Abuse of old cd-keys?

[Mehsaur]

Hi there,

So I was just been sorting through some of my old PC games to see if there were any discs that I no longer need. I found that I already added a bunch of them to my steam account allowing me to to download them whenever I need to, meaning I no longer need the discs.

So I thought I'd leave the discs in my local "Give a DVD/Book/Game - Take a DVD/Book/Game" place (whatever it's called).

The games should play just fine without steam activation, I've simply added them to my account for convenience, so others should still be able to make use of them.

Now to my question... I'm worried that whoever gets the games will be able to somehow use the games' CD-keys in order to gain access my steam account.

Is this possible? Should I take out the CD-keys before I drop off the games, or do I have nothing to worry about?

Thank you!

[gwait]

Once CD key is activated, whoever will try to activate the key will just say 'CD key has already been used'.

But why are you giving back the discs if you know it won't work?

[Forcen]

The retail CD-keys you have added to your account are now locked to it, you can't "unregister" keys so dont give away those discs because it would be pointless.

And yes the cards that the keys come on kind of act like proof that you own that account, so i would hold on to them: https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=2347-QDFN-4366

EDIT: What games are you talking about?

[Mehsaur]

They do still work. They're games that are able to activate on steam but still able to play without doing so.
My worry is that they might be able to contact Customer Support and use the CD-keys to claim ownership of my account.

[Mehsaur]

The games are these:

Surpreme Commander 2 + Expansion
Mount & Blade
Titan Quest
Serious Sam II
X3 Terran Conflict

[Satoru]

None of those are steamworks games so you can't use the retail cd-key to activate them on Steam anyway

[Mehsaur]

There are some retail games that you can activate on Steam.
There is a list here: https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=7480-wusf-3601
I went through my entire game disc collection and I was able to add the games, that I mentioned.

[Forcen]

Maybe that list is outdated because some games are missing, i know for example that COD4 can be activated on Steam now and it's not on that list still.

I would NOT trade those games away, they could try to get at your steam account with them and also you are kind of exploiting that the publishers are generous and added their key system to Steam. I say keep the games, you never know.

EDIT:Forgot a word...

[Mehsaur]

Alright, I thought as much.
Thank you all for your fast replies!

[Laptop]

Origineel geplaatst door Forcen:

Maybe that list is outdated because some games are missing, i know for example that COD4 can be activated on Steam now and it's not on that list still.

I would NOT trade those games away, they could try to get at your steam account with them and also you are kind of exploiting that the publishers are generous and added their key system to Steam. I say keep the games, you never know.

EDIT:Forgot a word...

"Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare in this format: 1AB2C-D3FGH-456I7"

?

[Forcen]

@Laptop65 Huh, missed that. Thanks for spotting it. I guess I expected it to be on the top of the Call of Duty games.

[Hextravert]

If you take out the CD key when you exchange your game for another, you are essentially handing in an incomplete product.

Whether that's good or wrong is a judgment call.

[Laptop]

Origineel geplaatst door Hextravert:

If you take out the CD key when you exchange your game for another, you are essentially handing in an incomplete product.

Whether that's good or wrong is a judgment call.

It's scamming actually as they can't play the game.

[Mehsaur]

I wouldn't actually be trading them. I would simply be putting them on a shelf in a place, in my neighbourhood, where people can put unwanted items in the hope that others might find a use for them.
I thought that would be better than just throwing them in the bin.
After reading the replies, though, I'll keep the ones that are activated on my steam account and give away the ones that aren't :)

[Laptop]

Origineel geplaatst door Ceath:

I wouldn't actually be trading them. I would simply be putting them on a shelf in a place, in my neighbourhood, where people can put unwanted items in the hope that others might find a use for them.
I thought that would be better than just throwing them in the bin.
After reading the replies, though, I'll keep the ones that are activated on my steam account and give away the ones that aren't :)

What's the point if they can't play it? You may as well recycle them. All someone can do with them is put them up on the shelf for display.

[Mehsaur]

They would still be still play them, though. You don't need to activate the game on steam in order to do so. It's simply an optional convience that you are able to.