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rob
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Old July 8th, 2010, 02:42 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Duggan View Post
Maybe the check could be done on a less comprehensive level, such as by drive serial number? That way, someone who keeps reinstalling their OS won't have an issue because when the check is made, it's against the same drive they were on before?
Hah! We spent *many* weeks striving to achieve that goal. But Microsoft is a *joke* in this department. Across the various different versions of Windows, this was handled radically differently on each one and was riddled with bugs on each one. So much so that it was impossible to even achieve 80% reliability.

For example, we couldn't get stuff to work on one version of Windows. So we spent days going around and around with Microsoft, finally being allowed to talk to the actual development staff. It turns out that there was a big comment inside the Microsoft source code saying something akin to "Don't forget to implement this". Guess what? The code was missing and nothing had been implemented.

After banging our heads against that approach for weeks, we finally gave up trying to make it work.

And that approach still failed to account for situations where you have a RAID array and the drive serial numbers are not accessible.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Duggan View Post
You could probably even do it as some kind of CRC check per license so that Lone Wolf isn't accused of "storing identifying information on individual computers".
That's how we currently do it. We collect details of the user's system and generate a "system code" based on it. This is essentially a CRC, so that none of the user's identifying information can ever be reversed from it.
rob is offline   #11
billi13
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Join Date: Jul 2011
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Old July 11th, 2011, 12:06 PM
I purchases army builder when they still had phone support. I purchased it in a store with a free upgrade to the current version. when I upgraded it no longer worked. It took over an hour to finally get the problem fixed. A few moths later the program crashed and I tried reinstalling it but was never able to use it in anything but demo mode. I tried contacting customer support for three years and even had the owner of the game store try to contact the company. After all of the problems I had he stopped selling the product. Neither of us ever heard back from anyone. The game store closed and I no longer had a place to play. Now there is a new store and I would like to be able to use the program that I paid full retail price for. I am sure there is a new version and the rule books have changed but since I was able to use the program for only about 6 months I think I should get a working version. I sent a similar message to the customer support but since they have always ignored me I thought that if I posted this on a forum they may eventually reply.

Last edited by billi13; July 20th, 2011 at 12:00 AM. Reason: typo
billi13 is offline   #12
Duggan
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Old July 11th, 2011, 01:52 PM
I highly doubt customer support is ignoring you. Lone Wolf is very, very good in that regard. Have you tried the email address on the website? And have you checked your spam filter to make sure the reply didn't accidentally land there? Rob, the president, is fairly prolific on the forums, but support@wolflair.com is still the best way to make sure that your situation is properly handled.

Unfortunately, I suspect that they're not going to upgrade you to the newest version for free, but they can likely get your older version to work again. *shrug* But I'm just a fan, not an employee, so take my words solely as my opinion.
Duggan is offline   #13
Colen
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Old July 11th, 2011, 04:28 PM
Indeed, make sure you're emailing the correct address - support@wolflair.com is the one to use. If you don't get a reply within 3 business days, make sure you've checked your spam filters, as we often have problems with users not receiving our replies.
Colen is offline   #14
rob
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Old July 11th, 2011, 11:21 PM
When you send an email to support, you will automatically receive a response email that acknowledges we got your inquiry. If you don't get the auto-response email, then it's a safe bet your spam filters are throwing it away. That also means it's highly likely that your spam filters will also throw away the actual answer from support that will follow in a couple days.

So.... Did you receive the auto-response email? If not, it's critical you check your spam filters or it's quite likely you'll never see the forthcoming response from support.
rob is offline   #15
Jonah
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Join Date: Jul 2011
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Old July 12th, 2011, 08:10 PM
I get all the auto messages from you, I even got the activation one for getting into these forums. I bought Army Builder on Sunday the 10th and have now been locked out as a potential hacker (it's the 13th...so 3 business days and no word). Tech support hasn't answered me back and I am pretty unhappy with this licensing business...I bought this 3 days ago and am still stuck on the demo which is not adequate for my needs.
Good product, rubbish activation. If I don't hear from someone soon i will just contact my credit card company and get a refund through them.
Pretty unhappy.
Jonah is offline   #16
billi13
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Join Date: Jul 2011
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Old July 19th, 2011, 11:55 PM
I tried again on the 12th of July I got the automatic response it went straight to my inbox and I added it to my contact list. I have been checking all of my messages in my inbox and my junk mail, it is now July 20 and no response.
Is there a working crack or another company that makes a competing product. I would like to be able to use the program that I paid for, or at least purchase a similar product from a reputable company I am not about to give this company any more of my money.
As for the comment that they may not upgrade me to the current version after all of the grief they have put me through and the fact that I paid what the current price is for the product and was only able to use it for what many companies offer as a trial period I should get the upgrade. It is not as if it matters since I am never going to hear from them anyway i do not have the time to post over 400 times on this forum so I do not think I will ever hear from them. I joined this forum in hopes that since I am posting where potential customers can see they may finally reply it did not work.
Bill
billi13 is offline   #17
Duggan
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Old July 20th, 2011, 02:55 AM
{looks up the page where the founder of the company and the chief developer have both responded} Somehow, I don't think that there's no chance of getting a reply.
Duggan is offline   #18
Colen
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Old July 20th, 2011, 08:09 AM
Hi billi13 and Jonah,

Please email me directly at colen@wolflair.com with your email address and license number, and I'll get you sorted out. Sorry for the delays - I'm investigating what happened with our customer support right now.
Colen is offline   #19
nekogunner
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Join Date: Jul 2011
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Old July 31st, 2011, 05:49 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by rob View Post
The Steam suggestion is a good one. Unfortunately, the Steam solution has a number of flaws for a product like AB. We've investigated something like it and found it to be no better than what we currently do. All it does it move the issues around, without providing an overall net improvement.
Just curious, but what problems would be moved around vs solved exactly? I apologize if this seems like a rant, but I'm just trying to understand your thought process.

Here are the versions of DRM I've seen:

1) Always on internet connection - Ubisoft tried this with horrible results. The goal for this was that your copy of the game would always be connected to their authentication server. The second your connection drops due to a power loss, technical issues, whatever, you are booted out of the game. Even though it was single player.

Pirates circumvented this by creating their own local "server", tricking the game into thinking that it was a legal copy when it wasn't.

Ubisoft servers when down at least one weekend. The community couldn't play and were upset that pirates could.

I can see this happening with Army Builder.

2) Steam approach - Steam is DRM in and of itself. Unless you are adding a shortcut / non-steam game, all games purchased through Steam, require Steam to be running in order to purchase it, initially install it, and run it. There is an offline mode that is supported by many developers.

EX: Warhammer 40K Dawn of War 2 - Retribution. Start game while Steam is online and connected to internet. Start game in Steam's "offline mode" and connected to the internet so the game's DRM can validate your copy as legal but in offline mode, then cut the cord, and go completely offline.

You can run Steam, and most Steam games in offline mode for about a week before it tells you, that you are required to login.

3) CD-key + (optional) X number of installs (Typically 3-10) - This is easily bypassed. Happens all the time with many popular games. Not sure how (not that code savvy) but it happens all the time.



Really all it seems to take would be a small piece of code / DRM program to be installed with Army Builder that connects to your servers. It could run inside of or alongside army builder. A week grace period seems like plenty of time.

Also, why the set number of licenses so low? I don't understand why you would limited the number to just two. While the average person would have a desktop and laptop, it doesn't seem outlandish to let people install it on multiple computers. Especially they would have to have their log-in details to access the program.

I wouldn't just give them to any random person on the street or in my local hobby shop to use. Especially since that could also be tied to my credit card info and multiple products that I've purchased....definitely not....

See where I'm going with this?

Just trying to figure why specially the Steam approach is bad.

DRM is bound to inconvenience the honest user in some way shape or form. It's about minimizing the annoyance factor that helps drive up your reputation as a developer / seller.

Sorry,

\rant.
nekogunner is offline   #20
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