How many copies of Civ 5 do I need?

[JBConquests]

I play MP with my son. Him on my laptop, me on my desktop. I do own 2 copies of Civ 4 right now.

Will I need to own 2 copies of Civ 5 or will the licensing allow me to legally install the same copy on both computers?

 

[Ahriman]

We can't be 100% sure without seeing the license, but probably 2 copies.

 

[Toni1]

We can't be 100% sure without seeing the license, but probably 2 copies.

Doesn't that also mean 2 steam accounts or does Steam allow one account to own more than one license?

 

[2K Greg]

You will be able to install the game on as many computers as you want, but you will only be able to play on one of them at the same time. So if you wish to play simultaneous multiplayer with your son, you'd need to own two copies of the game between you.

 

[Ahriman]

Doesn't that also mean 2 steam accounts or does Steam allow one account to own more than one license?

AFAIK, 2 steam accounts.

 

[Gamemaster77]

I don't now about civ5 but in civ3 Conquest you just need the disc to start civ up and then you could take it out and put it in another computer.

 

[Toni1]

I don't now about civ5 but in civ3 Conquest you just need the disc to start civ up and then you could take it out and put it in another computer.

You are aware that Civ5 will use steamworks and all civ5 games, even if you buy them from retail, are tied to Steam accounts? If you've read any of the topics in this forum section, you should know this as most of them mention it in some way or form.

 

[Senethro]

The answer is probably 2 but if theres a LAN option in Offline mode you might be able to get away with 1.

 

[Gamemaster77]

You are aware that Civ5 will use steamworks and all civ5 games, even if you buy them from retail, are tied to Steam accounts? If you've read any of the topics in this forum section, you should know this as most of them mention it in some way or form.

Actually, I do, I kind of forgot that. So does this whole Steam mean that you have a limit to the number of computers you install a retail copy in? That would suck, but it seems like that's how it would work otherwise you could install it on all your friend's computers and tie it to many Steam accounts for them

 

[Ahriman]

So does this whole Steam mean that you have a limit to the number of computers you install a retail copy in?

No you can make as many installs as you like, but it limits the number of computers you can (legally) play a retail copy on at the same time (to 1). Just like pretty much any other license agreement.

 

[The_J]

You forgot to mention: There's no real "retail copy". Everything is connected to steam.

 

[JBConquests]

You will be able to install the game on as many computers as you want, but you will only be able to play on one of them at the same time. So if you wish to play simultaneous multiplayer with your son, you'd need to own two copies of the game between you.

Thanks for the info. I don't mind buying 2 copies.

AFAIK, 2 steam accounts.

2K Greg, can you confirm if I need 2 steam accounts or if I can use 1 account to register both licenses? One would think that Steam could handle something as simple as 1 customer owning multiple copies of a game.

However, Steam could be a major issue for my work laptop as I don't know if installing something like Steam is against my company policy or not. Games they don't mind but online, run in the background services such as Steam inheritantly come with security risks.

 

[JBConquests]

You forgot to mention: There's no real "retail copy". Everything is connected to steam.

If I buy the game from Wal-mart there sure is a "retail copy". I'll have a physical CD and everything right?

I just can't run it without loading steam.

 

[The_J]

If I buy the game from Wal-mart there sure is a "retail copy". I'll have a physical CD and everything right?

I just can't run it without loading steam.

Yes, but that's normaly not what i expect when i hear "retail copy", that's what i've meant.

 

[2K Greg]

2K Greg, can you confirm if I need 2 steam accounts or if I can use 1 account to register both licenses? One would think that Steam could handle something as simple as 1 customer owning multiple copies of a game.

Yes, you would need two Steam accounts. You could either make one for your son, or you could make a second account for yourself and allow him to use it. I personally have a second Steam account that I use sometimes when friends come over and we want to play a multiplayer game that they don't own.

However, Steam could be a major issue for my work laptop as I don't know if installing something like Steam is against my company policy or not. Games they don't mind but online, run in the background services such as Steam inheritantly come with security risks.

I don't know what your work policy is obviously, but you can tell Steam not to start with your OS. It would only need to be run "on demand" when you run Civ V from the shortcut.

You could also switch Steam to offline mode (after authenticating the game once while in online mode) to prevent it from patching or accessing the online features, if that's a concern.

 

[Gamemaster77]

Well that sucks, I need two copies if I want to play with friends! You'd think Steam would have something to make it so you could use it on multiple computers that are on the same LAN network or something.

 

[Ahriman]

Most games licenses require you to have multiple copies if you want to run the game simultaneously on multiple systems.

Doing so on a single license would often (not always) constitute piracy.

This isn't anything new or surprising.

 

[Schuesseled]

Steam is installed on a computer.

From thier you log in to your account, if another person say your son logs onto the same account on another computer it will log you off your account. Only 1 person (1 PC) may use it at one time. So if you wish to play together, or even both play single player at the same time completely seperate from each other you will need the two copies.

Its not so much CIV 5 limiting your ability to "cheat" as it were and only pay for 1 license, its just the way steam works. That only 1 person can use an account at one time, well thats the personal use package, If you run a lan-cafe or something I believe you can buy a much more expensive multi user package which supports many users per steam account. But I digress.

Your company shouldn't have any issue with Steam installed, if you don't want it loaded & online e.t.c while you are using it at work simply right click and exit it off the task bar. You can select it to not automatically load on start up too so when you want to use it for gaming only then load it up. So you know, it doesn't have to be on all the time in the background unless you want it to be. Updates will only download and install whilst the programme is running (in the background or otherwise) Which is the reason to leave it running, so you don't have to wait for any Updates to finish after turning it on when you should be gaming.

Edit : @ Gamemaster, tell your friends to get thier own copies. They should be at home on thier own computer with thier own copy playing with you over the internet. Lan based gaming is possible with Steam, but each person must have thier own steam account with thier own game, this is mobile however so they could still come over to your place and login to thier Steam on your spare computer and Lan with you. But to have only one copy of a game allowed to be played by multiple users over Lan on the same steam account, requires a special license. As now you are stepping into comerical cyber cafe territory, even if it's a personal LAN set up between friends, its the same as running your own cyber cafe free to your mates.

 

[Gamemaster77]

Steam is installed on a computer.

From thier you log in to your account, if another person say your son logs onto the same account on another computer it will log you off your account. Only 1 person (1 PC) may use it at one time. So if you wish to play together, or even both play single player at the same time completely seperate from each other you will need the two copies.

Its not so much CIV 5 limiting your ability to "cheat" as it were and only pay for 1 license, its just the way steam works. That only 1 person can use an account at one time, well thats the personal use package, If you run a lan-cafe or something I believe you can buy a much more expensive multi user package which supports many users per steam account. But I digress.

Your company shouldn't have any issue with Steam installed, if you don't want it loaded & online e.t.c while you are using it at work simply right click and exit it off the task bar. You can select it to not automatically load on start up too so when you want to use it for gaming only then load it up. So you know, it doesn't have to be on all the time in the background unless you want it to be. Updates will only download and install whilst the programme is running (in the background or otherwise) Which is the reason to leave it running, so you don't have to wait for any Updates to finish after turning it on when you should be gaming.

Edit : @ Gamemaster, tell your friends to get thier own copies. They should be at home on thier own computer with thier own copy playing with you over the internet. Lan based gaming is possible with Steam, but each person must have thier own steam account with thier own game, this is mobile however so they could still come over to your place and login to thier Steam on your spare computer and Lan with you. But to have only one copy of a game allowed to be played by multiple users over Lan on the same steam account, requires a special license. As now you are stepping into comerical cyber cafe territory, even if it's a personal LAN set up between friends, its the same as running your own cyber cafe free to your mates.

Well, i guess most of them will get their own copies anyway, but it would still be easier the other way. I guess since I haven't purchased a new PC game in a while this is all coming as one big thing to me. But even the DRM crazy spore from 08 worked on my computer without the cd for some reason.

 

[kaltorak]

If the same family living in the same house needs 2 copies, there is something wrong with greedy companies.