Planning on scamming and phishing today on Steam with your army of robot accounts? Well, business just got a little expensive because Valve has now implemented ”limited user restrictions” on all newly created accounts.
Unless those newbie accounts pony up $5 through Steam purchases (activating retail keys and receiving gifts doesn’t count) then you’ll be unable to harass your fellow man with spam invites!
This measure was taken ”as a means of protecting our customers from those who abuse Steam for purposes such as spamming and phishing.” $5 needs to be put into your Steam Wallet, or purchase something equal to $5 or more, but it must add up to $5 USD, so dirty foreigner fun money doesn’t directly count but will be converted ”using daily exchange rates.”
What features are being cut off?
▪ Sending friend invites
▪ Opening group chat
▪ Voting on Greenlight, Steam Reviews and Workshop items
▪ Participating in the Steam Market
▪ Posting frequently in the Steam Discussions
▪ Gaining Steam Profile Levels (Locked to level 0) and Trading Cards
▪ Submitting content on the Steam Workshop
▪ Posting in an item’s Steam Workshop Discussions
▪ Accessing the Steam Web API
▪ Using browser and mobile chat
If at any time your ”account’s total purchase value” falls below $5 then you get limited access, so getting refunds through bank accounts won’t provide a workaround. ”For example, if you purchase a game for $5 USD, your account will gain access to these Community features. If you open a dispute with your bank, these funds will be returned to the bank and you will lose access to these features because Steam never received the funds,” they explained.
This should hopefully curtail the irritating wave of level 0 Steam users suddenly bombarding people with friend requests and the like.
Check out the Steam Support page on Limited User Accounts for more.