I see what you're saying now, and apologize for my confusion earlier.
Basically you want to lend your games as easily as lending CDs. You can't do that because on the Steam platform they have to be tied to an account. Meantime, Valve is trying to minimize so-called piracy, and maximize their profits, by requiring you to tie into an account.
As long as you're not trying to pass games around it's a pretty decent platform. But I can see that it's annoying for your situation.
OK, I just re-read and re-thought this. It sounds like you want to own ONE COPY of each game between you. And moreover you're complaining that this disallows you both from playing the same game simultaneously? Yes?
I understand you want to save money but Valve has a right to limit your play to the number of copies you've paid for.
If that's not what you meant, I apologize. But Valve isn't likely to want to spend a lot of resources trying to support this rather unusual edge case: two accounts, one shared game. So, yeah, it might work that you want to have one Steam account per game. But it seems like a lot of hassle to save a few dollars for a game you both like enough that you're fighting over resources.
OTOH they're pretty easy-going about other limitations (and this actually relates back to the original subject). For example, I recently visited my GF's house, installed Steam on her computer, copied over my files, signed into my account, and was up and running in short order. As long as she doesn't decide to try to play at her house while I'm playing at home (she won't) there shouldn't be a problem. No nonsense and no hassle, it Just Worked.
I don't understand. If you each have one Steam account, each of you should be able to play one game at a time -- and if you're both playing the same game, since you're on different accounts, it doesn't matter any more than it matters that I and a friend 2000 miles away are both playing TFC.
The accounts aren't tied to a computer or an IP address, they're tied to an account name and password. If your account owns a copy of CS, and your account owns a copy of CS, there's no reason on God's green Earth why you shouldn't both be able to play them simultaneously. Nor why you shouldn't be able to play Portal while she's playing DM. The two accounts are completely independent.
I don't understand how this translates into needing one Steam account per game; you just need one per person. Just like it works for everybody else.
First: yes, you will have just as many power supplies as items to be powered and/or recharged. Nothing new there. (Oh, that's not counting their power supply hub. But we'll ignore that for the moment.) Yes, these supplies will cost more initially than the present ones. But like any investment, it's supposed to save you money in the long run.
On the other hand, when your cell phone dies, or your electric razor, or your battery charger, you can buy a new one without buying a new power supply -- because the power supply is universal, see? Less waste in the landfill, less use of resources (one less supply to build), less money to buy the new item.
And if you dash off on a trip and forget your cell phone charger, but remember your electric razor charger -- hey, no problem! They'll just have to take turns. Or you can charge them both at night because you're not using your laptop.
In fact, any decent hotel will have a charger installed right in the wall. Just in case.
Or you're staying at a friend's house; you can borrow his.
As for the supply being bulky, they've already got a supply that can adjust to any voltage in its range.
Since the supply actually talks to the device, it will know when the device is charged, and turn itself off. Unlike the current average wall wart, it will stop using power (or only use a miniscule trickle) if the device doesn't need power.
So: Initial expense will be higher, but you'll be able to save on later purchases (because you can re-use the old supply), you'll save on power (because of lower vampiric power draw), and all the power supplies will be interchangeable.
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I see what you're saying now, and apologize for my confusion earlier.
Basically you want to lend your games as easily as lending CDs. You can't do that because on the Steam platform they have to be tied to an account. Meantime, Valve is trying to minimize so-called piracy, and maximize their profits, by requiring you to tie into an account.
As long as you're not trying to pass games around it's a pretty decent platform. But I can see that it's annoying for your situation.
OK, I just re-read and re-thought this. It sounds like you want to own ONE COPY of each game between you. And moreover you're complaining that this disallows you both from playing the same game simultaneously? Yes?
I understand you want to save money but Valve has a right to limit your play to the number of copies you've paid for.
If that's not what you meant, I apologize. But Valve isn't likely to want to spend a lot of resources trying to support this rather unusual edge case: two accounts, one shared game. So, yeah, it might work that you want to have one Steam account per game. But it seems like a lot of hassle to save a few dollars for a game you both like enough that you're fighting over resources.
OTOH they're pretty easy-going about other limitations (and this actually relates back to the original subject). For example, I recently visited my GF's house, installed Steam on her computer, copied over my files, signed into my account, and was up and running in short order. As long as she doesn't decide to try to play at her house while I'm playing at home (she won't) there shouldn't be a problem. No nonsense and no hassle, it Just Worked.
I don't understand. If you each have one Steam account, each of you should be able to play one game at a time -- and if you're both playing the same game, since you're on different accounts, it doesn't matter any more than it matters that I and a friend 2000 miles away are both playing TFC.
The accounts aren't tied to a computer or an IP address, they're tied to an account name and password. If your account owns a copy of CS, and your account owns a copy of CS, there's no reason on God's green Earth why you shouldn't both be able to play them simultaneously. Nor why you shouldn't be able to play Portal while she's playing DM. The two accounts are completely independent.
I don't understand how this translates into needing one Steam account per game; you just need one per person. Just like it works for everybody else.
I would think that two Steam accounts is all you'd need -- one per person, not one per game.
If there are two people playing, at least if you expect them to play simultaneously, then you really should have two accounts anyway.
(Understand that I'm assuming there are more than two games. My account, for example, has a bunch. It's not my intention to split hairs.)
First: yes, you will have just as many power supplies as items to be powered and/or recharged. Nothing new there. (Oh, that's not counting their power supply hub. But we'll ignore that for the moment.) Yes, these supplies will cost more initially than the present ones. But like any investment, it's supposed to save you money in the long run.
On the other hand, when your cell phone dies, or your electric razor, or your battery charger, you can buy a new one without buying a new power supply -- because the power supply is universal, see? Less waste in the landfill, less use of resources (one less supply to build), less money to buy the new item.
And if you dash off on a trip and forget your cell phone charger, but remember your electric razor charger -- hey, no problem! They'll just have to take turns. Or you can charge them both at night because you're not using your laptop.
In fact, any decent hotel will have a charger installed right in the wall. Just in case.
Or you're staying at a friend's house; you can borrow his.
As for the supply being bulky, they've already got a supply that can adjust to any voltage in its range.
Since the supply actually talks to the device, it will know when the device is charged, and turn itself off. Unlike the current average wall wart, it will stop using power (or only use a miniscule trickle) if the device doesn't need power.
So: Initial expense will be higher, but you'll be able to save on later purchases (because you can re-use the old supply), you'll save on power (because of lower vampiric power draw), and all the power supplies will be interchangeable.
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