Question about Steam release and logins

[itspomf.9523]

So I'm aware that we cannot link our existing GW2 account to the one (presumably) created via our Steam accounts.  That's fine and makes sense (particularly because setting up the aliasing would be a potential nightmare).

What I want to know is the one thing that hasn't been addressed in any of the posts by Anet:  can we simply launch the client from Steam and then login using our existing account credentials?

 

In case you want to keep reading:

This entire question hinges on the presumption (because it is one) that Anet will not make an entirely new client for the Steam release, and simply use some Steam API or similar tool to handle the login details -- in essence, that you'll "bypass" the username and password entry phase and auto-login using your Steam account.  I've seen this done on a number of other games in the past, so it seems the likeliest course, as well as the path of least resistance (nevermind not having to maintain two separate development branches and worry about keeping an upstream build to draw everything from).

So, provided that the above is true, and the fact that Anet has only addressed linking accounts (similarly to how we could with GW1 to GW2), it got me wondering if there isn't a reason that "logging in from an existing account" (explicitly not linking it) hasn't been explained.

The reason I even bring it up is because I don't want to migrate to using Steam as my account, but I would like to be able to potentially manage the game through Steam, particularly for the possibility of using Proton on linux (rather than having to deal with the mess that is all the various installer scripts, custom builds, and everything else out there).  But if Anet has essentially decided that Steam users must create a Steam-based account, or cannot log in from an existing GW2 account, that's kind of a huge oversight, and would not only hamper adoption (I'm sure there are people who would come back to the game were it on Steam), but kind of void the entire point of getting it going on linux for the twenty or so of us who actually do that (or on a Steam Deck, for that matter).

But who knows.  Right now it's all speculation based on some very circumstantial information that's been given out even if we're less than a week away.

[Einsof.1457]

No. Edit: maybe. 

Edited August 17, 2022 by Einsof.1457

[Turin.6921]

I doubt it. Even when clients are used when loading through steam they are usually thin clients that by default only use the steam credentials. Also if you could use your anet account and connect it with all the other features that steam has, they possibly need to pay the steam fees. That is the whole point of the restrictions. To not have to pay fees for revenue from existing accounts. So i doubt you can use non steam credentials on the thin client.  

That being said what you want you can already do. Just add the Gw2 executable as a non-steam game and run it using proton. This is how most people play the game on the Deck as well. And Gw2 has been playable on Linux outside steam for years.

Edited August 17, 2022 by Turin.6921

[Mungrul.9358]

I currently run GW2 using Proton in Steam (Pop!_OS 22.04 if you're interested).

Works perfectly.

Yes, I would prefer a native Linux client in the long term, but for the time being this works fine.

 

Oh, and installing the game using Steam and Proton was a cinch compared to the other methods put together by the community.

[itspomf.9523]

On 8/17/2022 at 6:54 PM, Mungrul.9358 said:

I currently run GW2 using Proton in Steam (Pop!_OS 22.04 if you're interested).

Works perfectly.

Yes, I would prefer a native Linux client in the long term, but for the time being this works fine.

 

Oh, and installing the game using Steam and Proton was a cinch compared to the other methods put together by the community.

Extremely jealous of you, in that regard.  Every time I've attempted it, it never seems to be able to launch the client, even when copying over an existing install (to bypass the need to handle the installer).  No idea why, either, when every other Windows title I'd tested ran perfectly fine in Proton.