So better stay away from Steel Beasts dongles

[JudgeDredd]

[bob48]

ROFL & LMAO

[Steelgrave]

Well, I wouldn't be pleased with those results, RyanE, but the upside is you've caused some very entertaining meme's to show up on the site. There is that.

[mirth]

Silver linings and all.

[Boggit]

Certainly brings "Plug and Play" to a new level.

:DD

[Boggit]

Dude, I think any of us would have done exactly what you did by posting about it here. I certainly would have.

Me too. It's a good warning for us all.

[Boggit]

imo voicing your issues here are absolutely justified and not only justified, but you owe it to other gamers to give your experiences - as we all do.

People can make their own mind up as to whether they let it affect their choices or not - all you can do - or any of us - is give our experiences.

What I would hope - with anyone doing such a thing - is they give a reasonable and honest account of the issues being raised. I should point out you have not gave me any reason to doubt your account.

No better place imo.

Completely agree. O0

[Toonces]

Pushing it off 4 months allows either your luggage to show up, in which case you'll have your dongle back, or for your lost dongle to suddenly activate online, in which case I understand eSims may consider that proof you've lost your dongle and allow you to buy a new one at cost.  Basically, they're giving you 4 months to play the game to see if another solution to you buying a whole new game comes up.

RyanE I get your point.  If it was me, I probably would have just sold you a new dongle.  But, certainly there are plenty of examples I could use to counter your argument.  I've had any number of pieces of software or electronics die or disappear over the years.  I never thought to contact their customer service for a replacement just because I lost something, even if I was a routine customer.  If I pack up a copy of my HPS Midway in my luggage, and the airline loses the disk, I don't expect HPS to ship me a new one just because I've bought 4 or 5 of their games over the years.

I do sympathize with your plight, and see your point.  But ultimately you lost it, and that IS your fault.  And, just because you've bought $200 worth of software from eSims doesn't obligate them morally or any other way to replace the software at anything but full price.  Again, I do see your point, but on the other hand, this situation isn't much different from many others where I've had things lost or stolen and the burden has been on me to replace the items.  I mean, I've bought dozens of pairs of Levis over the years, but I don't expect Levis to replace my jeans if my luggage gets stolen just because I've bought lots of their jeans before.  Etc.

[mirth]

Apples and oranges, Toonces. A better analogy would be losing your car keys, asking the dealer to sell you a new set, and the dealer says you'll need to buy a new car.

[Toonces]

As far as I'm concerned, the dongle is the software.  It's the same as a game with a disk check (like HPS).  If you lose the disk, even if you can download the game, you can't play it without the disk.

[mirth]

Interesting take on DRM.

[Toonces]

In a perfect world, eSims would just put SB on Steam like everyone else in the world, including Eagle Dynamics, another company that makes most of its profits through military contracts. 

[Tuna]

As far as I'm concerned, the dongle is the software.  It's the same as a game with a disk check (like HPS).  If you lose the disk, even if you can download the game, you can't play it without the disk.

But that's the ancient way software  was delivered CDs format. These days most digital sellers will allow you to re-download and activate something you paid for. That includes the ones that have tight drm.

[mirth]

If Ryan had come here and said his laptop was stolen and isn't it awful that eSims won't give him $200 worth of free software, we'd all have told him to go pound sand. But that isn't what happened. What he is asking for is to replace, at his expense, a $40 security dongle so he can use the $200 worth of software he already paid for.

[RyanE]

Hold on a minute.  I have twice had CD/DVD replacements sent to me on request.  It cost $5 + S&H to replace. One of them was BFC with a CM1 game and the other was MS Flight Simulator.  I think X-Plane used to have the same policy.

I'll also come back to one of most hated types of companies that out does esims...cell phone companies in the US.  As I have stated, my family and I have lost one of phones twice.  In both cases, Verizon replaced the phones for a fairly nominal fee and no activation fee.  Part of it was because I had been a long-time customer...wadda you know.

The word dongle was built for memes.  Its almost too easy.