G2play and piracy

dreamers75

Bought a couple of cd keys from them the other day so now i can play online in a few games.

Wondering tho how they get the cdkeys and if the developers get any money from them is it legal ? I had to obtain the game myself just got the cdkey from them and it did work.


I used to work in a CD plant and know that when printing cd keys there were a few extra, Msft used to make us send them to them and shred any copies. They still worked so wonder if g2play using "ends" of rolls.


I mean Sf4 for 14 quid :eek:

Sierra Oscar

I'm not exactly sure where they get them, but most publishers seemed to classify them as illegitimate.

Valve revoked a number of MW2 CD Keys for Steam a while back and some more for L4D2, and some came from G2Play.net

Valve Bans Gray-Market Modern Warfare 2 Keys

dreamers75

I bought 2 Sf4 keys and they are 1 digit out from being identical.

In a way assuming it was legit its a great idea for selling games to pirates (not me of course) as some pirates (not me) will download the game and if they like it they pay for the CD key. And it works like the way Steam was meant to with cheaper games and stuff :P

But if Devs aint getting money its piracy but not free is a keygen they using?

Overheal

when in doubt mail the publisher/developer.

who knows you might get free goods for bringing it to their attention.

MooseJam

maybe they just sell whatever key generators spit out

L31mr0d

MooseJam wrote: »

maybe they just sell whatever key generators spit out

Hey man, the bros gotta make a living.

Cunny-Funt

dreamers75 wrote: »

I bought 2 Sf4 keys and they are 1 digit out from being identical.

In a way assuming it was legit its a great idea for selling games to pirates (not me of course) as some pirates (not me) will download the game and if they like it they pay for the CD key. And it works like the way Steam was meant to with cheaper games and stuff :P

But if Devs aint getting money its piracy but not free is a keygen they using?

That is a good idea actually.

Kiith

I've bought a few games from them, and havent had any problems. Havent played MW2 in a while though, so who knows.

CutzEr

afaik

They are bought in countries where games are cheaper, the full retail versions, and they buy them legally.
Then they take the cd key off the manual of the game, and then they sell the key. The devs do get money, just uhhh not as much. Long term g2play buyer here.

Sierra Oscar

CutzEr wrote: »

afaik

They are bought in countries where games are cheaper, the full retail versions, and they buy them legally.

I think that is it. You can buy games for extremely cheap prices in eastern European countries, so they still make a decent mark up price when selling them online.

Still though, specific game copies are meant to be sold in specific regions only . . . so it is on that basis that some developers/publishers are cracking down on such CD Keys.

dreamers75

Sierra Oscar wrote: »

I think that is it. You can buy games for extremely cheap prices in eastern European countries, so they still make a decent mark up price when selling them online.

Still though, specific game copies are meant to be sold in specific regions only . . . so it is on that basis that some developers/publishers are cracking down on such CD Keys.

So its basically buying imported games but not actually getting the import part.


Sounds legal to me

partyatmygaff

I've used it before for a few games. What happens (From what I know) is that they buy the games from countries where the RRP is alot less like in China, eastern europe e.t.c. Open the case and sell the cd key.

AlmightyCushion

Sierra Oscar wrote: »

I'm not exactly sure where they get them, but most publishers seemed to classify them as illegitimate.

Valve revoked a number of MW2 CD Keys for Steam a while back and some more for L4D2, and some came from G2Play.net

Valve Bans Gray-Market Modern Warfare 2 Keys

What a load of horse ****. People have paid for a legitimate key and they're getting cut off because the publisher doesn't feel they've paid enough for it. Valve and activision really need to cop on.

Sierra Oscar

AlmightyCushion wrote: »

What a load of horse ****. People have paid for a legitimate key and they're getting cut off because the publisher doesn't feel they've paid enough for it. Valve and activision really need to cop on.

Aye, sounds unfair - but G2Play are not an authorized reseller at the end of the day.

More of the same is going to start happening in the future by the looks of it, now that they can identify at least some of the keys.

The same thing happened with another publisher in Russia a few years back that started selling CD Keys to people around the world even though they were breaching their contract by doing so. The CD Keys were region locked.

AlmightyCushion

Sierra Oscar wrote: »

Aye, sounds unfair - but G2Play are not an authorized reseller at the end of the day.

It doesn't just seem unfair to me, it is unfair. As for g2play not being authorised resellers, who cares. The company has recieved their money for the game and then they decide to punish a paying customer. It's a complete joke.

wayne040576

There's been at least one case where g2play admitted they were selling stolen keys. The company's owner has a shady background.
I've been warning people on here for over a year that this would eventually happen but there were several threads with people telling others that the keys they bought from g2play worked fine.

If it looks too good to be true then it probably is.

SeantheMan

I bought Dawn of War 2 off them a while back,,

This is how I recieved the key, in an email attachment. Pro stuff :P !!

dreamers75

wayne040576 wrote: »

There's been at least one case where g2play admitted they were selling stolen keys. The company's owner has a shady background.
I've been warning people on here for over a year that this would eventually happen but there were several threads with people telling others that the keys they bought from g2play worked fine.

If it looks too good to be true then it probably is.

Links?


I posted being unsure but after a polish lad in the job told me how much Sf4 was in poland im not so sure i feel like a pirate buying from g2play.

Not shocked activision would ban these keys, reeks off money grabbing. Borderlands came out in shops at 30 quid and Steam prolly still selling it for 50 and g2play have it for 14.

After the Lik Sang (rip) incident i shall be buying games that i like from g2play.

wayne040576

dreamers75 wrote: »

Links?


I posted being unsure but after a polish lad in the job told me how much Sf4 was in poland im not so sure i feel like a pirate buying from g2play.

Not shocked activision would ban these keys, reeks off money grabbing. Borderlands came out in shops at 30 quid and Steam prolly still selling it for 50 and g2play have it for 14.

After the Lik Sang (rip) incident i shall be buying games that i like from g2play.

I've posted links on this board several times. I'm not posting them any more. If you google bloodbowl and g2play I'm sure you'll find something.

Sierra Oscar

dreamers75 wrote: »

Links?

I did warn others that the possibility that Valve would block some of the G2Play keys some time back:

Sierra Oscar wrote: »

I can tell you now that Valve may *ahem* have fixed a bug with region locked CD Keys some time ago through a Steam client update, and it may have affected various customers who had bought CD Keys (which had intended to be region locked) from certain online websites . . .

There is nothing at all from stopping Valve locking all CD Keys sites like G2P sell down the line as they are not authorised resellers, and Valve have stated that that G2P are not an authorised reseller so purchase with caution.

Just a heads up really, because your screwed if that happens (and if your account ever gets hijacked).

dreamers75

They are buying retail versions marked for certain countries at prices designed to allow the people who live there to be able to afford them at all, taking the serials out of the boxes, and then selling them on the internet.

Googled bloodbowl and found this utterly genius quote Developers really do care????


So bascially its ok for Chun Li to pay 14 quid for a game valve believe i should pay 50 for.


Have to say im in the g2play camp on this one.


Bought 3 more games off them last night one may be a steam game

hooradiation

dreamers75 wrote: »

Googled bloodbowl and found this utterly genius quote Developers really do care????


So bascially its ok for Chun Li to pay 14 quid for a game valve believe i should pay 50 for.


Have to say im in the g2play camp on this one.

Bought 3 more games off them last night one may be a steam game

If you want to pay 14 quid for that game, feel free to move to whatever nation you can buy the game at that price for. Then you can avail of those prices AND your key won't be invalidated when it's discovered.

It'll prevent a future thread where you complain about how unfair it all is even though you're perfectly aware right now that what you're doing is, at best, dodgy.

dreamers75

hooradiation wrote: »

If you want to pay 14 quid for that game, feel free to move to whatever nation you can buy the game at that price for. Then you can avail of those prices AND your key won't be invalidated when it's discovered.

It'll prevent a future thread where you complain about how unfair it all is even though you're perfectly aware right now that what you're doing is, at best, dodgy.

I buy my beer in another nation too, im a durty durty person.

Fnz

Is it right that companies can ban me from accessing games I legally purchase while abroad? Are people who emigrate from certain countries expected to re-buy their entire collection at a massively inflated price?

If it's ok for businesses to seek the best bang for their buck by outsourcing to foreign nations, then it's a bit unfair of them to expect customers to pay top dollar for things in their home country.

Sierra Oscar

Fnz wrote: »

Is it right that companies can ban me from accessing games I legally purchase while abroad? Are people who emigrate from certain countries expected to re-buy their entire collection at a massively inflated price?

Its similar to buying stuff down in the shady market. You have a fair idea that something you are buying could have fallen off the back of a lorry . . . and you are not surprised if something takes a turn for the worse down the line . . . yet you chance buying it anyway.:D

AlmightyCushion

Sierra Oscar wrote: »

Its similar to buying stuff down in the shady market. You have a fair idea that something you are buying could have fallen off the back of a lorry . . . and you are not surprised if something takes a turn for the worse down the line . . . yet you chance buying it anyway.:D

Eh, no it's not. If something has fallen off the back of a truck then it's stolen property and the manufacturer is getting nothing for it. Whereas these keys aren't stolen (for the most part) and the developer/publisher has received payment for them. Big difference.

Sierra Oscar

AlmightyCushion wrote: »

Eh, no it's not. If something has fallen off the back of a truck then it's stolen property and the manufacturer is getting nothing for it. Whereas these keys aren't stolen (for the most part) and the developer/publisher has received payment for them. Big difference.

A number of keys were stolen, which was admitted by the third party sellers (who are selling the keys anyway, even though they are not authorized to do so - I think there is something illegal in there somewhere.)

Anyway, it is third party publishers like Activision who are pushing to stamp out unauthorized re-selling of CD Keys, and they are operating within the law by doing so. It is no surprise that it is pretty much only Modern Warfare 2 CD Keys which have been blocked on Steam.

ProjectColossus

What I find interesting is that g2play are still selling the MW2 keys. But generally speaking, I'm pro g2play, assuming they genuinly didn't realise the (bloodbowl?) keys were stolen. I've gotten 2 orange box keys, a bunch of wow keys and an EA store red alert 3 expansion key and they have all worked fine. One of the major selling points of digital distribution is to cut down on costs, and Steam no longer seems to appreciate that fact. The recent 1$=1€ debacle is case in point.