Squad Battles : Falklands problem

JudgeDredd · September 30, 2014, 04:24:18 PM

Well - surprise surprise - an online activation problem.

I went to reinstall my Squad Battles Falklands game from John Tiller and it's asking for an activation key. Having looked around I found my email, got the activation key and pasted it in and when I click ok, it comes back with another dialog with the title Activation Dialog with the number 2 shown...and that's it. The game won't run - I just keep getting asked to type in the activation number...

Anyone got any ideas?

JudgeDredd · September 30, 2014, 04:27:41 PM

And you have to love this (from clicking the HELP button)

"This is caused by firewall software on your computer that is corrupting the response from the server. Be sure to completely disable any firewall or antivirus software before attempting the activation. Once the activation is successful, you can re-enable your firewall or antivirus software."

Only these creeps and their DRM think it's a good idea to disable firewall and anti virus software (for ANY length of time!)

In other words, "What I'll do is I'll make it awkward for you to play my game you just bought. On top of that, to protect my investment, I'll make you make your system COMPLETELY vulnerable to all sorts of nasties"

>:(

JudgeDredd · September 30, 2014, 04:38:53 PM

And when I click the link to view my detailed order invoice, I get a 404 Not Found page :'(

FFS >:(

panzerde · September 30, 2014, 05:59:37 PM

That's maddening. While I've yet to have any issues with Tiller's activations, the idea that you should have to disable all of your network security to activate is completely unreasonable. It just shouldn't be this hard.

Anytime I've run into any issues with Tiller or HPS games, I directly email their support email. In both cases Rich Hamilton handles support and I doubt there is anyone more knowledgeable about these games than he is. He usually responds pretty quickly and resolves the issue fast. While that in no way excuses the annoyance, at least it usually means a quick resolution.

Apocalypse 31 · September 30, 2014, 07:56:48 PM

I don't even know how to download the games.

My initial download link has expired. I didn't see anywhere on the awesome Tiller page where you can even download stuff.

BanzaiCat · September 30, 2014, 08:00:28 PM

JD, did you try contacting their Support team to see if there's a work-around?

http://www.johntillersoftware.com/Support.php

Makes no sense that you'd have to do something to make it work, that you did not have to before, on the same computer system.

jomni · September 30, 2014, 08:37:07 PM

The best answer is to just contact support. I had activation problems twice and support got it running quickly.

panzerde · September 30, 2014, 08:43:23 PM

Quote from: Apocalypse 31 on September 30, 2014, 07:56:48 PM
I don't even know how to download the games.

My initial download link has expired. I didn't see anywhere on the awesome Tiller page where you can even download stuff.

I failed to keep my installer for France '14 and my download link had expired. I emailed support@hpssims.com with my order number and Rich had me a new link in less than 24 hours. Again, not ideal to have to do that, but at least they're fast about resolving it.

It's only been a year or so that both HPS and JTS have had most of their catalog available via download rather than shipping physical disks. Both companies appear to run their own storefronts and I think they're still learning how to do that, on what has to be a pretty limited budget. I'm not trying to imply that they should be given a pass on how their systems work. I just don't think either company has a large, full-time staff to either develop or quickly ramp up on storefront technologies, and that they're probably trying to do the best they can with limited resources.

Bison · September 30, 2014, 09:03:31 PM

Judge download and install the patch from the John Tiller site. It corrects the activation error. I'm pretty sure you are getting the same error I had when I originally got the game.

http://johntillersoftware.com/Updates.html

JudgeDredd · October 01, 2014, 12:26:34 AM

Quote from: Bison on September 30, 2014, 09:03:31 PM
Judge download and install the patch from the John Tiller site. It corrects the activation error. I'm pretty sure you are getting the same error I had when I originally got the game.

http://johntillersoftware.com/Updates.html

This.

Thanks all.

After posting here (immediately after), I contacted their support. I was posting here to rid myself of the annoyance and to post the ridiculous policy that developers, in order to save their investment, make people's computers vulnerable.

They did indeed respond fast and it is a case of installing the patch.

Nefaro · October 01, 2014, 06:53:45 AM

Quote from: jomni on September 30, 2014, 08:37:07 PM
The best answer is to just contact support. I had activation problems twice and support got it running quickly.

Ouch. Twice?! >:(

RyanE · October 01, 2014, 07:32:00 AM

IIRC, BFC tells people the same thing about AV and firewall. Some people have to disable them to get DRM running. It seems like a lot of these smaller SW companies have these exact same issues with their online DRM activations. I wonder if that eventually will drive a number of them to Steam.

TacticalWargames · October 03, 2014, 12:29:07 AM

HPS and Tiller went their separate ways as Scot didn't agree with the new DRM scheme.

Nefaro · October 03, 2014, 08:44:40 AM

Quote from: TacticalWargames on October 03, 2014, 12:29:07 AM
HPS and Tiller went their separate ways as Scot didn't agree with the new DRM scheme.

The ones that are DRM-free get my business. O0 Whomever stuck that out also gets my thanks.

panzerde · October 03, 2014, 05:11:21 PM

Quote from: TacticalWargames on October 03, 2014, 12:29:07 AM
HPS and Tiller went their separate ways as Scot didn't agree with the new DRM scheme.

Yeah, could you imagine having to deal with DRM on top of everything else about POA2? </snark>