License Reactivation and Update to Hero Lab

[TheSleeper]

Originally Posted by ShadowChemosh

I would advise you to ask for you money back. No matter what "proff" you think you have its not valid. LW would be out of busy long ago if they did not protection from thieves. If you can't deal with this don't use the software. End of story.

Once again the issue is with all the Beta version of Win 10. I have the software going on 5+ years I have NEVER EVER NOT EVEN ONCE had a problem with the license software. NOT A SINGLE TIME.

Its obvious you where not aware that major changes in Win 10 causes the key changes. Thats fine and it sucks finding out this way. But asking LW to allow everyone to steal the software so they go out of business is not a valid response.

I don’t see any proof that there DRM has increased there profit’s at all. Some of the best protected products in windows and video games and both are available easily with minimal effort. Owner of billion dollar company Steam Gabe Newel on DRM:
http://www.pcgamer.com/we-ask-gabe-n...episode-three/


I have windows 7 not 10, I built a new computer and installed windows 10 on it (should have had to re register or something) I then went back to windows 7 (also should have had to re register), I then had windows update on windows 7 to cause me to re register and then the same issue a week later. So no windows 10 is not my issue and people already can steal there software, someone that is going to pirate the software is not someone that was going to pay for it anyways so that is not lost profit that was going to put them out of business.

Regardless of what you think they still have an obligation to their customers to provide what was paid for.

[Togainu]

I don’t see any proof that there DRM has increased there profit’s at all.

Just like you don't see any proof that it has decreased or avoided people from buying the software. This is one of those comments that has no basis in either direction. Cause there never will be any proof for either direction.

someone that is going to pirate the software is not someone that was going to pay for it anyways so that is not lost profit that was going to put them out of business.

That is another baseless statement. I know enough people that buy software if they can't find a way to obtain that specific software for free. It is pretty much in our nature to want things for free and going out of our way to obtain it that way and result to the pay option if they can't get it that way.

Now I agree that the DRM can be annoying (at times). Whether people like it or not DRM is needed and the way Lonewolf implemented it is something I can fully understand.

As for your final statement about them having an obligation to their customers to provide what was paid for. They do this and have normal support hours in doing so. I have contacted them often with issues regarding either implementations of things or license issues. They are always quick to respond with either workarounds for the time being or solutions.

Either way in your example it seems that Windows update apparently did update something that triggered Windows mark it for distributing a new system ID to your machine. That triggers Hero Lab for this situation. So in fact if you want to complain to someone it actually should be to Microsoft for having an update that altered the system ID. All you can do for situations like this is contact support and explain the situation and try to get it sorted with them.

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Bit of off-topic stuff because you brought it up:

As for your Gabe Newel and his DRM statement is rather funny. Cause Steam is one big DRM system. You need to be logged in and online with steam to play. Their offline system first requires you to login online setup a setting to play offline. (very handy when your internet dies and the last offline linked pc isn't the pc you are currently on)

As for the example I will use now for steam is a drastic but still a probable situation at some point. The moment Steam will be shut down (either by bankruptcy or them shutting down their system for whatever reason). You have a load of games on your machine that won't be able to verify their DRM and become unplayable. The same goes for games that might get removed for reasons (again something that doesn't happen fast but there has been occasions). You already bought them from the developer and steam is not required to refund you for a game you won't be able to re-obtain.

[liz]

@TheSleeper (reposted from this thread): http://forums.wolflair.com/showthrea...061#post216061. I'm going to close this thread so that this discussion is kept to this one location.

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First, let me address your concern about accessing Hero Lab. Unfortunately, we're a small company and cannot have support staff working 24/7. However, I know the support team will begin working on your support ticket (and others) tomorrow. License reassignments are higher priority issues, so it will likely be taken care of by the end of the day tomorrow.

The reason I'm responding to you now on a Sunday is because you're making false assertions about our company in multiple locations on our forums. Instead of replying to each of your claims across these multiple threads, I'll respond to them all here, and copy and paste into each thread.

Originally Posted by TheSleeper

anyone that is willing to steal this software is not likely to pay for it even if they have no way to get it for free.

Originally Posted by TheSleeper

I don’t see any proof that there DRM has increased there profit’s at all.

Unfortunately, piracy is a big problem in our industry and it has a dramatic impact on the bottom-line and financial viability for virtually any company who offers their products digitally. We experienced piracy ourselves shortly after the company got started. Almost 15 years ago, we found out the DRM we originally used within our Army Builder product had been hacked. Because that hacked version was readily available, it turns out nearly 80% of our user base was using a pirated copy (based on metrics we instituted within the product to determine our exposure). That was 15 years ago, when the world wasn’t as plugged into the internet as it is now, so it’s doubtful that consumer attitudes (i.e. those numbers) have improved over time.

This experience speaks to the general philosophy of many gamers in our industry – if they can get it for free, they will. Once we implemented a new DRM mechanism, our sales tripled, which clearly showed that people wanted the product and were willing to pay for it – but only if they couldn’t get it for free.

Originally Posted by TheSleeper

Patching or updating the OS is NOT a change of the OS at all.

We outlined how devices are identified (and how devices could change "identities") on our website: http://www.wolflair.com/index.php?co...are_identified. As you can see on the website, "Upgrading your current operating system will often change the identity."

Originally Posted by TheSleeper

Taking a look I find a number of torrents and regular download links the DRM has been unsuccessful as the only people with the un-cracked version are the ones that have paid.

You're welcome to download any number of those "torrents", but what you'll find is that it's the demo version of Hero Lab and does not actually include any unlocked game system information. That's because our system has been successful in protecting our software for years. If you find an actual working torrent with unlocked content, please point me to it.

Originally Posted by TheSleeper

One working day is an unreasonable expectation of a company to make there customers wait every time they get an upgrade.

As upgrading the operating system is one of the reasons a computer may change its "identity", we actually made our users aware that the Windows 10 update may cause a license reactivation. We've even had users contact us in advance of their upgrade to Windows 10 so we could authorize their license for reassignment early.

As for our 1-3 business day response time for support cases, given we have only one full time technical support employee, I'm pretty darn proud that we can set that expectation for our users. Especially when upgrading your operating system is specifically called out as a reason your license may require a reactivation, and we notified our users on our website, on our social media, and in our recent newsletter that the Windows 10 upgrade may require a reactivation.

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Some final thoughts... I've been working with Lone Wolf for over two years now, either handling or overseeing the technical support cases like license reassignments. There has never been a license reassignment case that I could not explain. They're either prompted by someone using their license number on multiple devices, actually moving a license number within the 120 day window, the reasons outlined on our website, or a super fringe case (someone booting from both their computer's hard-drive and an external hard-drive. Based on our user base and the small number of license reassignment we receive during the week, the majority of users are able to use Hero Lab without running into any problems with our licensing system.

Originally Posted by TheSleeper

DRM is making me question my investment in Hero Lab.

If you're not happy with our licensing system, you're still within the 60-day return window. Please contact support@wolflair.com, and we would be happy to refund your purchase. In the meantime, our support team will be getting back to you tomorrow about your license reassignment.