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Don't buy WoW used...
Posted: Thu Feb 24, 2005 4:01 pm
by Defender
... or you might not be able to play it.
http://ask.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid= ... =209&tid=4
egburr asks: "I just purchased a used retail box of World of Warcraft. After reading the EULA in the manual and the Terms of Use, I expected to be up and playing quickly. I soon ran into a problem. I haven't even installed the software yet, since the first thing I have to do is go online and create a user account and then subscribe to play. Simple enough? I thought so too, until I tried entering the Authentication Key found on the CD case. This produced an error that my key had already been used. Note that it says 'already been used,' not 'currently in use.'" Note that section 3B in the EULA explicitly grants its users the ability to transfer the physical property and "all of your rights and obligations under the License Agreement", presumably including the Authentication Key which is needed when creating a new account. What Blizzard expressly disallows is the transfer of accounts, according to Section 1E of their Terms of Use,
Posted: Thu Feb 24, 2005 4:11 pm
by Plebeian
Yep, you're pretty much screwed if you buy something like an MMORPG used. You'd hope that you'd be able to transfer the license key in addition to the media, but at least in FFXI, I'm pretty sure that one you've created an account with your license key, the two are bound. Though it may be possible that if you cancel your account a certain way, then the license key is freed up again, but that would be something to ask of (in this case) Blizzard's support staff. Good way to try to check out the support response you can hopefully expect if you do end up buying it, too.
Posted: Thu Feb 24, 2005 4:24 pm
by Pun
why couldnt the guy just use the previous user's login and password for the account that corresponds to the serial number? Just delete his characters if he didnt want em. That's how I understand it works with a used copy.
Posted: Thu Feb 24, 2005 4:54 pm
by BigSlideHimself
Yea, I got stuck with a copy of EQ2 I barely played.
Posted: Thu Feb 24, 2005 5:18 pm
by Mr. Perfect
punisher wrote:why couldnt the guy just use the previous user's login and password for the account that corresponds to the serial number? Just delete his characters if he didnt want em. That's how I understand it works with a used copy.
And how is he supposed to know what that account and password is? If he had an account to use with his key, then surely he would have used it instead of trying to creat a new one
Posted: Thu Feb 24, 2005 6:52 pm
by Lothar
So when he bought it, maybe he should've requested the username/pw... ya think?
Posted: Thu Feb 24, 2005 7:36 pm
by BigSlideHimself
Unless he bought it from a store that sells used software and not the actual person who owned it.
Posted: Thu Feb 24, 2005 8:11 pm
by woodchip
Key generator?
Posted: Thu Feb 24, 2005 8:51 pm
by Vertigo 99
a key gen would never work in an mmorpg...
Posted: Thu Feb 24, 2005 8:54 pm
by Tetrad
Lothar: the point is that the terms of use prohibit account transferring (and Blizzard of course isn't cooperating).
WC: I'm sure the authentication key isn't one of those "if it fits the algorithm it'll unlock the CD" but more along the lines of "if it's not one we printed on a case and shipped out we're not allowing it". Getting a working key generator in the first case is fairly simple, whereas getting one to work in the second is next to impossible given that the code could be completely arbitrary and is checked remotely. In fact you don't need a CD key to install WoW, just to create an account.
Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2005 1:37 am
by Lobber
Don't buy WoW
Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2005 2:13 am
by BigSlideHimself
Yea, key generators don't work for online games in general.
I do hate the fact that Blizzard insures you can't buy a used game. I'm not a big fan of this trend. I recently had to buy an online textbook for class. All the benefits of paying full price,without having to go through the pain of reselling it!
Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2005 5:52 pm
by Defender
Indeed, elminating the option to buy a game used is just rediculous.
If Blizzard isn't adhering to their own TOS & EULA then that guy could probably sue blizzard.
Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2005 6:50 pm
by fliptw
Im presuming that Blizzard has a methodolgy for sellers to deactivate their Auth key, Valve has a 10 dollar fee to do that for their crap.
In general, I really fail to see the logic of MMORPGs needing copy protection of any sort.
Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2005 7:38 pm
by Pun
Mr. Perfect wrote:punisher wrote:why couldnt the guy just use the previous user's login and password for the account that corresponds to the serial number? Just delete his characters if he didnt want em. That's how I understand it works with a used copy.
And how is he supposed to know what that account and password is? If he had an account to use with his key, then surely he would have used it instead of trying to creat a new one
If he bought it used and didn't get the account info, he's a f**king idiot.
Posted: Mon Feb 28, 2005 11:03 pm
by Destiny777
...Then you have those that buy the game only to return it so they can have multiple game codes.
Most companies will return that software to the vendor... Some do not. So you might end up with a "legal" copy from your software vendor that gets "repackaged".
"Buyer Beware" seems to apply here.
Posted: Tue Mar 01, 2005 1:48 am
by SSX-Thunderbird
This is one reason why I dislike the MMOs that you have to buy in order to create an account. The two that I play are available to be bought, but it's not required, and they can both be downloaded from the Internet legally.
For reference: EvE Online and Puzzle Pirates