To battlefront

[Lacroix]

i dont like activation keys. looking from my personal angle, i had to install new 64 bit system and change graphic card. i did it all in one shot to avoid losing 2 keys. but what if i was unable to do it in 1 shot, i 'd be left with one key now.and tomorrow i might add more ram or simply due to mechanical failure or something similar remove any parts of the pc and put them back, i will have 0 keys. even if you give me 8 keys its not the point. i want to have my copy of the game for the eternity and do what i want with it.

CM games not very expensive, but they are expensive, specialy if you want to have all of them

these keys are limiting me in so many ways, because i value BF games and dont wana lose them, but in same time i dont have 200 dollars to give again in such a short period after i lose the keys due to these legit situations writen beyond. its matter of weeks or months untill i lose 1 more key and i ll have 5 or more months untill i can send a request for 1 more which i can lose in matter of days/weeks/years

i know if you dont have keys people would just buy 1 game and distribute it like crazy but this is not the solution.its worse than most hardcore anti pirate systems in the world. at least there you have your game for real, this is like renting keys/time

i know this has little to no impact on your views/policies, this single thread but please consider changing this

[Hister]

Well, if losing all available activations due to hardware changes I think BF would give you additional ones if you would explain your case.

This is not a neat system which made me wait installing CMRT until I get a new GPU since I bought it at the time when it was released. Well, not gaming much since,spring contributed to that too.

[Lacroix]

Well, if losing all available activations due to hardware changes I think BF would give you additional ones if you would explain your case.

This is not a neat system which made me wait installing CMRT until I get a new GPU since I bought it at the time when it was released. Well, not gaming much since,spring contributed to that too. ��

why would they trust me that its hardware change, i could have sold 2 of them and lie about it.

also i am prone to changes in general, i might need 20 keys in next 2 years... and whos gona give me that lol

[Sailor Malan2]

I have yet to hear of a case where BF were not extremely understanding of cases like yours. If you corresponded with them before making your changes, and provided proof that it was the same machine (I am not an expert so I do not know what that would be, but specific, notified in advance and not regular complete machine replacements) I have every confidence that they will accommodate you.

I am not a fan of locks. Why don't you remove all locks from your house and car? Admittedly I haven't bought anything from you, but neither have you bought unlimited rights to the software...

[Fizou]

Can you not just deactivate, do the change, then activate again?

[JoMac]

Lets get to the Croix of the matter ( pun intended ), shall we.

Ok, You will most likely have to use a new activation if you change out your MB, OS, or HD, but probably not for changing a Video Card or Ram...I have changed my Vid Card & Ram in the past with no adverse affects to activation.

Joe

[Lacroix]

Can you not just deactivate, do the change, then activate again?

i 'd love to do that but i am not aware at this moment that that' is possible

[Blazing 88's]

Lets get to the Croix of the matter ( pun intended ), shall we.

Ok, You will most likely have to use a new activation if you change out your MB, OS, or HD, but probably not for changing a Video Card or Ram...I have changed my Vid Card & Ram in the past with no adverse affects to activation.

Joe

Same........

[Lacroix]

Lets get to the Croix of the matter ( pun intended ), shall we.

Ok, You will most likely have to use a new activation if you change out your MB, OS, or HD, but probably not for changing a Video Card or Ram...I have changed my Vid Card & Ram in the past with no adverse affects to activation.

Joe

probably is key word. i dont wan't to think about those things after purchasing game.i have heard cases where new graphic card did require cd key. probably is the main problem actually.

will BF give me another 5 keys ? probably. not '' Yes they will''

i dont know where i stand, do i own the game or not , how many keys i can have, 1 each year or XXX if i explain that its hardware change. its all so complicated, yet it says '' get your copy of the game ''

so far i am only renting cd keys, i dont feel like i own anything

edit: i might purshace SSD for speed and put CMBN there, i ''guess'' it ll ask for new cd key, thats my point

i have so many guesses* but only 4 -5 keys, and a full price to pay for game

[A Canadian Cat]

Can you not just deactivate, do the change, then activate again?

Nope, that is not how it works. The software just phone's home and validates with the server that there is an activation left and then unlocks the game on your machine.

I too have updated video cards and not triggered the need to for an activation.

[JoMac]

probably is key word. i dont wan't to think about those things after purchasing game.i have heard cases where new graphic card did require cd key. probably is the main problem actually.

will BF give me another 5 keys ? probably. not '' Yes they will''

i dont know where i stand, do i own the game or not , how many keys i can have, 1 each year or XXX if i explain that its hardware change. its all so complicated, yet it says '' get your copy of the game ''

so far i am only renting cd keys, i dont feel like i own anything

edit: i might purshace SSD for speed and put CMBN there, i ''guess'' it ll ask for new cd key, thats my point

i have so many guesses* but only 4 -5 keys, and a full price to pay for game

Actually, no one owns any game that requires an activation...You are essentially leasing the game on a permanent basis.

Believe me, I'm old school, and was hesitant at first to purchase any of the CMx2 titles due to these new activations keys that most Software company's use today...I even purchase CD versions vs downloading just because I want a physical copy...Yeah, I'm still keeping some of my old school habits :-(

[Hister]

Aha, cool thing that a change of GPU most likely won't make me lose 1 activation.

As per OP just chill down, ask BF devs directly via their support and there will be less "maybe's" involved in the equation.

They really do have a top notch user support as they helped me with my issuess twice (very fast response and professional attitude).

[Placebo]

Seems like a none issue to me, has there ever been a post saying they had used up all their licenses and BF refused to let them re-activate the game?

I can't every recall seeing one, so it is safe to assume BF keep their customers happy.

[Pak40]

Lacroix, I found this in the Battlefront Helpdesk:

http://battlefront.mojohelpdesk.com/help/article/127985

In a nutshell, in addition to the 2 initial activations and the 2 "overflow" activations, you get 1 additional activation per year, for ever. These additional activations have to be added via the Battlefront Helpdesk.

[Bartokomus]

It's not a great system, but BFC has been very helpful to me over the years as i was constantly upgrading new components on my PC. they've never said "no", though i've slowed down my rate of upgrades considerably.

So many companies are out to screw you, but i've, never ever gotten that feeling about BFC. except for 2 players campaigns in CMx2, then they're real bastards...

[MikeyD]

The problem is its a big bad world out there and without these protections BFC would've been robbed blind years ago. Most-everyone has someone in their circle of acquaintances who boasts about the volumes of hacked and bootlegged games he has. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. Its like having a lock on your front door. Inconvenient at times, VERY inconvenient when you lose your house key! But considering what the lock on the door is meant to prevent you learn to live with it.

[Lacroix]

i really have no idea how good/bad BF support is on this subject . if i said i knew i 'd be lying.

from the comments i see that they would generaly almost always give you a key , unless its obvious that something weird is happening.

but i still dislike the ''relativity'' of the whole thing.hopefully one day system(protection of intelectual property) will be more closer to the ''oldschool'' ,if theres such a thing. but i kinda doubt

[Bartokomus]

well i've been gaming for 30+ years; i remember losing game manuals where the activation code was a certain word or letter on a certain page. Losing the manual meant i lost the game even though i owned it. DRM has taken many forms over the decades and there has never been a satisfactory system. IMO Steam is as close as it comes, but others find even that too restrictive.

I understand your concerns, but a little trust is in order.

[Pelican Pal]

The problem is its a big bad world out there and without these protections BFC would've been robbed blind years ago. Most-everyone has someone in their circle of acquaintances who boasts about the volumes of hacked and bootlegged games he has. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. Its like having a lock on your front door. Inconvenient at times, VERY inconvenient when you lose your house key! But considering what the lock on the door is meant to prevent you learn to live with it.

Although CM is not well known enough to actual support any support of presence on bit torrent sites so I do question the actual utility of the DRM. I guess you can stop more than a couple friends from sharing the game.

[sfhand]

Lets get to the Croix of the matter ( pun intended ), shall we.

Ok, You will most likely have to use a new activation if you change out your MB, OS, or HD, but probably not for changing a Video Card or Ram...I have changed my Vid Card & Ram in the past with no adverse affects to activation.

Joe

It has been hard to determine what changes will set off the DRM. In the past I've had to re-activate due to changing the usb drivers on my system. I know BF wasn't happy with the sensitivity of the DRM in the past and I don't know how much it has changed since then. Since they are the ones providing support when the DRM is too sensitive their interests match ours.

[SgtHatred]

You don't buy Combat Mission games, you rent them until BFC has decided you don't deserve them anymore.

Welcome to DRM.

Also, every piece of DRM for every game ever made has been broken, DRM only causes trouble for legitimate customers.

[snarre]

tjust send e-mail to them and they send cleaning file and then you can activat your game again.

[Pelican Pal]

You don't buy Combat Mission games, you rent them until BFC has decided you don't deserve them anymore.

Welcome to DRM.

Also, every piece of DRM for every game ever made has been broken, DRM only causes trouble for legitimate customers.

DRM isn't supposed to stop all piracy. It is there to stop casual stuff done by casual users. Much like the locked door analogy someone mentioned earlier. If someone really wanted to break in they could, but the locked door will stop any criminal who isn't very determined.

Now whether BFC actually needs the DRM is another question. Right now I suspect that the games are not popular enough to support any sort of widespread piracy and that the DRM actually is just annoying for customers. If we go back to the door analogy. You don't need a lock if no one lives withing 100 miles of your home that is nestled deep in the mountains.

Actually this conversation came up a while ago and I decided to do some exploring on some torrents. There was a copy of CM:SF from Paradox and CM:BN 1. some version listed. This was well after Market Garden was released. CM:BN had a handful of seeders and if I wanted to wait 2 months to download a game that "might" work I would have been able to get a free version of the unupdated CM:BN.

[Lacroix]

tjust send e-mail to them and they send cleaning file and then you can activat your game again.

that'd be awesome

[StkNRdr]

I upgraded to Win7 64 from Win XP 32, installed 6GB of additional RAM and changed my video card and never thought about activation issues. No CPU change. All still working fine.