BF2: License Question

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texuspete00

Supreme [H]ardness
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Sep 9, 2002
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Ok, so I have two computers capable of playing Battlefield2 no problem. I'm positive I'm allowed to have it on two comps. The EA downloader advertises the same. Well, if my cousin has his own account, can he log in and we can both play at the same time? Is the product key tied to the machines or our accounts?
 
The product is tied to the CD key. Two PCs, two copies of BF2. Sorry. :(

In order to play SF you need BF2. In order to install BF2 you need a CD key. In order to connect two PCs to the net and play BF2 you need a unique CD key. I don't think you'll be able to use the same CD key on both PCs.
 
Well, that sucks. There is no positive to that method. Neither in ease-of-use or copyright protection... when you break it down. So no one wins. Pretty dumb. I can't create another user without another key anyways. It would basically be two users who have registered there keys, one just trying to use my install. I know EA themselves advertise using EA downloader to install multiple copies. Say like myself, just can't use them at the same time. Now it makes no sense another registered user wouldn't be able to. We're logging in. It makes no sense. I know you could do this with steam. I bought the game, he bought the game. Log-in... fight... simple. I don't install two copies of steam, one registered to my key, another to his. Seems rather convuluted with no EA benefits.
 
Hey I misunderstood your original post. If your buddy has his own CD key then you're good to go! Just so long as both your PCs have different CD keys there shouldn't be a problem.
 
Yeah, i'm probably not being too clear. I would like to have my BF2 on 2 machines. I know I can do that, just not use them at the same time. Even per the agreements I can. I didn't know if my key would be tied to those installs indefinitely. I was hoping so long as my cousin launches the game with his log-in and heck even cd, we'd be alright. Seems to me to have my cake and eat it too I have to have two copies I'll barely use on my backup machine? See if they picked the worse path, and i'd have to install HIS copy on my machine, I will lose the ability to simply play on my backup machine ever.

I'll have to poke around some. Things like this are why games like UT2004 will actually let you go in and enter a new key in the options. Though this might leave some issues for them, not really the case when you have to be logged in to the game at all times anyways, like BF2. In EA downloader we even have to tie the login we are using right there for the expansions.
 
texuspete00 said:
Yeah, i'm probably not being too clear. I would like to have my BF2 on 2 machines. I know I can do that, just not use them at the same time. Even per the agreements I can. I didn't know if my key would be tied to those installs indefinitely. I was hoping so long as my cousin launches the game with his log-in and heck even cd, we'd be alright. Seems to me to have my cake and eat it too I have to have two copies I'll barely use on my backup machine? See if they picked the worse path, and i'd have to install HIS copy on my machine, I will lose the ability to simply play on my backup machine ever.

I'll have to poke around some. Things like this are why games like UT2004 will actually let you go in and enter a new key in the options. Though this might leave some issues for them, not really the case when you have to be logged in to the game at all times anyways, like BF2.
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You can have BF2 installed on two machines, but they cannot be logged in at the same time, no matter what via the internet. LAN based gaming should work fine, but forget playing on internet. Your cousin can not use his login becuase his login is tied to his CD key and vice versa and theres no way around it. Thats prevents people from giving an installed vesion of the game to a friend and then creating a different login to have a "free" copy of the game
 
Well, I guess with what you are saying, even if it's not two of us at the same time, my cousin can't even log-in with his credientials on my machine to work on his own stats. This is the most troublesome path they could have picked then. And the only one where I can't see some kind of solution. That's why I wasn't sure if I was misunderstood. There is still zero chance for anything free here. I don't remember the ability to create spin-off logins but I'm at work. Usually you can tell what a game will require just by the whole install and logging in process but it's been awhile and I'm tied up.

Anyone ever try to get two copies of BF2 on one machine, with 2 PAID FOR keys? Guess I could go double install.
 
texuspete00 said:
Anyone ever try to get two copies of BF2 on one machine, with 2 PAID FOR keys? Guess I could go double install.
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Dunno about that. You might run into problems with registry entries even if their installed on different folders/partitions
 
Oh well, guess it's retarded like I feared. This cd check stuff is kind of superflous with the logins. Just like steam they have you by the short and curlies already. They know I played for 20 minutes last night, they know I got my ass pwned in the heavy armor EF maps, they know I have a key, they know my cousin does, they know where I live, they just don't know what I ate for Dinner last night. I will tell them if it would help things. :(
 
texuspete00 said:
Oh well, guess it's retarded like I feared. This cd check stuff is kind of superflous with the logins. Just like steam they have you by the short and curlies already. They know I played for 20 minutes last night, they know I got my ass pwned in the heavy armor EF maps, they know I have a key, they know my cousin does, they know where I live, they just don't know what I ate for Dinner last night. I will tell them if it would help things. :(
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You ain't kiddin'. :( I also agree that companies demand too much info/verification for software. I mean... you buy it, it's yours. That's how it should be. It's always the few that screw it for the many.
 
They just want every copy that gets on the net to be unique, so they get all the money they can. I think pretty much every game out there with a CD-Key does the same thing, it verifies that your the only one using that CD-Key either when you connect to a paticular server, or via the Master Server (I know UT2004 checks when you query, odd thing is you can get pass the restriction by using NAT). Then there are games like Tribes 2, where you create an account using the CD-Key, and after that the only time you ever need to know your CD-Key might be account retrieval purpose.
 
Well, I'm not usually one to complain about copy protection. Just can't think of anything else that makes you "phone-home" like this and still has all the old broken copy protection systems too. Fairly certain UT allows you to change your key (even though they don't phone home). Tribes... well sounds like what i was hoping this game was like, tying the key to the login. The phone home technique works good as there is very little weaknesses exposed but unfortunately that matters not because this is an "in addition to" protection, rather than a move to a better system like others are using it.
 
texuspete00 said:
Well, I'm not usually one to complain about copy protection. Just can't think of anything else that makes you "phone-home" like this and still has all the old broken copy protection systems too. Fairly certain UT allows you to change your key (even though they don't phone home). Tribes... well sounds like what i was hoping this game was like.
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Umm, UT2004 DOES phone home dude, it uses the MD5 sum of your CD-Key every time you send a query to the MS to get a server list. Every time you connect to a server thats listed in the MS, they chit chat to determine if your CD-Key is in the Master ban list (for cheaters that Epic has decided to permantly blacklist). Like I said they only reason you can have 2 different machines using the same CD key for UT2004 is because it relates it to the IP, and as such NAT essentially nullifies the checking there. If it notices the CD-Key being used from multiple IP's, it will tell one of the the servers to disconnect the client using the duped CD Key.
As for changing the CD key, its as easy as editing a reg entry in windows, or a plain text file in Linux (IIRC id software uses plain text files in Windows and Linux)
 
I guess my memory really fails me. I thought I changed the key in the software but probably used a small DL'd ap to avoid my own registry digging. A little tossing your key around servers is not what I mean by phoning home though. This feels more like logging into steam only without a front end interface, and still every other check ever used on top. :(
 
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