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Steam user banned, loses access to $1800 in games
http://forums.clankiller.com/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=3829		 Page 1 of 1
Author:  Satis [ Mon Mar 14, 2011 4:07 pm ]
Post subject:  Steam user banned, loses access to $1800 in games
The person basically posted a thread or something talking about selling their account, which is a TOS violation. They have now been locked out of their account and all $1800 worth of games. Shazam. I don't necessarily agree with the user, but at the same time, I don't agree with Steam. Are you buying games with Steam, or just renting them? And what's to keep Steam from arbitrarily locking you out of your games, forever, with no recourse? I guess you could sue them, but that's expensive and not guaranteed to go anywhere.

I want DRM-free games.

http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2011 ... -games.ars
Author:  derf [ Mon Mar 14, 2011 4:47 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Steam user banned, loses access to $1800 in games
What the issue with selling your steam account anyway? Personal security? Don't see what the big fuss is about. Then again, i'm too tired to think in-depth right now :)
Author:  Satis [ Tue Mar 15, 2011 5:14 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Steam user banned, loses access to $1800 in games
Yea, well, that's a good question as well. Or how about, "Why can't I transfer my games I'm done playing to another use?"
Author:  derf [ Tue Mar 15, 2011 6:49 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Steam user banned, loses access to $1800 in games
Simply because Steam will miss out pretty hard on revenue. Without getting into whether they're making enough money as it is, or whether they could implement a system whereby they profit, remember Steam is a business like any other and they're only interested in revenue. I accept that. To change that means moving away from capitalism.

I think Steam may not want account-selling because that will somewhat dirty the image of their service. I just foresee a shitload of issues coming up with kids that get scammed, which admittedly doesn't seem like anyone's problem, but i'm sure Steam don't want to handle the spike in customer support costs for something they see no return from.

What i'm more curious about is... what if Steam goes bust? Losing all my games isn't the end of the world but i'd like to be assured that i'd still be able to access what i paid for, especially if some fat-cat decided to pull the plug and live the rest of his life in the Caribbean.
Author:  Peltz [ Tue Mar 15, 2011 9:38 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Steam user banned, loses access to $1800 in games
Its probably what steam is afraid the most, when people start compiling accounts so that they purchase games on sale and then sell the account for profit, where the account price is somewhere between the current cost of the games and the price the games where bought at. Say three $20 games are half off costing $30, i buy them and once the sale is over i sell the account for $45.
Author:  Rinox [ Tue Mar 15, 2011 9:52 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Steam user banned, loses access to $1800 in games
derf wrote:
Simply because Steam will miss out pretty hard on revenue. Without getting into whether they're making enough money as it is, or whether they could implement a system whereby they profit, remember Steam is a business like any other and they're only interested in revenue. I accept that. To change that means moving away from capitalism.


Well, yes, but they're not Blizzard or EA or Ubisoft or MS in that they are not a publicly traded company. They don't HAVE to make profits, that is to say they don't have any obligation towards shareholders others than themselves. The obligation to keep making profits year after year is often what turns relatively benign companies into Evil Empires.

Having said that, obviously Valve is still a company and Newell and co will want to make more money. It's funny how even that slight difference in situation (want to make money vs. have to make money) seems to draw such a wide divide between relatively benign companies (free DLC/updates, normal prices, releasing good and finished games, general sense of community) like Valve and the more obvious evil ones who spastically try to wring every last penny out of their customers (Ubi, EA, etc).

While I think it sucks that I can't resell or lend my games to others, in the context of steam it isn't entirely insane: you're basically paying for access to a service on steam (access to a game) and you're not allowed to re-sell that service. Compare it to owning a library card and trying to sell it to someone else at a lower price, that wouldn't work either. MIND YOU, I don't like it...and I do wonder how such matters would stand up in court.

I don't think we need to worry about steam going down and losing all our games just yet. For one, like Windows back in the day (and now), steam seems so widespread that it will always be profitable simply due to its massive presence, regardless of popular sympathy. EVen if Valve pulls the plug, I'm sure there will be takers. Question is, of course, at what price? :(

But the core of this matter - a guy getting banned because he was thinking about selling his account - is fucked up. Valve has reactivated the account btw, but God knows whether it was because of bad publicity or because it was an actual mistake. I think we all know which one is the more likely option. :roll:

Quote:
Bluesnews, the source of the story, attempted to contact Valve for comment, but failed. However, later in the day, a post on the Steam Users' Forums from Valve stated: "The article doesn't mention that the account has been re-enabled." No reason was given for the reinstatement, but Valve could conceivably have been trying to head off negative publicity.
Author:  Satis [ Tue Mar 15, 2011 6:50 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Steam user banned, loses access to $1800 in games
I'm sure it was negative publicity that got the account re-enabled. Yay for the power of the people, boo for wish-washy corporate policy. I would like to see a way to 'cash out' of steam. They give you non-Steam versions of your games on your PC... no DRM, no way to re-download, no steam-added benefits like friends list and automatic updates and whatnot, but you get your games. If Steam ever goes belly-up, that's what you get, or if you decide you hate Steam, you can still get it. I think it's a fair trade-off, but I'm not sure that Steam wants you to be able to get off their teat that easily. It's a closed ecosystem, just like Apple, and they like it that way. Never mind that they've been very good to their users so far, it's probably only a matter of time before they go evil. A cash-out option would be very, very nice.
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