Issue with elicensed software - Is this the new trend?

[Axxon]

I was just denied a relicense by elicense. They referred me to Greydog and qouted their policy on relicensing software.

Grey Dog Software's policy on reissuing a license is as follows:

1: If the item has never been relicensed, we will allow it once with a valid reason.

2: If the item has been relicensed in the past 3 months (but not often),
we will state that we cannot allow a relicense with 3 months and
the person is welcome to request it after that period.

3: If the item has been relicensed multiple times, we will not allow any future relicenses and
that person is required to purchase another copy to continue use.

Now, nevermind that I don't fall afoul of that list, I've never heard of such a policy. It seems like we can't recover the license more than once then we have to rebuy the game. At least, rule one and three clearly state this.

I thought that one of the appeals of online licensing was that we wouldn't have to worry about not being able to play the games we bought. I also didn't think you could have more than x active licenses so as long as no more than that number was out, there shouldn't be a problem.

I've never run into this with any other software I've purchased this way. I recently relicensed Hollywood Mogul 2 again and all I got was a cordial email with my information.

Is it becoming a new trend to try and drum up business on the back of already paid customers who run into computer difficulties? I'd hate to single out one company if it's becoming an industry standard to do this.

In any case, this is certainly going to impact the software I buy, whether it be isolated companies doing it or if it is the way of the future.

What really bugs me was that this pretty much flies in the face of what I've always believed about how this type of software purchase works and I've read several positive experiences about the process here and until now, my experiences have matched. If this is the start of a new trend I think the companies should rethink it because the one thing you don't want is your customers not having faith in their purchases.

[FBPro]

I've never seen this and have had to relicense probably 5-7 times, once I had to contact one of the game companies to get approval or something but it wasn't a big deal.

[Axxon]

Originally Posted by FBPro

I've never seen this and have had to relicense probably 5-7 times, once I had to contact one of the game companies to get approval or something but it wasn't a big deal.

I'm hoping this won't be a big deal but they're pretty much telling us that we get one relicense then we rebuy and I've never seen that either. That's what concerns me and when I buy software, I don't want to have to be concerned about issues like this.

[jbergey22]

Just send greydog(Arlie Rahn or Scott Vibert) a PM. I am certain they will not make an issue with it. I am sure they have gotten taken advantage of previously so they did this to protect themselves. I have requested my license being reset a couple times and have never had a problem with them.

[johnnyshaka]

I've made a couple of requests over the years to re-license without incident but I will be making a request shortly to have BBCF re-licensed as my laptop is likely toasted. We'll see what they say.

[AJR]

Axxon, you simply have to get in touch with one of the Grey Dog staff to get your license dealt with. Although what you have quoted is our official letter-of-the-law policy, it is there purely because a handful of people were abusing the system; in reality, no genuine customer would ever be required to purchase another license.

I'm not really sure why Elicense would reply to you like that though, they should simply have sent your request to us at GDS to deal with, not given you a flat rejection. I'll have a word and see why the handled it like that, because that's pretty crappy, and given that we're very proud of our customer service at GDS I'm not pleased with it.

The people to contact regarding your license are Scott Vibert ([email protected]) or Arlie Rahn ([email protected]).

Adam Ryland
GDS Developer

[Alan T]

I bought BBCF years ago, played it a bit, then stopped playing it for a few years until last summer. Of course I no longer had it installed anywhere, and without any fuss either elicense or greydog restored my license.

I hadn't played ootp6 for years and years, and recently had to re-install it when I rejoined the RWBL.. Elicense helped me restore my license on it too without any fuss.

Maybe I got lucky, but I didn't have any complaints either time.

[Fidatelo]

I just had my OOTP license reissued yesterday, they responded within 24 hours (although this is the first time I've done it).

Here's what I don't get: why can't I do it myself? In iTunes I can reclaim my licenses every time I max them out just by clicking a button. Everything that was once licensed becomes unlicensed. Why can't this be the case with eLicense? Why do I have to wait until they respond?

[Alan T]

Originally Posted by Fidatelo

I just had my OOTP license reissued yesterday, they responded within 24 hours (although this is the first time I've done it).

Here's what I don't get: why can't I do it myself? In iTunes I can reclaim my licenses every time I max them out just by clicking a button. Everything that was once licensed becomes unlicensed. Why can't this be the case with eLicense? Why do I have to wait until they respond?

Without knowing the technology, I'm guessing its because itunes needs an online connection to function which can verify whether it is currently licensed or not, where elicense allows you to license a product which from then on can be off-line and no real way to verify.

I personally have issues with the ootp game itself, but I don't really have any issue at all with elicense. If I haven't played a game for two years, it won't kill me to wait another 24 hours

[Arles]

I want to make a couple clarifications. Initially, this was done to try and engage some of the people having legitimate issues with using the Elicense console. And, with the help of Elicense, we ended up addressing numerous instances and allowing people that used to need to contact us for every relicense to now use the control panel. We also found some instances of a small percentage of people abusing it. So, we came up with a policy to always allow Elicense to relicense products in the above situation. Then, if people have made multiple requests, to get Scott or I involved. Most of the time, we quickly contact them and reset them with no issue. Sometimes, we help them with a technical issue so they can have more freedom in the future. And, in certain small % instances, we encounter people trying to abuse the relicensing process.

In the end, we are working with elicense to try and make a process that both protects us from abuse, but just as importantly keeps us involved in ensuring customers get a quick turnaround. Now, it's sometimes more time-consuming on our end, but I think it sets up a good process overall. I have talked with them about simply directing people to Scott or myself if they are unsure - instead of quoting a set of circumstances that the person may not be a part of (and make the customer feel unduly picked-upon).

Finally, I think Elicense has done an outstanding job with handling these requests and our "interactive policy" is not the same as everyone else that uses them. That's why we instruct Elicense to have customers directly contact Scott or myself if an issue arises that they are not 100% on. It allows us to ensure the issue gets resolved as well as a way for Elicense to always provide a quick response.

[Axxon]

Ok, I'm gonna check my email so I can't say I have a resolution but I'm sure I do.

I didn't understand how anyone can abuse the system and I guess I still don't nor do I really want to since I have no intention of taking up the habit.

The idea of helping catch legitimate issues I can understand but I'd never seen it before and the email was a bit offputting.

Never had a problem with the system before and that's really why I was asking this question. If it's not a new trend, as it appears not to be, then I have no issue with it at all. I prefer download and play myself.

Ok, just checked email and yep, it's all been taken care of. Great service, weird email. Not sure you should have them send that with their email. Probably not their intention to be crappy but it came off that way.

Oh, and thanks to you too Adam for posting. I must say that I've played your sims for waay too many of my hours and I wouldn't want it any other way.

[Fidatelo]

Originally Posted by Alan T

Without knowing the technology, I'm guessing its because itunes needs an online connection to function which can verify whether it is currently licensed or not, where elicense allows you to license a product which from then on can be off-line and no real way to verify.

I personally have issues with the ootp game itself, but I don't really have any issue at all with elicense. If I haven't played a game for two years, it won't kill me to wait another 24 hours

But here's the thing: I'm not asking for unrestricted ability to self re-issue. For example in iTunes you can only reset all of your licenses once a year. Why not let me do something like that on the eLicense web site? It didn't kill me to wait, but why should I have to?

[Axxon]

Originally Posted by Alan T

Without knowing the technology, I'm guessing its because itunes needs an online connection to function which can verify whether it is currently licensed or not, where elicense allows you to license a product which from then on can be off-line and no real way to verify.

I personally have issues with the ootp game itself, but I don't really have any issue at all with elicense. If I haven't played a game for two years, it won't kill me to wait another 24 hours

On this, Rhapsody uses a different technology and it works really well. They don't license the songs per se, they authorize the device and once a month you have to connect the device to the web and authenticate. Takes less than a minute. Seamless and really nice.

Can't see that working for software though unless it did the same thing but on a case by case basis. Still, I'd like that as an option but it has it's drawbacks too.