Account Sharing Question

[Archived Post]

I asked this in another thread a few days ago, but have yet to get a reply--maybe this will be more productive. If possible, I'd like a dev to answer...

My understanding of TOS--the rules, not the series--is that sharing an account is at the very least frowned upon, if not outright banned. I'm wondering then, how does a family, or group of people living together, play STO on the same computer? Would each person have to suscribe, or be content with just the demo? I was thinking a family might each have his/her own character on an account.
Or is the assumption that such a group would have their own computers?

[Archived Post]

I don't see an issue of multiple people using one account. You are paying for the game, and you're not hacking it to get extra character slots. Also, there's no way to tell if all characters are done by one person or more, so don't worry about it.

[Archived Post]

In most MMOs (not too sure how it works with STO), it is against TOS for multiple people to play on the same account. Same computer, fine, but different accounts, which means different subscriptions. it doesn't matter if each person is using the same installation of STO to play since each account would have paid for it seperately anyway, and each would be paying the monthly sub.

[Archived Post]

It is all fine and good until your little brother shares your login info with that idiot friend of his who then logs in and says a ton of stuff in chat that gets you silenced and banned, and deletes all your stuff or renames your ships U.S.S. (Male Genetalia) and U.S.S. (Sex Act).:mad:

So yeah go ahead and ignore the don't share your account info warnings like the one stickied on the page you looked at when entering this section of the forum.;) http://forums.startrekonline.com/showpost.php?p=2292846&postcount=1

[Archived Post]

I think anyone who expects you not to share something you bought with your family should go and have a long, drawn out conversation in a mirror.

That said, heed Capn Bludd's words. :)

[Archived Post]

Long story short:

Yes: It is against the TOS
Yes: Each playing member whould have to buy their own copy of the game (althoug they can share the same computer).
Yes: You risk a ban if they find out. (And saing "Don't worry about it, dosen't change the fact that all fraud is eventually discovered... It is just a matter of time and how).

Why is it so? Easy: 1 supscription with 5 players = $15 each month. 5 supscriptions with 1 player = $75 each month.

Also as has been mentioned there is alot of risk involved when you share your account info, and you can't all play at the same time, if you have individual computers.

[Archived Post]

the best way is if there is one computer to all have different accounts logins.

it is against the rules to share. if you decide to share, cryptic have no way of telling that you are doing it, but if something went wrong (ie your friend or family member deleted your account), its all on your head.

my advise is dont do it, even if you trust another person, dont take the risk. besides its always better not to break the rules, even if they are damn near impossible for cryptic to enforce.

[Archived Post]

It should be obvious by my asking these questions that I'm not interested in commiting "fraud" or any other dishonesty. If I was, I wouldn't be asking these questions...on a public forum, no less. The insinuation by a couple of folks that I'm looking in that direction is as baffling as it is insulting.
What I've found here, and correct me if I'm getting this wrong, is all the character slots you have on your account can only be used by whoever's name the account is in. Presumably, so a single person could experience playing different characters (one Federation, one Klingon for example). So, if you have more than one person in your household, they would have to buy an additional account.
What I'm still a bit unclear on is if you actually have to also buy multiple games (which can take up a lot of room on the HD!) as well. If you're already paying a seperate monthly subcription fee for each account, I would think everything was paid for. If possible, I'd like a little more clarification by the devs on this.

Not becuase of any sinister plot to "fraud" anyone, but just (I thought) a reasonable desire not to inadvertantly trample over policies and get on their bad side.

[Archived Post]

It should be obvious by my asking these questions that I'm not interested in commiting "fraud" or any other dishonesty. If I was, I wouldn't be asking these questions...on a public forum, no less. The insinuation by a couple of folks that I'm looking in that direction is as baffling as it is insulting.
What I've found here, and correct me if I'm getting this wrong, is all the character slots you have on your account can only be used by whoever's name the account is in. Presumably, so a single person could experience playing different characters (one Federation, one Klingon for example). So, if you have more than one person in your household, they would have to buy an additional account.
What I'm still a bit unclear on is if you actually have to also buy multiple games (which can take up a lot of room on the HD!) as well. If you're already paying a seperate monthly subcription fee for each account, I would think everything was paid for. If possible, I'd like a little more clarification by the devs on this.

Not becuase of any sinister plot to "fraud" anyone, but just (I thought) a reasonable desire not to inadvertantly trample over policies and get on their bad side.

...:confused: you buy the additional game to get the additional account. You then register the new account, and when you want to play you log in under the account you want to use. That is all you have to do. https://www.startrekonline.com/user/register

[Archived Post]

To my knowledge, family members can play the game on the SAME computer with the SAME account bt must share. Also, if there are more then 3family members who want to play STO, additional character slots must be purchased.

It is impossible for any 2 or more family members to be on the same account at the same time. To fix this problem, you will need to purchase additional STO boxes for each family member. (and more coms)

[Archived Post]

It should be obvious by my asking these questions that I'm not interested in commiting "fraud" or any other dishonesty. If I was, I wouldn't be asking these questions...on a public forum, no less. The insinuation by a couple of folks that I'm looking in that direction is as baffling as it is insulting.
What I've found here, and correct me if I'm getting this wrong, is all the character slots you have on your account can only be used by whoever's name the account is in. Presumably, so a single person could experience playing different characters (one Federation, one Klingon for example). So, if you have more than one person in your household, they would have to buy an additional account.
What I'm still a bit unclear on is if you actually have to also buy multiple games (which can take up a lot of room on the HD!) as well. If you're already paying a seperate monthly subcription fee for each account, I would think everything was paid for. If possible, I'd like a little more clarification by the devs on this.

Not becuase of any sinister plot to "fraud" anyone, but just (I thought) a reasonable desire not to inadvertantly trample over policies and get on their bad side.

no one is suggesting that you are trying to commit fraud or are some evil mastermind but you asked the question and people are providing the facts as they stand. if you share your account you are, whether you realise it or not or agree with it or not breaking the rules . thats just the facts (a fact that i did not know until today either until i looked it up).

now you do not need to install the game a second time you only need one copy of the game on your computer at any one time. BUT you do need the key that comes with the game for the second person. the second person then creates their own unique account with their own log in details. so whilst you have to buy multiple copies you only need one client installed at a time.

you can both use the same client (just not at the same time obviously)

[Archived Post]

I wonder how many time we can reinstall the game, or if there is a limit?
I have had to do a full reinstall due to PC problems and now the game will not launch- regardless of what PC I put it on. So I was curiuos if the game key has a limit?

[Archived Post]

I wonder how many time we can reinstall the game, or if there is a limit?
I have had to do a full reinstall due to PC problems and now the game will not launch- regardless of what PC I put it on. So I was curiuos if the game key has a limit?

There is no limit on installations of the game client. Your game key can only be activated once on one account. Access to the game depends on your subscription status. If you cancel your subscription and come back later, you only need to pay the subscription fee to get access again (subscription fees don't apply if you bought a lifetime membership).

[Archived Post]

no one is suggesting that you are trying to commit fraud or are some evil mastermind but you asked the question and people are providing the facts as they stand. if you share your account you are, whether you realise it or not or agree with it or not breaking the rules . thats just the facts (a fact that i did not know until today either until i looked it up).
Thanks for clearing that up. The way I read the original replies, it seemed to me the tone was somewhat accusatory. I wasn't questioning the rules, I just wanted to make sure I understood them (and since I didn't, it's good I asked) . Glad to see I read the posts in question wrong.


now you do not need to install the game a second time you only need one copy of the game on your computer at any one time. BUT you do need the key that comes with the game for the second person. the second person then creates their own unique account with their own log in details. so whilst you have to buy multiple copies you only need one client installed at a time.

you can both use the same client (just not at the same time obviously)
This right here is the information I was looking for. Thanks.

[Archived Post]

Things in TOS's about not sharing accounts are pretty much unenforceable. There's no way for anyone to find out, especially if it's only people in your own family. There's still a risk to doing it, and there's the major downside of not being able to play together.

[Archived Post]

the tos rules about shareing of account info boils down to this:

if you lose your account, its on your head, you dont get special treatment of a free account with restored character levels and gear, you shared info, someone broke your stuff, its gone.

if someone does something that gets your account banned while they are using it, its gone, they dont repeal bans because you shared info and it wasnt you that got it banned.



so in the end, just dont share accounts, no matter how implicitly trustworthy you think the other party/parties are, its in human nature to always betray backstab and hurt those around you. not to mention drunkeness and drugs getting involved.