Gargh! Invalid CD key

[Nibbler]

Ok i have recently reinstalled Q3 but whenever i connect to a multiplayer game it says invalid_cdkey. My Cd is typed completley correct and i have all the latest patches. I have tried the help system and done all the things they suggested but still no luck! Hopefully this has happened to someone else so I can fix it. Help!

Thx

-Nibbler

 

[Teaser]

Make sure you arent getting a 1 confused with a i or anything like that.
Did you buy the game or get a copy? If it was a copy then you cant play online at the same as the guy with the original copy. If you go to setup and go to "CD Key" option does it say it's valid? If that says it's valid, but will not let you play online, that tells me someone else using your cd key. I may be wrong.

:-/

 

[Nibbler]

CDKey is completly valid, and it's an original.

Still can't figure it out

 

[Teaser]

Go into quake3\baseq3 directory and delete the file called "q3key". Start up Q3 and then re-type in the cd-key. It will either work or it wont - but it wont break it.

 

[Nibbler]

Don't work

 

[old.shambler]

I've purchased both Quake3 and Team Arena and I've started getting this 'invalid cd-key' message too
I've not given anyone a copy of either so wassuup!!!

 

[raw]

well its probably one of three things;

either..

1) you typed your cd-key in wrong somewhere
2) the q3 auth servers are playing up
3) someone has a copy of q3 and used a keygen and has your key.

Chances are its either 2 or 3 if your sure you've put it in correctly.

 

[old.shambler]

Hi,

It shouldn't be 1 since it was working for a few weeks.

If it's 2 then OK I'll wait for them to sort it.

But if it's 3 what can I do about it?

It's not my fault that ID made the codes easy to crack and if it has been cracked I can see only 2 options open to ID

1) Allow people to return their original disks and get a replacement set with a new CD Key

2) Stop using the CD Key authorisation altogether because after a while their will be many people like me who have had their CD Keys stolen.

 

[raw]

if its 3 theres nothing you can do im afraid, maybe contact ID and hope for the best

 

[WPKenny]

I think copy protection is a load of bollox. If people want to pirate games, then NOTHING is going to stop them. If it's a chip, it can be cloned. If it's a CD-key it, can be hacked and randomly generated. If it's a CD, it can also be hacked and copied. There's nothing that can be done to ensure protection of things like this.
The only people that are affected by the copy protection are the general public who have all this hassle over CD-keys and farting about with CD's each time you want to play a game.
I know people, myself included who use hacked copies of games even when they've bought the originals simply because I don't want to fart about swapping CD's and the like.

This windows XP auth is another joke. It's only going to inconvenience the general public, not the hacker. Well, maybe the hacker...for all of a day!

Come on games companies!!! Wake up!!

The most sensible way of making copy protection is just to simply add a serial number that has to be typed in ONCE. This is enough to disuade the casual pirate. Anything more than that is overkill cos at the end of the day people WILL hack it.

 

[Mr_Horus]

Its all irrelevent now that id have turned authorisation off.
Problem solved tho a big _|_ to everyone who bought the game.