Steam Family Sharing

AlphaJohn

AlphaJohn

New member
Just got access to Steam family sharing Beta and I must admit its going to save my household a lot of money, as I don't have to buy 2 copies of every game. Sad part is it doesn't work for all games (Dam you Microsoft Life Gaming)

Anyway, what is the general perception on the list here about this feature?
 
Doesn't really affect me because I just have my own collection and don't play online games. I've only heard rumors though, so its great to hear from someone who has tried it. how does it work exactly?
 
The major advantage in SA is the ability to share your account with someone who can download that newly bought game :)

For MP, it's pretty pointless, you still require two copies of the game if you wish to play together.
Amazing for single player games :)
 
ave said:
How does it work exactly?
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Very Simple actually:

You simply have to log into the PC that you want to share your library with, and the Authorize it, and you are done. Now whenever someone logs into that PC that is in your Friends list they will see your library as well as their own. They can install and play it as if they own it. Only limitation is when I start to play the game it will give them a warning and 5 minutes to log out before closing it.

Edit: The problem with limited support is MP games as mentioned and also if a game use second party DRM it still have issues, example Dawn of war that use CD Key in GFWL. Steam will allow my son to install and start the game but GFWL ask for CD-KEY/Logon and can not use the same key again.
 
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So before this you had offline mode, where you could load your games onto multiple computers and all play at the same time, but you could only log in with one computer at a time. So this allows you multiple logins and you can play another game in the library without it giving that 5 minute warning right? That's fair enough and pretty cool actually.
 
ave said:
So before this you had offline mode, where you could load your games onto multiple computers and all play at the same time, but you could only log in with one computer at a time. So this allows you multiple logins and you can play another game in the library without it giving that 5 minute warning right? That's fair enough and pretty cool actually.
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Well the bonus of this is now he can get his own achievements and stats without the need for me to buy the game twice. Also on the old offline mode it stuffed up game progress esp when his computer logged in to update and cloud saves where enabled.
 
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AlphaJohn said:
Well the bonus of this is now he can get his own achievements and stats without the need for me to buy the game twice. Also on the old offline mode it stuffed up game progress esp when his computer logged in to update and cloud saves where enabled.
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That's good stuff actually. I don't have a problem with them only allowing one player at a time. I like the way things are headed over at valve, I must say.
 
Tydmors said:
I wonder when they will roll it our for the public.
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My thinking is about the same time as Steam OS/Steam Machines.

The whole idea around this feels like its trying to bring Steam in line for console space, you know how you can use 1 game on Xbox between different family members with each their own progress and so on.

I have found a couple of issues so far but that is because its beta, like some minor bugs with the new UI in relation to the Android app. (Some issues I hope sticks around). When my son goes offline, he can still play the games that is installed so in effect allowing us to play 2 copies of the same game at the same time with the bonus of his achievements staying on his profile.
 
AlphaJohn said:
My thinking is about the same time as Steam OS/Steam Machines.

The whole idea around this feels like its trying to bring Steam in line for console space, you know how you can use 1 game on Xbox between different family members with each their own progress and so on.

I have found a couple of issues so far but that is because its beta, like some minor bugs with the new UI in relation to the Android app. (Some issues I hope sticks around). When my son goes offline, he can still play the games that is installed so in effect allowing us to play 2 copies of the same game at the same time with the bonus of his achievements staying on his profile.
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That's nice, to how many people can you share? just one or is there no limit?
 
Tydmors said:
That's nice, to how many people can you share? just one or is there no limit?
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10 Devices at a time.

Oh forgot to mention another issue I hope they fix dam quick, there is no way to see what games my son had on his profile vs what games came from mine.
 
AlphaJohn said:
10 Devices at a time.

Oh forgot to mention another issue I hope they fix dam quick, there is no way to see what games my son had on his profile vs what games came from mine.
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Shit so everything is in one list. Jip that should be something that they should fix, perhaps they should add in a new tab someone for shared games or someting.

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or rather put it in the library menu, there where you can select installed games and all, add in shared and shared installed or something
 
Tydmors said:
Shit so everything is in one list. Jip that should be something that they should fix, perhaps they should add in a new tab someone for shared games or someting.

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or rather put it in the library menu, there where you can select installed games and all, add in shared and shared installed or something
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Ok That was quick, I see the libraries are now separate. Oh and someone at valve said how about both :D

They are now split on the side menu as well as having an option on the dropdown For "My games" + "Name of player's library"

See below:
2 Steam.jpg

I also need to see why not all my 181 games are on the shared list....

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Not all they fixed, they also limit 1 person to the entire library regardless of the games you play.

The moment I start to play any game my son's PC gets a warning saying "AlphaJohn wants his library back, please log out or purchase the game. You have 5 minutes remaining"

After the 5 minutes it just dumps his PC back to Desktop with "Steam terminated (Game name) because AplhaJohn is currently using this game library"

At least he can just switch Steam to Offline mode and restart the game, but I fear they might fix this soon....

If they do they may as well keep the Family Share crap as it would be better for my son to use offline mode with my password on his PC.
 
its nice that they updated the interface.

Yeah its bad that it kicks you off once the person plays any of his games.

But that might stop people from making a 'community' like account and just sharing it with everyone, everyone then buys games for that one account, and it gets shared with everyone.
 
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