I have a tiny concern with Steam that I'm hoping someone here can shed some light on

[Oly J]

Hi everyone, this worry of mine is probably nothing, but I thought I'd ask this anyway, a few days ago I went into a GAME shop and spoke with a very chatty cashier about maybe getting a wired 360 controller for use with my PC (I have a PS3 controller but to use it I have to run it through software to emulate a 360 one otherwise it just doesn't work, also the cable is kinda short) and he got to talking about Steam, and instantly I pegged this guy as a bullshitter.

basically what he said was he hated steam and was part of a 2000+ person class-action lawsuit (that I think I would've heard about, but possibly not) because he changed his computer, but not his IP adress as he used the same ISP in the same place. and now Steam won't let him re-download his content because they won't believe he's the same person that bought it.

now I'm pretty sure this guy is lying, if this stuff had a habit of happening this wouldn't be the first I heard of it, but I just had that niggling doubt in the back of my head that I didn't know this guy, and therefore couldn't immediately dismiss him as a liar.

my only concern is that I'm planning to take my PC to uni in september which means a new internet connection and IP adress and such, and this story gets me just a little bit worried, even though as I say I'm about 98% sure it's bullshit but even so there's that tiny "what if I'm wrong?" factor at work here.

so basically I thought I'd ask you all if any of you have had similair problems with Steam when changing rig or locale, or heard of it happening to someone else?

 

[Caiphus]

Well, I moved from England to New Zealand and got to keep my stuff. And that's about as far as you can travel while still staying on the planet. I've also been through ~4 different PCs since then.

So. I mean, I can't prove that the guy is a liar, I suppose. Maybe his Steam account is super special and there's an underground conspiracy. Maybe he killed Gaben's dog.

 

[Keoul]

Haven't had any problems like that, I've got steam installed on my desktop and laptop and I've never had a problem like that, even when I have both running in the same house at the same time or running steam on my laptop overseas. I just get that confirmation email.

Maybe this cashier didn't confirm his email so he just gets locked out or something?

 

[Smooth Operator]

Well he would need to be a bit more specific on the issue, if they blocked his account that should be pretty obvious and he should say so upfront. Other issues can arise in networks that block Steam specifically or he has a firewall set up that doesn't let Steam use their usual ports for download traffic.

It can be all sorts of things and he should be clear on what he is talking about next time. In any case these are very rare circumstances, never the less be warned that your account can be locked at any time and it may take months to get it recovered even if Steam screwed up with false positives(I had that problem with them 3 times).

 

[DoPo]

so basically I thought I'd ask you all if any of you have had similair problems with Steam when changing rig or locale, or heard of it happening to someone else?

If you change your ISP or your PC, Steam would ask for a verification code when you try to connect. The verification code is sent to your email (the one you've registered on Steam with) and after you input it, you get to go on Steam again forever, or at least until you change something again. That's all I can think of relating to that guy's issue.

As for problems - no, I've not had any problems similar to that. Aside from inputting the verification code, I've not had much trouble accessing my stuff. And I've relocated multiple times over the period I've used Steam. I've also changed my PC twice, and I've also been changing my ISP in the place I've lived. All in all, I've probably gone through the procedure at least 20 times and I've always been able to use Steam normally.

The only sort of problem I can think of, one that very vaguely resembles that is enabling/disabling Steam Guard. If you had it disabled and then enable it, you would need to wait for about a week before trading with other people. But that's limited to trading only. Actually, there is another very vaguely similar problem which is if you change your payment details (for example, I recently changed my card because the old one expired) then you would also need to wait for a week or something before using the Marketplace. It was annoying because I wanted to free up my inventory by unloading my stuff on there but that's about it, really.

 

[Doom972]

I have used my Steam account on my girlfriend's PC at her home. That's a different PC and a different IP address - and I had no problems whatsoever.

I also used it on my laptop on various networks without any problems on Steam's part.

 

[Savagezion]

Why is he saying anything about his IP address? That doesn't really matter. It makes me think he lost his password or something because the only way I can see your IP matter is if Steam is seeing you log in at a different IP address and wants you to confirm it is actually you and not account fraud. Which they will send an email or whatever and then you verify and all is well. I think he lost some information if I had to guess. However, I think he is either lying, or neglecting to tell you all of the relevant information. Because the story as I see it makes no sense as to how steam could even do that without doing it to everyone.

However, he says it is the same IP address, so wtf is he even mentioning that for?

I have went through 2 ISPs, like 5 or 6 IPs (maybe more), and 2 PCs and never lost anything. Just had to go into my email a bunch.

 

[BoogieManFL]

I've had Steam for years and have changed computers and locations several times. No problems here.

 

[V da Mighty Taco]

Let's see here: a quick Google search shows no records of Valve ever being hit by a class-action lawsuit for locking people out of their accounts, just about every person here who has used Steam (myself included) has used their account on something other than their original PC before (on both the same and different IP addresses), Steam would literally not function as a PC-centric digital platform and retailer if it kept blocking people out for using a new computer since many PC gamers upgrade and replace their hardware all the time, and that Ubisoft has never been sued for doing exactly what Valve is being accused of here with games like Anno 2070.

Now I don't know this Game employee's situation personally, but all things considered his story as presented here makes absolutely no sense. In other words, I'd definitely take what this guy is saying with a full-on mountain of salt.

 

[Vivi22]

The guy is full of shit. Steam doesn't even give a rat's ass about what ISP or IP you use. It won't ask you to do anything unless you're installing on a new computer, and even then, only if you have Steam Guard active so far as I know.

 

[Amaror]

Hi everyone, this worry of mine is probably nothing, but I thought I'd ask this anyway, a few days ago I went into a GAME shop and spoke with a very chatty cashier about maybe getting a wired 360 controller for use with my PC (I have a PS3 controller but to use it I have to run it through software to emulate a 360 one otherwise it just doesn't work, also the cable is kinda short) and he got to talking about Steam, and instantly I pegged this guy as a bullshitter.

basically what he said was he hated steam and was part of a 2000+ person class-action lawsuit (that I think I would've heard about, but possibly not) because he changed his computer, but not his IP adress as he used the same ISP in the same place. and now Steam won't let him re-download his content because they won't believe he's the same person that bought it.

now I'm pretty sure this guy is lying, if this stuff had a habit of happening this wouldn't be the first I heard of it, but I just had that niggling doubt in the back of my head that I didn't know this guy, and therefore couldn't immediately dismiss him as a liar.

my only concern is that I'm planning to take my PC to uni in september which means a new internet connection and IP adress and such, and this story gets me just a little bit worried, even though as I say I'm about 98% sure it's bullshit but even so there's that tiny "what if I'm wrong?" factor at work here.

so basically I thought I'd ask you all if any of you have had similair problems with Steam when changing rig or locale, or heard of it happening to someone else?

There are quite a lot of cases were steam doesn't quite believe that you are you. It happens when you lock in from an unknown computer and i think an unknown ip, too(Don't quote me on that, though).
However they just send you an email with a code you have to type in and that's that.
So no, they don't keep you from downloading your games.

 

[Exterminas]

I wonder why an employee in a retail store for games would spread odd rumors about Steam being a one big con.

I mean, it's not like he is going to profit from badmouthing steam in any way. I mean it's not like steam has done anything malicious to guys working in selling physical copies of games.

... wait.

 

[1066]

There is are quirks to Steam, but in no way has it ever locked me out of my stuff. I hit it when my brother and I when we decided to do the shared library thing. Short version is that I got an email with a code and entered it, after which everything was fine.

Now, I did have trouble accessing someone else's library when we'd gotten a setting wrong, but logged into his computer with the same IP caused no issues. Took about an hour to find that one checkbox.

That said, there is a concern for some people not being able to play games on Steam due to other issues. Example: Games For Windows Live is going down, or did, or maybe not - I haven't kept up to date and the blurbs I've seen have been giving different information - and if and when it dies, some games on Steam may become unplayable.

But that's a very different issue.

 

[Bestival]

Just this morning, I used my laptop steam account on my PC, because that was easier. (laptop is at my dad's atm.) And since that was the first time I use that account here, steam did it's whole "new computer, please you code we emailed you" thing.
This is the standard procedure, and I don't think there's any reason to believe it'll go differently for you, OP. Aside from what 1 clerk told you, that is.

 

[Dr. Pepper Unlimited]

He's a complete idiot. I've been a member of Steam for nine years and have switched countless computers, moved to various locations and I've never had issues. Not even once.

 

[NuclearKangaroo]

ive had different PCs, different connections, i could always redownload my games no issue, that guy is full of it