Bioshock Activation Error

gobby

Just bought Bioshock for the PC this morning and having trouble activating it. Cannot connect to server errors. Server overload? Anyone else having trouble?

Lord Oz

I've been trying all morning to activate it too. This online activation crap is stupid, 2K are treating their customers like criminals. I'm never buying another 2K game anyway.:mad:

Lord Oz

It actually says "An unknown server error occured". The servers must be overloaded.

muppetkiller

bugger I'm stuck at work...hope it's sorted before I get home..

gobby

Lord Oz wrote:

I've been trying all morning to activate it too. This online activation crap is stupid, 2K are treating their customers like criminals. I'm never buying another 2K game anyway.:mad:

Have you mailed them at all? I did but I am very doubtfull of a speedy reply from them.

Lord Oz

I haven't tried emailing them yet, I don't like the idea of emailing out my cdkey. Besides, from what people are saying if you email Securom you'll just be told to contact 2K, and 2K will send you to Securom and so on.

Tusky

Howdy.

I havent been reading the bioshock thread because Ive lost internet in my apartment (im in an internet cafe). I just bought bioshock in Smyths (39.99 or 35.99 with loyalty card) and noticed below the specifications that you need to activate online. Is this similar to Quake 4 in that If you don't have internet you don't need to do it ?

As I said I dont have internet in my apartment and wont have for some time....does this mean I cant play the game ? If so, thats ridiculous. Is there any other way around it ? Can I ring them and activate over the phone ? Can I activate on another pc and then install it on my own pc ? Questions questions..

I'm afraid to take it out of the plastic to test it in case I cant return it.

Lord Oz

The game won't start without activation. You have an option to activate by email but that doesn't work either. It's not like Quake 4 at all.

gobby

Kick a$$. Just got mine going.

Tusky, could you bring your machine to a mates, activate and then just bring the machine home and play?

Tusky

Lord Oz wrote:

The game won't start without activation. You have an option to activate by email but that doesn't work either. It's not like Quake 4 at all.

So should I try the activate by email thing and hope that it works later on tonight or tomorrow ?

humanji

The email activation is your best bet. Failing that, I'm sure a crack will appear on the net in the next couple of days, and since you payed for the game, you don't have to feel guilty about using it!

Sephiroth_dude

take it back id say,sending your code via email would be dodgey,i've actually noiticed that quite a few games require you to activate the game online with a code,which is a load of bollox really!what happens if you dont have the net!your ****ed!!!! its a load of bollox :mad:

Smellyirishman

Tusky wrote:

As I said I dont have internet in my apartment and wont have for some time....does this mean I cant play the game ?

Pretty much. If I was at home, I'd offer to bring your PC to my house to install it, but I won't be back for another 3 weeks. Perhaps another boardsie would be able to accommodate you?

{EDIT} Didn't know about e-mail activation. How exactly does it work?

Lord Oz

The activation is finally working. Tusky, when I installed the game you have to patch online as part of the installation, so I've no idea if it would even install without a net connection.

Despite the online activation you still need to have the disc inserted to play!

Tusky

Smellyirishman wrote:

Pretty much. If I was at home, I'd offer to bring your PC to my house to install it, but I won't be back for another 3 weeks. Perhaps another boardsie would be so kind?

{EDIT} Didn't know about e-mail activation. How exactly does it work?

Cheers amigo

Bleh - How exactly does the email activation work ? Can I do that from an internet cafe and then bring it home and install it or do I still need to connect on installation ?

MOH

Tusky wrote:

Cheers amigo

Bleh - How exactly does the email activation work ? Can I do that from an internet cafe and then bring it home and install it or do I still need to connect on installation ?

By all reports you need to download additional content when you install, so you will need net access at install time.

Jim

Sephiroth_dude wrote:

take it back id say,sending your code via email would be dodgey,i've actually noiticed that quite a few games require you to activate the game online with a code,which is a load of bollox really!what happens if you dont have the net!your ****ed!!!! its a load of bollox :mad:

I'm sure if you offer an alternative means to combat piracy to the companies that doesn't require the net they'd take it up.

krudler

steam started all this online activation nonsense,i bought the game why cant i just ****ing play it?!,glad i went with the 360 version now, console gaming 1, pc gaming 0

MooseJam

Jimeatsmenu wrote:

I'm sure if you offer an alternative means to combat piracy to the companies that doesn't require the net they'd take it up.

there should be nothing employed to stop piracy, people are generally decent and will pay for good stuff

humanji

MooseJam wrote:

there should be nothing employed to stop piracy, people are generally decent and will pay for good stuff

lolz

Stephen

Wow, this takes me back to November 2004 and the release of Half-Life 2. I remember people ranting that they'd never buy another Valve game again back then as well.

lol.

Lord Oz

Galactic Civilizations 2 sold very well despite having no copy protection, and steam actually works and is a tested technology.

Kiith

MooseJam wrote:

there should be nothing employed to stop piracy, people are generally decent and will pay for good stuff

Its only terrorists who pirate games anyway :rolleyes:

MooseJam

Kiith wrote:

Its only terrorists who pirate games anyway :rolleyes:

why is everyone so cynical, i'd say at most 33% of people would pirate, they should just take the loss, measures only make hassle for their customers and don't reduce piracy just slow it down by a day or two

Smellyirishman

MooseJam wrote:

why is everyone so cynical, i'd say at most 33% of people would pirate, they should just take the loss, measures only make hassle for their customers and don't reduce piracy just slow it down by a day or two

If I told you tomorrow I was cutting your wage by 33% would you "take the loss"?

Like it or not, piracy is a big deal.

All they need to do is delay it, gamers are an impatient bunch and most pirates will buy it if they can't crack it quickly. Of course, then there will be the real pirates (cheap bastards) that will excuse their piracy atop a fake moral highground preaching: "ZOMG, copy protection is wrong.... I'll teach you a lesson and pirate your game..." :rolleyes:.

Tusky

Wooo!

Hauled my pc out to the family house, hooked it up and activated it. This game better be good...

quarryman

MooseJam wrote:

why is everyone so cynical, i'd say at most 33% of people would pirate, they should just take the loss, measures only make hassle for their customers and don't reduce piracy just slow it down by a day or two

ha. i don't know what is more idiotic about this statement; the pie in the sky figure or the idea that publishers should just take the hit on the lost revenue.

go back to playing the game and stop talking crap.

:rolleyes:

Stephen

I think the problem is that these days the pirates get a better experience than genuine customers. Genuine customer then rightly feels a bit browned off that he's being treated like the criminal for doing the right thing.

Donald-Duck

Stephen wrote:

I think the problem is that these days the pirates get a better experience than genuine customers. Genuine customer then rightly feels a bit browned off that he's being treated like the criminal for doing the right thing.

I never had that problem. I actually like the copy protection, especailly where multiplayer is involved in the game. Were you one of the people who complained about CD-keys originally too?

Stephen

No, absolutely not. I'm all for CD keys and the like. I had no problem with Half-Life 2 requiring steam activation either. I don't want freeloaders in my multiplayer games either. I'm not talking just about games here.
The problem is where the copy protection system reduces the value of the product. For instance you can't download high quality high bitrate music from itunes, but you sure can pirate it, and the pirated copy will be playable on any device.

Donald-Duck

People buy music...? Have only bought about one album in last 5 years

tman

Donald-Duck wrote:

People buy music...? Have only bought about one album in last 5 years

Then why should people even bother making music any more?
Not everybody out there is as morally dead as you (and yes, I download lots of music as well, but I also spend thousands of euro a year on it...)

I personally have had no problems with the Bioshock activation compared to the initial HL2 activation (that was a lot of fun on dialup:p )
http://www.2kgames.com/cultofrapture/home.html
It's not like they're just ignoring this issue

MooseJam

tman wrote:

Not everybody out there is as morally dead as you

:eek: how about giving the guy the benefit of the doubt, he didn't mention downloading, maybe he just bought one album is all

tman

Fair enough, i'm an asshole if I'm wrong...
somehow doubt that's what he meant though

johnny_ultimate

Donald-Duck wrote:

People buy music...? Have only bought about one album in last 5 years

This is the problem with piracy. I have no bother with the occasional download, but people who just download everything are disgraceful. There are some bands, developers, films which barely break-even, and they deserve to do well, so I feel like you just have to support them - BioShock being one example, independent films / bands another.

Does it really break the bank to buy the occasional great cd or game?

MooseJam

dude don't you watch mtv cribs

KdjaCL

johnny_ultimate wrote:

so I feel like you just have to support them - BioShock being one example, independent films / bands another.

yes you do but then they make the product unusable to the buyer your left with little choice but to pirate it.

Pes6 on pc only worked when you used a no cd crack that removed Securom, game was unplayable with it.

Bioshock is also the same "a mate" couldnt activate it so downloaded it and got a crack to play it.

He cba getting help from 2k as they produced the error knowingly so he bypassed them and is now happily playing the game cracked.


kdjac

bizmark

Getting a lot of bioshock.exe has stoped working bollox im not pleased at all

steviec

It's funny how you always hear about people who know all about piracy and cracks running into trouble with copy protection and being 'forced' to pirate, yet you much more rarely hear about people who've never had anything to do with piracy running into trouble and being forced not to play the game at all. I find copy protection works fine for most people who don't have an agenda against it.

It can cause problems sometimes but it's not nearly as widespread as some people like to claim. I personally have never had an issue with any copy protection (and I've had starforce installed) and I know a lot of people who can say the same.

Edit: Talking about people who say the protection software broke their game and such - there are of course often big waiting times for online activation for games like this and Half Life when the server load is heavy, but it's fair to say it's not as big a wait as downloading a full 5 gig game or whatever Bioshock is so I don't see that as a reasonable excuse.

koneko

As I predicted in the other thread, they seem to intend to remove the activation/DRM at some point:

http://www.joystiq.com/2007/08/24/joystiq-interviews-bioshocks-ken-levine-about-success-and-harve/

DonkeyStyle \o/

Stephen wrote:

Wow, this takes me back to November 2004 and the release of Half-Life 2. I remember people ranting that they'd never buy another Valve game again back then as well.

lol.

'lol' if you must, but I haven't bought anything from Steam since HL2... tbh they can cram it up their hole.

KdjaCL

steviec wrote:

It's funny how you always hear about people who know all about piracy and cracks running into trouble with copy protection and being 'forced' to pirate, yet you much more rarely hear about people who've never had anything to do with piracy running into trouble and being forced not to play the game at all. I find copy protection works fine for most people who don't have an agenda against it.

It can cause problems sometimes but it's not nearly as widespread as some people like to claim. I personally have never had an issue with any copy protection (and I've had starforce installed) and I know a lot of people who can say the same.

Edit: Talking about people who say the protection software broke their game and such - there are of course often big waiting times for online activation for games like this and Half Life when the server load is heavy, but it's fair to say it's not as big a wait as downloading a full 5 gig game or whatever Bioshock is so I don't see that as a reasonable excuse.

Pro Evo 6 does not work when Securom is present in the EXE, when it came out it was easy to spot the pirates they were the ones playing it fine. So the customer was punished....make sense?


kdjac

steviec

KdjaCL wrote:

Pro Evo 6 does not work when Securom is present in the EXE, when it came out it was easy to spot the pirates they were the ones playing it fine. So the customer was punished....make sense?


kdjac

I don't have the PC version of the game, but are you saying every single copy of the game, straight out of the box, just didn't work? And it was sold that way? With no recall?

I find that very hard to believe.

Edit: Googling for 'Pro Evolution Soccer 6 securom' lists nothing but tons of torrent and crack sites, rather than the many tech support forums and games blogs and news sites that would surely be swarming with the story if it was true...