Hardware Fingerprint Question

I'm curious, I've heard that the full version generates a key based on your hardware configuration for piracy reasons. My question is that does this mean once you pay $20 the game is only licensed to that PC only? If I were to buy a brand new PC I can't play this game without buying a new key?

Please, let me know.

Hi there,

YOU are licensed the game, not your PC.

If you need to relicense your download, or manage your purchase otherwise, you can find out how to do in this FAQ

Cheers,

Troy

[jp-30]

To be fair, that digitalriver FAQ is pretty vague at best. It's not obvious which question would answer how to relicense your download

Any chance of hosting your own Bone-specific FAQ on this site (mentioning things like the easily overlooked red CUSTOMER SERVICE link on the splash page etc?

So....what happens in years when your company might not be there to relicense the game? This hypothetical of course, but lets say you went out of business tomorrow and I needed to relicense. That leaves me with a game I can't play.

Am I correct? In order to install an another machine beyond the one that I bought it for I need to relicense online with your website. However if the website does not exist that might be hard.

This is speaking in the future terms, mind you. I happen to play game long after they are dead (I wouldn't be playing adventures if they weren't old ) so this concerns me greatly.

Please let me know.



EDIT - BTW this should be in the Bone section )

The question of, what happens if company X folds will become more and more common as everyone starts adopting this form of distribution.

The defauilt answer is :" you aren't going to be able to play the game anymore.

However also likely answers are:
1. The games will be bought and managed by someone new.
2. Before folding, the company will release a patch that will unlock keys for people who wish to continue playing
3. Hackers will solve the problem.

The question of, what happens if company X folds will become more and more common as everyone starts adopting this form of distribution.

The default answer is :" you aren't going to be able to play the game anymore.

However also likely answers are:
1. The games will be bought and managed by someone new.
2. Before folding, the company will release a patch that will unlock keys for people who wish to continue playing
3. Hackers will solve the problem.

Well I guess that answers my question then.
No wonder it took so long for me to get a straight answer.

1. I have plenty of old games that weren't bought or managed by anyone. If I have tech problems I'm on my own. In fact the majority of my old games are like this.
2. I've never heard of any company releasing a patch to remove key restrictions when they're on the verge of bankruptcy.
3. Hackers will probably solve the problem shortly after the game is released. But I don't want to depend on hackers for a solution.

So I won't be buying - not unless this "hardware restriction" is eliminated.

I don't mind downloading a game. And I don't mind it being on the short side. But if I pay money for a game I want to be able to back it up to something more permanent than a computer hard drive. And I'm certainly not gambling on any game company being around in a few years.

I've already run into this problem. It still hasn't been resolved yet, even though I got to play at least to the hot springs in the game.

I upgraded my motherboard and videocard yesterday, and switch to XP64. The demo doesn't allow me to unlock it with my order#/password. It complains about the hardware key.



This was after having initial trouble having it recognize it in the first place. I did email them, but got a form letter back, I sent them the new hardware fingerprint or whatever but have not heard back yet.

There needs to be a better way to do this. As much as I dislike Valve software's steam, they handle something similar a bit better. At least I can transfer it using that. With this it's become way too big a hassle for $20.

On the other hand, they need to figure this out. I liked what I played so far. And hope we will get more. But man, the activation scheme has made it lose much of its luster so far.
Hopefully the feedback is helpful to them. I think they can work this out. Honestly the system they use right now for this is just bad.

Yes if you change your hardware you're out of the game for a while.

Atricks,

Among the issues we've been working to resolve during this launch is an inappropriate limitation to the default number of times the game can be activated. That problem has been rectified; however, it appears that keys issued before the change are still being affected. We will resolve this by tomorrow. In the meantime, please do the following:

1) In the reminder screen that pops up after double clicking on the game icon, click on "Enter Key Manually" in the upper left corner.
2) In the resulting dialog box, copy and send the "hardware fingerprint" to support@telltalegames.com, along with your order number.
3) Enter the name and key sent back to you in the same dialog box.

This should unlock your game.

Please accept our apologies for this inconvenience.

Troy

[artwking]

So I won't be buying - not unless this "hardware restriction" is eliminated.

I don't mind downloading a game. And I don't mind it being on the short side. But if I pay money for a game I want to be able to back it up to something more permanent than a computer hard drive. And I'm certainly not gambling on any game company being around in a few years.

I guess you and everyone else who is afraid of change is going to be missing out on the future of digital entertainment if you're so against its delivery and anti-piracy methods.

Have fun reading books. [>]

I guess you and everyone else who is afraid of change is going to be missing out on the future of digital entertainment if you're so against its delivery and anti-piracy methods.

If not being able to replay my games because of some attempt at "anti-piracy" is "change," you can keep it.
If you want to pay for your games all over again every time you buy a new computer, you go right ahead. I don't feel like wasting my money that way.

[jp-30]

> If you want to pay for your games all over again every time you buy a new computer,

You do not need to do that. It's addressed earlier in this thread.

> 2. I've never heard of any company releasing a patch to remove key restrictions when they're on the verge of bankruptcy.

Telltale have said on these forums that if they go under they will release patches to ensure all their products will continue to function on future computers you may own.

You do not need to do that. It's addressed earlier in this thread.

I don't see anything that addresses it in this thread. Do you want to point out which message says it?

Telltale have said on these forums that if they go under they will release patches to ensure all their products will continue to function on future computers you may own.

I admit I haven't read every thread in the forum. But I have read this thread.
Where in the forum did they say this?

Please accept our apologies for this inconvenience.

Troy

Thanks, I did. I was emailing to the support address at digitalriver and sent that along with the info to the telltellgames address.

I'm not the type that would never buy something that required this, I'm just trying to give some feedback on the downsides (support) and general restrictiveness of it.

So....no answer for me then? What happens if the company went under? Don't give me that "magical patch" speech because the valve fanboys say the same thing.

I want the truth, why do we need fingerprinted keys? Piracy? I mean...I already have to buy it straight online what more protection do you need? What if I want to play the game on a PC a few years from now and there is no such patch to play the game?

This is why internet based purchasing doesn't work, piracy protection methods become insane. I happen to like playing my games for years after they are "unpopular" and this is like a slap in the face.

So....no answer for me then? What happens if the company went under? Don't give me that "magical patch" speech because the valve fanboys say the same thing.

I want the truth, why do we need fingerprinted keys? Piracy? I mean...I already have to buy it straight online what more protection do you need? What if I want to play the game on a PC a few years from now and there is no such patch to play the game?

This is why internet based purchasing doesn't work, piracy protection methods become insane. I happen to like playing my games for years after they are "unpopular" and this is like a slap in the face.

Seems like they don't want to think about this... it's best for them to hide that as well as they can and hope people won't consider that until it's too late.
It's a shame too, but if having to get a new CD key every time I upgrade etc. is the future of PC gaming, then I think gamers are willing to swallow TO MUCH SHIT from developers.
It's a shame too, I was going to buy that game

I don't like it either, but it is indisputably a necessary evil...

- so they get rid of hardware fingerprinting - what then? - sure, it'd make *your* life slightly easier, but it would also cause 90% of people to go straight to peer-2-peer, and grab 'emselves a free copy... you can't trust the good nature of people, people aren't good natured when it comes to this kind of thing.

Copy protection isn't about *stopping* piracy either, its about making it too difficult or just inconvenient for the average joe - sure, all these games will get cracked despite hardware fingerprinting, but Telltale are forced to keep it nonetheless, as it will at least ensure that 50% can't be bothered pirating it, and actually pay.

I honestly cannot think of any way around the problem - piracy is rife on the PC, its not harming the console market (despite their ravings about losing 20-billion a year or whatever) - but it *is* taking its toll on PC games...

- who remembers the Amiga? - brilliant! - why's it not around any more? - because it had no copy protection, copying was a piece of cake, and probably 90% of software anyone owned for it was pirated. Developers simply stopped developing for it, because how were they going to make their money?


I would say that any digital delivery system needs to make this copy-protection as near-invisible as possible. Steam is getting there. If the copy protection is as inconvenient as the process of actually copying and cracking a game, then its a no-brainer what will happen. Telltale need to work on getting this as unobtrusive as possible.

Why is every person (including developers) thinking in the here and now? Think about the future! Why must our games have a ticking timebomb on them because "someone somewhere might try to steal it".....because I'm damn sure a keygen will pop up very soon. This fingerprint method is the death of telltale games, because I don't care how hyped Sam'n Max is I'm not buying them if this type of shite is attached.

Telltale, do you or do you not have an answer to my question? Perhaps you don't care so long as you get money today? They hell with us in the future right?

Its funny...people raise hell at publishers for their nonsense but put up with massive BS from developers like you guys and Valve.

Why must our games have a ticking timebomb on them because "someone somewhere might try to steal it"

- they must have a (perfectly safe) form of protection because 90% of people everywhere would steal it! - I'm sorry, but as I said in my previous post, you cannot possibly use the good nature of people as an argument against copy protection... they *WILL* pirate it... copy protection *MUST* exist.

I'm certainly not happy about it as a general case, it can be a pain in the arse, but if I'm completely honest, hand-on-heart, I have copied games before, and I'm willing to bet that the majority of people on these forums have done the same at some point.

Personally, I make it a rule to pay for any game I believe is more than a cynical cash-in - but there's plenty of people who that wouldn't even occur to.

Every developer is "thinking in the here and now" because they want to keep their company afloat, and without copy protection, they'll be lucky to last a week.

Get used to it... god knows, you've had long enough to get used to it on retail games... this is just a natural and necessary progression, and is *NOT* going to change any sooner than human nature does. Either buy the game, or don't - bitching about it will fall on deaf ears.

I'm all for copy protection on games. I, myself, took several programming languages in college. Most people don't understand how much effort it takes to make an application, especially a game. I know several people that make big money at my workplace, but don't pay a cent for any of their computer programs. They are stinking pirates. But on the other hand, it is everyone's right who owns the game, to be able to play it and also back it up.

What I would like to know is why Telltale is now using DigitalRiver and findmyorder.com? I bought the Texas Hold'em and it activates directly from Telltale website. But now I have to go to a second website to activate all other games? What is the privacy policy of DigitalRiver and findmyorder? They better not sell my information to third parties or send me spam!

Copy protection is necessary, but this kind of copy protection is taking it too far. I'm against all kinds of copy protection that sets a time limit on how long I can play my game (the day the company goes under or simply decides to go out of business). I don't want to rely on developers to make a patch one day in order to make my game playable after their demise.. one cannot be sure that they will do that.
Buying any game with this kind of copy protection is like renting it, it's like you are granted a license to play the game for a limited amount of time.
Also, if too many developers and publishers start doing this kind of thing, many gems may be lost in the future.
I still play Kings Quest from 1984 and had that game had such a copy protection, it would be hard to do that today (legally at least, and I disagree that I should have to find cracks for games I've legally bought).

So Telltale - why won't you reply?