well, this is my story. I got halflife 2 and counterstrike source as a present from my cousin. It was a DVD. I installed it and everything went well, but then it said i had to connect to steam and register. I put in my serial number, and steam said it was invalid......WTF? My cousin bought this game unopened an the key doesn't even work...why? Is there a way to fix this. I don't mean to resort to piracy, but i have a legitimate copy of this game, and i have the license to play it, so can i contact steam again or do i have to use a crack? also, I will even post a video of my GENUINE DVD game for those of you who don't believe me.
The first thing I would do would be to contact steam. You said it is legit, they should make good on their problem. Be warned. I tried to contact steam regarding a HL2 Episode question. They never responded. Go figure. As it ended up - I did NOT buy any of the Episode issues.
I HATE THIS!!!! This...worthless crippled peice of DRM shit! I love this game, but because of Steam, I can't even fricken play it! They ripped off my cousin who spent $30 on this damn game. It's been almost 4 days since I sent Steam a message and those ["A" word meaning posteriers] won't even respond to me and I was asking nicely, too. F#$@ them and their DRM. Could someone give me a CD crack or something to play Half life without having to run steam? It's my purchased game and I have the right to at least play it for Christ's sake..... ok, I'm done. This has been one of the only times I have really been this pissed off at DRM and copyright. Those [holes where defecation comes out] aren't getting a cent from me when half life 3/whatever comes out.
I understand you are upset. Steam never answered my questions either. Try finding a telephone number thru directory assistance and call them directly. Probably like getting email replies from them. But, cool the language. Forum rules you know. Asking for a crack could be a problem. Most likely won't be answered. I would suggest searching on Yahoo or Google . . .
sorry if youve already tried this, but the same thing happened to me a year ago with a game i bought and i was all pissed until I tried many variations of the serial key ie: replacing 0's for o's and 1's and 7's cause most of the time those damn cd keys have immpossible fonts that make many numbers and letters look alike. The key was valid and worked in the end. Also I cant tell you where to get the non steam version (bootleg copy) but can tell you that its not hard to find and theres links on how to find said files right here on the board, just look at the software sections under p2p and follow the many useful guides on how to protect yourself from snooping isp's hope you get to play it, its a great game, but for sure would be better without effin steam.
sorry about the language, but I was pissed. No worries. I downloaded a patch that allows you to run the game without steam problem solved. Screw them and their DRM. hackers always win