Again he usually offers hardcopies of the games for said prices......and one can always go the alternative route nowadays and buy them on steam/etc. Elsewise as others usually say it's his IP/etc.

Quick question guys: Is it safe to use VPN to activate a region-restricted serial key on Steam?

Which game ?

Safe? yes.
Bulletproof? No.

Using VPN for Steam is okay by itself. Activating region restricted games is not.

Not the safest thing. Many rumors about banning people for using vpn on steam but I know people who do it and they are still online.

As long as you don't overdo it, they won't mind. I know a couple of people who did it, and I haven't heard anything negative. (apart from the usual "rumors")

It's not like I bought it from CD-keys website; I bought Dead Island for $15 on Green Man Gaming using VPN since it's region restricted; and apparently I can't activate it with VPN turned off. I might just create an alt Steam account just for this game. :|

Strictly speaking it's listed quite clearly in the rules that you can't divert your Steam traffic through a VPN. That rule's no doubt there to prevent you from buying from abroad though. I don't think an activation will trigger something really horrible.

What you 'might' want to consider though is that your steam account hopping from one end of the earth to the other in under 5 minutes might trigger an account compromised flag. So in that sense, if you activate it, long as you keep the time difference between logging in through the VPN and where you live at a reasonable travel time, then there really shouldn't be much of a problem.

Just hope it's activation only through VPN though, I think some russian games can only be played through VPN as well.

Look at it from Steams point of view. You made a purchase that benefited them. Why should they ban you. They can't even be hold liabel by your government, because you were breaking the contract with them and circumvented their measures.

It certainly isn't it Steams interest to discourage such purchases, although they would never publicly allow that. And apart from all that, they would have to catch you anyway. I know a couple of Germans that have this game on their account ...

I think also that Bansama mentioned that he can only play a game via VPN. And that with Steams approval, iirc.
Actually, they seem to be pretty cool with it. When I was e.g. in Georgia, I had to use a VPN to purchase "in Germany". I switched back and forth several times a day, and I never had any problems. And Georgia is on some "black lists" when it comes to IP. I still switch often between Sweden and Germany IP, and Steam only ever complains if I want to purchase with a swedish IP. And that also happens a lot, because I often forget that the VPN is still on.

Or you have to find someone who will activate it for you . ( this means you have to disable Steam Guard and change your password )

Nevermind.

It's not that they won't mind, they probably won't notice. It's clearly written in the TOS that it's against the rules to use a VPN. If they find out, they're allowed to disable your account.

Bah, now I can't even connect to Steam when using VPN (I use Hotspot Shield). To prevent further derailing of this thread, anybody wants a GMG Steam key of Dead Island for US$15? If you can buy the game proper on GMG, I assume you won't need VPN to activate it.

Yeah, GMG, GG, D2D, Amazon and all well known retailers sell region free keys. Only cdkey resellers sell shady region-locked Russian keys.

not exactly... I bought "Dead Island" from GG (without using a VPN), and Steam did not allow me to activate the key (maybe just because the game is banned in my country).

Took a while for me to activate it in a way Steam would not like :)