If someone'd use VPN for activation of some games, Steam would do this? Oh my god, I'm so scared! Steam is cruel!
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CD key activation via VPN is fine I heard. A lot of the top collectors do that to get every single version of a game. What you shouldn't do is activate steamgifts via VPN, you are circumventing steam prices with that and it's a real no-go for Valve.
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Steam does not actually prevent you from using your account if you get banned. You won't be able to use the community features, but you can still play your games.
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I know what the SSA says, I'm just saying that this is how being banned for VPN usage was described on the forums by users who were affected by it. I haven't experienced it first hand.
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Valve no longer restricts access or kills account anymore.
They merely disable everything except the ability to play existing games.
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In one case, Steam isn't earning their full cut of money if you circumvent region locks. In the other case, with using SAM, you're not affecting Steam's bottom line, so they couldn't care less.
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I read that a lot of people use VPN without having any problems, but I also meet someone who used it like 3 or 4 times, and he got "banned". He still can play all the games he had, but he can't buy new ones, or use the market or any community feature. I always feel tempted to use VPN to buy russian games, but I rather wait until I can find a good deal for RoW version and keep my account safe.
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Uh...
Anyone who has had their account locked due to VPN use is unlikely to be active on Steamgifts, since they will be unable to activate any games they win, and may be banned from using many of the community features.
That being the case, you're only going to hear the "success stories"...
Anyway, I shouldn't post because I've never used a VPN. There are numerous tales of woe on the internet from people who have been banned for using them, but you don't want to hear that.
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Ok, right. But many people use SG for the discussions. They feel like they're talking with friends when they're writing here. Ya know, there's not a big chance to win a game. So many people use this site because of great community not because of GAs.
The second thing I wanted to say, If I'd got banned, I would probably make a new account. Some other people might do so.
And the last thing, they might write stories about their friends. Yeah, I know. It's written bad 'cause I wrote "If you haven't tried it, DO NOT write here." but I meant if you don't know anything about it, only read the Steam rules, do not write here. But if you or your friend experienced it, you're welcome. :)
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I'm not disputing that many people use SG primarily for discussions, but can you even log into Steamgifts with a locked account? I thought a lot of the standard features got nuked if your account fell foul of Gaben's iron fist, but there doesn't seem to be a lot of information to confirm or deny that rumour. Valve are notoriously evasive when it comes to publicly documenting the punishments and systems used to deal with people who break their rules (understandably, I guess)...
Anyway, good luck with your search for information. Stay safe out there :)
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is saving 3 or 4 bucks really worth risking your account? I mean even if the risk is say 2-3%, it's still a risk of loosing an account.
About experience - one of my friends bought a game which was unavailable in his region. His account was blocked, he had to write a ticket to the support to explain, the game was removed from his library and the block was removed but he got a warning from the support. The End.
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I said I won't try it 'cause of that risk. But this disscussion is great for one thing. Almost everyone of ya has the same opinion. "DO NOT DO THIS". Now, when I'll show this discussion to my friend, it will be better for him I think. He thinks there's no risk and I think he doesn't even wanna know about what might happen so he says "It's alright.". When he'll see this discussion, he might stop it and keep his account safe. That's the main reason for creating this topic. :)
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I tried it few years ago, and I got suspended. I had a pretty hard time to get it back, but in the end I was very lucky.
Dont do it, it is not worth for those few bucks. No way
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Thank you, that's the type of comment I wanted here :)
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use a seperate account for this, if necessary. i would not risk the primary for such a thing.
not tried yet, but that would be the way i'd do it.
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Achievements are activated locally so there is (usually) no harm if you hack them in but in case of VPN games you're paying less to get more and trying to cheat Steam servers. They are losing money becasue of this => they want to stop you, so don't be surprised if one day shit will hit the fan if they investigate deep enough to find you.
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If you are hell bent on saving a few bucks then use a alt account for the dirt cheap games and ones that are single player or you intend to only play single player,that way if you at least get banned from everything but your games then you can at least play them.
I am not sure if is worth that kind of hassle but i suppose it depends on the person.
I know a lot people say is it really worth the hassle to save a couple bucks but in some cases it is a lot more then that.
I also suppose that is why cheating is still an issue as using vpn allows them to buy it again with another account,or in TF2 case just make another account lol.
Either way i would not risk it,unless you have money to burn but in that case it would be pointless to do vpn lol
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One of my friends wanted to buy a game. He got to an internet shop. In that shop they were selling the game he wanted. But there were two versions. ROW and region locked (RU/CIS). The region locked version was much cheaper so decided to buy this one. He went offline on Steam, used a VPN programme and activated the game like he was in Russia. It was a quite long time ago. And few days ago he did it again with another game. He says there's no problem with it and everything's fine. I asked him if there's no risk to get banned. He said something stupid like "I saw a guy that has all the achievements in games he has never played. And he has never been banned. Why would I get banned for this?".
I wanna know your experiences with it. Don't write me things like "Never tried it but I'm sure u'll get banned." or something like that. If you haven't tried it, DO NOT write here. Wanna know only your own experience. How many times did you try it, if something happened...
And what might happen if Steam actually cares about this? Ban you forever? Can you get your account back somehow? Or they'd only remove the game?
I won't try it, losing my account would be my death but wanna know about this.
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