7 ms·

Steam prevents you from playing games you own when your account is suspended

63 points by esolyt 6y ago

hoffs 6y ago
*that you have purchased a license for.
- selfhoster11 6y ago
  There isn't a practical distinction in day-to-day real life, nor should there be a legal one when it comes to compensation for damaging events like this one.
  - whoknew1122 6y ago
    I spent over $2000 on an online-only ARPG named Marvel Heroes. The game creator lost the license to use Marvel characters and shut down rather abruptly. If there is no practical distinction in ownership and licensing the right to play the game, should Marvel be forced to renew the license with Gazillion. Should Gazillion then stay in business to provide me with something I own indefinitely? Or should they be forced to provide me with the codebase so I can spin up my private server? I'm not trying to be glib. I'm honestly curious as to how far your rights should go.
    - aaomidi 6y ago
      The consumer should always be protected above all else. In this case that means getting a full refund if you ask for one.
    - selfhoster11 6y ago
      If they are shutting down, releasing server sources (or the protocol docs) is the least they can do. What's the use of not releasing a codebase for a game that's dead anyway?
    - effingwewt 6y ago
      Oh man, the situation was so much worse than I think you realize. They lost the license before the ps4 port was even begun. They lied to both PC and PS4 customers repeatedly that the license was renewed, they weren't going to lose the game, it was OK for them to charge us insane prices for stuff on the ps4 version. Surprise, surprise-PS4 version never made it out of beta but for like a week before closing servers, and it was years old stripped content from the pc. A friend and I sunk so much money for the PS4 launch to be killed right after actual release from beta. I had friends who warned us that they saw the writing on the wall for the PC version, as they had completely dropped the ball on it once the rumor mill started up about the licensing. For example you had to spend I believe $300 US to get the venom spiderman costume (must have purchased all other heroes/packs), then he paid for nightcrawler, all to log on to...nothing. How these companies can get away with this is beyond me. Once gaming becomes a SAAS permanently, how long before they charge by the minute like AOL used to?
Havoc 6y ago
As much as I get the outrage I also see where valve is coming from. Reasons for suspension usually imply you don’t want the person playing either. eg basically all provider tend to lock accounts if automated fraud detection flags it.
- kaba0 6y ago
  Just because someone cheated in an online game doesn’t mean that he should not be able to play his offline games. Imo it’t not Steam’s place to decide
  - NamTaf 6y ago
    I don't know of anyone who has had their account suspended for online cheating. VAC bans just get you banned from those games and is public record on your profile. I only know of accounts being suspended for dicking with the steam store itself, e.g. by repeatedly abusing the refund system. So at least on that basis, they're not really being suspended for their game conduct. Whether what they did warrants a suspension from steam is sort of beside the point too, since it's just as relevant for singleplayer games.
  - herbst 6y ago
    I mean steam is pretty clear about the fact in their terms. If you are not happy with their terms you should probably look for alternative ways. Ex. Buying only drm free games.
    - DaedPsyker 6y ago
      I’m honestly tired on these BS justifications. Steam is not “pretty clear” about this, t&c are never clear. They are written in legalises that obscures information in a giant bundle of documents to hide important information from every normal thinking person.
      - herbst 6y ago
        I kinda agree, however i read those terms years ago, learned the exact fact that some seem to be surprised about and buy DRM free games whenever possible. My point is that nobody should be surprised if they would actually look into products before they use them. There are tldr apps for popular terms too. Edit:// i too think its stupid. But what do people think that DRM is when not exactly that?
bzb6 6y ago
You don’t own the games, you own a licence to play them which is suspended when your account is. If you want to own the games, pirate them.
- nix23 6y ago
  >If you want to own the games, pirate them. Complete BS, you can use GOG or HumbleBundle.
  - zouhair 6y ago
    I have hundreds of games on Steam, what should I do? Buy them again? Valve needs to be sued t smithereens to let people sell or gift the game they paid for.
    - selfhoster11 6y ago
      I don't know why you got downvoted. This is a legitimate point in this discussion. You've sunk hundreds or thousands of $currency into DRM-ed content that you then get locked out of. What's the recourse?
      - zouhair 6y ago
        Yup[0] [0]: https://i.imgur.com/XGNJumm.png https://i.imgur.com/XGNJumm.png
    - nix23 6y ago
      Some of those games can be "connected": https://www.gog.com/connect https://www.gog.com/connect >Valve needs to be sued t smithereens to let people sell or gift the game they paid for. 1. We should first checkout why he was banned. 2. Did he tried to click the exe without starting up steam? 3. If your are logged out of your DRM system...for sure you cannot use any DRM protected stuff...is that different with let's say Xbox/Netflix? Is it good..no, did i said exactly that, in the year 2k...YES!
      - 6y ago
LatteLazy 6y ago
Does anyone know any details or is this just a random guy (he's the cartoonist for Cyanide and Happiness right?) making nonspecific, unverified claims on twitter?
tpoacher 6y ago
Hahahah. Oh poor sweet summer child. He thought he "owned" the games. What did he think this was, GoG?
ecf 6y ago
Correct me if I’m wrong but can’t you simply navigate to the install folder and launch the game directly via the .exe?
- blankface 6y ago
  only works for certain games that are not deepyly integrated into steamworks. Last time I did this was circa 2009?
smileybarry 6y ago
The title/submission is a bit misleading. The tweet says "locked out" and not "suspended". Based on his follow-up tweets this looks more like a password lockout, or owner-initiated account-locking in case of theft: [1] > its fun that Steam locked me out of my account and support won't respodn [sic] to me. my favorite thing is owning thousands of dollars' worth of games im not allowed to play Follow-up thread: [2] #1 > does anyone know how to get ahold of @Steam support besides emailing and waiting? it's been 2 days and i cant log into my account :( #2 > Valve probably beats out every other company on earth, in terms of how much money i've given them vs. how much their customer support despises my very existence #3 > me: here's $5,000 over sixteen years, can i reset my password? > Steam: hahaha who the fuck are you, stop bothering me. fuck off you piss bitch [1] : https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=6416-FHVM-3982 https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=6416-FHV... [2] : https://twitter.com/RobDenBleyker/status/1328351807400243201 https://twitter.com/RobDenBleyker/status/1328351807400243201

63 points by esolyt 6y ago

hoffs 6y ago

*that you have purchased a license for.

selfhoster11 6y ago
There isn't a practical distinction in day-to-day real life, nor should there be a legal one when it comes to compensation for damaging events like this one.
- whoknew1122 6y ago
  I spent over $2000 on an online-only ARPG named Marvel Heroes. The game creator lost the license to use Marvel characters and shut down rather abruptly. If there is no practical distinction in ownership and licensing the right to play the game, should Marvel be forced to renew the license with Gazillion. Should Gazillion then stay in business to provide me with something I own indefinitely? Or should they be forced to provide me with the codebase so I can spin up my private server? I'm not trying to be glib. I'm honestly curious as to how far your rights should go.
  - aaomidi 6y ago
    The consumer should always be protected above all else. In this case that means getting a full refund if you ask for one.
  - selfhoster11 6y ago
    If they are shutting down, releasing server sources (or the protocol docs) is the least they can do. What's the use of not releasing a codebase for a game that's dead anyway?
  - effingwewt 6y ago
    Oh man, the situation was so much worse than I think you realize. They lost the license before the ps4 port was even begun. They lied to both PC and PS4 customers repeatedly that the license was renewed, they weren't going to lose the game, it was OK for them to charge us insane prices for stuff on the ps4 version. Surprise, surprise-PS4 version never made it out of beta but for like a week before closing servers, and it was years old stripped content from the pc. A friend and I sunk so much money for the PS4 launch to be killed right after actual release from beta. I had friends who warned us that they saw the writing on the wall for the PC version, as they had completely dropped the ball on it once the rumor mill started up about the licensing. For example you had to spend I believe $300 US to get the venom spiderman costume (must have purchased all other heroes/packs), then he paid for nightcrawler, all to log on to...nothing. How these companies can get away with this is beyond me. Once gaming becomes a SAAS permanently, how long before they charge by the minute like AOL used to?

Havoc 6y ago

As much as I get the outrage I also see where valve is coming from. Reasons for suspension usually imply you don’t want the person playing either. eg basically all provider tend to lock accounts if automated fraud detection flags it.

kaba0 6y ago
Just because someone cheated in an online game doesn’t mean that he should not be able to play his offline games. Imo it’t not Steam’s place to decide
- NamTaf 6y ago
  I don't know of anyone who has had their account suspended for online cheating. VAC bans just get you banned from those games and is public record on your profile. I only know of accounts being suspended for dicking with the steam store itself, e.g. by repeatedly abusing the refund system. So at least on that basis, they're not really being suspended for their game conduct. Whether what they did warrants a suspension from steam is sort of beside the point too, since it's just as relevant for singleplayer games.
- herbst 6y ago
  I mean steam is pretty clear about the fact in their terms. If you are not happy with their terms you should probably look for alternative ways. Ex. Buying only drm free games.
  - DaedPsyker 6y ago
    I’m honestly tired on these BS justifications. Steam is not “pretty clear” about this, t&c are never clear. They are written in legalises that obscures information in a giant bundle of documents to hide important information from every normal thinking person.
    - herbst 6y ago
      I kinda agree, however i read those terms years ago, learned the exact fact that some seem to be surprised about and buy DRM free games whenever possible. My point is that nobody should be surprised if they would actually look into products before they use them. There are tldr apps for popular terms too. Edit:// i too think its stupid. But what do people think that DRM is when not exactly that?

bzb6 6y ago

You don’t own the games, you own a licence to play them which is suspended when your account is. If you want to own the games, pirate them.

nix23 6y ago
>If you want to own the games, pirate them. Complete BS, you can use GOG or HumbleBundle.
- zouhair 6y ago
  I have hundreds of games on Steam, what should I do? Buy them again? Valve needs to be sued t smithereens to let people sell or gift the game they paid for.
  - selfhoster11 6y ago
    I don't know why you got downvoted. This is a legitimate point in this discussion. You've sunk hundreds or thousands of $currency into DRM-ed content that you then get locked out of. What's the recourse?
    - zouhair 6y ago
      Yup[0] [0]: https://i.imgur.com/XGNJumm.png https://i.imgur.com/XGNJumm.png
  - nix23 6y ago
    Some of those games can be "connected": https://www.gog.com/connect https://www.gog.com/connect >Valve needs to be sued t smithereens to let people sell or gift the game they paid for. 1. We should first checkout why he was banned. 2. Did he tried to click the exe without starting up steam? 3. If your are logged out of your DRM system...for sure you cannot use any DRM protected stuff...is that different with let's say Xbox/Netflix? Is it good..no, did i said exactly that, in the year 2k...YES!
    - 6y ago

LatteLazy 6y ago

Does anyone know any details or is this just a random guy (he's the cartoonist for Cyanide and Happiness right?) making nonspecific, unverified claims on twitter?

tpoacher 6y ago

Hahahah. Oh poor sweet summer child. He thought he "owned" the games. What did he think this was, GoG?

ecf 6y ago

Correct me if I’m wrong but can’t you simply navigate to the install folder and launch the game directly via the .exe?

blankface 6y ago
only works for certain games that are not deepyly integrated into steamworks. Last time I did this was circa 2009?

smileybarry 6y ago

The title/submission is a bit misleading. The tweet says "locked out" and not "suspended". Based on his follow-up tweets this looks more like a password lockout, or owner-initiated account-locking in case of theft: [1] > its fun that Steam locked me out of my account and support won't respodn [sic] to me. my favorite thing is owning thousands of dollars' worth of games im not allowed to play Follow-up thread: [2] #1 > does anyone know how to get ahold of @Steam support besides emailing and waiting? it's been 2 days and i cant log into my account :( #2 > Valve probably beats out every other company on earth, in terms of how much money i've given them vs. how much their customer support despises my very existence #3 > me: here's $5,000 over sixteen years, can i reset my password? > Steam: hahaha who the fuck are you, stop bothering me. fuck off you piss bitch [1] : https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=6416-FHVM-3982 https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=6416-FHV... [2] : https://twitter.com/RobDenBleyker/status/1328351807400243201 https://twitter.com/RobDenBleyker/status/1328351807400243201