account and her own copy of the game. Problem solved. That's by design. It's intentional. It's not going to change. And Valheim is $20.

[JacquesPatat]

two pcs, two steam profiles, both needs to own their own copy of the game. only one can play the game if it is family sharing

[👁]

Originally posted by nullable:

Correct me if I'm wrong. You bought the game on your account. You have two PC's and you're trying t run that single game license twice so you can plan the game on LAN?

Yes I bought the game with my account, I own both computers, I have one account, I use it to play games in two separate rooms of the house on two separate devices.

One for local multiplayer and controller supported games with Steam Big Picture, which was literally what Steam Big Picture was advertised for in it's launched videos, and another in my bedroom for single player games or games with mouse and keyboard.

Originally posted by nullable:

Well yeah, Steam isn't a free for all, you can't generally buy one game and share it with two or more people and run it multiple times.

So to be clear, in order to play Valheim locally under the Same Roof using a Local Area Network, I literally have to create a separate account, and buy separate copies of the game?

Originally posted by nullable:

Get your niece her own Steam account

She doesn't have one and it would be very inconvenient to have to sign out and sign into multiple accounts on my living room PC, since it's set up for controller.

I guess I'll just have to look for alternatives to Steam if I want to play LAN, and have Non-Steam copies launched through steam in one room.

[👁]

Originally posted by JacquesPatat:

two pcs, two steam profiles, both needs to own their own copy of the game. only one can play the game if it is family sharing

That's unreasonable for LOCAL Area Network play. I hate Valve.

[JacquesPatat]

Originally posted by 👁:

Originally posted by JacquesPatat:

two pcs, two steam profiles, both needs to own their own copy of the game. only one can play the game if it is family sharing

That's unreasonable for LOCAL Area Network play. I hate Valve.

unfortunately that was always like that even before steam. in the past, you were most probably were stopped by something else, like both pc needed the original disc in the cd/dvd drive or two different cd keys or whatever the case may be.

[👁]

Originally posted by JacquesPatat:

Originally posted by 👁:

That's unreasonable for LOCAL Area Network play. I hate Valve.

unfortunately that was always like that even before steam. in the past, you were most probably were stopped by something else, like both pc needed the original disc in the cd/dvd drive or two different cd keys or whatever the case may be.

No in the past you could install a CD copy of a game onto multiple computers and play it over LAN, even if it had a CD key that was just for legitimizing the installation it didn't prohibit you from playing LAN together.

[👁]

Also in the past if I owned multiple discs I didn't need to manage multiple separate accounts with multiple passwords and emails and security checks to do it.

Creating and managing separate accounts with Steam is unwieldy, especially when you want to avoid using a mouse and keyboard for the room you're using the separate account in.

I have a lot of local multiplayer games on this account and would constantly have to be switching back and forth being pestered with annoying security checks that require me to use my email.

And if I family shared all the local games it won't allow family sharing of DLC and it wouldn't keep our progress so that would suck.

[JacquesPatat]

Originally posted by 👁:

Originally posted by JacquesPatat:

unfortunately that was always like that even before steam. in the past, you were most probably were stopped by something else, like both pc needed the original disc in the cd/dvd drive or two different cd keys or whatever the case may be.

No in the past you could install a CD copy of a game onto multiple computers and play it over LAN, even if it had a CD key that was just for legitimizing the installation it didn't prohibit you from playing LAN together.

look, not trying fight, but i myself been to quite a few lans. yes with cd you can install on multiple pcs but with a few not many but some games you could get away with the same cd key but majority of the games will not detect the same game server or it will stop you from joining the server saying it is the same cd key. seen it a few times with people who use the crack versions of said games

[nullable]

Originally posted by 👁:

Originally posted by nullable:

Correct me if I'm wrong. You bought the game on your account. You have two PC's and you're trying t run that single game license twice so you can plan the game on LAN?

Yes I bought the game with my account, I own both computers, I have one account, I use it to play games in two separate rooms of the house on two separate devices.

One for local multiplayer and controller supported games with Steam Big Picture, which was literally what Steam Big Picture was advertised for in it's launched videos, and another in my bedroom for single player games or games with mouse and keyboard.

Originally posted by nullable:

Well yeah, Steam isn't a free for all, you can't generally buy one game and share it with two or more people and run it multiple times.

So to be clear, in order to play Valheim locally under the Same Roof using a Local Area Network, I literally have to create a separate account, and buy separate copies of the game?

Originally posted by nullable:

Get your niece her own Steam account

She doesn't have one and it would be very inconvenient to have to sign out and sign into multiple accounts on my living room PC, since it's set up for controller.

I guess I'll just have to look for alternatives to Steam if I want to play LAN, and have Non-Steam copies launched through steam in one room.

The answer to all your questions is yes. One license, one user, it's not a new thing. It's literally decades old. You may not have been aware of it for whatever reason, but one of the reasons why DRM is enforced nowadays is normal users like yourself tend to ignore terms of the license when left to your own devices.

Your inconvenience and unwillingness to hookup a keyboard to a system isn't really Valve's problem or Iron Gate AB's problem or Coffee Stain Publishing's problem. Your convenience isn't the only concern. And ultimately they want to be paid for their work and if two people want to play the game at the same time having two people cough up the price of the game isn't some great sin no matter how outraged they feel.

Originally posted by 👁:

Originally posted by JacquesPatat:

two pcs, two steam profiles, both needs to own their own copy of the game. only one can play the game if it is family sharing

That's unreasonable for LOCAL Area Network play. I hate Valve.

You hate the gaming industry. Most launchers and developers aren't going to enable you to do what you want to do. This isn't just a Valve thing.

[👁]

Originally posted by JacquesPatat:

Originally posted by 👁:

No in the past you could install a CD copy of a game onto multiple computers and play it over LAN, even if it had a CD key that was just for legitimizing the installation it didn't prohibit you from playing LAN together.

look, not trying fight, but i myself been to quite a few lans. yes with cd you can install on multiple pcs but with a few not many but some games you could get away with the same cd key but majority of the games will not detect the same game server or it will stop you from joining the server saying it is the same cd key.

IDK I never encountered that with Starsiege Tribes or Quake but maybe with some games it did. I do recall having an issue playing Rise and Fall Civilizations at War with LAN.

[👁]

Originally posted by nullable:

Originally posted by 👁:

Yes I bought the game with my account, I own both computers, I have one account, I use it to play games in two separate rooms of the house on two separate devices.

One for local multiplayer and controller supported games with Steam Big Picture, which was literally what Steam Big Picture was advertised for in it's launched videos, and another in my bedroom for single player games or games with mouse and keyboard.



So to be clear, in order to play Valheim locally under the Same Roof using a Local Area Network, I literally have to create a separate account, and buy separate copies of the game?



She doesn't have one and it would be very inconvenient to have to sign out and sign into multiple accounts on my living room PC, since it's set up for controller.

I guess I'll just have to look for alternatives to Steam if I want to play LAN, and have Non-Steam copies launched through steam in one room.

The answer to all your questions is yes. One license, one user, it's not a new thing. It's literally decades old. You may not have been aware of it for whatever reason, but one of the reasons why DRM is enforced nowadays is normal users like yourself tend to ignore terms of the license when left to your own devices.

Your inconvenience and unwillingness to hookup a keyboard to a system isn't really Valve's problem or Iron Gate AB's problem or Coffee Stain Publishing's problem. Your convenience isn't the only concern. And ultimately they want to be paid for their work and if two people want to play the game at the same time having two people cough up the price of the game isn't some great sin no matter how outraged they feel.

Originally posted by 👁:

That's unreasonable for LOCAL Area Network play. I hate Valve.

You hate the gaming industry. Most launchers and developers aren't going to enable you to do what you want to do. This isn't just a Valve thing.

Then Valve should allow me to own multiple copies of the same game so I can launch it twice from one account.

AND Valve should allow me to launch it twice from one account.

[👁]

I guess the only way to do it is to get a non-steam copy and launch it with a shortcut

That or deal with multiple emails accounts and passwords and constant security checks having to continuously switch back and forth between accounts because VALVE has inadequate LAN support.

[nullable]

Originally posted by 👁:

Also in the past if I owned multiple discs I didn't need to manage multiple separate accounts with multiple passwords and emails and security checks to do it.

Then play old games on disc. Publishers couldn't enforce the license terms back then and now they can, sorry.

Originally posted by 👁:

Creating and managing separate accounts with Steam is unwieldy, especially when you want to avoid using a mouse and keyboard for the room you're using the separate account in.

That's not anyone's problem to manage but your own. No reason Iron Gate AB should take a loss because you don't want to deal with accounts or keyboards.

Originally posted by 👁:

I have a lot of local multiplayer games on this account and would constantly have to be switching back and forth being pestered with annoying security checks that require me to use my email.

Then don't play Valheim I guess, play a more convenient local multiplayer game.

Originally posted by 👁:

And if I family shared all the local games it won't allow family sharing of DLC and it wouldn't keep our progress so that would suck.

Pretending account switching is an impossible burden isn't a very strong argument. And it's a little late to change the course of the industry because you've suddenly discovered you can't buy one game for two or more people.

[nullable]

Originally posted by 👁:

Then Valve should allow me to own multiple copies of the same game so I can launch it twice from one account.

AND Valve should allow me to launch it twice from one account.

Well, you're welcome to your opinion. Take it up with Valve. I'm just telling you what your options are. Whether or not you approve of them isn't going to change much I'm afraid.

Originally posted by 👁:

I guess the only way to do it is to get a non-steam copy and launch it with a shortcut

That or deal with multiple emails accounts and passwords and constant security checks having to continuously switch back and forth between accounts because VALVE has inadequate LAN support.

Yes, a non-Steam version should generally work.

[👁]

Originally posted by nullable:

Originally posted by 👁:

Also in the past if I owned multiple discs I didn't need to manage multiple separate accounts with multiple passwords and emails and security checks to do it.

Then play old games on disc. Publisher couldn't enforce the license terms back then and now they can, sorry.

If I owned multiple discs that meant I held multiple licences.

I just didn't have some program telling me I couldn't use multiple licences to play with people under the same roof.

Originally posted by nullable:

Originally posted by 👁:

Creating and managing separate accounts with Steam is unwieldy, especially when you want to avoid using a mouse and keyboard for the room you're using the separate account in.

That's not anyone's problem to manage but your own. No reason Iron Gate AB should take a loss because you don't want to deal with accounts or keyboards.

No it's a problem for anyone who wants to play locally over LAN.

And it makes anyone suggesting that as a valid alternative to Local Multiplayer unreasonable.

Originally posted by nullable:

Originally posted by 👁:

And if I family shared all the local games it won't allow family sharing of DLC and it wouldn't keep our progress so that would suck.

Pretending account switching is an impossible burden

I didn't say impossible, I said unwieldy and cumbersome, it's an unreasonable burden to force on customers.