Halo 1 & 2 for PC
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Subject: Am i screwed?

Something smells fishy...

Posted by: General Heed
Then what do you propose to help curb this piracy? Unlimited activation just encourages sharing of keys so people can download illegal copies of software and use those unlimited keys to activate their products. Perhaps if PC games worked like Xbox 360 games where the discs need to be digitally signed by Microsoft first for them to work. But I'm sure that will be easy to bypass. So what do you propose?

Have product keys that can only be installed on let's say 1-5 machines total. But the product keys, if genuine, will never expire. They won't have limited activations.

I don't know if that would work. But It would be better than having limited activations, right?

Another way to prevent people from sharing their keys is that Microsoft could implement a mandatory specialized registration form, at each activation, that is stored on some database. The form could be used to check whether or not certain keys have been previously used. It would work like this: each time someone activates their product they would also be forced to fill out a registration form that has their Name, number, location, and email address. If they refuse to fill out the registration form they cannot activate their product.

[Edited on 06.24.2011 9:02 PM PDT]

  • 06.24.2011 8:51 PM PDT
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  • Noble Legendary Member

Halo 1&2 PC forum's resident OC ReMixer. Like rockified and metalized video game music? Subscribe to my YouTube channel.

Yeah. That's right. I don't have a 50 in H3. I never got Onyx in Reach. If a game sucks too much, I won't even bother trying for such trivial "accolades". Besides, I've done way more things that take far more skill and talent than anything that can be done in a video game.


Posted by: General Heed
Then what do you propose to help curb this piracy?

Steam seems to have it down. You'd know this if you were a PC gamer.

  • 06.24.2011 9:32 PM PDT

Bring Back Rocket Race!!!


Posted by: Barnacle_Blast
Posted by: General Heed
Then what do you propose to help curb this piracy? Unlimited activation just encourages sharing of keys so people can download illegal copies of software and use those unlimited keys to activate their products. Perhaps if PC games worked like Xbox 360 games where the discs need to be digitally signed by Microsoft first for them to work. But I'm sure that will be easy to bypass. So what do you propose?

Have product keys that can only be installed on let's say 1-5 machines total. But the product keys, if genuine, will never expire. They won't have limited activations.

I don't know if that would work. But It would be better than having limited activations, right?

Another way to prevent people from sharing their keys is that Microsoft could implement a mandatory specialized registration form, at each activation, that is stored on some database. The form could be used to check whether or not certain keys have been previously used. It would work like this: each time someone activates their product they would also be forced to fill out a registration form that has their Name, number, location, and email address. If they refuse to fill out the registration form they cannot activate their product.


I think some Microsoft products already use that system. I'm not sure if it's Windows or Microsoft Office.

Also, for your second suggestion, I think if someone really wanted to pirate something, they would share that registration info with everyone on torrent sites. And there's also the issues with cracks. Cracks can be used to bypass all these checks. I know someone who uses a cracked version of Windows 7 on their netbook and it shows up as Genuine Windows.

I think that the best way to curb piracy would be something like each activation and installation has to be digitally signed by Microsoft or whatever software company. And everytime, that signature changes with some kind of algorithim so that it keeps checking with the servers constantly to make sure it's a legal copy and not just a cracked version or keygen or shared key.

  • 06.24.2011 9:39 PM PDT

Bring Back Rocket Race!!!


Posted by: DusK

Posted by: General Heed
Then what do you propose to help curb this piracy?

Steam seems to have it down. You'd know this if you were a PC gamer.


Well if you think you're such a PC gamer, then you should surely know about the thousands of people out there running cracked versions Counter Strike playing on dedicated servers. The same goes for many steam games such as Half Life and Left 4 Dead and so on. You'd know this if you were a PC gamer.

I don't deny that I'm mostly a console gamer. But at least I don't go around acting all high and mighty and that everyone else is inferior.

  • 06.24.2011 9:41 PM PDT
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  • Noble Legendary Member

Halo 1&2 PC forum's resident OC ReMixer. Like rockified and metalized video game music? Subscribe to my YouTube channel.

Yeah. That's right. I don't have a 50 in H3. I never got Onyx in Reach. If a game sucks too much, I won't even bother trying for such trivial "accolades". Besides, I've done way more things that take far more skill and talent than anything that can be done in a video game.


Posted by: General Heed
But at least I don't go around acting all high and mighty and that everyone else is inferior.

Neither do I. But I won't hesitate to put idiots in their place.

Your first point is moot. Valve catches pirates all the time. Unlike MS, they actually have working security features in their games. You'd know this if you were a PC gamer. ;)

  • 06.24.2011 9:45 PM PDT

Bring Back Rocket Race!!!


Posted by: DusK

Posted by: General Heed
But at least I don't go around acting all high and mighty and that everyone else is inferior.

Neither do I. But I won't hesitate to put idiots in their place.

Your first point is moot. Valve catches pirates all the time. Unlike MS, they actually have working security features in their games. You'd know this if you were a PC gamer. ;)


Well, when people play pirated Xbox 360 games online, they tend to get banned really quickly.

As for Valve, well, those thousands of cracked CS gamers still don't get caught. To my knowledge there are tons of dedicated servers for Counter Strike. They've been running for years and not a single one of them has been caught.

I think consoles have the best anti-piracy features. It's very difficult to bypass the security features on consoles. In fact, the newest update to the disc formats not only adds an extra gigabyte of usable space, but also adds a whole new anti-piracy system which pretty much makes it impossible to pirate new games using that disc format for the time being. These anti-piracy features will continue to be updated.

You'd know this if you were a console gamer. ;)

  • 06.24.2011 9:55 PM PDT
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  • Noble Legendary Member

Halo 1&2 PC forum's resident OC ReMixer. Like rockified and metalized video game music? Subscribe to my YouTube channel.

Yeah. That's right. I don't have a 50 in H3. I never got Onyx in Reach. If a game sucks too much, I won't even bother trying for such trivial "accolades". Besides, I've done way more things that take far more skill and talent than anything that can be done in a video game.

Have been for years, kid.

Meanwhile, in console land...

  • 06.24.2011 10:47 PM PDT

Bring Back Rocket Race!!!


Posted by: DusK
Have been for years, kid.

Meanwhile, in console land...


That kind of hacking is rare though and not something your average console gamer can do. Plus, playing online with hacks puts you at a 95% chance of getting console banned forever. Just signing on is risky enough.

  • 06.24.2011 11:15 PM PDT
  •  | 
  • Noble Legendary Member

Halo 1&2 PC forum's resident OC ReMixer. Like rockified and metalized video game music? Subscribe to my YouTube channel.

Yeah. That's right. I don't have a 50 in H3. I never got Onyx in Reach. If a game sucks too much, I won't even bother trying for such trivial "accolades". Besides, I've done way more things that take far more skill and talent than anything that can be done in a video game.

Playing a pirated version of CS:S gives you a 105% chance of being banned from Steam.

See? I can pull unverifiable statistics out of my ass too.

  • 06.24.2011 11:37 PM PDT

Killing is a strong word, i prefer the phrase: Removal from the world by force.

Posted by: DusK

Posted by: General Heed
But at least I don't go around acting all high and mighty and that everyone else is inferior.


Neither do I. But I won't hesitate to put idiots in their place.

Your first point is moot. Valve catches pirates all the time. Unlike MS, they actually have working security features in their games. You'd know this if you were a PC gamer. ;)


Actually, i haven't done this in a while, but i will admit that i have 10 pirated steam games on my desktop right now, and i will prove that if you would like me to =)

why should i buy a game through their store? i dont like that.


[Edited on 06.25.2011 1:00 AM PDT]

  • 06.25.2011 12:58 AM PDT

Killing is a strong word, i prefer the phrase: Removal from the world by force.


Posted by: DusK
Playing a pirated version of CS:S gives you a 105% chance of being banned from Steam.

See? I can pull unverifiable statistics out of my ass too.


Been playing my pirated copy for 3 years now =)

  • 06.25.2011 12:59 AM PDT

Killing is a strong word, i prefer the phrase: Removal from the world by force.


Posted by: General Heed

Posted by: DusK
Have been for years, kid.

Meanwhile, in console land...


That kind of hacking is rare though and not something your average console gamer can do. Plus, playing online with hacks puts you at a 95% chance of getting console banned forever. Just signing on is risky enough.



And actually Dusk is right, it's harder to play computer games with hacks and mods than it is on consoles. Hell PSN was hacked pretty easy, and i've seen plenty of modders on xbox live. they never get caught. i have 10 well known hacker buddies who've never been close to being banned on xbox live, and they've beenhacking since 2006.

  • 06.25.2011 1:02 AM PDT
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Moderator Notice: This user has been blacklisted from this forum. Until the user is removed from the blacklist, all posts this user has made have been hidden, and all topics created by this user have been censored.

Unfortunately, you must get another key.

  • 06.25.2011 9:42 AM PDT

Bring Back Rocket Race!!!


Posted by: UofMfanJJ

Posted by: DusK
Playing a pirated version of CS:S gives you a 105% chance of being banned from Steam.

See? I can pull unverifiable statistics out of my ass too.


Been playing my pirated copy for 3 years now =)


I was actually referring to CS 1.6 how there are thousands of pirated copies being played and none being caught, but yeah, pretty much any Steam game is easy to play pirated and not get caught.

Also, PSN getting hacked was because Sony had poor security on their servers. Xbox Live on the other hand has not been hacked yet. When I say hacked, I mean like the PSN hack. I know there are hackers and modders online that cheat. But like I said, it's rare to come across them. And a lot of them do get banned. Especially after each dashboard update because the firmware of the Xbox 360's are changed thus making the hacks detectable. Already, hundreds of thousands of consoles have been banned for hacking. And many more will be banned in the future.

  • 06.25.2011 10:49 AM PDT

Killing is a strong word, i prefer the phrase: Removal from the world by force.

Actually, I can post my copy's box if you'd like me to.

  • 06.25.2011 4:11 PM PDT

Yes, I AM just that awesome.


Posted by: General Heed

Posted by: DusK
Great, Now you've done it. Now this thread needs some node357 to put General Ignorant in his place.


I'm just simply providing a solution to the problem. The legal solution too...

Anyways, like I said, it's not a big deal contacting Microsoft support. Unless you pirated your game, you shouldn't have any problems talking to them.
I looked at your emblem and it seemed familiar, then I looked at your name and I noticed who you were.

  • 06.25.2011 4:57 PM PDT

So, General Heed, you would rather be on the side of evil capitilistic companys that only exist for money and greed, than freedom, peer2peer, and open-source orginizations?

And you, Barnacle, say piracy spawns from corupt humans? Quite the contrary, it's business money and capitilism that corupts humans.

It's piracy that is free and open! Piracy is like an ever constant rebelion against total power control from evil people and huge companys. Because of monopoly, companies charge hundreds and/or thousands of Dollars on products, that really isn't fair.

Microsoft/hired gun have dug their own graves as far as I'm concerned with Halo 2 Vista. The CD-Key liimitation was one of the stupidest things ive ever seen, and it didn't even work. Look up Halo 2 vista on and torrent search engin and there you go, proof.

  • 06.30.2011 12:36 PM PDT

Something smells fishy...

Posted by: Zetren
And you, Barnacle, say piracy spawns from corupt humans? Quite the contrary, it's business money and capitilism that corupts humans.

Yes I believe piracy spawns from Humans because I believe Humans are naturally corrupt.

I believe Humans are corrupt to begin with. However the corruption could be increased or triggered by certain Human inventions such as Business money, Capitalism, and piracy.

These inventions are created by, what I believe to be, a corrupt species. The corrupt species being -blam!- Sapiens (Humans). Thus it is naturally corrupt Humans who sometimes make corrupt inventions of which can potentially increase or trigger corruption.

I don't believe Human corruption is entirely learned. I believe Humans are naturally flawed/corrupt and can have the tendency to become violent.


  • 06.30.2011 2:52 PM PDT
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  • Noble Legendary Member

Halo 1&2 PC forum's resident OC ReMixer. Like rockified and metalized video game music? Subscribe to my YouTube channel.

Yeah. That's right. I don't have a 50 in H3. I never got Onyx in Reach. If a game sucks too much, I won't even bother trying for such trivial "accolades". Besides, I've done way more things that take far more skill and talent than anything that can be done in a video game.

Honestly, the simple truth is that piracy cannot be stopped. It can't even be curbed. It will always happen. Therefore, the only people that ridiculous anti-piracy measures hurt are the customers that are actually paying for the game.

That's right. Thanks to M$, I'd have an easier time with H2V if I pirated it than if I bought it. God knows I had that same experience with two Assassin's Creed games.

  • 06.30.2011 8:40 PM PDT
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Posted by: UofMfanJJ

Posted by: DusK
Playing a pirated version of CS:S gives you a 105% chance of being banned from Steam.

See? I can pull unverifiable statistics out of my ass too.


Been playing my pirated copy for 3 years now =)

Orly? I tried to pirate CSS, and it was a pain in the ass. The only servers I could play on were shoddy Mexican ones, and to find them, I had to try a dozen servers over and over before one worked. I just bought it.

  • 06.30.2011 8:53 PM PDT

Something smells fishy...

Posted by: DusK
Honestly, the simple truth is that piracy cannot be stopped. It can't even be curbed. It will always happen. Therefore, the only people that ridiculous anti-piracy measures hurt are the customers that are actually paying for the game.

That's right. Thanks to M$, I'd have an easier time with H2V if I pirated it than if I bought it. God knows I had that same experience with two Assassin's Creed games.

I totally agree.

  • 06.30.2011 10:16 PM PDT
  •  | 
  • Noble Legendary Member

Halo 1&2 PC forum's resident OC ReMixer. Like rockified and metalized video game music? Subscribe to my YouTube channel.

Yeah. That's right. I don't have a 50 in H3. I never got Onyx in Reach. If a game sucks too much, I won't even bother trying for such trivial "accolades". Besides, I've done way more things that take far more skill and talent than anything that can be done in a video game.


Posted by: Barnacle_Blast
Posted by: DusK
Honestly, the simple truth is that piracy cannot be stopped. It can't even be curbed. It will always happen. Therefore, the only people that ridiculous anti-piracy measures hurt are the customers that are actually paying for the game.

That's right. Thanks to M$, I'd have an easier time with H2V if I pirated it than if I bought it. God knows I had that same experience with two Assassin's Creed games.

I totally agree.

Pirate brofist.

  • 06.30.2011 10:23 PM PDT

Something smells fishy...

Posted by: DusK

Posted by: Barnacle_Blast
Posted by: DusK
Honestly, the simple truth is that piracy cannot be stopped. It can't even be curbed. It will always happen. Therefore, the only people that ridiculous anti-piracy measures hurt are the customers that are actually paying for the game.

That's right. Thanks to M$, I'd have an easier time with H2V if I pirated it than if I bought it. God knows I had that same experience with two Assassin's Creed games.

I totally agree.

Pirate brofist.

Argh Matey!

*Gives order to fire cannons on unsuspecting vessel*

  • 06.30.2011 11:11 PM PDT

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