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20,000 people got their STEAM Accounts locked

A

alm4rr

Diamond Member
seems like the people who bought the game are getting the hassle as the pirates don't care b/c they generally don't have a legit steam account, but no one really has much better ideas... wonder if classaction suits will occur


Unfortunately, steam forums are down now from slashdot effect:

Valve have disabled 20,000 steam user accounts belonging to users who have been caught using a pirated version of the game, or have attempted to use a cdkey to bypass the securom protection found on the retail version of the game. The Steam Forums have been swamped with people now claiming they are unable to play, many claiming they have had their accounts disabled for no reason. A Valve spokesman says, 'The number of people who actually had bought HL2 and used the CD key cheat was VERY small. VERY small. Most people just tried to rip off the game and not bother buying it.




note - not only did people lose their HL2 account, but any and all software also registered under that steam account
 
*goes to make sure account still works*

Some guy on OT the other day was complaining about this. I dislike Valve a lot because Steam blows, but I don't think they'd make a mistake like shutting down your account based on no evidence.
 
Originally posted by: aplefka
*goes to make sure account still works*

Some guy on OT the other day was complaining about this. I dislike Valve a lot because Steam blows, but I don't think they'd make a mistake like shutting down your account based on no evidence.
Click to expand...

There was a thread earlier today on OT about this, his account was locked.
 
note - not only did people lose their HL2 account, but any and all software also registered under that steam account
 
Wow that does suck... now I'm glad I decided to wait on buying HL2. Steam always has some sort of crazy trouble when releasing new things.
 
Originally posted by: aplefka
*goes to make sure account still works*

Some guy on OT the other day was complaining about this. I dislike Valve a lot because Steam blows, but I don't think they'd make a mistake like shutting down your account based on no evidence.
Click to expand...


You mean me?
 
Originally posted by: alm4rr
note - not only did people lose their HL2 account, but any and all software also registered under that steam account
Click to expand...

that's BS. i hope people do chargebacks on their CCs. If you paid for something, you're entitled to it.
 
the kicker is steam purchases don't need a cd to run, but the cd version does in addition to authent

also, steam says you can download all your software to any computer you are at for the moment (ie work, home, school) but HL2 said it can only be accessed from one IP


isn't authent also disabled for retail dial up users?

talk about tryin to keep track.......
 
Originally posted by: alm4rr
also, steam says you can download all your software to any computer you are at for the moment (ie work, home, school) but HL2 said it can only be accessed from one IP
Click to expand...

You can download your steam content to any computer that you login to your steam account from. However, only 1 of those computers can be playing HL2 at any point in time.

 
Those 20,000 users got their accounts locked for a reason, they downloaded a pirated version of HL2 or committed credit card fraud. They deserve to have their accounts locked.
 
Originally posted by: alm4rr
seems like the people who bought the game are getting the hassle as the pirates don't care b/c they generally don't have a legit steam account, but no one really has much better ideas... wonder if classaction suits will occur


Unfortunately, steam forums are down now from slashdot effect:

Valve have disabled 20,000 steam user accounts belonging to users who have been caught using a pirated version of the game, or have attempted to use a cdkey to bypass the securom protection found on the retail version of the game. The Steam Forums have been swamped with people now claiming they are unable to play, many claiming they have had their accounts disabled for no reason. A Valve spokesman says, 'The number of people who actually had bought HL2 and used the CD key cheat was VERY small. VERY small. Most people just tried to rip off the game and not bother buying it.




note - not only did people lose their HL2 account, but any and all software also registered under that steam account
Click to expand...

It's my understanding that the accounts that were banned are one's that used "out of range" verification keys. Just because you can generate a workable key doesn't mean that the key falls within the specified key charts that Valve uses. Finding the algorithm is the easy part basically, finding the chosen keys with that algorithm is the hard part.
 
..if this makes 20,000 pirates life miserable for even 5 mins, it was worth it.

BTW, dont tell me that some of the geniuses tried to register their warez copy of HL2 with Steam!
 
If you actually bought the game, then couldn't you just create a new Steam account and install the game properly with your real CD-key? Valve isn't randomly blocking out CD-keys. They're blocking accounts that use widely distributed CD-keys. If your legitimately purchased key gets your account locked, then you must've given out your CD-key to other people and that's your own fault for being careless.

Also, isn't Vivendi at fault for the whole CD protection scheme? Valve is distributing the game through Steam, which works well for me at least. I even installed my game on a second computer and it works perfectly.
 
Originally posted by: PsharkJF
Your old cdkey is perma-associated with the locked steam account - it is impossible to re-reg it.
Click to expand...

If I'm not mistaken, the people getting locked are the ones using the illegal CD keys so their locked accounts are associated with the banned keys.

Their legitimate keys should still work with a new account.
 
Originally posted by: igowerf
Originally posted by: PsharkJF
Your old cdkey is perma-associated with the locked steam account - it is impossible to re-reg it.
Click to expand...

If I'm not mistaken, the people getting locked are the ones using the illegal CD keys so their locked accounts are associated with the banned keys.

Their legitimate keys should still work with a new account.
Click to expand...


IF they were smart enough to create a new account for their legitimate key. If they used their good key on an account where they previously used a bad key, then that account is locked, good key was tied to locked account also, and thats all she wrote.

Most of the complaining over at steampowered isn't even related to this. People are complaining about selling their game after they play it, stuff like that.
 
Originally posted by: warcrow
..if this makes 20,000 pirates life miserable for even 5 mins, it was worth it.

BTW, dont tell me that some of the geniuses tried to register their warez copy of HL2 with Steam!
Click to expand...


LMAO check this out, found this from someone posting comments.

Forum Pic

They got what they deserver, I just hope that they didn't close down accounts that were ligit. Now if they could only do that with CS cheating accounts.
 
Originally posted by: rh71
I really wonder if the entire STEAM hassle really serves their paying customers well...
Click to expand...

It works perfectly for me, except now that it's harder to pirate, my roommates just steal my computer to play CS:S and HL2.
 
Originally posted by: NicColt
Originally posted by: warcrow
..if this makes 20,000 pirates life miserable for even 5 mins, it was worth it.

BTW, dont tell me that some of the geniuses tried to register their warez copy of HL2 with Steam!
Click to expand...


LMAO check this out, found this from someone posting comments.

Forum Pic

They got what they deserver, I just hope that they didn't close down accounts that were ligit. Now if they could only do that with CS cheating accounts.
Click to expand...

Thank you for that, it made my day =)
 
how does STEAM work ? I thought single player games are pretty straightforward... if you can run the game, you can play single player... how does STEAM tie into an account. They actually verify for single player ?

(I haven't gotten into the HL2 craze)
 
Originally posted by: NicColt
Originally posted by: warcrow
..if this makes 20,000 pirates life miserable for even 5 mins, it was worth it.

BTW, dont tell me that some of the geniuses tried to register their warez copy of HL2 with Steam!
Click to expand...


LMAO check this out, found this from someone posting comments.

Forum Pic

They got what they deserver, I just hope that they didn't close down accounts that were ligit. Now if they could only do that with CS cheating accounts.
Click to expand...

LOL thats awsome.

I personally love steam. No need for CD's and its easy to set up your own LAN games of CS:Source etc having just one copy of the game.
 
Originally posted by: rh71
how does STEAM work ? I thought single player games are pretty straightforward... if you can run the game, you can play single player... how does STEAM tie into an account. They actually verify for single player ?

(I haven't gotten into the HL2 craze)
Click to expand...


Yes, you need to log on the first time. Kinda like software activation for windows or something. Once you do it once, you can run in offline mode.
 
Originally posted by: igowerf
Originally posted by: rh71
I really wonder if the entire STEAM hassle really serves their paying customers well...
Click to expand...

It works perfectly for me, except now that it's harder to pirate, my roommates just steal my computer to play CS:S and HL2.
Click to expand...

it may "work" but is sure is INCONVENIENT . . . . it took HOURS for me to register/authenticate over dial-up.

No more of this Steam crap for me . . . . HL2 isn't THAT good of a game. 😛
(Thief III is much better and you don't need 5 CDs, cheesy cheapass game packaging and lots of confusion)
:roll:
 
Originally posted by: aplefka
*goes to make sure account still works*

Some guy on OT the other day was complaining about this. I dislike Valve a lot because Steam blows, but I don't think they'd make a mistake like shutting down your account based on no evidence.
Click to expand...

They've done it before with alleged CC issues and IP-based Steam banning. Shoot first, ask questions later, has always been their model. They figure that most customers won't care, they will be tripping over themselves to play Valve's next big "hit".
 
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