Valve Wins Court Case, Digital Resale Of Games Has Been Closed.

[Gouko_Tenrou]

Because you never own the game in the 1st place digital or retail disk. Actually reading the EULA's will point this out. Same goes for any software.

What you are in fact buying is a licence to use said software as the licence prescribe. In Valves case the Use does not include transfer rights.



Erm, maybe you should read the licence again. You do not own the game... ever, you just bought the rights to use it.

Finally someone who gets it

 

[Vixremento]

I always believed that by purchasing physical media that I'd avoid these issues however that isn't always the case...especially when you have to register your product (I'm thinking about Far Cry 3 which I bought on PC DVD, Skyrim, Mass Effect 3, etc. that needed registration via a digital platform such as uplay, steam, etc.) before it'll allow you to play it. Thankfully owning the physical copy still allows you to play most games (well for the single player content and with some clever 'patches' out there) even if the online service were to just drop off the face of the earth yet at the same time not being able to just hand over a disc (or digital copy of something that I've bought on Steam) over to a family member, buddy, etc. when I'm no longer playing the game is also a bit sad especially when I know they'd probably never buy it otherwise.

It's odd I guess because with my physical library on PS3 I've traded games with my bro on many occasion and we've both scored out of the deal...sadly I can't easily just swop him a copy of some of my PC games (well we share some steam games via completely separate Steam accounts but it isn't ideal).

Then again the sales come along and offer some really great games that you wouldn't be able to easily pick up for the same price on physical media so it does sometimes balance things out a bit...just not for new releases though that I'd like to play through and then 'give away' sorta thing.

 

[AlphaJohn]

I always believed that by purchasing physical media that I'd avoid these issues however that isn't always the case...especially when you have to register your product (I'm thinking about Far Cry 3 which I bought on PC DVD, Skyrim, Mass Effect 3, etc. that needed registration via a digital platform such as uplay, steam, etc.) before it'll allow you to play it. Thankfully owning the physical copy still allows you to play most games (well for the single player content and with some clever 'patches' out there) even if the online service were to just drop off the face of the earth yet at the same time not being able to just hand over a disc (or digital copy of something that I've bought on Steam) over to a family member, buddy, etc. when I'm no longer playing the game is also a bit sad especially when I know they'd probably never buy it otherwise.

It's odd I guess because with my physical library on PS3 I've traded games with my bro on many occasion and we've both scored out of the deal...sadly I can't easily just swop him a copy of some of my PC games (well we share some steam games via completely separate Steam accounts but it isn't ideal).

Then again the sales come along and offer some really great games that you wouldn't be able to easily pick up for the same price on physical media so it does sometimes balance things out a bit...just not for new releases though that I'd like to play through and then 'give away' sorta thing.

Well Valve are working on a plan to have you and your brother covered, Steam Family Sharing. It is a tad draconian now that they killed Offline mode with sharing but at least you will be able to share games legally.

The owner can still play while offline, just not the person you sharing with.

 

[Vixremento]

Well Valve are working on a plan to have you and your brother covered, Steam Family Sharing. It is a tad draconian now that they killed Offline mode with sharing but at least you will be able to share games legally.

The owner can still play while offline, just not the person you sharing with.

Yeah that'll be good I guess - the family sharing bit that irks me though is this:

Can I share specific games, or do I have to share my whole library?

Libraries are shared and borrowed in their entirety.

Can all Steam games be shared with friends and family?

No, due to technical limitations, some Steam games may be unavailable for sharing. For example, titles that require an additional third-party key, account, or subscription in order to play cannot be shared between accounts.
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.

Seems like having a single steam account per game (although a hassle) is something that may be even better if one is disciplined enough to maintain them all (well currently I do have three active steam accounts...).