2K Elizabethhttp://www.2kgames.com/cultofrapture/revoketool.html
The BioShock Revoke Tool is now available. This link will allow you to download the tool and also has a pdf of a user manual for it, and an FAQ.
BioShock Activation Revoke Tool Available now!
http://www.2kgames.com/cultofrapture/revoketool.html
The BioShock Revoke Tool is now available. This link will allow you to download the tool and also has a pdf of a user manual for it, and an FAQ.
Last edited by 2K Elizabeth; 10-11-2007 at 03:31 PM.
wow... WAY TO GO 2K!
Unfortunate typo.Originally Posted by 2K Elizabeth
Thanks for the info!
Last edited by 2K Elizabeth; 10-11-2007 at 03:31 PM.
haha, I didn't even notice that at first.Unfortunate typo.
oh man.Unfortunate typo.
/blush
fixed now!
Thanks for this. I want to say that this is not a solution to the problem of limited activation, and will go on to explain why.
It is good that this has now been released. Now - with a little extra inconvenience - users can do what they were promised was possible at the time of release....
...for the most part anyway - since I notice that the tool doesn't do everything one might hope. From the revoke tool page:
So the fix doesn't entirely work if you're (sensibly) running games from a user account and only using an admin account to install them.Q: Will I be able to revoke the activations under each account and free up all the activations for each user account using the BioShock Revoke Tool?
A: No! Unfortunately, the revoke tool will only revoke the activations once for any given computer, the activations used for any additional user accounts will remain active.
However, it's not the revoke tool that I take particular exception to (although it has its own problems). It is the limited activations. Let's get onto that.
Let me explain what I take issue with. This is from the same webpage you link to:
This here is a decision you guys are making. You are deciding whether or not to give us more activations. You are deciding this based on criteria which you yourselves set. Even with the best will in the world (so not 2K then) this is not acceptable.Each activation request is reviewed on an individual basis. You will need your activation key from your copy of BioShock, and in some cases, proof of purchase before increasing activation limits. 2K Games reserve the right to refuse increasing activation limits if it is found that the activation key has been abused
If you can decide whether or not I install a game, then it's not my game. It's your game. I paid you to stay in charge of my game. And tell me if I can play it. And choose, on an individual basis whether or not to let me sell it on ebay, or lend it out over the weekend. These are things that I should be allowed to do with products I have bought and own, but the decision remains with you.
And that simply won't do. It's not like you're charging any less for Bioshock than other companies charge for games. But what you are doing is deciding who can continue to use those products.
And, just one other point, this is a reasonable turnaround for computer support from a major company. But that's not what we're in the market for. It isn't reasonable to wait 48 hours for a license to play a game you've paid for.In most cases, activation limit increases are completed within 48 hours, and can be completed faster if you promptly respond to the support team with the proper documentation.
*HUGS*
All better now?
Seems like a lot of effort for nothing so. I can't believe that running the game as admin, as the installer tells you you must, and then running it in a regular account means two activations. That's insane. And this revoke tool then must be run under each account I guess or does it only revoke admin licences?
Agree too that they are now confirming people are not buying Bioshock, instead they pay a lump sum to rent it for whatever period 2K decide. Not impressed with any of this. I thought they said activations were going to be stopped eventually. Why bother with a revoke tool if there will be no activations needed, say next year?
However many times you have activated it on a single machine, you will only get one activation back when you run the revoke tool.
Excellent
Great news.
As for this installing the game as administrator and a secondary account... Isn't there an option to install it as admin and play it as secondary account? As in, surely you don't have to install it twice, its just for people for whatever reason decide not to install it for everyone first time and installing it again?
Its not going to be a big deal for me as i'll be the only one who'd be using the PC i'll be running the game on when I get that PC but it seems just a tad odd.
Thats my understanding it does not make sence to me.
Activation concerns and suggestions
I’m glad this tool has been released, however I agree with wildquinine that requiring activation at all, especially limited activations, creates serious problems for game owners.
Here are some solutions I propose:
1. Remove the activation requirement after the majority of the game sales have been made, maybe 1 year after the release.
2. Specify the specific requirements for receiving additional activations from customer support.
3. Add something like the following label to all future releases of the PC version of the game:
This game requires an internet for activation. As of 10/11/07 you can activate this game up to 5 times. In order to reclaim an activation a revoke tool must be run. If for any reason this revoke tool can’t be run, such as a hard drive crash, the activation can’t be reclaimed. If you exceed the activation limit you must contact 2K Games' customer support. This game’s activation is reliant on 2K Games’ servers, you will not be able to play this game if these servers are unavailable for any reason, such as technical difficulties or 2K Games going out of business.
4. Promise to release a patch removing activation requirements if 2K Games goes out of business.
I still play games released 10 to 15 years ago with the help of programs like DOSBox. I hope 2K Games allows us to continue to play classics such as Bioshock for many years to come by listening to our activation concerns. Thanks.
Hurray, time to break open the shrinkwrap! It’s been sitting there, on my shelf, in all its tin-cased glory entombed in that plastic wrapper, since shortly after the release date in Europe. I know I said the reason it hadn’t been opened was because I was planning to take it back to the shop, but I lost all interest in Bioshock and the deadline came and went.
Bioshock is still going to have to be classed as leper software. Leperware? It seems a good idea to dual boot with Bioshock contained in its own installation of Windows with just a single user account (apart from the normally hidden one called Administrator). The only other ‘bad’ software I use is that based on Kontiki, but at least that functions within a virtual machine. As SecuROM is a shared resource, just like Kontiki, I suspect my Bioshock partition will turn out to be where any other new games using SecuROM will get relegated.
The fact that the revoke tool doesn’t work fully if multiple users have activated on the same installation of Windows suggests that subsequent activations overwrite information from earlier ones. This in turn suggests that SecuROM’s Internet activation system was never designed to support revocation.
The last answer on the revoke tool FAQ webpage states that a “support division” has been set up, with a not unreasonable turn-around time of 48 hours. If this is true, why, oh why, oh why was that not there from the start? It would’ve taken away most of the sting from all the criticism. The professional games journalists wouldn’t have been quite so angry. They might even have stopped short of saying that Bioshock’s DRM was completely botched and flawed.
Bioshock was the first game I’ve bought at release. The one thing I do know is that’s something I’ll never ever be doing again.
wildquinine +1
IheartShodan +1
Alliesknife +1
There's not much I can add to these posters and their posts, except a thumbs up. As for using the tool, I'll finish Final Fantasy Tactics - The Lion Wars first before playing Bioshock PC. A pity that the Bioshock PC time attack I scheduled for august didn't pan out. Tja, principles, what can you do?
Very good post!!! But I would lower it to 6 months for number 1 and get rid of number 4 entirely because 1 would solve the problem entirely.
I had to format my computer and re-install Vista a week or so ago, that has now cost me an activation, and this revoke tool won't give me back that lost activation... that's not very good is it? But thanks anyway, at least it's something.
Too bad you can never ever get more free activations if you accidentally use all five up......oh, wait a minute, you can..... I think they've stated a few dozen times that you can ask them for more as long as you have your manual and disc.
Glad to see the revoke tool out there, even though I'll doubt I'll ever need it myself (being one of the vast horde that usually installs a game once or twice at most). One less thing the rabble rousers can complain about (not that it will stop them from picking on something else).
Why the hell should I? Have I bought the game or haven't I?Too bad you can never ever get more free activations if you accidentally use all five up......oh, wait a minute, you can..... I think they've stated a few dozen times that you can ask them for more as long as you have your manual and disc.
If I've bought it (game, license, whatever you want to call it) then I expect it to stay bought, and not require me to plead for permission to use it after some arbitrary number of 'activations' have been exceeded.
Not good enough 2K, nowhere near good enough.
My Problem: i'm French, studying in Germany, i've bring back my Computer, but I do not have an Internet connection where i Live (in a dormitory).
My girlfriend will come to visit me with the game she buys In a French store for me, in 2 weeks. Can i install the game? Or it will be impossible? If it is the case, I need a solution, quick! I stay for 1 year in Germany, and the only place to have internet is my university, where there are a lot of proxy and Firewall, and i cannot bring back my Computer here.
I'm waiting for a quick solution until 2 weeks.
Thank you
That was my concern. If I put the game on my PC, I have to use the admin account. That's one licence used. Then I play it with my account (we've one PC but three people in the flat), that's another used up. I then get my new PC at Christmas, use the revoke tool, uninstall the game and that takes away the admin licence, but leaves behind the licence for me from the sound of things even though the game isn't on the PC anymore and can't be played.
Then when I put it on the new PC, I again have to use up two licences meaning there's three licences being used up altogether and just me playing the game. Sounds kinda stupid to me how they've done all this.
Certanly not the tool i expected, i agree way too much hazzle, and all requests are now individual moderated and up to 48hours? is this a joke or whatThe game is already cracked longtime ago on the net so i dont understand this, you treat your loyal customers worse then pirates they can just install game - copy crack and have no issues whatsoever with activations etc.
I have to say, I'm surprised this was released Given 2K's stance in all this, the "smokescreen" possibility was almost certain.
But still, in "the" thread, we didn't ask for a revoke tool. We asked for the removal of install limits.
And it seems the revoke tool doesn't do all that it should do, so even though a little bit better (until someone confirms that this in fact, works).
Also, how exactly can we confirm that this is fact works ? Do we have access to some info page, with the number of install credits left ?
Are you expecting us to trust you on this ? I'm sure even you understand that, given the circumstances, trusting 2K is not exactly something most of us are willing to do.
I hope these questions are answered, unlike in "the" thread, or the "replacement" thread.
Should read:
so even though a little bit better (until someone confirms that this in fact, works), this still does not solve the problem, as we said many times in "the" thread.
This revoke tool is, like I feared, just a clumsy band-aid ; an overly-complicated scheme that solves only a small subset of potential problems.
A much better and simpler revoke tool would have been a dumb web page, hosted by Sony/Securom, where you enter your serial and it resets ALL your activation tokens, although that would be allowed only once every six months for example. And already installed copies of the game would still work (though they need the DVD in the drive, so it's not a real problem for the publisher). It would still be possible to blacklist published serials and it would work "offline" (thhouhg another PC or cybercafe)!
However, I'm still fundamentally against crapactivivation : this has nothing to do in a pay-to-own business model. If you want to use activation, then rent your games.
(Sorry for the double-post in the other ScrewRom thread, didn't see there was a *new* official sticky thread).
Greetings!That would be solution in a sane world.
This DRMed world, however, is a copycat of Rapture.
Japester,Too bad you can never ever get more free activations if you accidentally use all five up......oh, wait a minute, you can..... I think they've stated a few dozen times that you can ask them for more as long as you have your manual and disc.
Glad to see the revoke tool out there, even though I'll doubt I'll ever need it myself (being one of the vast horde that usually installs a game once or twice at most). One less thing the rabble rousers can complain about (not that it will stop them from picking on something else).
This is nothing short of a troll post.
We've been over this enough times. You're not stupid, you've proved that in a few select posts where you've taken time to consider the issues.
You well know that our position on limited activations has not changed.
You well know what our objections are to having to ask 2K/securom for more activations - even when we're almost guaranteed to get them.
You well know that the revoke tool does not have any effect on these concerns.
When I buy something I do not expect to have to ask permission to use it.
Now maybe we can't agree on the issues at stake, but I'll thank you to stop patronising those of us who have genuine, and thoroughly well expressed concerns.
I was told I could safely deinstall bioshock while trying to get the bugridden thing to work by support people. I was lied to, so I lost 3 installs. Another lie.
Even if this isn't a complete solution to all the issues about the installation of Bioshock I am grateful to Elizabeth for posting this. I know many companies would create a solution and just not bother telling anyone, and I would have never found it on my own.
So thanks 2K and Elizabeth for what has been done.
Now if only Securom would do something.
So the revoke tool arrived yesterday and is welcome; however, I have a question regarding activations that appear to be permanently lost. When Bioshock came out I was on a different machine to the one I am presently using --I upgraded to better meet the technical needs of BioShock and future games-- so I have reinstalled the game using ""Add remove programs" from that machine. -1
Having rebuilt my new computer I naturally re-installed BioShock using the same product code provided on the back of the manual --I believe it to be this code that the activation servers remember and count as the account? -2. Computers being computers and me being me I have subsequently found two occasions on which I have decided to rebuild the machine --This involves re-formatting the hard drive and re-installing the OS, drivers and relevant in-use applications + BioShock-- -3, -4. I am also guessing at the number of times I have rebuilt this machine so it may well be more than 3 or 4 activations that have been used up already. The revoke tool was unavailable during this period of time and subsequently I have now lost 1-3, or 4 as I'm really not sure, activations against my product code.
Am I correct in stating that these activations are permanently lost and that 2K Games are offering no solution to my situation? The imposition of limited activations is not going to work in scenarios where the end user has a habit of fiddling around with their hardware, resulting in the need for several rebuilds. With the availability of the revoke tool this scenarios is less important; although it is an imposition that is not required by any other piece of software that I own and have purchased via a legitimate channel. Could someone at 2K let me know if my assumptions are correct? Also, can some one at 2k inform me as to how many activations I have used?
It is this section of the revoke tool manual that is confusing me:
8.2 Installations on the same hardware configuration five times
Re-installing BioShock on a computer that had already had a successful activation on it, and where the
license file has not been deleted, for example by formatting the hard disc drive, and is not corrupt, will not
use up an activation. In this case, you will be able to uninstall / re-install BioShock an infinite number of
times without affecting your activation limit.
To play BioShock you will still require the original DVD in the drive of the machine that you are running the
game on.
It appears to suggest that reformatting my hard drive does not delete the license file? This indicates that BioShock circumvents my OS? Is this a correct interpretation of 8.2?
I'll ask again.
When is the screwurom removal tool coming?
-------------
Proud member of the Banned of Brothers.
Scorecard:
2K Games purchased: 1
People I've directly convinced not to buy Bioshock: 2
People I've assisted in their decision not to buy Bioshock: 2
Indirect assists: Unknown
It's here. Follow the links on the front page:
http://www.2kgames.com/cultofrapture/home.html
I got the same question as him. My pc is also rebuilt two times.
1. To meet the standard for BioShock
2. Defect hardware i had to replace with a other version.
So i also lost two activations. Lost for ever...
No, but you can increase activations if you ask really nicely and supply the serial code. Just give 2K/Sony DADC two days to process your request. Oh, I hope you still have a receipt, your proof of purchase.
Seriously:
Does anyone see this kind of DRM scheme working to the point that every piece of software should have it?
Err, I meant "Yes, but...", of course.
And with "this kind of DRM scheme", I meant a DRM scheme with limited activation credits which can be revoked using a separate tool when certain conditions are met.
I know 2K "reads" our posts
But still, I would like an answer to my questions. Link to the post, in this thread.
http://forums.2kgames.com/forums/sho...0&postcount=23
Thanks
To increase your activations (jeez this is ridiculous) you are required to send an email to SecuROM with photographs of the front and rear of your game manual, the game disk DVD, and a clear shot of your activation code. SecuROM still 'claims' the 'right' to refuse increasing your activations if it deems that the activation code has been abused, for example --and they really do use this as an example-- the activation code has been used on many different ISP addresses.
They clearly haven't yet come across that widely used technology called Dynamic addressing used by cable modems in particular and NAT enabled routers. Nor have they heard of the ability to manually request your modem to ditch it's IP periodically and request a new one. So anyone who has used this functionality will be declared a thief (of course they won't actually call you a thief to your face, they'll just imply it) and have their request refused.
Not to mention the fact that I brought this game from 2K NOT SecuROM!
I've been quiet about this up until this point, preferring instead to wait for 2K to offer a reasonable solution. One has not been forthcoming and it sadly appears as though 2K have stupidly handed over the 'rights' to their game to SecuROM -- a third party who I did not wish to do business with.
No, you're misinterpreting it. As long as you haven't deleted the license file (for example by reformatting your drive, no files can survive this process) you can install or uninstall the game as many times as you want on the same computer without using up another slot (and without having to use the revoke tool each time). As I understand it, instead of activating it again upon a new install, it will just look at the existing license file, determine that it's already been activated, and skip that step.
It seems like a good idea to revoke the activation if you're going to install any new hardware though.
Thanks, I got through it in the end; the ambiguous grammar didn't help though. I don't think any of this is a good idea. A pirate won't be subjected to any of this as they will have used the crack, 2K/SecuROM won't even know of their existence. It is only the honest user that is being forced to jump through hoops of fire. I can't say I'm at all happy about any of this; if I've learned anything from the experience it is this: don't buy any product with SecuROM installed on it. It's not worth the hassle, no matter how good the product is it cannot in any way justify this implementation of DRM. I will be asking 2K if any future product employs SecuROM and basing my purchase decision on 2K's response.
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