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I think they should have allowed single game sharing with some restrictions. Like only one game can be shared out of the library in one month, or something like that.
Valve launches Steam Family Sharing for all users
- Thread starter Scorpus
- Start date
SirGCal
Posts: 365 +138
No, I totally understand why this is not possible. Playing the same game at the same time would break license agreements from the developers. To play the same game at the same time you should have to buy another copy. I think many of us are totally fine and understanding with that point.
However I also think a lot of us would like to be able to play different games at the same time though as that would more accurately fit the sharing thoughts we have for how we share actual live disks.
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SirGCal
Posts: 365 +138
No, that will not likely ever happen... That is not what this is meant to do. It is to share with other accounts, not to share the account itself.
St1ckM4n
Posts: 2,887 +628
It's not sharing of the account. It's basic functionality of SteamOS - how are you supposed to stream from your main rig if only one account can be logged in?
If the entire library can be shared amongst 5 computers, then I'm sure the lazy devs can implement multiple login if WAN IP is equal .....
SirGCal
Posts: 365 +138
But that would also violate the license agreements with most games... The whole point to steam is that only YOU (your account) can be logged in to one system at any given time. As only YOU can play one game at a time. And that makes sense. The steam family thing here is to help those, like me, who's kids are also playing on another machine. So I want to give them access to kid friendly games without giving them full access to my account/library. PERFECT for the family system. The only gotcha right now is one person can play at a time which is the bummer. Makes sense on one title but not on the entire library (to me). If you want to do lan party of one game, buy more licenses. Makes perfect sense.
This isn't a "can the devs do it" issue, this is all about legal, licensing, etc. And one of the big secure reasons for steam is you can only run your account on one machine at a time or it kicks the others off. And that's perfectly peachy. I have it on my laptop and gaming rig and the laptop doesn't auto-start. So when I start it there, it's all fine, then I return to the gaming rig and restart it and all's fine. OR reboot or whatever the situation but still, no problems. No one else can use MY account and that's how it should be. And there is no valid reason for me to be logged into both at the same time. Installing a new huge game? Download it once, do a local file backup and copy it over (faster anyhow).
As for SteamOS, don't have it, not interested, don't know how/what it deals with. If that's another issue, then pick one. Run the console or your PC. Again, you only paid for the game in one location. OR... create a new account for the console and 'share' family games to that system. Then both can be logged in. Pretty simple.
St1ckM4n
Posts: 2,887 +628
It's not violating anything. It'd work exactly like family sharing:
a) Log in PC1, play games.
b) Log in PC2, decide to play games.
c) Prompt on PC1 will say they are being kicked, and prompt on PC2 will say that "PC1 will be kicked if you proceed".
End result: only one device can use the library at a time. No legal loopholes, no playing of content on two machines or by two users, exactly like Family Sharing.
Currently, the way this is implemented is that PC1 gets kicked fully out of Steam when PC2 logs in. This requires entering the password, which is very un-console-like and requires you to get they keyboard out, etc ...
If you want a valid reason for this: SteamBox. I have made my own, running Windows. In order to use Big Picture effectively, I need to have a wireless keyboard hanging around to manually log into Steam every time.
a) Log in PC1, play games.
b) Log in PC2, decide to play games.
c) Prompt on PC1 will say they are being kicked, and prompt on PC2 will say that "PC1 will be kicked if you proceed".
End result: only one device can use the library at a time. No legal loopholes, no playing of content on two machines or by two users, exactly like Family Sharing.
Currently, the way this is implemented is that PC1 gets kicked fully out of Steam when PC2 logs in. This requires entering the password, which is very un-console-like and requires you to get they keyboard out, etc ...
If you want a valid reason for this: SteamBox. I have made my own, running Windows. In order to use Big Picture effectively, I need to have a wireless keyboard hanging around to manually log into Steam every time.
SirGCal
Posts: 365 +138
The way steam works is behind the scenes agreements with the manufacturers/producers for games. They agreed since the beginning to limit users to one logged in account at a time as a security measure for the system and that got accepted. In turn producers agree to the way steam handles games in the digital method, etc. An oversight perhaps to what we want to do today but at the time... Anyhow, to change it now would likely take considerable lawyer agreements which aren't easy to come by and to do it with all publishing groups at the same time would be an extreme undertaking. I wouldn't expect it to happen any time soon.
I already explained the way to make EXACTLY WHAT YOU WANT to happen, happen right now with using the friend's system. Still it's cake to get around it all within the rules and in some ways more convenient so you can limit the more public console to only games you do want everyone to see. (I have FEAR lineup in my library but that's not something I want my kids playing, for example... wouldn't be available on the 'console'...)
Either way, you can do what you want to do. If you do not WANT to do it this way, then that's just a hangup you need to deal with cause right now it is the ONLY solution. It's much nicer then steam used to work anyhow so... I'd call it a giant win and move on. Or you can dwell on what you don't have and be sad... whatever...
Or the obvious, shut off the console, start steam on the PC, kill steam on the PC, start the console, etc. That's why I never have steam auto-start on any of my systems. Start it when I want to play a game, then turn it off.
The one part of the Friend's system that would make it all even BETTER then what you suggest, is if each account could play at the same time, as long as it's not the same title. That would be the perfect world. The same account surely would never allow this in either form so on that note, the Friend's system would win hands down. So then you could play on your PC while the wife or kids played on the console, just different games is all... I could play FEAR while they played LEGO something... For example...
Ohh, and my main HTPC also has Steam on it in the living room which now uses a Friend account with all the games that are OK for the family. It's the 'living room' account. Pretty simple.
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GeforcerFX
Posts: 1,091 +547
Its a cool feature and I know my friend who games later at night then me will want to "borrow" my library from time to time since I have somewhere around 350 games and he's around 25. I was hoping though for a slightly different system, more or less a "lease" like system, basically I could "lease" the game to a single user for say anywhere from 1 day to 4 weeks, during that time if I try and play it notifies me that the game is on lease and I would have to call the game back. And the person its on lease to would get a notification every time they started the game how much longer there Lease was good for. Its more of a borrowing system then a sharing system but, its kinda like how we used to do it when we used discs.
Kibaruk
Posts: 3,836 +1,189
I've read some comments on how useless this is, well it isn't. What you want is playing games with others for free, this is the ability to share the games you already have as long as you are not playing, pretty much like lending the game to your friend, with the small difference that when you want to play they HAVE to give it back 
cliffordcooley
Posts: 13,141 +6,441
Fixed that for youwith the small difference that when you want to play any game within your library they HAVE to give it back
Kibaruk
Posts: 3,836 +1,189
I've read some comments on how useless this is, well it isn't. What you want is playing games with others for free, this is the ability to share the games you already have as long as you are not playing, pretty much like lending the game"S" to your friend, with the small difference that when you want to play "your games" they HAVE to give "them" back
There, fixed it myself.
cliffordcooley
Posts: 13,141 +6,441
Thats not completely accurate because you may not be sharing your complete library. And when you want to play a game whether or not is is one of the shared games, sharing is disabled. That is the equivalent to loaning a game and then asking for it back, because you want to play a different game.
Kibaruk
Posts: 3,836 +1,189
Thats very accurate, you lend your GAMES to your friend and when you want to play any of them they have to give you back THE GAMES (GameS as in plural, as in them all).
In the end, you lend your library, if you want to play any game they have to give you back your library.
In the end, you lend your library, if you want to play any game they have to give you back your library.
cliffordcooley
Posts: 13,141 +6,441
Then why do I recall reading, you only share games you want to share? Which is related to only sharing games that are suitable for your kids. According to you there is no choice, but yet I distinctly remember reading family share would allow for control over what is shared.
Kibaruk
Posts: 3,836 +1,189
cliffordcooley
Posts: 13,141 +6,441
Read it and weep! I am wrong at times but this is not one of them.
http://steamcommunity.com/groups/familyoptions#announcements/detail/1891810256974531037
And you should look into your Family View settings. Then you would notice you have a choice as to the games you want to share. But as long as you are in Family View mode you don't have access to your own library, even those games that are not being shared.
http://steamcommunity.com/groups/familyoptions#announcements/detail/1891810256974531037
Kibaruk
Posts: 3,836 +1,189
As said, that information is from January 8th, however the information I linked is after the news of release so... I'll get home and see what is what, in that moment we'll see if your information from january is right, or the oficial information from steam I linked you (As of today).
cliffordcooley
Posts: 13,141 +6,441
For the record; I linked that page to show, what I was looking at within my own Steam Library Family Share Settings.
St1ckM4n
Posts: 2,887 +628
You can choose which games to share, yes. But you're still sharing part of your 'library', and only one person can access it at the one time.
Not the best way to do it, but don't kid yourself that we would have Steam Sales if all your friends can play any game at any time.
Not the best way to do it, but don't kid yourself that we would have Steam Sales if all your friends can play any game at any time.
Kibaruk
Posts: 3,836 +1,189
Well that IS the point, it doesnt make any sense at all that because you have a friend that bought a game you and him and three others will be playing with one copy over the internet at the same time, or even offline at the same time.
Consider this sharing as demo-ing a product. Sometimes you have a friend that you think might like a game so he tries it out and then buys it for you to play together, for example.
