Steam problems - worth getting worked up about?

[FlashHero]

Wow, that's pretty freaking bizarre. How do you run out of an item in digital distro?

Basically, what happened is they ran out of CD keys to authenticate the game. Doesn't happen often really. Though it is puzzling as to how noone noticed the lack of CD keys earlier.

Yeah, that's what I meant. What happened was explained initially, but it's just how you run out of CD keys? It's such a bizarre situation, rare or otherwise.

It is the publishers fault...when i bought borderlands on steam the drm* that came with one of the DLCs ran out of keys...I bought it on Wednesday and could not play it till i got back from school the next day..when i was in the forums a person from steam said 2K had given them fewer keys then they were allowed to sell and needed clearance from the offices but it was late at night and they couldn't get hold of anyone. And thats how you run outta keys on a digital distro.

* the drm was sercurom

 

[Sephychu]

Not too bad an error, but you;d think they could program something to say they'd run out of keys, and not take your money.

 

[Susurrus]

I have to disagree: it was NOT the publisher's fault.
The publisher sent over a reasonable number of cd keys (indeed, in the sale, they sold four times the number of copies they have SINCE RELEASE). The game sold extraordinarily well on steam, presumably because of the publicity that Steam brought, as well as the price drop. Underestimating demand makes sense, in such a dramatic case.

The problem occurred because the publishers, based in Germany, went home at the same time that Valve were just getting started on Friday. Valve realised they were running out of keys, sent off an email to the publisher to get more keys, and received none (everyone in Germany having gone home). Going into the weekend, they KNEW there were no more keys, they KNEW that the game wouldn't be available (as they weren't going to bother doing anything about it), and they DID NOTHING about it. No warning, nothing. They knowingly let customers buy a product they didn't have, without any warning.

They did not (have not? I haven't seen anything official) addressed the problem in the forums, nor have they apologised. They activated the game first thing Monday (well, US West Coast Monday, so, like, practically Tuesday most places), but said nothing on the matter. The only person representing Valve that I saw was a volunteer moderator whose attitude was: Stop whining, Steam is fine. You accepted ToS, deal with it.

In contrast, one of the developer's employees logged onto the Steam forum on a Saturday evening/Sunday morning, gave us some explanation of what was happening, apologised, gave us a time-frame, and was generally very polite. They too did what they could at opening hours Monday morning, and kudos to them for that.

The problem is not that Valve or the publisher ran out of keys, its that it ran out of keys, and continued to sell without a warning, WHILST KNOWING that anyone who bought the game couldn't play it until Monday at the earliest.

TL;DR:
Valve ran out of keys prior to their close of business, after close of business of publisher on Friday. Obviously couldn't get keys before weekend, but didn't put up any warning either.
The publisher did make contact over the weekend, Valve did not (and on Valve's forums, no less). Valve knowingly sold a product without any keys, which the developer/publisher almost certainly knew nothing about.

 

[Da_Schwartz]

Slight necro here. K real fast..

So i DL'd beyond good and evil and plants v.s. zombies. Never had an issue with steam before been using it for quite some time now. And yes my computer meets Miles beyond the system requirements max settings..Haven't checked them.. but trust me it does. And yea I've looked aroudn the steam help forums. That being said my problem here is simple video glitches, lines in the screen, occasional flashes, skips etc basic gfx glitches. Has anyone else experienced this with steam dl's? And how did you fix it? Yes my drivers are up to date. that was actually my best guess was that newer dirvers aren't compatible with older games.. happens sometimes. ::shrug:: maybe a bad corrupt DL? No idea. I'm going ot re-install but in the meantime...Any suggestions?

 

[Da_Schwartz]

/bump. So steam suport is down, other forums are no help, Re-install didn't work. Am i seriously the only person that ever downloaded from steam on the escapist that has had some sort of video glitch error while trying to play a game from my library?

 

[BRex21]

Wow this is more negative than the calling all steam haters post...
While i don't think it was wrong of them to continue the sale, is it too much to ask for a pop-up or something to tell me that it may take a couple days to get the activation.
personally I have sworn off digital distribution for other reasons, but did run into this problem before. Its really just bad customer service.

 

[Woodsey]

Fuck me you're a vicious bunch.

Annoying? Yes. Should it have happened? No. Does this happen often? No.

Mistakes happen, it's run by humans, wait a few days for the CD key, and if you put the issue in the Steam forums then Valve will likely run across it.

 

[Chibz]

Congratulations on proving once again how horrible stam is.

So glad I don't have to use it...

 

[Da_Schwartz]

I'm not knocking steam at all. All and all for what its worth i think its a decent service, I enjoy steam. I have a fair to decent library through steam probably twenty games or so and this is the first time anything like this has happened to me.

wait a few days for the CD key, and if you put the issue in the Steam forums then Valve will likely run across it.

Yea thought about posting about it but in past experience bitching about tech issues on forums has gotten me nowhere. (Looking at you EA)
What's this about a CD key? Please explain how this could help, cause a re-install of the steam client whatever you'd call it did nothing.

 

[Varrdy]

DRM, how we loathe you

Can't argue with that. The only way I was able to play Mass Effect 2 was to download a third-party, "no-DVD" hack.

Wardy

 

[Delusibeta]

Slight necro here. K real fast..

So i DL'd beyond good and evil and plants v.s. zombies. Never had an issue with steam before been using it for quite some time now. And yes my computer meets Miles beyond the system requirements max settings..Haven't checked them.. but trust me it does. And yea I've looked aroudn the steam help forums. That being said my problem here is simple video glitches, lines in the screen, occasional flashes, skips etc basic gfx glitches. Has anyone else experienced this with steam dl's? And how did you fix it? Yes my drivers are up to date. that was actually my best guess was that newer dirvers aren't compatible with older games.. happens sometimes. ::shrug:: maybe a bad corrupt DL? No idea. I'm going ot re-install but in the meantime...Any suggestions?

Necro bumps r bad, k?

Read this [http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2563155/steam_aftermath_beyond_good_and_evil.html?cat=15], and hopefully that should fix your Beyond Good & Evil woes.

 

[Woodsey]

I'm not knocking steam at all. All and all for what its worth i think its a decent service, I enjoy steam. I have a fair to decent library through steam probably twenty games or so and this is the first time anything like this has happened to me.

wait a few days for the CD key, and if you put the issue in the Steam forums then Valve will likely run across it.

Yea thought about posting about it but in past experience bitching about tech issues on forums has gotten me nowhere. (Looking at you EA)
What's this about a CD key? Please explain how this could help, cause a re-install of the steam client whatever you'd call it did nothing.

The "product" key even - isn't that what they haven't got enough of?