I get it James, but take it for the wording "don't look into it" , it says it pretty plainly that you will be able to use the alpha one account at a time, IE sometimes the system will check online statues to verify the account. No doubt after 30 min (or whatever time they deem) if your not contected online it will shut the game down. "IF" they added the periodically check method, but sense their quote in their own FAQ says such, you must assume it's in. Sure you can look for "Validation" but I doubt you will get anything other then what is posted. It's protection for them from copies, hacks what have you , it's the new age of gaming, copy protection or better known as DRM, is gone and online verification is the new norm. Just saying, I get what your asking but it's pretty much answered quite clear on the FAQ, one can hope that this is not the case, but if not, why have the periodically comment on the FAQ? pretty much answers the question.
So. . . not at all "like steam" then, is your assessment.
I hope you are wrong.