Valve disabled my account...

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Originally posted by max_clif
You're one hell of a joke. Anyone reading what u said in last page will now know you're talking out of your ***.

You made claims about how there will be a refund without justifying your remarks.

Just remember this: next time I see any of your post and I feel you're out of line I'll be sure to point everyone to this tread to know nothing you say is credible.

You're the target my friend. Have a nice day ;)

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Okay, Max, listen. It's a slow day at the office so I thought I'd participate in an interesting online debate about electronic burglary.

Now, by taking me on like this, you have cast yourself as the intellectual equivalent of the ninety-pound guy who walks into a bar and insists on challenging a two-fifty linebacker to arm-wrestle him. I keep on flicking you away but back you come with your little dukes up so, rather than humiliate you (or myself because the challenge is too imbalanced to be honorable) I'm just going to leave the bar.

You should pay attention to your parents and work hard in school. Remember, good grammar is not about putting words in the right order as much as it is about putting your thoughts in the right order. Without order, you cannot assemble an argument, let alone win one. Your tortured syntax provides an unflattering insight into disorganised thought processes, as this quote bears witness:

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Just remember this: next time I see any of your post and I feel you're out of line I'll be sure to point everyone to this tread to know nothing you say is credible.

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To return to the arm-wrestling analogy for a minute, that sentence alone shows me that you have no business wearing a tank top!

This appears to be your point:

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You made claims about how there will be a refund without justifying your remarks.

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Allow me, one last time, to express my argument in plain English:

If you bought a legitimate copy of HALF LIFE 2 but were unable to play it because a previous, unsuccessful attempt to pirate the game got you locked out of Steam, then it is highly probable that your account will be reactivated and your game will be playable as long as you call Valve and explain the situation. I never presented this as a fact. I presented it as a reasonable assumption. Please make the mental effort to distinguish between the two.

Now, if you don't mind, I'm off to drink with some guys who either know when they are outmatched or can offer me a legitimate challenge.

nothing personal mate but GAME SOURCE CODE STEALERS deserve to have their accounts permanently banned from play, specially on the HL2 subject, since it got a significant delay due to those ****ers, they should be robing online banks then, they have insurance and steal on tax charges not the game industry, they are our allies dudes!!!

bottom line:
you purchased a game ON A ACCT THAT WAS FLAGGED FOR PIRATING.

they can delete that acct even if you payed for the game....

you shoulda made a new acct.

its your fualt

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Originally posted by max_clif
Those who are behind company or institutional firewalls cannot connect to valve's servers to authenticate. They dont even appear to care about that at all.

It's money first, damn everyone who disagrees with their precious stream. Ironically from what I've heard there is already a cracked version of HL2 floating around requiring no authorization.

Only peeople being hurt are those who support Valve. Too bad they are the same ones who wont buy valve's crap next time around.

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You are very passionate about this topic. I'm going out on a limb to flame you here, but it sounds like you need to find some outlet for your aggressions. Seriously, SharkyForums is not the right place to take it out.

Anyway, back on topic, Valve makes a product. They have a stake in ensuring that their product does not get pirated, so they take steps to protect it. It is their product, and it is their right to do so. I don't know if it saves them money, I don't know if it makes them lose money... but it's what they choose to do, and it is their right to do so. When you own and run your own software company, you can choose whatever method of distribution and authentication you choose.

Most people who pay for HAlf Life 2 won't care about Steam, CD Keys, etc. It might be an inconvenience, but it is an inconvenience people must suffer if they want to play Half Life 2. If you don't think the inconvenience is worth it, don't play.

And Twice is right... you are a big target, because you are one of the few people in this thread calling people "losers" and saying that they are "talking out their ***". People don't like you because you obviously have no interest whatsoever in discussion... you shout and shout and shout, louder and louder, in hopes that people will listen to you. Either that, or this is your form of anger management.


If all of your complaining actually made a difference towards this inconvenience of Valve's CD-Key authentication, I would completely support you. But it doesn't. So stop complaining and deal with it.

I haven't read this entire thread, so forgive me if this is redundant, but if you uninstall and re-install with your valid serial number, I would think that you'd be allowed to play again.

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Originally posted by TwIce
Okay, Max, listen. It's a slow day at the office so I thought I'd participate in an interesting online debate about electronic burglary.

Now, by taking me on like this, you have cast yourself as the intellectual equivalent of the ninety-pound guy who walks into a bar and insists on challenging a two-fifty linebacker to arm-wrestle him. I keep on flicking you away but back you come with your little dukes up so, rather than humiliate you (or myself because the challenge is too imbalanced to be honorable) I'm just going to leave the bar.

You should pay attention to your parents and work hard in school. Remember, good grammar is not about putting words in the right order as much as it is about putting your thoughts in the right order. Without order, you cannot assemble an argument, let alone win one. Your tortured syntax provides an unflattering insight into disorganised thought processes, as this quote bears witness:


To return to the arm-wrestling analogy for a minute, that sentence alone shows me that you have no business wearing a tank top!

This appears to be your point:


Allow me, one last time, to express my argument in plain English:

If you bought a legitimate copy of HALF LIFE 2 but were unable to play it because a previous, unsuccessful attempt to pirate the game got you locked out of Steam, then it is highly probable that your account will be reactivated and your game will be playable as long as you call Valve and explain the situation. I never presented this as a fact. I presented it as a reasonable assumption. Please make the mental effort to distinguish between the two.

Now, if you don't mind, I'm off to drink with some guys who either know when they are outmatched or can offer me a legitimate challenge.

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You're leaving because you got nothing else to say. I'll accept that. I may forget to type in a word or two, or even leave out a letter.

So what.

If you are as smart as you want to claim, then figure out that to guess at something, and to know something are two different things.
You're half intelligent, arent you.

It is torturous for me to read on and on about what you think Valve will do, and versus what Valve has already done. Yes, you have made stupid guesses as to what Valve will do:

"He can either return the game for a refund/store credit or he can contact Valve and plead his case. For all his protestations of innocence, what he is embarrassed to do -- but will have to if he wants to play HL2 -- is call Valve and tell them that he got banned because he tried to pirate their game. If they think he has learned the error of his ways they will unlock his account."

You presented this as fact. I can tell you for a fact Valve has already refused to activate the accounts despite plees to do so. You're dead wrong.

So let's see what kind of a man you are. One who takes critism, or one who is a hypocrite. I think I already know.

Snide comments and leaving an argument are easy things to do. Admitting a mistake takes guts.

Next time you say something, verify the crap that spills out of your mouth is true or stay quiet. :cool:

So you say that it's painful to read his posts.

Yet, you challenge him and presume to call him a hypocrite if he doesn't stoop to your level of personal attacks and post a reply.

So in the same post, you damn him if he does, damn him if he doesn't.

You'd make a good Bush Attorney General.

Like many have said! Just give Valve a call and see what they say. I'm sure they will be helpful (maybe.) Heres what happened to me a few years ago....

I bought Everquest when it first came out on ebay. The guy sent me a copied disk. I couldn't use it as you need an account key, so I called SOE (think they were under different management then) and told them what happened. They gave me a free account key.

Try it, it might work. Then tell us what happened.

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Originally posted by kent1146
So you say that it's painful to read his posts.

Yet, you challenge him and presume to call him a hypocrite if he doesn't stoop to your level of personal attacks and post a reply.

So in the same post, you damn him if he does, damn him if he doesn't.

You'd make a good Bush Attorney General.

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:D :D :D heheh. well we got rid of ashcroft and now got his mini-me. when will it end?

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Originally posted by kent1146
So you say that it's painful to read his posts.

Yet, you challenge him and presume to call him a hypocrite if he doesn't stoop to your level of personal attacks and post a reply.

So in the same post, you damn him if he does, damn him if he doesn't.

You'd make a good Bush Attorney General.

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He attacked me first. Read closely what he says on page 5 and 6. I escalated this when he began to get abusive. I am guilty of stooping to his level of attacks, perhaps. The snide remarks he makes should be quite obvious.

My main problem with twice is that he's making up things and passing them on as facts, just to win any argument. He says clearly if the banned people contacted Valve they would unlock it. That is not backed by fact at all, as of yesterday or today. In Valve's own forum the representative refused to unban and said all bans were permanent if they were of this nature.

I would support Valve if they banned the people and subsequently gave a full refund to those who bought the game after entering the pirated serial number. By banning the Stream account just yesterday, Valve in effect took the money and ran. They could have banned the stream accounts in question many weeks earlier during the pre-loading of Half Life 2 back in October.

While I am personally not affected by what has happened as I do not pirate, I am incensed they deliberately waited till everyone paid for HL2 then banned them, in effect locking up all games in their Stream account even those not related to Half Life 2.

To add fuel to fire:
There are SMART ways to pirate games and then there are STUPID ways to do so. I'd say that entering a random cd-key that floats freely around the net clearly fits in the STUPID category. Sorry.

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Originally posted by Kyrgizion
To add fuel to fire:
There are SMART ways to pirate games and then there are STUPID ways to do so. I'd say that entering a random cd-key that floats freely around the net clearly fits in the STUPID category. Sorry.

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Lol... so true.

Would you want to get a ride on the town bicycle?

edit: It's even worse than that... the guy took a random CD-Key that floats around on the net, and used it to register a service that would connect to Valve's servers and validate the key.

This shows you that people don't stop and think about things, such as:
1) What is this CD-Key for?
2) All other CD Keys I had didn't make me connect to Valve. I wonder why Valve is making me connect to their servers to register?
3) I wonder if connecting is a way for them to check if 500 people are all trying to use the same CD key?
4) I wonder if this is going to get me in trouble, since I must connect to them on an account ON WHICH I HAVE ENTERED MY PERSONAL IDENTIFICATION INFORMATION.
5) If New York City has the most significant g.ay population, and were the ones most directly affected by 09/11, then nobody knows better than the midwest in electing a leader to fight terrorism and g.ay marriage!

What does this teach us?
a) Don't pirate
b) If you pirate, don't register
c) If you register, don't use your real information
d) If you use your real informaiton, don't pirate.

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Originally posted by max_clif
He attacked me first. Read closely what he says on page 5 and 6. I escalated this when he began to get abusive. I am guilty of stooping to his level of attacks, perhaps. The snide remarks he makes should be quite obvious.

My main problem with twice is that he's making up things and passing them on as facts, just to win any argument. He says clearly if the banned people contacted Valve they would unlock it. That is not backed by fact at all, as of yesterday or today. In Valve's own forum the representative refused to unban and said all bans were permanent if they were of this nature.

I would support Valve if they banned the people and subsequently gave a full refund to those who bought the game after entering the pirated serial number. By banning the Stream account just yesterday, Valve in effect took the money and ran. They could have banned the stream accounts in question many weeks earlier during the pre-loading of Half Life 2 back in October.

While I am personally not affected by what has happened as I do not pirate, I am incensed they deliberately waited till everyone paid for HL2 then banned them, in effect locking up all games in their Stream account even those not related to Half Life 2.

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1) It should not matter what he did or did not do first. Come on... your mother taught you that. You know better.

2) If he attacks you or takes cheap shots, ignore him and take the high road. If you don't agree with the methods that someone is using, just act with some intelligence and maturity. If someone robs a bank, is it right to sneak into their house at night and steal from them, in the name of fairness?

3) If it is the approval of SharkyForum readers that you are concerned with, then don't be concerned. Most people on this board are very intelligent, and will be able to discern between an intelligent individual trying to make valid and logical points from an incendiary idiot.

4) And my honest opinion is that the person / people who tried an illegal CD key, then had their legit CD key banned got what they deserved. The guy was an idiot about pirating. He violated HL2's EULA, not to mention the law. Read the EULA... it states:

a) You must accept this EULA to use this software (Half Life 2).
b) You may not attempt to hack, crack, reverse engineer, alter, modify, decompile, or otherwise use the product in a method in which it was not intended.
c) Valve reserves the right to rescind this EULA without refund if you are found in violation of any of the clauses.

Most people who tried to pirate probably wouldn't have bought the game anyway. The ones that did buy the game were taught a lesson. It is in Valve's legal right to do so, and I'm glad they made an example out of these people.

If you don't agree with this practice, then don't buy Valve products. Very simple.

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Originally posted by overdose006
I believe that the prevalence of pirated versions is in part due to the fact that demos are not released close enuf to release dates or at all. Often ppl download illegal versions just to try it out, because of the massive ammount of poor quality computer games. If some1 was able to test the game out as demo before the release date, iam sure rates of pirating will be reduced for that game. I support hl2 draconian policies in the regard of piracy, but no measure of protection is fool proof.

My advice, just wait for a non-nuked version of this game to come.

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i agree, there used to be so many shareware demos back in the day. now they've all died out. if you do get a demo it's usually after a game release. i think it's mainly due to pressing deadlines and companies are placing the idea of getting the product out the door asap above more consumer friendly marketing.

edit: oh snap! i didnt realize this thread was 8 pages long... sorry for rehashing the first page.

Um...+1? :D

Seriously, we long ago got away from talking about anything remotely to do with the actual topic; this thread degenerated into personal insults about three pages back.

Its called Karma...