20,000 Steam Accounts Disabled

The Steam Users Forums (thanks Shacknews) announces that Valve called shenanigans on approximately 20,000 Steam user accounts yesterday, and has disabled access to them. Word is: "The method used was extremely easy for Valve to trace and confirm, and so there is no question that the accounts disabled were used to try and illegally obtain Half-Life 2." The post goes on to describe the circumstances under which Steam accounts will be revoked, as well as avenues to follow should you feel your account was banned erroneously. They also go on to debunk what has become the popular myth that they released a bug to the warez circuit to entrap pirates:
Valve did not put out any kind of fake key or fake warez or hack instructions to trap people. The hack came from the "community" as do they all.
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232 Replies. 12 pages. Viewing page 4.
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172.
 
sTeamy
Nov 24, 2004, 06:48
un4
sTeamy Nov 24, 2004, 06:48
Nov 24, 2004, 06:48
un4
 
20,000 Steam Accounts Disabled

OHH...VALVE...u sexy stud muffins if i had a virgina i would be so wet right now....
im going to bed tonight with just my halflife tshirt on and play with my self...

171.
 
Re: It blows
Nov 24, 2004, 06:36
Re: It blows Nov 24, 2004, 06:36
Nov 24, 2004, 06:36
 
#167

You are incorrect, even if you buy DVD, there is a simple way to redownload it off steam and play it without DVD in drive. Then there are 2 iso/rip releases that play HL2 without even a need for steam account, or steam even running.

"On 2646.215 I myself attacked & destroyed TCS Tiger's Claw in my Jalthi heavy fighter"
Bakhtosh Redclaw Nar Kiranka
Avatar 7413
170.
 
Re: NEXT big game?
Nov 24, 2004, 06:34
Re: NEXT big game? Nov 24, 2004, 06:34
Nov 24, 2004, 06:34
 
#169

Use a brain, PS2 got GTA San Andres right now.

"On 2646.215 I myself attacked & destroyed TCS Tiger's Claw in my Jalthi heavy fighter"
Bakhtosh Redclaw Nar Kiranka
Avatar 7413
169.
 
NEXT big game?
Nov 24, 2004, 06:16
jim
NEXT big game? Nov 24, 2004, 06:16
Nov 24, 2004, 06:16
jim
 
well...lets see.. xbox got halo2...pc got..HL2.. game cube got dragonball z 3, who the hell knows what PS2 got, so i wonder what the next BIG release is???

168.
 
.
Nov 24, 2004, 06:01
. Nov 24, 2004, 06:01
Nov 24, 2004, 06:01
 
Is this the Post that makes this Thread better ? ............. NO!

167.
 
Re: It blows
Nov 24, 2004, 05:30
Re: It blows Nov 24, 2004, 05:30
Nov 24, 2004, 05:30
 
You have to go through the process of installing the game off the CD and registering it. After that, you'll be able to use the key to download off of Steam, and use the Steam version of the game.

Have you actually tried? No? Thought so. We have. I bought via Steam, a friend bought retail. He absolutely has to have the DVD in the drive. He can totally uninstall, reinstall via Steam, copy my .gcf files, even login on my machine that does not know about DVDs and Vivendi. He has to have his DVD, it is tied to his account, Steam downloads a special file called source shared securom.gcf. This file now is in my SteamApps folder, ever since he logged in. I do not need a DVD on my machine, he does. Sucks big time.

Edit: clarification and typos

This comment was edited on Nov 24, 05:32.
166.
 
No subject
Nov 24, 2004, 05:18
No subject Nov 24, 2004, 05:18
Nov 24, 2004, 05:18
 
"You don't need to make it sound like a sob-story, as if Valve are being hard hard done by. Every developer who wants their game on a store shelf has to work by those conditions."

Thats the point, its a sob-story for every developer, Valve included, so they decided to take initiative and create a program that allows them to sell directly, smart move if you ask me, and its good for the customers too, dont see how anyone could fault them for this.


"If they wanted to avoid the costs of putting Half-Life 2 on the shelves, they could have simply sold direct to the online customer (only), the same way self-publishing indie developers have been doing it for years."

Its not about avoiding the costs, they must put their product on the shelves, its much to popular to distribute it online only, it just wouldnt work, and we would see 1000times the anti-steam shit going around the net, people would protest Valve to sell it in stores, and it would destroy them if they didnt.

Its about trying to corner that decent chunk of the market thats willing to purchase online, and they dont mind not having a box or manual (you can make a backup CD though). They know they have a very large percentage of fans who would be willing to choose this option, and at the same time they can bypass their publisher overhead costs, its a win-win situation.

165.
 
Re: morons
Nov 24, 2004, 04:54
Re: morons Nov 24, 2004, 04:54
Nov 24, 2004, 04:54
 
"The reason behind steam is to give 100% of the money paid for the product to the DEVELOPER as opposed to Vivendi/Havas/Universal/Sierra/"Evil-Dog-Empire-of-Satan"."


You don't need to make it sound like a sob-story, as if Valve are being hard hard done by. Every developer who wants their game on a store shelf has to work by those conditions. Somehow I doubt Steam is only about taking all the profits. If they wanted to avoid the costs of putting Half-Life 2 on the shelves, they could have simply sold direct to the online customer (only), the same way self-publishing indie developers have been doing it for years. There's much more to Steam, I guarentee. All the authentication hoo-hah is as much about making the game player Valve's bitch, as it is about cutting out the middle man.

164.
 
Re: morons
Nov 24, 2004, 04:20
Re: morons Nov 24, 2004, 04:20
Nov 24, 2004, 04:20
 
Do some math. Half-life gave Valve more than $100,000,000. At $2 a pop, that would be 50,000,000 games sold. No game has ever sold that much. Ever.


Well at least you posted under the right subject line. Moron!


163.
 
Re: morons
Nov 24, 2004, 04:14
Re: morons Nov 24, 2004, 04:14
Nov 24, 2004, 04:14
 
The average developer, if they are *lucky*, gets ~$6 per unit sold.

I hear its more like $2 (and thats AFTER they pay off any advances they got from the publisher)


----------------------------------------------------------------------
"Sometimes I dream about....cheese. Here, have a medkit"
- Half Life 2 NPC
This comment was edited on Nov 24, 04:15.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
"Both the “left” and the “right” pretend they have the answer, but they are mere flippers on the same thalidomide baby, and the truth is that neither side has a clue."

- Jim Goad
Avatar 10137
162.
 
Re: morons
Nov 24, 2004, 04:06
Re: morons Nov 24, 2004, 04:06
Nov 24, 2004, 04:06
 
Static: you are a total moron. The reason behind steam is to give 100% of the money paid for the product to the DEVELOPER as opposed to Vivendi/Havas/Universal/Sierra/"Evil-Dog-Empire-of-Satan".

The average developer, if they are *lucky*, gets ~$6 per unit sold. On a $50 game. Publishers get around $30, and the retailer gets, through a series of insane funny-business with "product placement charges," around 10-15 bucks.

This comes from direct experience with the insanity known as the Developer-publisher-retail "relationship."

These are the people that worked on the game, not some "money grubbing dicks." I find it insanely insensitive, moronic, and showing a complete and utter lack of understanding of (1) how the distribution channel works, and (2) how much developers get SCREWED by publishers and storefronts.

Hint: Steam is nothing compared to what the credit card companies know about you. Want to bitch about something? Bitch about how AmEx and Visa sell your purchasing profile to everyone under the sun without your knowledge or consent, rather than griping about how people who worked their asses off for the past five years are making sure that they get paid for their hard work and time spent away from their families working on a damn game.

Quit being such an ignoramus. You're basically bitching about how you can't jack your neigbors car because he installed an alarm in it.

^D^

This comment was edited on Nov 24, 04:10.
161.
 
Re: morons
Nov 24, 2004, 03:03
Re: morons Nov 24, 2004, 03:03
Nov 24, 2004, 03:03
 
You know the discussion has lost all relevance when someone compared Steam to Hitler.


Yeah! Beside, I already did that last week!

Now I'm more into comparing sTeam to Stalin.

Killed more people then Hitler and the Left still love him! The NY TIMES still mourns!

Water Empire!

Plus, they both start with the same letters. The sTe sTa

This comment was edited on Nov 24, 03:04.
160.
 
Re: MapleBob...
Nov 24, 2004, 02:59
Re: MapleBob... Nov 24, 2004, 02:59
Nov 24, 2004, 02:59
 
I'm not talking about the 20,000, I'm talking about me.

Sure my game will be part of that stat, but if I could take my money back now, I would.

I hate sTeam.

159.
 
Re: morons
Nov 24, 2004, 02:45
Re: morons Nov 24, 2004, 02:45
Nov 24, 2004, 02:45
 
Steam = Hitler?

I suppose those 20,000 pirates were Jews.

158.
 
Re: morons
Nov 24, 2004, 02:42
Re: morons Nov 24, 2004, 02:42
Nov 24, 2004, 02:42
 
You know the discussion has lost all relevance when someone compared Steam to Hitler.

157.
 
Re: morons
Nov 24, 2004, 02:03
Re: morons Nov 24, 2004, 02:03
Nov 24, 2004, 02:03
 
Honestly, for a little more 'safety' I would give up a little bit of my privacy. I mean if I have nothing to hide, then what is the problem?

Half Life 2 and Steam work fine for me. Why's that? I dunno... maybe cause I bought the game, and don't have to worry about using the programs.

Avatar 12670
156.
 
MapleBob...
Nov 24, 2004, 02:00
MapleBob... Nov 24, 2004, 02:00
Nov 24, 2004, 02:00
 
I just don't understand your comment about Valve alienating their customer base. If they have the software illegally then how are they a customer? I have a gut feeling that when the sales figures come out for November that Half Life sales will be extremly high (not Halo 2 high but good for a PC game), And that the sales numbers coulda been 20 grand higher had people actually bought the game. I mean you should go over to the steam forums and listen to the lame excuses people are coming up with. For Example: 'My regular cd key wasn't working so i was using an illegal one' etc etc etc.

I guess what is really scarey is the mentallity of people who think that it's 1) ok , and 2) some of the reason's why it's ok to do so.

Avatar 12670
155.
 
morons
Nov 24, 2004, 02:00
morons Nov 24, 2004, 02:00
Nov 24, 2004, 02:00
 
You guys buy into the hype over this stupid game and support a company that will do for gaming what Hitler did for Germany. These money grubing dicks will piss on your freedom and privacy in the name of a dollor and you dumb asses support them like pie eyed school girls on prom night.

I bet you morons have a soloflex under the bed, a strainer pot in the cabnet and a 10 vhs tape collection of "how to get rich in 30 days with no startup cash" collecting dust in the hall closet. Sad thing is your fat, eat fast food every night, and are 20,000 in debt to visa and/or mastercard.

154.
 
Re: This isn't the first time....
Nov 24, 2004, 01:52
Re: This isn't the first time.... Nov 24, 2004, 01:52
Nov 24, 2004, 01:52
 
....that it has occured to me that it doesn't matter what anyone says here, someone else knows more, better, bullshits better, etc.

I completely disagree, I've been here longer and no one knows better than me. =)

We have a lot of nerds in different genres here. Some know networks well, some know law well, some know how to make really rambling points and convince people he is serious well. If you take bits and pieces of everyone you'll get something close to the truth.

153.
 
Re: This isn't the first time....
Nov 24, 2004, 01:50
Re: This isn't the first time.... Nov 24, 2004, 01:50
Nov 24, 2004, 01:50
 
all you people who are rah-rah-ing steam, just remember this day when Valve starts charging you for steam access. Steam has always been about control. Valve saw the dozens upon dozens of mods that HL1 inspired and smacked themselves on the head that they couldn't control it and profit to the degree that they would like.

oh yes it's coming

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