Steam allows you to share games with friends.

filmoret · September 2016

I never knew this but you can share games with friends and allow them to use your game and play on their computer. Very cool feature and I'm definitely going to be using it.

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

filmoret · September 2016

Blah nevermind you cannot even use your other games while they are playing anything from your library.

Alverant · September 2016

So basically if you're going to be on vacation or trapped at work and unable to play at all, you can use that feature to let your friends try out a few games for free. Nice, but limited use.

Wizardry · September 2016

VERY misleading ,if you look simply at the title phrase it says "share your computer?"Seems they tossed in that family OR their friends part to purposely be misleading.

Meaning they can play but only on your computer which it checks all the time and is actually often annoying because it will say ,login from different computer or location or something to that effect.

Steam and so many big businesses really bother me with their protective BS lawyers and terms that seem to think they are above the law.Example Steam seems to think that you agree to THEIR laws just because you agree to use Steam.Example,they talk about OTHER developers content to which they CLAIM they have no obligation or legal binding too...WRONG,if you are selling for PROFIT on behalf or your self,you are legally bound to that product.

Steam reminds me of Blizzard,their business practices and structure is so bad but people find it easy to use and just very convenient.Problem is once you have a problem,Valve couldn't care less,they only like to take your money and eliminate themselves of everything afterwards.

BS operations like Steam exist because they are rich,VERY rich,who is going to challenge anything they do in court,nobody.There is nobody big enough to give them any competition so just like the cable company in my city,no competition equals abuse or take advantage of customers.

Slapshot1188 · September 2016

Wizardry said:

Meaning they can play but only on your computer which it checks all the time and is actually often annoying because it will say ,login from different computer or location or something to that effect.

This is incorrect (unless something has changed recently). I have played games on my own computer which I was granted access to by Sharing. Same the other way around. You just can't both use the same game at the same time, which is to be expected.

DarLorkar · September 2016

Wizardry said:

VERY misleading ,i

Steam reminds me of Blizzard,their business practices and structure is so bad but people find it easy to use and just very convenient.Problem is once you have a problem,Valve couldn't care less,they only like to take your money and eliminate themselves of everything afterwards.

I have never had any issue at all with blizzard. Had an account hacked (WOW)and called them and had my account and my items and gold back within hours.

So you are being misleading to me by adding blizzard to your rant. hate their games all you want, but as far as their CS for WOW goes...could not be much better in my opinion. Never played their other games so can not go into how their CS with them.

Now Steam, i will agree partially. their CS is worse than most businesses i have tried to deal with when i have issues. But that is something i am always aware of and go into knowing that ahead of time.

filmoret · September 2016

Slapshot1188 said:

Wizardry said:

Meaning they can play but only on your computer which it checks all the time and is actually often annoying because it will say ,login from different computer or location or something to that effect.

This is incorrect (unless something has changed recently). I have played games on my own computer which I was granted access to by Sharing. Same the other way around. You just can't both use the same game at the same time, which is to be expected.

You sure it worked like that? Because from the way Steam describes it. If anyone is using anything in your library then you will not have access to anything from that library. That is exactly what they appear to be saying.

filmoret · September 2016

After a bit of searching you can go offline mode on the parent account and this allows someone else to use the library. But whenever the parent account goes online it will kick the sharing account out of the library.

Slapshot1188 · September 2016

filmoret said:

After a bit of searching you can go offline mode on the parent account and this allows someone else to use the library. But whenever the parent account goes online it will kick the sharing account out of the library.

That's not how it worked. Maybe it's changed but we certainly had the accounts online at the same time. Simply could not play the same game at the same time.

laxie · September 2016

They must have changed that recently.
I was always under the impression that a person can both share games and play, as long as two people aren't playing the same game at the same time.

As you are saying though, Steam is now explicitly stating that is not the case:

Can two users share a library and both play at the same time?

No, a shared library may only be accessed by one user at a time.

The feature now seems to have very limited use. At what point would you use it? If you are visiting family members and want to show them games, you might as well log in to your account.

laxie · September 2016

My bad, apparently it was always like that.
Here is a list of viable cases I found:

This method is ideal for those who don’t game on Steam 24/7. With some planning, you can have a friend try out a game they want while you game on a console or do other things.

If you share your PC with a sibling or roommate, only one of you needs to buy a copy of Batman: Arkham Knight. Both of you can log in to play, save your respective progress, and return when the other person is not using the PC.

Another crafty way to use this is by backing up game files to an external drive, going to a friend’s house (assuming you’ve authorised his PC), and installing and playing the game from there, skipping the download, and ideal for couch co-op titles.

kitarad · September 2016

Yes it has been a feature for some time and it does allow someone else as long as you're not using it at the same time. Surely that is not that difficult to arrange.

filmoret · September 2016

Maybe I'll test this tomorrow and see how it works.

Agnostic42 · September 2016

My sons and I all have our own PC's and they can share my Steam account while I use it. They log in and then go offline and can play any of my non-online games without me even knowing and while I am playing without a hitch.

toodyloo · September 2017

http://youtu.be/mKBMc14jRMM

Golem Gates is a new moba available on steam early 2018. It combines cards and glyphs. Fantastic indie game and looking forward to play it.

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Steam allows you to share games with friends.

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Can two users share a library and both play at the same time?

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Steam allows you to share games with friends.

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Can two users share a library and both play at the same time?