Steam: About Two Factor Authentication

[NS Plover]

I live in a household that has 1 landline, cable internet, 2 PCs, 1 laptop, 2 work laptops, 1 android tablet and 2 work smart phones. The work items have policies against steam.

That leaves me with 2 PCs, a laptop and an android tablet and no method of doing two factor authentication. Am I the only one that thinks this is not acceptable?

For a company specializing in PC games this seems more than a little short sighted. It is not cost effective for me to get yet another smartphone and data plan to use for steam.

Over the couse of a year, it would likely be cheaper for me to rebuy the games I replay elsewhere and dump steam entirely.

Someone at steam needs to find a way to make two factor authentication to be available to windows - ie two windows machines (laptop, desktop or windows phone) or by providing two emails. Paying for a phone plan just for steam is not workable.

[Gwarsbane]

pretty sure most of the games you have are only found on steam, so even if you had then else where you would require steam to play them. The games that you would using to collect cards and items from require steam.

You don't need the authenticator to play games.

Also as far as I know none of the other places like steam have trading so really you would be spending a whole lot of money for no reason at all.

[NS Plover]

Actually I think the games I play are available elsewhere. I'm not into multiplayer stuff.

And I think that steam saying that we *need* to use two factor authentication to sell a card but leaves my steam wallet completely open is a BIG double standard.

[Gwarsbane]

Originally posted by NS Plover:

Actually I think the games I play are available elsewhere. I'm not into multiplayer stuff.

And I think that steam saying that we *need* to use two factor authentication to sell a card but leaves my steam wallet completely open is a BIG double standard.

Your wallet effects you and no one else. Its much easier to Valve to fix that.

Also if you have the authenticator, it does help protect your account and makes it harder for people to log into your account from some other place.

[NS Plover]

Originally posted by Gwarsbane:

Originally posted by NS Plover:

Actually I think the games I play are available elsewhere. I'm not into multiplayer stuff.

And I think that steam saying that we *need* to use two factor authentication to sell a card but leaves my steam wallet completely open is a BIG double standard.

Your wallet effects you and no one else. Its much easier to Valve to fix that.

Also if you have the authenticator, it does help protect your account and makes it harder for people to log into your account from some other place.

So stealing from my wallet is OK by Valve and they would probably have a zillion reasons not to restore it. Get real, the only reason that they don't protect your wallet is that it would hurt their sales. Not that it is easy to fix. GMAB.

So why don't they make authenticator available to more platforms? For example my wifi-only android tablet? That''s a different platform, should protect me just as well. As would a laptop that isn't my main gaming platform. Steam is based on PC usgae, why do I suddenly need to have yet another phone plan requiring a specific type of smartphone to use everything?

[NS Plover]

Originally posted by Gwarsbane:

Your wallet effects you and no one else. Its much easier to Valve to fix that.

Thinking about it, that is not true at all.

When the hacker gets your account, they use the money in your wallet to gift one of their accounts with something. So it does not just affect you. There is another account involved.

[Joki the Disco Bandit]

If not being able to use Trade or the Market without a hold bothers you that much, then perhaps your best option would be to...

Originally posted by NS Plover:

dump steam entirely

[Brujeira]

Or you could work around it by setting up the authenticator on the android tablet - you do have some method of receiving personal SMS text messages, right?

Download the app to the tablet then give Steam a personal phone number that can receive SMS messages. (You might be able to use the landline to receive the SMS - check your provider's services.) Check the clock on the tablet is synced to the Internet then set up the app - the SMS comes through to your phone, you type the SMS code into the app on the tablet and you're done.

[Satoru]

I'm not sure what the problem is

1) install app on android tablet
2) get SMS message in work cell

Done

[NS Plover]

Originally posted by Satoru:

I'm not sure what the problem is

1) install app on android tablet
2) get SMS message in work cell

Done

Nope, no SMS messages for me.

When I say work has a policy, they have a policy about usage. It is about more than just installing crap.

[Brujeira]

Well, here in the UK I can receive an SMS message over my landline for free. The few pages I've been able to root out for companies like Bell Canada suggest you might be able to receive the SMS that way.