Your license procedure (120 days)

[AgeOfEgos]

I recently purchased Army Builder---installed it on a Windows 7 system. I have not changed OS nor computers. The only thing I have done is install Windows 7 patches as prompted.

This evening, when I attempted to launch Army Builder, it prompted me to reactive my license due to a change in computer identity. Ok...I didn't but if that's what I need to do, so be it. I attempt to---however, as I'm sure you could have guessed due to the title, I get a message stating I must contact Lone Wolf because I'm within a 120 day period of reinstall.

So, thoughts;

1. That license procedure is inane, frustrating and silly. You aren't even allowed one fresh install within 120 days due to a computer crash (Or Windows 7 bug it seems?). This is not a way to combat piracy---this is a way to frustrate your customer.

2. I didn't change my compute identity, install a new OS or change any features on my computer---other than installing updates as prompted.

[Duggan]

To some degree, this is a known issue. Microsoft's updates frequently change the "signature" of the computer. Lone Wolf tries to find ways to avoid this happening, but Microsoft's really tricky about finding ways to subtly break the process.

If you send an email to support@wolflair.com (as is specified in the error message, I believe), they can get you up and running pretty quickly.

[AgeOfEgos]

Originally Posted by Duggan

To some degree, this is a known issue. Microsoft's updates frequently change the "signature" of the computer. Lone Wolf tries to find ways to avoid this happening, but Microsoft's really tricky about finding ways to subtly break the process.

If you send an email to support@wolflair.com (as is specified in the error message, I believe), they can get you up and running pretty quickly.

If updates from Microsoft cause this issue---then they need to dump thier license procedure (and I'll just get a refund). I'm not going to send emails every time Windows 7 updates (which is often!). If that is a known issue---people should know about it before purchasing (Unless there is an announcement as you purchase and I missed it). For that trouble, I'll save my money and use Excel.

I did send an email when it happened per the instructions---it said response time = 2-3 days.

[Duggan]

And, unfortunately, it's a small company so that's business days, but they generally prioritize licensing questions.

As for the Windows updates, they usually manage to weather them, but given the timing, I'm guessing you did the Service Pack update? That one breaks almost any program that depends on a specific machine configuration. Myself, I've had no problem with the other updates, but every time a Service Pack comes out, I install it at the beginning of a week because I know it's going to disrupt something.

[AgeOfEgos]

Originally Posted by Duggan

And, unfortunately, it's a small company so that's business days, but they generally prioritize licensing questions.

As for the Windows updates, they usually manage to weather them, but given the timing, I'm guessing you did the Service Pack update? That one breaks almost any program that depends on a specific machine configuration. Myself, I've had no problem with the other updates, but every time a Service Pack comes out, I install it at the beginning of a week because I know it's going to disrupt something.

Hi Duggan,

First, I was remiss in not thanking you for the response(s). Thanks!

As to the Windows Updates----I wanted to double check----and my log does not show SP1 installed (I held it due to some bug reports---plus I didn't see any new features).

Looking over my updates----I only show Security/Definition Updates.

Regardless---not allowing a person to reinstall software they just purchased without sending an email seems over the top in terms of anti-piracy.

[rob]

Ah, the joys of a problem being reported late Friday night and then all sorts of discussion occurring before anyone on staff sees it.

I'll do my best to address the concerns expressed in the various preceding posts. Since you've contacted support about this, I'm going to assume that you've been able to get back up and running again. If not, please let me know and I'll investigate personally.

Originally Posted by AgeOfEgos

That license procedure is inane, frustrating and silly. You aren't even allowed one fresh install within 120 days due to a computer crash (Or Windows 7 bug it seems?). This is not a way to combat piracy---this is a way to frustrate your customer.

The issue we have is that it is COMMONPLACE for gamers to pool their money to buy software and then share it. The reason I know it is commonplace is that every year we have groups of gamers stand in our booth at shows like GenCon and pool their money to buy one copy of the product, openly discussing how they will all share the one copy across all their computers. If there are numerous groups willing to do that openly in front of the company selling the product, just imagine how many there are that aren't so brazen. Unfortunately, this behavior forced us to institute the limit on license reassignment.

Since the typical computer user upgrades or replaces a computer once every 18-24 months, limiting users to once every four months works well for 98+% of our users. For the exceptional cases, we have a separate priority support queue for license reassignment issues that gets checked more frequently and also on weekends. In general, license issues are typically resolved within 24-36 hours.

Originally Posted by AgeOfEgos

I didn't change my compute identity, install a new OS or change any features on my computer---other than installing updates as prompted.

The "identity" we use keys on aspects of the installation that, based on all the published details from Microsoft, should not change unless an operating system upgrade or re-install occurs. Unfortunately, as anyone who has dealt with Microsoft products for any length of time will attest to, Microsoft does not always follow their own published rules. It's like the Pirate's Code, where they're really more like "guidelines". This results in random exceptions happening that we have no control over. We do our best to deal with them, but it's a moving, undocumented target.

Originally Posted by Duggan

To some degree, this is a known issue. Microsoft's updates frequently change the "signature" of the computer. Lone Wolf tries to find ways to avoid this happening, but Microsoft's really tricky about finding ways to subtly break the process.

That's not an accurate statement. Yes, it is "known" that Microsoft changes (and breaks) things occasionally, as I outlined above. However, it is definitely NOT a "frequent" problem.

Originally Posted by AgeOfEgos

If updates from Microsoft cause this issue---then they need to dump thier license procedure (and I'll just get a refund). I'm not going to send emails every time Windows 7 updates (which is often!). If that is a known issue---people should know about it before purchasing (Unless there is an announcement as you purchase and I missed it). For that trouble, I'll save my money and use Excel.

What Duggan told you was misleading, portraying this as a frequent issue. The reality is that the number of people effected by this problem every year can be counted on your fingers - assuming you have the usual 10, of course. Given that we have nearly 100,000 users of our licensing mechanism (across all our products), we're talking 0.01% of our users run into this problem. That means we've got a 99.99% reliability rate with our licensing mechanism.

When the rare exception occurs, we're usually able to get users back up and running the next day.

Hopefully, the above explanations prove helpful in understanding how and why we use our licensing mechanism. If you have further questions, please post them and I'll do my best to answer them.

[AgeOfEgos]

Originally Posted by rob

The issue we have is that it is COMMONPLACE for gamers to pool their money to buy software and then share it. The reason I know it is commonplace is that every year we have groups of gamers stand in our booth at shows like GenCon and pool their money to buy one copy of the product, openly discussing how they will all share the one copy across all their computers. If there are numerous groups willing to do that openly in front of the company selling the product, just imagine how many there are that aren't so brazen. Unfortunately, this behavior forced us to institute the limit on license reassignment.

The "identity" we use keys on aspects of the installation that, based on all the published details from Microsoft, should not change unless an operating system upgrade or re-install occurs. Unfortunately, as anyone who has dealt with Microsoft products for any length of time will attest to, Microsoft does not always follow their own published rules. It's like the Pirate's Code, where they're really more like "guidelines". This results in random exceptions happening that we have no control over. We do our best to deal with them, but it's a moving, undocumented target.

What Duggan told you was misleading, portraying this as a frequent issue. The reality is that the number of people effected by this problem every year can be counted on your fingers - assuming you have the usual 10, of course. Given that we have nearly 100,000 users of our licensing mechanism (across all our products), we're talking 0.01% of our users run into this problem. That means we've got a 99.99% reliability rate with our licensing mechanism.

When the rare exception occurs, we're usually able to get users back up and running the next day.

Hopefully, the above explanations prove helpful in understanding how and why we use our licensing mechanism. If you have further questions, please post them and I'll do my best to answer them.

Hey Rob,

First, I appreciate the time you took in typing out such a detailed response.

Given what you've told me (The clubs buying a copy and installing it across platforms), I understand better why you do what you do. To be frank, I hadn't thought of how that makes your product unique in that aspect and I apologize.

I also understand now that it's a rare issue. Initially, I was under the impression it would happen each time MS updated (Which is way too often!) but given what you've told me, it's a very rare update that would cause this issue. Plus, I received a quick reply regarding my license. Consider this resolved and thanks again for your response.

[Duggan]

Originally Posted by rob

That's not an accurate statement. Yes, it is "known" that Microsoft changes (and breaks) things occasionally, as I outlined above. However, it is definitely NOT a "frequent" problem.

What Duggan told you was misleading, portraying this as a frequent issue. The reality is that the number of people effected by this problem every year can be counted on your fingers - assuming you have the usual 10, of course. Given that we have nearly 100,000 users of our licensing mechanism (across all our products), we're talking 0.01% of our users run into this problem. That means we've got a 99.99% reliability rate with our licensing mechanism.

My apologies. I spoke rashly and included in my umbrella statement not only the products here, but those of other people where I see this issue. It is a rare week when I don't see somebody having a problem where they installed a Microsoft update and it broke a program. *shrug* It's the peril of a monolithic software company combined with a number of smaller software companies. Admittedly, it's better than the old days when everyone was incompatible with each other. Even a shifting standard is better than no standard at all.

My intent was not to disparage Lone Wolf's product at all, but rather to provide assurance that he was not alone and that Lone Wolf was good at getting back to solve these problems. I noted the business days distinction because not everyone thinks in those terms and indeed, it was a Friday night question.