Make sure you play each game on each machine at least once before switching to offline mode.
You have to tell Steam to go online - it wont do it itself.
If you try to go online whilst another machine is already online it wont let you.

IIRC, it gives you a warning and that's it. You can still play your games in offline mode.

ANd I also haven't heard that Steam goes online by itself. Never did when I was using offline mode and never heard it from somebody else.

I'm really lad of this post - I thought offline mode was trickier than this and would stop you starting a new online session whilst a machine was in offline mode.

I just tested it out on my netbook - which is dead handy cos' my wife ha started to play games on it and I thought I was blocked from my Steam account whilst she was playnig.

Cheers.
Yip - that's what I meant - you cant go back online on that machine whilst another is online. One online at a time.

Ouch, does that mean you cant db in a game like LOTRO?

That would hurt big time.

Some GOG user already asked that from Steam support pretty recently (he apparently asked that because he was moving to a place with no internet, and wanted an official confirmation that he can continue playing his Steam games without any restrictions in offline mode), and IIRC they said that there are certain triggers in the Steam offline mode that may force you to go online. What those triggers are, they wouldn't want to tell.

(sorry I have no link in hand to that discussion, maybe I'll try to find it)

EDIT: I think this is it:

http://www.gog.com/en/forum/general/steams_offline_mode_is_a_sham/post1

Also I have faced at least once where Steam refused to start in offline mode when I had lost internet connectivity, even though everything was supposed to be ok (I had already set the client so that offline mode should have been given). But that was a long time ago, maybe it was a bug that has been since fixed, because I've seen many offline mode fixes in the history log ever since (how hard can it be to make it work anyway?).


Either way, the original question is still unanswered: is Valve cool with using the same account on several places by different people, at least as long as they don't try to play the same game at the same time? It doesn't matter how they find out, even if it is by the other user accidentally trying to go to online mode, and Steam servers detecting that (and refusing the connection)? After all, if Steam refuses that, then they know already that the user password is shared. (And the correct answer is not "I just tried it once and didn't get into any trouble, so I'm sure this applies to everyone else too.").

Sorry then, you are not likely to get a definitive answer here. Unless, by chance, someone reading this works for the Steam legal department ... or (perhaps even more unlikely) has managed to get a straight answer out of Steam on the issue themselves.

All you are going to get is opinions and technical "what works for us" answers.

Steam is not "cool" with that, as it is a breach of the EULA. Same with all digital games. You always buy a single personal non-transferable license. GOGs stance is that "one household" is cool, but that is an "unofficial stance", and a dangerous one, as publishers really won't like it.

But countless things gamers do openly on this forums are just as "illegal".

People just don't care and neither does Valve. If you are stupid enough to ask them, then they will of course deny anything, to be legally clean.

But being afraid that the Steam SWAT is breaching your house and shoot up your PC if you have one in offline mode is ridiculous. To do anything at all, Valve would have to proof your wrongdoing. Good luck in a single household ...

hmm, steam offline, do not mean that your computer is offline.

For example, this is off course purely hypothetical never happened in real life as it would be a breach on the EULA, lets assume I gave my better half Titan Quest on steam one day, as she likes ARPG's. Before I tell her this I log into her account on my PC and download it there first and go offline, I start the game. Then I kindly give her the game and she start it also. Voilà - we now have two versions of same steam running - one offline one onlline, and two versions of Titan Quest running on two computers - both connected to internet. There is noting stopping us from playing co-op now.

It would depend per game. If the game uses steamworks for it's online connection it wouldn't work. However games that don't do that could work. For example, with steam in offline mode, I've been able to play Terraria online just fine as it connects directly to other servers. I'd imagine things like MMOs that have you make your own accounts will work too, you just wont have all the DLC or what not you purchased on the main account when a new one is made. The only real way to see would be putting a steam install into offline mode then trying to play online in the specific game while you are logged in on another machine in the house.

Also when reading about the Steam EULA change from August 1st on Neogaf, one user posted a screenshot of his steam install that updated itself. He had it in offline mode for the last week and woke up to see the new SSA prompt with the text section blank saying "Steam is in offline mode." He had to reconnect and accept to access his games again. I've also noticed steam trying to connect out while in offline mode on my desktop through prompts in my firewall. Thats why I mentioned it, as even if it only happens rarely, it is something to be aware of.

Isn't it F2P anyway?

you should not need two steam accounts, only two LOTRO accounts. Steam in this case is just a launcher.

This explains the Steam EULA pretty well in plain English: http://i.imgur.com/bXcxw.jpg

Oh FANTASTIC!!!

Thank you, this one makes me feel much better about next week.

18 year old nephew moved in with me, and hangs out in the den with his g/f a lot. I'm fixing my old new computer that got trashed by UPS, getting a new HD DirecTV receiver, and a monitor and 5.1 sound system to set up in there, having the TV and computer running to the monitor, through the sound system. Most of that stuff is scheduled to arrive on Monday so I'll be able to test for sure then. THANK YOU AGAIN.

Don't be daft. They don't have to send any SWAT team, simply disabling the account is enough. They can claim they did it for security reasons as it seemed someone else might have broken into the account. At that point, what do you tell them? That you have wittingly shared the account password with other users? Well then, is Valve ok with that at that point?

Anyways, the OP did ask what he is _allowed_ to do, not what he can possibly get away with if he is careful enough. It is a similar question as some new GOG users have earlier asked "So because GOG games don't have DRM to stop sharing it with friends, does it mean I am allowed to share all my GOG games with all my friends?".

It would be odd if someone had replied to them "Sure, why not, I mean, GOG can't really tell if you have shared your games or not.". Or at least I thought so, but apparently I was wrong. :)


To OP: if you don't care what you are allowed to do and want to make sure Valve doesn't know your Steam account is being accessed on several different places maybe even simultaneously, it might be a good idea to disable internet connections on those PCs where you Steam is run in offline mode, or block Steam in the firewall, or some other way to make sure Steam can't connect to internet, even if it tried.

But if you feel you couldn't care less if Valve knows or not, by all means don't take any precautions. It might well be you won't get into any trouble anyway, even in a form of (temporary) account ban.