Combat Mission: Black Sea Article - Out by End of Year

[Elvis]

Jusr be forewarned...activation appears to be a bit of a nightmare.  It immediately seems to have deactivated all modules.  I think I have to reactivate EVRY SINGLE module for CMBN...CMBN, 2,o, 3.0, MG, CW, and the new pack.

F****** awesome.  I can use all my gaming spare time to suss this out.

Number of people with the issue on BFC forum as well.  I love DRM.

Yeah, it does sound like drudgery. The upside is that this switch should go a long toward eliminating some of the problems that you have encountered before. Bummer I know and little solace but, still, a silver-ish lining. OK...maybe copper.

I have all my keys in a Word doc, so for me it was just a couple minutes of copy/paste.

[RyanE]

Are we going to have our limited activations incremented by one for each module or is that another activation pissed out the window.

[Zulu1966]

I think the length of time between releases has really hurt their marketability beyond the hardcore devotees.  Their team is not exactly small.  They have a couple programmers, a couple 3D artists, a few scenario builders, and at least a couple marketing guys.  Yet they go 4-6 months between any kind of release.

I like CM, but even I lose interest after a couple months.  I would basically buy anything they sell.  I have a dozen other games calling to me and they get my attention because stuff keeps coming out.  I almost think they they need to go to micro-sales...One or two vehicles and couple scenarios.  But I think their DRM and MP get real messy real fast with that approach.

Never lose interest in their games. I have played no where near all the content I have bought.
I am still playing CMSF regularly. No other game comes close to their stuff and I can't wait for black sea.

[Elvis]

Are we going to have our limited activations incremented by one for each module or is that another activation pissed out the window.

From the information in the details section of the announcement:

Re-licensing these after installing the Vehicle Pack is NOT going to use any of your remaining activations.

[Cyrano]

HOBART'S FUNNIES!!

That is all...

Must...resist...urge...to...leave...work...early...

Best,

Jim
"Cyrano"
:/7)

P.S.:  This is the first time that the DRM sounds painful to me...not that it's changing my behavior in any way.

[Elvis]

HOBART'S FUNNIES!!

That is all...

Must...resist...urge...to...leave...work...early...

Best,

Jim
"Cyrano"
:/7)

P.S.:  This is the first time that the DRM sounds painful to me...not that it's changing my behavior in any way.

I can make it sound easy-ish.

Have the following keys handy:
3.0
Commonwealth
Market Garden

and/or

Bundle key

Launch game activate with 3.0
Use the Activate thingie that is installed on your desktop.
Activate one of the above.
Repeat.

My understanding is the order that you do this doesn't matter. Here is the official description of that part:

repeat the above procedure for any module you may have, as well as for the Vehicle Pack itself. You will need the following license keys:

for the Commonwealth Forces and Market Garden Modules, you need a license key from when you purchased said module, including as part of a bundle (for example, the Big Bundle, CMBN
Commonwealth Bundle, Comonwealth + 3.0 + Market Garden Bundle, and so on)
for the Vehicle Pack, use the same key you used to download the Pack

[RyanE]

Thanks...but this quote from the BFC boards is what threw me for a loop.  That part is not documented...

"You only have to enter it once then try each of your module keys (if you have modules) and the vehicle pack key. For some reason when you have a successful activation it's coming up with the same message for everything...Example: You have successfully activated CM Battle For Normandy."

That was completely confusing me.

[Sir Slash]

Did I read here that upgrading from v2.12 to v3.0 will disable your saved games?

[RyanE]

Are we going to have our limited activations incremented by one for each module or is that another activation pissed out the window.

From the information in the details section of the announcement:

Re-licensing these after installing the Vehicle Pack is NOT going to use any of your remaining activations.

Frankly, I would never have looked there...couldn't the install/activation instructions be placed maybe, you know, in the actual installer.  I looked for a read me and found nothing.  With something as complicated as CM2's activation, I would think it would be pretty good idea to make sure its someplace in the actual install...not in the announcement on the website...buried after clicking on a link and at the bottom of 5-6 pages.

I mean good god!  Someone at BFC didn't think maybe we could save our customers and ourselves a little grief and put something that important...a) at thetop of the main page announcement, and b) in the messages popping up in the installer...maybe instead of the toolbar offer.

[Elvis]

Are we going to have our limited activations incremented by one for each module or is that another activation pissed out the window.

From the information in the details section of the announcement:

Re-licensing these after installing the Vehicle Pack is NOT going to use any of your remaining activations.

Frankly, I would never have looked there...couldn't the install/activation instructions be placed maybe, you know, in the actual installer.  I looked for a read me and found nothing.  With something as complicated as CM2's activation, I would think it would be pretty good idea to make sure its someplace in the actual install...not in the announcement on the website...buried after clicking on a link and at the bottom of 5-6 pages.

I mean good god!  Someone at BFC didn't think maybe we could save our customers and ourselves a little grief and put something that important...a) at thetop of the main page announcement, and b) in the messages popping up in the installer...maybe instead of the toolbar offer.

Little unfair, mate. On the front page of the BFC website, right under the screen shots of the game is the highlighted message saying "IMPORTANT INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS" followed by this text:

The Vehicle Pack includes important updates to our anti-piracy protection and activation system. As such it comes with new instructions for how to install and activate it:

Most importantly, the Vehicle Pack will require you to activate your base game v3.0 as well as any modules you may have in addition to the Pack itself. You will need the v3.0 Upgrade license key for the base game that you received when you purchased the 3.0 Upgrade, and keys from the purchase of each of the modules (for example: the CMBN + Commonwealth Forces Bundle, or the Big Bundle, or any module alone). Re-licensing these after installing the Vehicle Pack is NOT going to use any of your remaining activations.

The way you activate changed, as well. When launching the pack for the first time, you will be prompted to activate the base game. Use the 3.0 Upgrade license key for that. On subsequent launches, the activation screen will NOT appear automatically. To force it to show up and allow you to activate additional components, please use the "Activate" shortcut instead of launching the game. The shortcut will allow you to enter any valid key to unlock additional content, such as modules, packs or upgrades. You will have to do this for each module, upgrade or pack you own. The shortcut can be found on your desktop after installation, or inside the Start>All Programs>Battlefront group on the PC, or inside the Documents folder on the Mac

Detailed activation instructions are available in the ReadMe file available during installation, as well as in the game manual, and in our Knowledgebase at http://battlefront.mojohelpdesk.com.

Again, this is not buried anywhere. It's on the front page of the website. Whoever posted it (my guess is Moon/Martin) made sure to say it loud and clear that there were special installation instructions and clearly pointed out where to find them, before and after the purchase and installation.

I can dig it that you've had a couple of problems with the DRM and hate it. I get it.  But it ain't like they didn't put information out there. True, they didn't put it at the top of the announcement but they put it pretty close to the top.

[RyanE]

I can guarantee you it was not there when it first went up.  That blue box was added later.  Right after download, I went back and looked.  And it is buried.  install instruction actually placed 6 pages down is absolutely crazy.  That is not unfair.  How difficult is it to put a stupid readme in the download?

Still how many companies put out a significant change in their product and don't include a readme for instructions.  Isn't that the first place any one is going to look?  Show me one company that did not include instructions with the download and only had it in a marketing announcement.  Plus on top of that, all the activation messages are wrong; just to confuse people even more.

edit...You are being very disingenuous with your second shot, its at the very bottom.  I'll tell you what a number of people are going to do.  They are going to see the buy button and click on it.  They will not go below that link.  Why would you not put that message ABOVE the buy button.

[RyanE]

Also, its not just me.  Go check your own forums for issues.

[RyanE]

Is this DRM going to be less sensitive to PC changes?  I really hope so.  I am about to install a second SSD and really don't want to go through the dance again for all BFC games.

[Cyrano]

FWIW, I was up and running with zero hitches in less than ten minutes.

HOWEVER, this is in large part due to the simple assistance provided by Elvis which did a good job of boiling down to instructions what BF, in my mind, made unnecessarily opaque.

Particular grievances:

1.  There are no instructions internal to the install that indicate what's supposed to happen or what you're supposed to do once the update is downloaded.  That should have been automatic to the install.  Putting an "activate modules" button on my desktop just isn't enough.

2.  Once you run the first install, it doesn't tell you that it wants your SSN for 3.0 and not CM:BN.  It honestly read like it wanted the latter...it wants the former.

3.  And this is just a bug-eyed peeve of mine, I always get my SSNs from the BF site.  The window from which you need to cut-and-paste isn't as big as the numbers themselves.  This can result in awkward and unnecessary truncation.

4.  As you update both MG and CW, the game tells you you've successfully activated something, but doesn't give you feedback as to what until you go back into the game and check the version and buttons at the bottom of the main screen.

The updating was actually quite painless once I knew what I was on about.  I confess, however, that I feel BF could have taken some relatively simple steps to make this easier for the user.

Best,

Jim
"Cyrano"
:/7)

[panzerde]

The updating was actually quite painless once I knew what I was on about.  I confess, however, that I feel BF could have taken some relatively simple steps to make this easier for the user.

I'm a big Battlefront fan. Love the games. I've been fortunate enough that the DRM hasn't historically been a hassle for me. I'm also extremely technically adept (job related). Complex software installation instructions I take in stride.


I'm damn glad I had Elvis' instructions on this one or I think I'd have had a frustrating night. Like Jim, courtesy of those instructions I was up and running in just a few minutes, but if I'd have relied on the instructions on the site and the really awful UI feedback from the activation tool I think I'd have been upset.


Battlefront's patching/modules/activation scheme is getting as bad as Graviteam's. That's the wrong direction, guys.


Excuse me while I go get some popcorn to eat while I watch JD's head explode when he encounters the activation UI...  ;)