Official BioShock Activation Thread

[vironix]

Activation process has been terminated. Please make sure the SERIAL NUMBER has been entered correctly.
Press BACK to attempt another activation, click MANUAL ACTIVATION to activate manually or press CANCEL to abort. If the problem persists please contact mailto:support@securom.com.

The activation server is unable to complete your request. Please contact the software vendor.


sheesh...any new news?

[M-O-S]

well.......all i know is it'll be activated at 1 pm pst / 4 pm est.

[vironix]

that time has jus passed rite? 4pm EST...

anyone anyluck?

[M-O-S]

no, it's 4 am est right now.

[fordprefect]

Activation process has been terminated. Please make sure the SERIAL NUMBER has been entered correctly.
Press BACK to attempt another activation, click MANUAL ACTIVATION to activate manually or press CANCEL to abort. If the problem persists please contact mailto:support@securom.com.

The activation server is unable to complete your request. Please contact the software vendor.


sheesh...any new news?

i hope someone is PO'd and gets lawyers involved before they get distracted playing the game tomorrow and forget the horror that was tonight.

[vironix]

oh gosh, i meant 4am EST.

u meant 4PM est...dam edit button..

[M-O-S]

i hope someone is PO'd and gets lawyers involved before they get distracted playing the game tomorrow and forget the horror that was tonight.

Lol, tru tru

[Jerkyhole]

I just got it working guys! Clicking is not recommended. (EDIT)

[vironix]

working?

10chars

[turnandpull]

You sir, are an *******!

Activation process has been terminated. Please make sure the SERIAL NUMBER has been entered correctly.
Press BACK to attempt another activation, click MANUAL ACTIVATION to activate manually or press CANCEL to abort. If the problem persists please contact mailto:support@securom.com.

The activation server is unable to complete your request. Please contact the software vendor.

[M-O-S]

I bet it can be activated in 2 days

>.>

[jimmy5150]

just called 2k tech support and they said 6AM EST, so 3AM for us west-coasters. not too bad but still, why do us pc gamers keep getting the short end of the stick? wasn't bioshock originally going to be PC exclusive in the first place? they should be loyal to the audience they were going for....

I know it seems kind of petty to get this upset about it, but when copy protection and just general unpreparedness on the devs part keep me from playing a game i have rightfully purchased I think i have a right to be a little angry. So in other words, it's not on the "death threat to 2k" level, but this definitely puts a dent in my night, since my other friends got the 360 version.....

[Derftron]

Just to play it safe, I'd wait until the steam timer counts down. It should be working by then :P

00 days :11 hours : 44 minutes to go.

[M-O-S]

Yep, guess I was right, 1 pm pst / 4 pm est...........

dunno why they said 6 am est.

http://img378.imageshack.us/img378/7466/imagge6.jpg

[vironix]

hey man that sucks

i dunt believe it...

[fordprefect]

I'd love to sell someone a car that won't work until I activate it at a whim at some undetermined future point.

[M-O-S]

Note: a countdown timer cannot be changed or violated.

[whatthefchuck]

arnt most fords that way?:p

[vironix]

nooooooooooooooooooooooooo

[flapjacks]

No, Fords just NEVER work :D

I guess I'm lucky that I waited so I could pick up the LE at Gamestop (they have ONE PC COPY of the LE, and it is not reserved, so I am going to be there an hour early waiting). I hope for all you guys that are up waiting that it activates at 6 EST (only 1:30 left!!). I think that, between the demo and the launch, 2K (and irrational ... err 2K Boston) will never release a game this way again. Or they will at least make it fair and put the same protection on the 360 version :rolleyes:

[Can O Soup]

Note: a countdown timer cannot be changed or violated.

Hey, they're just going buy what 2K says. Granted, that hasn't exactly been reliable to date, but still. Steam is evil so I wouldn't put it past them to make you wait longer than necessary.

[M-O-S]

I got a question, did this same thing happen with oblivion, too?

[M-O-S]

Hey, they're just going buy what 2K says. Granted, that hasn't exactly been reliable to date, but still. Steam is evil so I wouldn't put it past them to make you wait longer than necessary.

i know, steam is just...just.........nvm.

[Perk]

I linked this thread as a story on digg... digg it and sling some mud.

http://digg.com/pc_games/Retail_copies_of_Bioshock_cannot_be_activated_and_ played_on_launch_day

[Can O Soup]

I got a question, did this same thing happen with oblivion, too?

No. Oblivion requires no bull**** online activation.

[flapjacks]

Why don't you just call Irrational (2K Boston) starting at 6 AM for every minute it doesn't activate:
http://www.irrationalgames.com/company/

But no, that would be a bad idea.

[M-O-S]

They should make it to CNN stating the news that Bioshock isn't being playable on its release day, which is a great tragedy and rage.

[fordprefect]

No, Fords just NEVER work :D

I guess I'm lucky that I waited so I could pick up the LE at Gamestop (they have ONE PC COPY of the LE, and it is not reserved, so I am going to be there an hour early waiting). I hope for all you guys that are up waiting that it activates at 6 EST (only 1:30 left!!). I think that, between the demo and the launch, 2K (and irrational ... err 2K Boston) will never release a game this way again. Or they will at least make it fair and put the same protection on the 360 version :rolleyes:

i was going to drop by my gamestop tomorrow to see if they had any LE for pc but had the BRILLIANT idea to grab a regular copy at walmart and got f----d.

[M-O-S]

No. Oblivion requires no bull**** online activation.

Why the **** did they have to team up with steam, then? Geez.

Oh right, money talks.

[pdehn]

They should make it to CNN stating the news that Bioshock isn't being playable on its release day, which is a great tragedy and rage.



http://scsg-online.com/bioshock/CNN.jpg

[M-O-S]

LOL! Good one

[M-O-S]

http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/1723/shockvp2.jpg

Oh ****, they're actually speaking on it........

[Can O Soup]

http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/1723/shockvp2.jpg

Oh ****, they're actually speaking on it........

Wow, 2K games headquarters in the background is one classic looking building.

[vironix]

lol...

goodness...let us activate bioshock

[flapjacks]

http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/1723/shockvp2.jpg

Oh ****, they're actually speaking on it........

Massive? eh lo el

[JablesKage]

whats all this manual activation about? and can anyone post some screens of this activation problem?

[Can O Soup]

whats all this manual activation about? and can anyone post some screens of this activation problem?

Well, the User Manual has this crazy USB lock thing on it, and to find out how to play you have to plug it in to your PC and deactivate the lock online.

[JablesKage]

funny guy (not)

[Can O Soup]

funny guy (not)

It's not like it's some secret club hording information about this. People have been *****ing about it since about midnight. What is happening is that the 2K authentication servers aren't authenticating serial numbers yet, and everyone's up in arms about it.

[M-O-S]

And it even made to CNN!

[Jaswahhihi]

I just got it working guys! Clicking is not recommended. (http://halflife2.zoy.org)

TAKE THAT LINK OFF ITS A ****ING VIRUS

[Can O Soup]

And it even made to CNN!

God-Damned Lieberal Media!

/Couldn't resist.

[JablesKage]

yes but whats the difference between manual and automatic activation?

[flapjacks]

yes but whats the difference between manual and automatic activation?

?? It's only automatic.

It's just the wording of the message.

[Can O Soup]

?? It's only automatic.

It's just the wording of the message.

Automatic means no having to deal with ****ty Customer Service reps, you just put in a serial number and it checks the database. Manual requires a human at an office check the database and send a code to you to put in to activate. But for the moment the differences are academic, since neither way works right now.

[JablesKage]

so activation by phone is a possibility then?

[flapjacks]

Automatic means no having to deal with ****ty Customer Service reps, you just put in a serial number and it checks the database. Manual requires a human at an office check the database and send a code to you to put in to activate. But for the moment the differences are academic, since neither way works right now.

You should respond to teh other guy, I understand that. BTW, 5 minutes if it is supposed to be 6 AM EST.

[Can O Soup]

so activation by phone is a possibility then?

Not really. More like e-mail.

[Gildijaun]

I have the same problem I live in US central time zone wtf so you almost can't even get started playing till half way through the 21st? Please explain!

[Gildijaun]

Well its 9:40am central time US and I finally got the activation to go through. Doesn't really matter cause i started playing and after my elevator took me to Rapture I got blue screen of death! Way to go 2K its not my computer l2patch.

[elessar777]

Stop whinging guys. You just got your times wrong. Think of us Aussies we have to wait until the 24th and even if some ppl got it before today, by the time today's activation is active it will be wednsday for us since we are +8 to +10 gmt

[Unstoppable]

I got my game activated. It's 10:40 am eastern time. I'm going into Rapture. Wish me luck guys! :)

[eatdamuffin]

so this means steam is ****ing me over again? IM already paying the retail price of the game with no box/materials/shipping prices just to have to wait longer than everyone else?

[elessar777]

There are a lot of World clocks available but the easiest way is to check steam. anyone saying they activated it? Ummm well I doubt it since steam says still 5 hours before game goes live.

It's as a write this, 10.48Pm in Western Australia which is +7GMT right now so another 5 hours and 11minutes and the game goes live ie 9pm GMT

yes 9PM GMT (use GMT as a base since it's always used that way, you americans say EST and stuff but you know what? We have EST in Aus too but it isnt the same one, so remember use GMT since America/USA isnt the only country in the world (I know it may come as a shock to some of you lol)

Cheers

[elessar777]

so this means steam is ****ing me over again? IM already paying the retail price of the game with no box/materials/shipping prices just to have to wait longer than everyone else?

Well if what unstoppable says is true it would seem that way. I just assumed that the Steam/Bioshock Live time would be the same as the normal retail version

Im glad I dont buy games on steam....just HL-2 and CSS which I got cheap from Ebay..

Id rather have my tin Box with my Big Daddy anyway...failing that.....Torrents lol

[eatdamuffin]

Well we are talking about it cause we bought the game and it RELEASES today in the states so we should be able to play it on the release date. I mean im more mad if steam users are the only ones that have to wait until 4PM Eastern Standard Time.

[elessar777]

Well we are talking about it cause we bought the game and it RELEASES today in the states so we should be able to play it on the release date. I mean im more mad if steam users are the only ones that have to wait until 4PM Eastern Standard Time.

I can understand everyone's frustration, and I logically assumed Steam and Retail would go live at the same time. Can anyone confirm this isnt the case? A comment from a 2k mod would be nice....

[eatdamuffin]

I mean if i knew this was the case i would've just gone to the store today and bought a LE version instead of buying it off steam.

[Cybrex]

An online activation cannot be performed. Please contact your software vendor to manually retrieve your unlock code.

Please make sure that you have prepared the following information:
-Registration Code
-Unlock request code which is displayed below.
After that, please contact mailto:support@securom.com

I too am getting this message, I just picked up my copy from EB Games. I called the 1-800 for 2k tech support and they told me to send an e-mail off to the address listed. So I have, i'll let you know what I get back from them, but this is bull **** if I have to wait till 4pm to play a game I purchased and have sitting in front of me! I highly doubt X-box players have to wait.

[eatdamuffin]

No they don't infact some got it a week ago... I have a 360 but i want this for my computer why are they making us wait and go through so much just to get this game we bought. Why does steam have a timer? Or why atleast don't they answer these questions to the people that bought it.

[elessar777]

An online activation cannot be performed. Please contact your software vendor to manually retrieve your unlock code.

Please make sure that you have prepared the following information:
-Registration Code
-Unlock request code which is displayed below.
After that, please contact mailto:support@securom.com

I too am getting this message, I just picked up my copy from EB Games. I called the 1-800 for 2k tech support and they told me to send an e-mail off to the address listed. So I have, i'll let you know what I get back from them, but this is bull **** if I have to wait till 4pm to play a game I purchased and have sitting in front of me! I highly doubt X-box players have to wait.

I dont think X Box players had to activate......

It's too early as far as I can tell for you to activate, steam shows another 4hours and 20 minutes odd before you can play

[Cybrex]

An online activation cannot be performed. Please contact your software vendor to manually retrieve your unlock code.

Please make sure that you have prepared the following information:
-Registration Code
-Unlock request code which is displayed below.
After that, please contact mailto:support@securom.com

I too am getting this message, I just picked up my copy from EB Games. I called the 1-800 for 2k tech support and they told me to send an e-mail off to the address listed. So I have, i'll let you know what I get back from them, but this is bull **** if I have to wait till 4pm to play a game I purchased and have sitting in front of me! I highly doubt X-box players have to wait.

But for now, I am going to go watch my Behind the Scenes DVD :D

[Cybrex]

No they don't infact some got it a week ago... I have a 360 but i want this for my computer why are they making us wait and go through so much just to get this game we bought. Why does steam have a timer? Or why atleast don't they answer these questions to the people that bought it.

Because they already have our money, so they dont need to answer anything now.

[elessar777]

No they don't infact some got it a week ago... I have a 360 but i want this for my computer why are they making us wait and go through so much just to get this game we bought. Why does steam have a timer? Or why atleast don't they answer these questions to the people that bought it.

I thought it was pretty obvious why Steam has a timer? You can't figure it out? Pretty simple if you ask me

[eatdamuffin]

What do you mean its obvious? I meant why do they even have a timer when it should unlock on the moment its released as they advertised. =D

[ramatheson]

What do you mean its obvious? I meant why do they even have a timer when it should unlock on the moment its released as they advertised. =D

In their defense, they didn't say it would release at midnight august 21st. They said "august 21st." As long as it's active by 11:59 PM tonight, they've held up their end of the bargain.

[shocked]

What do you mean its obvious? I meant why do they even have a timer when it should unlock on the moment its released as they advertised. =D

Imagine it is a burrito in a microwave, only the microwave is locked.

One the countdown goes to zero, the microwave opens and you can eat your burrito.

Make sense? In 4 hours, the microwave will open (steam) and we can eat our burrito (bioshock).

Come on eatdamuffin, it is really not all that hard. They are releasing it at 4 for a reason. Probably that is when their ISP wants to set aside time for the bandwith hits.

Who knows.. Want sour cream? LOL

[Cybrex]

In their defense, they didn't say it would release at midnight august 21st. They said "august 21st." As long as it's active by 11:59 PM tonight, they've held up their end of the bargain.

That would be complete bull**** if that were true. I have never bought a game where I have to wait a specific time to start playing it, and nor should I. This is the first time I have bought a game from 2k, but if this is how they treat their pc customers, I wont be buying another one.

[eatdamuffin]

Nope actually the pre-load says under the bar "When the game is officially released, you'll be able to play the game immediately." Which was midnight which i didn't expect it then by all means.

[ramatheson]

You have always had to wait until a specific time to play it. World of Warcraft released before all of the servers were up, and people could not play right away. That is just one example. There were issues with Half Life 2 as well.

The software was sold early so you could install it and get it ready for the release.

[eatdamuffin]

However today is the official release. I too have never had to wait for a specific time to play a SINGLEPLAYER game. Half Life 2 i wouldn't know cause i bought it well after the release.

[Cybrex]

In their defense, they didn't say it would release at midnight august 21st. They said "august 21st." As long as it's active by 11:59 PM tonight, they've held up their end of the bargain.

That would be complete bull**** if that were true. I have never bought a game where I have to wait for a specific time to start playing it, and nor should I. This is the first time I have bought a game from 2k, but if this is how they treat their pc customers, I wont be buying another one.

[Death]

My copys in New Jersey right now...

[shocked]

However today is the official release. I too have never had to wait for a specific time to play a SINGLEPLAYER game. Half Life 2 i wouldn't know cause i bought it well after the release.

Yeah HL2 was the same way and had a bottleneck on the day of release as steam was just a baby and the activation came on a Christmas week and there was a reason for all of the trouble.

It will be ready to go at 4 as most have already pre-downloaded the thing and are set to go, it will be easier to open them at 4.

It was when Half Life 2 Episode 1 was released, it was quick and I was playing in a matter of minutes.

[eatdamuffin]

Yes but the fact im saying is we shouldn't have to wait until 4 its all pre-loaded and ready to go in fact it would've been better if they opened it as soon as 2k was ready to activate cause it would bring less stress on the activation servers instead of everyone doing it at once. I just want to know why i have to wait.

[misdirection]

I activated without any probelms :D

[ramatheson]

That would be complete bull**** if that were true. I have never bought a game where I have to wait for a specific time to start playing it, and nor should I. This is the first time I have bought a game from 2k, but if this is how they treat their pc customers, I wont be buying another one.

I'm curious as to why you reposted this again almost ten minutes later after posting it in response to me...?

If it were true, it wouldn't be "bull" crap, as by definition, something can't be both bullcrap and true at the same time.

[leary]

Hi all...new here....

Ok...bought the game at Best Buy today 8/22 and I read all 8 pages of this thread and I still can't activate my game. I tripled check the activation code on the back of the manual to make sure I didn't make any errors. I'm correct in assuming the the serial number IS the 20 digit activation code on the back of the manual..right? I entered it in caps and without...with the dashes and without and swapped out the zero for the letter O in all combinations making sure one of them would be right.

Help!!! What am I doing wrong? I still get the error messages Terminated BLAH,BLAH,BLAH. Btw, I also tried activate manually with that unlock code thingy......NOTHING! Any advice. Thanks in advance.

[ThunderBuns]

Same with me, Leary, except I bought mine yesterday. WHAT THE ****! I have 3 I's in mine...and one 0, and I've tried EVERY COMBINATION (with and without dashes), I've written each combo down to make sure I did it as well! I installed it on this computer fine, but on my new one (which I assembled today) it WILL NOT ACTIVATE. It would be the 2nd PC I tried to activate it on and I know my code is good for 2 PCs, plus I didn't get a "code overuse" error, just the stupid termination error. Someone PLEASE help...why is it so hard to play a game I legally bought >: (

[JohnnyWakko]

God this is painful. I cannot activate my game that I pre ordered.

What a hassle.

[Arkael]

Same with me, Leary, except I bought mine yesterday. WHAT THE ****! I have 3 I's in mine...and one 0, and I've tried EVERY COMBINATION (with and without dashes), I've written each combo down to make sure I did it as well! I installed it on this computer fine, but on my new one (which I assembled today) it WILL NOT ACTIVATE. It would be the 2nd PC I tried to activate it on and I know my code is good for 2 PCs, plus I didn't get a "code overuse" error, just the stupid termination error. Someone PLEASE help...why is it so hard to play a game I legally bought >: (

I'm still dont think the 2 activations is entirely accurate. I successfully activated on one system only to experience problems beyond anything i've ever seen. So I tried my lady's system only to type in the very same code 30 times check it all 30 times have the top of the window that says activation in progress change to activation sucessful for a split second and then pop up the activation was terminated window. This leads me to believe securom is only allowing one activation. I hate people that whine over stupid things, but I have to admit the activation thing is a bit over the top. Especially if 2 activations is a rumor and its really only 1. Congrats to the 5% of people that bought this game for PC and are actually able to play it. I was so pumped on a FPS with rpg elements. C'EST LA VIE

Arkael

[JohnnyWakko]

Auto activation won't work, tried all combination of code.

Manual activation, well who the hell knows how long that will take?

[Valydius]

Same with me, Leary, except I bought mine yesterday. WHAT THE ****! I have 3 I's in mine...and one 0, and I've tried EVERY COMBINATION (with and without dashes), I've written each combo down to make sure I did it as well! I installed it on this computer fine, but on my new one (which I assembled today) it WILL NOT ACTIVATE. It would be the 2nd PC I tried to activate it on and I know my code is good for 2 PCs, plus I didn't get a "code overuse" error, just the stupid termination error. Someone PLEASE help...why is it so hard to play a game I legally bought >: (

Activation server is broken. Try again tomorrow..

[JohnnyWakko]

That just great. So I purchased a game that I can't play, and in fact takes up my time, costs money to make phone calls to try and get it working...

Not a happy customer.

[bennzy]

Looks like the server is accepting activations, get in now while you can.

[Methos]

no its not (

[bennzy]

bummer mate, hope you get through soon.

[Splatterpope]

Guaaaaghhh D:

[Abhoth]

Take 2 can suck my big fat wang

[Methos]

after they are finished with mine lol

[MeanMerlin]

LOL
2k made error by using this ****ing charter set on the bioshock serial number, WHY not using Times New Roman where the letters are more easy too see.

Next :
Securom thing i have a IQ of 50 or wtf , They did write too my and many others on my complean :
'If you have experienced any anomalies during the activation process of your program, we kindly ask you to try again. Please make sure that you enter the correct serial key, being especially careful to not mix up similar characters such as "1" and "I" or "0"(zero) and the letter "O". Please also note that there is only one number within every four digits of the serial key. '

But i have a compu since the old C64 time don programming. BUT I CAN FIND OUT TYPING LETTERS hmmmm.

But now it is working same serial did i type and i mean THE SAME NUMBERS AND CHARS.

SO IT WAS NOT A ERROR 40, but a server side error i thing overload or thing at there side, but they stil tell os we are moruns. Hope last time they use securom, else i am not byning it. Do not like bening call stu....

[GimptheGriefer]

I bought the game but now I think I'm going to go download a pirated copy so I'll have a better chance of actually playing the damn thing...

[kakofum]

OK did anyone in Canada get this game to activate yet?

[leary]

Same with me, Leary, except I bought mine yesterday. WHAT THE ****! I have 3 I's in mine...and one 0, and I've tried EVERY COMBINATION (with and without dashes), I've written each combo down to make sure I did it as well! I installed it on this computer fine, but on my new one (which I assembled today) it WILL NOT ACTIVATE. It would be the 2nd PC I tried to activate it on and I know my code is good for 2 PCs, plus I didn't get a "code overuse" error, just the stupid termination error. Someone PLEASE help...why is it so hard to play a game I legally bought >: (

I feel your pain. As much as I hate having to give up AVG...I did and dl Avast. Uninstalled & reinstalled Bioshock. All is working now BUT....having a dialup instead of hi-speed connection........imagine the time all that took.......HOURS & HOURS!!!!!!!!!!! What a pain in the %&*.

[neek]

I feel your pain. As much as I hate having to give up AVG...I did and dl Avast. Uninstalled & reinstalled Bioshock. All is working now

Ahh :D I'm in the UK, just got BioShock for PC delivered today, installed, patched, updated, tried to activate. After entering my code and clicking 'Activate' it would report that it had connected to the activation server, then hang for about 10 seconds, then jump to a 'activation terminated' message. You mention AVG .. well, I was running Kaspersky. I switched Kaspersky and its avp.exe off, and hey presto, activation succeeded instantly, no 10 second delay. I tried it first without dashes in the serial no. and it immediately rejected it, added the dashes and it immediately succeeded.

Good old anti virus. I hope this helps some people. Turn off your anti-virus program and try activating again. And please don't inform me how this makes your PC less secure :P

[kei135]

my anti virus is always on but i activated it w/o any trouble.:)