UPDATE on pre-order activation issues! (woohoo!)

[Jake]

Update update: Reports indicate that everything should be working correctly now! Your games should be behaving as normal... or at least behaving as you'd expect a Sam & Max game to behave.

Of course if you still run into trouble, you can follow the support instructions lower in this post.

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Original, now-outdated post:

Hey guys,

A lot of people who pre-ordered have been getting a "purchase is not complete" error when trying to activate their pre-order. We know this sucks! The good news is that we've been working with our e-commerce and software activation provider and successfully found the problem. Over the next hour peoples orders should start unlocking properly. Yay! We're really sorry about this, but the troubles should be over very very soon.

In the mean time, if you pre-ordered and can't wait for us to finish fixing things behind the scenes, we can manually unlock your purchase. To do that, you can click the "Activation Support" button on the bottom corner of the game's launcher screen, and follow the instructions there to email us your hardware fingerprint and order number. Note that we have a pretty deep backlog of manual unlock emails which we have four people replying to as fast as we can, so while we'll get to you as soon as possible, the reply won't be immediate.

Anyway, sorry again for the problems, but we should be through the worst of it. Thanks for sticking by.

- Jake

[techstyle]

I would not want to be one of those 4 guys.

[el33tcapitan]

I would not want to be one of those 4 guys.

I do think a round of applause is in order for their hard work in getting this fixed ASAP

[BarfHappy]

No worries, and it's not like there is nothing to play, the demo is still here to make us wait.

Nice to know the problem will be solved soon anyway (heck, an hour is peanuts).

Relax, seeing how the game is, i am not an angry customer.

[Junkface]

Thanks for the update. Typical that I have to leave for work slightly over an hour from now...

[opitzs]

Thank those four people from me, it has to be a thankless job!
And also congratulations on finding the error!
I will stop playing Monkey Island as soon as I get my activation key, promised!

[Plan3]

*applause*

[Invader Tak]

Sorry I lost my Temper.

When it said I hadn't paid I saw red. Gah. Its like this red flag, wait 13 years and BANG, like an evil practical joke.

I'm glad you are fixing it though. Must be hell there just now.

[thylacine]

I'm still downloading, and hope I don't hit this snag, but Telltale, you guys are awesome.

There's a bunch of people whining like babies because they couldn't get it all happening right at the instant at which they expect it, but you're clearly working your arses (sorry, asses... Aussie ;-) ) off to get it sorted out for each and every one of us.

Awesome customer service FTW! You rock...

<93% through download.... wheeeeeeeeee...)

[LangerJan]

*applause*

Nice work, Jake. And applause to everyone working on it in the background!

Lets play the waiting game...;)

[listereo]

Oh, sweet mercy. It's weird, hiding inside while outside a bunch of Dutch fellows scare the pants off of my classmates in a bit of extended Halloween festivities. They have three different kinds of air horns, chainsaws, some fellow who's REALLY good at cackling maniacally, and it's great fun to run through the demo with those sounds blended with girlish shrieks and generally manly shouts of surprise. I really hope they're still out there when I get my activation code.

And while I'm here, I'll throw my thanks onto the pile for those four poor souls working late tonight to makes sure we impatient nerds are having a good time.

[elsenator]

I appreciate your hard work Telltale! Just wanted to stop by and let you know that. I am waiting for alternate activation as everyone else.

[War-overlord]

It's a good thing you guys are working on this, I've had the very same problem and have already sent an e-mail. I hope I get a reply soon. I also wanted to ask something else. I've ordered a Sam & Max T-shirt along with Season one. Will that be sent a the same time as the full season disk or will it be sent ASAP ?

[Jake]

It's a good thing you guys are working on this, I've had the very same problem and have already sent an e-mail. I hope I get a reply soon. I also wanted to ask something else. I've ordered a Sam & Max T-shirt along with Season one. Will that be sent a the same time as the full season disk or will it be sent ASAP ?


The full season disc wont be made available to ship until the end of the run - its a separate product which we'll be offering free to anyone who orders the whole season. We kept them unrelated in part because the discs wont exist until all six episodes are done, and that's still a ways off (even with our short between-episode production schedule). That means that your shirt should be on the way!

[opitzs]

OK, got my Key after 120 Minutes, that is awesome!
I'm off!

And thanks very much for the fast support!
For another software I bought online I am now waiting for 1 and a half week to get my key...

[kuodeine]

wahoo, working as promised. thanks telltale!

[Jigoku]

Up and running now. Cheers. Just need widescreen support now ...

(=

[The Tingler]

Haven't got it working yet, but I appreciate the work that's being done as quickly as possible! Thanks guys, I hope you know it's only because I've been waiting for this day since about March 2004 that I'm getting so impatient.

A big backlog? Does that also mean Culture Shock is a very very big success already? :cool:

[Hoschijan]

Thanks for the fast fix of the problem. Works now.

[Jokieman]

Sniff, I never received my key.

[LangerJan]

Works fine now!

Good job, guys!

[Naughty Cat]

Great job guys! Looks like you fixed that problem very very fast ;)
14% left to go :)

[Tiger of PTS]

Still waiting on mine. Does it matter if I just made the purchase about 3 hours ago?

[ShiratoriNinjaBrat]

yea thanks *applaud*
i'm definately grateful for the timely help wheeeee!!

[The Tingler]

Yep, my one seems to be working now. Luckily I remembered the password.

Another thing for people who have installed the demo to note: to get back to the Activation screen easily rather than having to go through the demo and exit out, don't click on the Desktop Shortcut - use the one inside the Culture Shock folder.

[Derrick]

I never received a code either. I Pre-ordered 3 days ago.

A little disappointing actually.

:confused:
D.

[tabacco]

I never received a code either. I Pre-ordered 3 days ago.

A little disappointing actually.

:confused:
D.

You shouldn't need any special code at this point. Just grab the demo, click on "I've already purchased this", and enter your orderid and the password you gave during the checkout process, and you should be set.

[ensignyu]

I did everything as directed but it's still not working for me, so I guess I'll have to wait for support. I'm pretty sure I have the password correct and it gives a different error if I enter an incorrect password.

Also, now it's saying that it's out of keys from too many attempts, so it seems like Telltale's server accepts the login and sends the key, but then the key gets rejected by the activation program.

EDIT: Got it manually activated, so I'm happy now :) Thanks, Telltale support!

[Jaws]

Youre doing a great job ... I got my mail back really fast. Cudos. Great support, I love you guys! Not only for the company you work for but also your lightning fast keyboard typing fingers and keen 'reply' spotting eyes. As well as the stuff you do to actually getting the games working :)

Thanks.

Special shout out to Jake, who i've been harassing with several email allready. Mwahahah, the clever guy sent me his personal telltale address ... mwahahah. The fun never ends.

Time to sleep, if I can, after the mindnumbing feeling of playing Sam and Max again. Gotto try, the clock is a quarter to two here in Norway. Oh no, I typed where I lived, he'll find me and harass me as i've harassed him .... oh no .. the backslash button doesn't work ...

[Derrick]

I never received a code either. I Pre-ordered 3 days ago.

A little disappointing actually.

:confused:
D.

You shouldn't need any special code at this point. Just grab the demo, click on "I've already purchased this", and enter your orderid and the password you gave during the checkout process, and you should be set.

Thanks. I did not notice the little enter order # text on the startup screen. It is only there when I use a resolution of 1024x768. I usually only use 640x480 because I have it setup on my TV.

D.

[Soulshift]

Help! I'm getting an invalid password error (ARM1016) when trying to activate the game (I preordered) I'm entering the exact password that I'm using to log into my account on the Telltale site.

[Jake]

Try using the password you used when you filled out your info on the order checkout page. That's the one the game is looking for.

Sadly your Telltale password and your order password can be different. This is an issue that's not entirely in our control and we're working to eliminate the necessity for a separate order password, but for now everyone's stuck with it :(

[Emily]

I just wanted to say "thank you" to everyone who was so patient with us today while we got this activation problem sorted out. :)

[rayman]

I just wanted to say "thank you" to everyone who was so patient with us today while we got this activation problem sorted out. :)
It's always a pleasure with the fast and caring support you people give! Lots of companies out there that wouldn't care anywhere near as much!

On that note, will the orders be added to the "Past Purchases" like described in the original order mail? I got a manual activation key, so I'm good for now (and it can certainly wait till the backlog of activations have been cleared!), but it would be nice to get some sort of visual confirmation (well..besides the game) that you actually bought it! :D

Thanks,
Jens

[XdarXideX]

I'm annoyed the Past Purchases screen doesn't show me the option to download the game again... I was hoping to be able to play at work as the damn game crashed when I left Bosco's.

Can we please have our Past Purchases info updated correctly?

[GunstarHero]

Woohoo! Just received my response with activation key, can't wait to get home.

Thanks Emily in support!

[Emily]

I don't think we're going to be able to add download links to the past purchases section, unfortunately. :(

Instead, you can download the game from us and enter your order number and password to activate (click "I've already purchased this").

[Jake]

I don't think we're going to be able to add download links to the past purchases section, unfortunately. :(

At least not in the immediate future. Its very high up on the "we want this to work" wish list, though.

[Bas]

Guys, although the activation works fine, the game tells me that it can't find a valid activation key every time after a reboot. I have to go back to the "I already purchased this game!" page and fill in my order number and password. If I don't reboot between sessions, it works fine.

Note that I'm playing this in Windows Vista RC1, so that might be an issue. I posted about this in the bug thread, too.

[tabacco]

I'm trying it in Vista (RC2, though) right now, Bas. stand by...

[Emily]

Doug found out earlier, and we've heard from a few more people, that this is a Vista bug. It happens even with a manual key. :(

Bas, do you have an XP machine you can use instead?

[Bas]

Absolutely, specifically for this sort of thing. I was going to try it on there anyway, so...

Shame, though. Otherwise, the game runs like a dream. It might be a good idea to find a fix before the next episode, what with Vista being released in January.

Anyway, thanks for the info.

[Emily]

Let's just say we're very glad that the problem has been reported! :D

Let us know if you need any help activating the game on your XP machine.