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what happens if i try to activate a better version of a game i already own?

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KillingArts
(Senior Moderator)

Hey guys! :)

I have a question and hope, someone already tried this. what if i have for example deus ex human revolution in my accout, and i then try to activate the augmented edition? does that even work? i read something about steam preventing cases like that (don't remember where i read it though). and if so: does steam warn me that i already own a different version of the game or will it insta-activate? if it warns, this could be a way of testing at least some of the keys i get by trading on SteamTrades. i was thinking about how to be able to test keys i don't wanna activate instantly (e.g. when i trade something for multiple keys of a coop game, i only want to activate one for myself).

is this even the right place to ask SteamTrades related questions? didn't want to ask in the ST forum, as there seem to be only trade threads... ^^

12 years ago*

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20 Comments
TheMagicaos1

It will give you steam gifts of the games you already own and will receive what you don't own.

12 years ago
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Carenard

no, you do not always get a gift version of what you already own, actually most of the time it will just upgrade your activation to what the key is for

12 years ago
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TheMagicaos1

i was kinda confused while reading this thread
but i looked back and it's about activating a key, so the guy above me is right.

12 years ago
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KakitaKaiyo

There are very few games where the extra copies (like from activating a bundle) turn into gift versions, and they're almost exclusively Valve titles.

12 years ago
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TheGannet

unfortunately I've been told that usually(almost always) that doesn't happen. I think mostly it just scraps whatever you have and gives you the new version(or throws out the duplicate in teh key and only installs the addons not sure what order it does it in but the result either way is that you don't get a spare copy in a new key. the extra is just lost.)

edit- too quick on the trigger in my reply didn't read past this before typing. you've already been replied to about that...

12 years ago
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Krnzmaster

What about a gift? if u try to activate the gift will u get the better version and get a steam gift of the base game? like borderlands GOTY but u have borderlands regular already installed, will u get GOTY edition and borderlands back as a gift? wondering b/c u said it could happen on first post.

12 years ago
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Throgan

It will just upgrade to the better version. I´ve got CIV 5...a few months ago i bought the GOTY edition and the addon. I activated GOTY edition and got an upgrade to my old version. No warning and none extra keys, just as expected =)

12 years ago
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Raverkid

This only works if the game in question counts as two separate games. For example, I have Batman Arkham City and Batman Arkham City GotY on my account because Steam treats them as two completely different products. DE:HR and DE:HR AE are treated as a single product, which is really stupid if you ask me.

12 years ago
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misterhaan

i did a similar thing with a dungeon defenders complete key -- already had the game with a couple dlc, then got a complete key from a bundle and activated that -- it gave me access to all the dlc and didn't complain about already having it. it didn't offer to install the game though, since i already had it installed :)

12 years ago
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Raverkid

I've tried this. If you have regular Deus Ex HR and try to add the Augmented Edition it won't work and says that you already have it. So I tried a different method of activating the Deus Ex bundle (all the games) which includes the Augmented Edition. It said I owned one or more of the games already (which technically I did, all of them) instead of saying "no you can't do that because you own all of these" like it is supposed to. So it allowed it and afterwards I still didn't have the Augmented Edition. Basically the bundle just disappeared into the ether. So I complained to Steam support and they said that Steam is glitched when it comes to different editions of the same game and it will probably remain that way. Anyway they put the bundle back into my inventory as a courtesy since the system is borked.

TLDNR: Once you have the regular edition, there is no easy way to get the Augmented Edition. :-(

12 years ago
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TheMonkofDestiny

Not that it matters, but the Augmented Edition content is a separate install from the tools menu vs. a listing that says "Deus Ex: Human Revolution Augmented Edition" in your library.

12 years ago
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Incog

Correct, it's all just soundtracks, artbooks, 'making of' videos and whatnot. So worst case scenario, you can set up an alt steam account, activate the key on THAT account, and then just copy the augmented edition bonuses onto your desktop. Or give it to a friend and have him send you the bonuses.

12 years ago
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TheMonkofDestiny

The main point I was driving at was that if he previously paid for Human Revolution vanilla and then later bought a pack that contained the Augmented content for it then the odds are high that he has the Augmented Edition of the game - there shouldn't be any need to go setting up dummy accounts or having someone else hand off the content for it.

I think the issue he had is the belief that the game listing itself was somehow supposed to be "Deus Ex: Human Revolution Augmented Edition" similar to how they've handled certain GOTY/"special" versions of other games (Plants vs. Zombies, Batman: Arkham Asylum/City, etc.) and the sad truth of it is that they don't always do it that way (Dead Island is proof of that).

12 years ago
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Incog

Ah, I see what you're saying now. So yes, he should definitely check if that content is already in his Deus Ex: HR folder, but in case it turns out he DOESN'T actually have the augmented edition, he can do what I suggested and get it.

12 years ago
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Raverkid

I don't have them BTW, or at least I didn't at the time... so I definitely won't now since Steam support reversed the pack back into my inventory. I thought about setting up an alt for the other bonus materials but I just don't care enough to bother with it.

12 years ago
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KillingArts
(Senior Moderator)

ok, interesting. thanks for your answers so far. :)

12 years ago
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ss9c1

33% chance of nothing happening, due to issues on Steams end.
Some work/upgrade, some don't.

12 years ago
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psydex

if you have Borderlands for example and then you activate Borderlands GOTY , it will simply upgrade your existing borderlands copy by adding all dlc's included in the GOTY version

12 years ago
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Xygon

Your computer explodes xD

12 years ago
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KaiserTroll

It either replaces the precedent game version by the new one (like from basic to GOTY), or adds a new entry (like what happens for some collections).

Only a few valve games get the duplicate to inventory treatment.

12 years ago
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Closed 12 years ago by KillingArts.