Bioshock PC $44.99 shipped free.

Stoneburner

Diamond Member
May 29, 2003
3,491
0
76
I dont think spartacus is threadcrapping. It's a fair statement to make considering the hotness of the deal might be tempered by it. I was going to buy this game until i found out about the absurd copyright stuff.
 

Raider1284

Senior member
Aug 17, 2006
809
0
0
You can install it more then twice, but you can only have it installed on two machines at the same time. Meaning you have to first uninstall the game on one computer to be able to install it on another.

It's a little better, but not by much.

EDIT: thought I should add that apparently the uninstall option doesn't really work. As noted by the senior exec over at PCGAMER"

"8/22/07 - DRMShock

By Dan Stapleton, Senior Associate Editor

Yesterday began as a joyous day. By the whim of the mailroom gods, my copy of BioShock was the first to arrive at my desk. After I finished dancing around the room rubbing it in everyone's face, we needed to install it on a DX9 and a DX10 machine to compare.

"But wait," I said. "This product requires activation. What if, by installing it here, I cripple my copy and am unable to play from home? "So Greg called the 2K support line and talked to a support rep, who told him that it would be fine as long as we uninstalled the game before installing it on another machine. Ok, that's fine... a little annoying considering the game also has a DVD check to make sure the disc is in the drive, but I can handle that.

So we installed on one machine, then uninstalled and installed on another with no problems. So far, so good. I got in about an hour of play time, but I do the majority of my game playing at home, where I've got my heavy-duty gaming rig set up, so I was really looking forward to bringing it home with me. I uninstalled the game from my work machine and happily headed home...but when I got there and went to activate, I was stopped dead by a failure message that informed me I'd installed with this code one time too many. What... the... $%~&!

Ok, still not a disaster. I've had this happen with Windows XP before?all I have to do is call the number in the manual, read off the reactivation request code supplied by the activation wizard, and they'll give me an unlock code. Well, not so simple in this case?the support number for the US listed in the manual didn't work, giving me a "We cannot connect your call at this time" message. So I called the Canadian number, which went through. After four minutes on hold, I was told that the only way they'd unlock it is if I take a photo of the disc and the manual and email it to them. Wow? even Microsoft doesn?t make you do that.

Having now jumped through all their hoops hours ago, I?m currently waiting for 2K to get around to allowing me to play my legitimate copy of the game on the system of my choosing. Meanwhile, the pirates who cracked Windows Vista?s activation in a matter of days are already at work on the game, and I sincerely doubt that the BioShock copy protection wall will still be standing a week from today. And while those pirates play their ill-gotten games without a care, those of us who came by our copies legally will have to put up with draconian obstacles that will then serve no purpose whatsoever. Well done 2K, well done indeed."
 

nealh

Diamond Member
Nov 21, 1999
7,078
1
0
Originally posted by: Stoneburner
I dont think spartacus is threadcrapping. It's a fair statement to make considering the hotness of the deal might be tempered by it. I was going to buy this game until i found out about the absurd copyright stuff.

who the h*ll wants securom on their computer...no thanks

nothing hot about this deal and everyone needs to know what they are installing

As far as I am concerned they are installing malware/virus on my computer...my money is going elsewhere
 

sinse7en

Senior member
Sep 9, 2005
207
0
0
Played the demo yesterday.. the game was outstanding as well as the graphics..

However.. as far as Hotdeals go.. this is not one..

It's 39.99 at CC http://www.circuitcity.com/ccd...d=185718&cm_keycode=85
Est. Shipping (if applicable) - Free!
Estimated tax - $2.00 depending on where you live...

ps.. does anyone else keep reading scrotum when they see securom?
 

Raider1284

Senior member
Aug 17, 2006
809
0
0
Originally posted by: sinse7en
Played the demo yesterday.. the game was outstanding as well as the graphics..

I thought I should also add that even if you only installed the DEMO of this game, which I did, then you have already been infected with a rootkit
http://img.photobucket.com/alb...elphoenix/securkit.jpg

I havent been able to confirm this since I'm currently at work, but could an AT member confirm this for us?

People in the 2k forums are livid over this
 

FP

Diamond Member
Feb 24, 2005
4,568
0
0
Originally posted by: Raider1284
Originally posted by: sinse7en
Played the demo yesterday.. the game was outstanding as well as the graphics..

I thought I should also add that even if you only installed the DEMO of this game, which I did, then you have already been infected with a rootkit
http://img.photobucket.com/alb...elphoenix/securkit.jpg

I havent been able to confirm this since I'm currently at work, but could an AT member confirm this for us?

People in the 2k forums are livid over this

I installed the demo and now have SecuROM in my registry.

Son of a...

How do you get rid of it?

EDIT: Might be a false positive. I did have FEAR installed at one point and I understand that came with SecuROM too.
 

Raider1284

Senior member
Aug 17, 2006
809
0
0
Originally posted by: binister
Originally posted by: Raider1284
Originally posted by: sinse7en
Played the demo yesterday.. the game was outstanding as well as the graphics..

I thought I should also add that even if you only installed the DEMO of this game, which I did, then you have already been infected with a rootkit
http://img.photobucket.com/alb...elphoenix/securkit.jpg

I havent been able to confirm this since I'm currently at work, but could an AT member confirm this for us?

People in the 2k forums are livid over this

I installed the demo and now have SecuROM in my registry.

Son of a...

How do you get rid of it?

People on the 2k forums are suggesting this. Some say it works, others say it doesn't.

"Removal of securom

Found this whilst trawling earlier, but cannot give credit to original author, sry whoever you may be

This is untested by me - I have the shrink wrapped game on my desk but uninstalled due to well guess what...........

(Fully uninstall Bioshock btw)

1. stop UAService7 service (CTRL+ALT+DEL, find it and kill it)
2. using e.g. Autoruns (http://www.sysinternals.com/Utilities/Autoruns.html) remove this service and delete the file \windows\system32\UAService7.exe
3. delete the folder Documents and Settings\<your_user_name>\Application Data\SecuROM
4. delete the folder Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\SecuROM; in case of any deletion problems use DelInvFile tool
(http://www.purgeie.com/delinv.htm).
5. delete securom registry keys using regedit
6. key named HKLM\SOFTWARE\SecuROM\!CAUTION! NEVER DELETE OR CHANGE ANY KEY* contains embedded nulls and cannot be removed using regedit; use e.g. RegDelNull tool (http://www.sysinternals.com/Utilities/RegDelNull.html) instead of it."

sounds like alot of awesome steps! gotta love a company that installs securom with a demo! It would be awesome if we could get more confirmations of this, please check your comp and post if you have been infected as well.
 

waggy

No Lifer
Dec 14, 2000
68,143
10
81
I purchased the game. Wish i knew about all the BS before i purchased it.

I would gladly get a refund. Hopefully 2k gets all the crap straitened out.

IF You do not give a crap about it. the game is ok. graphics are sub-par but the story is good.
 

note235

Golden Member
Dec 23, 2005
1,502
7
81
so how would we return it?

bought it from Frys.

I mean i dont have any problems but all of you guys are so excited then i am too
 

Ualdayan

Member
May 11, 2004
76
0
66
Originally posted by: Raider1284
You can install it more then twice, but you can only have it installed on two machines at the same time. Meaning you have to first uninstall the game on one computer to be able to install it on another.

It's a little better, but not by much.

EDIT: thought I should add that apparently the uninstall option doesn't really work. As noted by the senior exec over at PCGAMER"

Yeah, not only that but according to the official boards more than a handful of people are reporting that the support phone number given in the manual reports that it is disconnected. They're having to call the canadian support line to try to activate the game install.
 

doggyfromplanetwoof

Senior member
Feb 7, 2005
532
0
0
This crap doesnt install on vista x64.. :D

Plus if you have TeaTimer up from SpyBot, you can block registry adds before they are added.
 

sinse7en

Senior member
Sep 9, 2005
207
0
0
I am starting to feel back for 2K... they put out a great game.. and they tried to put in some stuff to stop illegal use of their software.. which i don't blame them for... and it backfired.. The game really is good.. sucks to have this black mark on it.

Update:
UPDATES ON SECUROM?, PC ACTIVATION, AND A TECHNICAL FAQ
August 23, 2007
We have been reading and listening to your frustrations over SecuROM, PC activation problems, and technical support issues since BioShock launched on Tuesday, and we've devised a plan to help.

Starting immediately, we will be upping the activation count to a 5 by 5 plan. We will be raising the maximum amount of computers a user can have BioShock installed on simultaneously from 2 to 5, and allowing a user to reinstall BioShock on each of those computers from 3 times to 5 times. Also, we have in the works a revoke tool which you will be able to run on your machine if you want to free up that key and move it to to another computer (this works very much like Steam or iTunes system). We are also working with SecuROM and 2K customer service, so that when you do need to call in support problems, you get answers to your questions faster, without much waiting or being bounced around. SecuROM has been given much more autonomy to help fix your problems quickly and effectively. I am personally sorry for anyone who got bounced around in the past couple days (I even think I contributed to this problem) and we're going to make sure that does not happen in the future.
 

kinev

Golden Member
Mar 28, 2005
1,647
30
91
Originally posted by: sinse7en
I am starting to feel back for 2K... they put out a great game.. and they tried to put in some stuff to stop illegal use of their software.. which i don't blame them for... and it backfired.. The game really is good.. sucks to have this black mark on it.

Update:
UPDATES ON SECUROM?, PC ACTIVATION, AND A TECHNICAL FAQ
August 23, 2007
We have been reading and listening to your frustrations over SecuROM, PC activation problems, and technical support issues since BioShock launched on Tuesday, and we've devised a plan to help.

Starting immediately, we will be upping the activation count to a 5 by 5 plan. We will be raising the maximum amount of computers a user can have BioShock installed on simultaneously from 2 to 5, and allowing a user to reinstall BioShock on each of those computers from 3 times to 5 times. Also, we have in the works a revoke tool which you will be able to run on your machine if you want to free up that key and move it to to another computer (this works very much like Steam or iTunes system). We are also working with SecuROM and 2K customer service, so that when you do need to call in support problems, you get answers to your questions faster, without much waiting or being bounced around. SecuROM has been given much more autonomy to help fix your problems quickly and effectively. I am personally sorry for anyone who got bounced around in the past couple days (I even think I contributed to this problem) and we're going to make sure that does not happen in the future.

SkyNet much?
 

imported_Bee

Member
Jan 7, 2007
133
0
0
Originally posted by: Stoneburner
I dont think spartacus is threadcrapping. It's a fair statement to make considering the hotness of the deal might be tempered by it. I was going to buy this game until i found out about the absurd copyright stuff.

exactly. That game isn't hot at all due to the SecuROM crap.
 

jlee

Lifer
Sep 12, 2001
48,518
223
106
FWIW, I installed the demo and cannot find the UAService7 service under the process list.
 

Raider1284

Senior member
Aug 17, 2006
809
0
0
Originally posted by: CadetLee
FWIW, I installed the demo and cannot find the UAService7 service under the process list.

The UAService only shows up if you arent on an admin account. You have to check your registry or run the rootkit revealer to check if the securom stuff is installed on your computer.

"What is it ?
Uaservice7.exe is a service that will enable non-adminstrative users
to play securom7 protected games. This can be a potential risk
to your data since it does things with your OS that are not
allowed to be done due to policy of XP. Possible exploits of
the service are imagineable."

Link to the bioshock forum post about it http://forums.2kgames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5993

cliff notes from the above forum post:
"Help, I installed the Bioshock Demo and after uninstalling I found I had a Securom folder in Docs and Settings\Admin\AppData\Securom which contains files that do NOT Delete, even though I have full Admin rights on my machine.

Additionally I have found two Registry entries which will NOT Delete,
Current User\Software\Securom and Users\S-1-5-21-1275210071-1715567821-682003330-500\Software\Securom"
 

Sonikku

Lifer
Jun 23, 2005
15,886
4,886
136
Originally posted by: kinev
Originally posted by: sinse7en
I am starting to feel back for 2K... they put out a great game.. and they tried to put in some stuff to stop illegal use of their software.. which i don't blame them for... and it backfired.. The game really is good.. sucks to have this black mark on it.

Update:
UPDATES ON SECUROM?, PC ACTIVATION, AND A TECHNICAL FAQ
August 23, 2007
We have been reading and listening to your frustrations over SecuROM, PC activation problems, and technical support issues since BioShock launched on Tuesday, and we've devised a plan to help.

Starting immediately, we will be upping the activation count to a 5 by 5 plan. We will be raising the maximum amount of computers a user can have BioShock installed on simultaneously from 2 to 5, and allowing a user to reinstall BioShock on each of those computers from 3 times to 5 times. Also, we have in the works a revoke tool which you will be able to run on your machine if you want to free up that key and move it to to another computer (this works very much like Steam or iTunes system). We are also working with SecuROM and 2K customer service, so that when you do need to call in support problems, you get answers to your questions faster, without much waiting or being bounced around. SecuROM has been given much more autonomy to help fix your problems quickly and effectively. I am personally sorry for anyone who got bounced around in the past couple days (I even think I contributed to this problem) and we're going to make sure that does not happen in the future.

SkyNet much?

Indeed. I wish I could buy this game. I really do. But I cannot allow myself to encourage this sort of corporate behavior.




This deal has gone cold.