game sharing

has anybody ever attempted to "share" a steam game with somebody.....example:

person A has a game that person B wants to play. person B logs onto person A's steam accoutn and DLs the game. can person B play this steam game without logging onto person A's steam account?

Not possible unless it's a free game..

even if person B played in "offline" mode?

Don't think so as person B didn't buy the game and you can use your key only on one account.

Actually Yes, this does work...
I used to use my account in offline mode on 3-4 computers before all my "cheap" friends bought CSS...
It does work, however with the constant updates for games like tf2, css, ect, it would only last for a short time...
Of course they wouldn't be able to play online, only LAN/single player.

I agree with Viper, it can work. It just depends on what game. I've done something similar before, I bought a game I ended up not wanting to play very much, a friend wanted to play it REALLY bad, I bought it through steam, but it was mainly a windows live game. We did some bargaining (and I trust him, normally I would NOT do this with just anyone) and he used a pirated copy on his end and I gave him the key that came with the game when I got it through steam. Worked perfectly till he came up with the money a few months later and purchased the game for himself.

L2K_GENOCIDE wrote:I agree with Viper, it can work. It just depends on what game. I've done something similar before, I bought a game I ended up not wanting to play very much, a friend wanted to play it REALLY bad, I bought it through steam, but it was mainly a windows live game. We did some bargaining (and I trust him, normally I would NOT do this with just anyone) and he used a pirated copy on his end and I gave him the key that came with the game when I got it through steam. Worked perfectly till he came up with the money a few months later and purchased the game for himself.

But did he play the game trough steam?

I always thought the game (at least most of them) was tied to your account and you could only use that game from that account and had to buy a new version for each account. At least that has been my experience so far.

I bought UT2004 through Steam, and dl'ed it on a few computers, then replaced the .exe with one from the non-steam version and was able to use it without steam on several computers.
We play a lot of LAN, so didn't try it online or anything...

And the CSS thing as i mentioned earlier was through steam, just in offline mode...
Only lame thing now is your names would be Viperbird, Viperbird(2), Viperbird(3) ect..

As far as Genocide using windows live games, I don't think that would have been through steam.

Nothing of the sort works with sc2, so now all my tightwad friends have to actually buy the game

Games liek Quake, Doom etc just install the latest patches and then they work without steam.
Newer games have slightly different file versions and retail patches are not compatible with steam versions.
offline mode still means the user has to login to your account well have it remebered at least.

The game was Street Fighter 4, I don't remember if he played it through steam and then through windows live or not. He prolly played it through windows live and totally forgot about steam, all he needed was a key and BAM, his pirated copy worked.

fuck, ok, so im pretty much as uncertain as i was when i made the OP. let me re-phrase the question. is this something that steam will ban my account for?

The problem with offline mode is that you need an internet connection to save the credentials for your account. So if your friend wanted to logon your account offline but they logged on their account previously, it wont work unless you go online on your friends account again and then go offline.

From wat i gathered this is wat they meant, and if it is then no u cannot get banned and ur steam client wont even be accessing the internet. Then wen ur done u login to ur own account.

Step1 - Sign into friends account.
Step2 - Install game then open it(close right away).
Step3 - Go offline mode with steam (still on ur friends account).
Step4 - Play game

This will not interfere with ur friend either since u are offline its just a matter of trusting with passwords. The above assumes u are talking about a game that u download through steam etc.
Maybe u should look into a way of having 2 steam clients installed so u can keep 1 permenantly in offline mode. /shrugs

Viperbird wrote:Nothing of the sort works with sc2, so now all my tightwad friends have to actually buy the game

U mean just with steam right?

You can only use your "key" for a particular game on one account, weather that be steam, battle.net, ect...
2 instances of your account cannot be run online on 2 different computers or more.
Your account can be run in offline mode on a infinite number of computers in theory.
If the game supports LAN play, you and all your buddies can play off of 1 single account, in offline mode.
If the game doesn't support LAN play (i.e. SC2) everyone playing will have to have a purchased copy
However, if a friend wants to login to their account, the "stored password/offline mode ready" for steam on your account will be lost.
Hope this helps

ok, well ill just spell it out......my friend at work wants to play Fallout3. i have said game in my steam account. we were wondering if this trick would work, he logs onto my steam, dls the game, then plays it offline while im playing on my steam account.

1- i dont want to lose my steam account, i have too many games.

2- i really dont care if it works for him or not, all i care about is fucking ANYTHING up for me

3- i seem to recall FO3 running off windows live too.....?

U can create offline accounts for windows live.
Wont fuck wit ur shit.
etc

This used to work., not sure if it still does. I know it worked in the past for fallout 3 in particular. He logs in, downloads it, then it'll be in his steam folder, but he can play it without steam of GFWL.

{EE}chEmicalbuRn wrote:ok, well ill just spell it out......my friend at work wants to play Fallout3. i have said game in my steam account. we were wondering if this trick would work, he logs onto my steam, dls the game, then plays it offline while im playing on my steam account.

1- i dont want to lose my steam account, i have too many games.

2- i really dont care if it works for him or not, all i care about is fucking ANYTHING up for me

3- i seem to recall FO3 running off windows live too.....?

Tell your friend to try this:

Go to a torrent site, and download fallout 3 torrent, he can even get the game of the year edition. When he stops being cheap (cuz its a damn long and good game) he can buy it.
Now ur safe, and he can play his game. xD

Most likely he will need a windows live account and he will need to play fallout 3 in offline mode to play it. Just like with Street Fighter 4. Hope this helps!