Caeili, I'm sorry things didn't go smoothly for you. You seem to have your mind made up that there is only one solution to you problem, that is, a link to the game. You don't appear to have tried the solution that development is providing to you. They are trying to help. The least you can do is allow them to do so without being belligerent. It's uncommon that customers get creators trying to help them enjoy their product.

Kryo, I also appreciate your efforts and I hope you understand that none of my anger or criticism is directed at you. Unless you are the moron that decided that this SDC garbage was a good idea and ready for release.

I have read a few times about updating my version of SDC...I just did a fresh Windows re-install a few days ago and then reinstalled GC2 from the media I bought at BestBuy. I downloaded the version of SDC that I was directed to download (and by directed I mean forced, at least if I wanted to get DA). If I got an old version this past weekend then shame (again) on Stardock.



Caeili hit the nail on the head. If you don't have the resources to devote to proper QA of this SDC mess then you shouldn't unleash it upon your paying customers. Seriously, this SDC thing is so bad it's almost funny. Almost because when you are banging your head against a wall trying to figure out what the heck is happening it kind of takes the fun out of it.

This SDC thing has been a chapter out of The Twilight Zone. I logged in again, and this time DA appeared. However, when I went to register the product I got an error saying 'the selected product failed to activate'. I clicked OK and then I got this nonsense in a text file;



I closed the text file, and then DA starts downloading. I can only imagine the look on my face, but I believe it would have conveyed a very, VERY big 'WTF?'

And now, for whatever reason, DA is running on my PC.

Stardock, this SDC thing, IT DOES NOT WORK. It's a mess, and I don't know what kind of freshman QA process was supposedly employed but you so need to revamp this whole process. You guys make great games. GAMES. STICK TO GAMES. This SDC thing, not so great. You make crappy SDC things.

JUST ONE FREAKING LINK, PLEASE.



Oh. My. God. This is SO true. Let me enlighten the brain behind SDC. I don't like giving away my main email addresses, it tends to lead to more spam than I want. When I register something I tend to use a 'throw-away' email address that could be spammed till the cows come home and I wouldn't care.

So after my recent re-install of Windows this past weekend, I took out my GC2 CDs and reinstalled GC2. I registered with my 'throw-away' email address because I didn't want to be spammed at my main address. Registering didn't seem like it would be such a big deal to use that address. Little did I know...

Then I decided to buy DA. Now I decided to go to the source, Stardock, and not give my money to a middle-man like BestBuy. I thought I would support the devs with as much money as I could put directly in their pockets, so I decided to buy online. Of course now I am using a credit card, and now I know I need a serial number or something, and I don't want that going to my 'throw-away' address. This time I used my 'business' address. Didn't seem like a big deal at the time, after all I had 2 seperate serial numbers for 2 different products, right? Again, little did I know what I was getting myself into.

I will not do this again. If you guys can't give me a simple link with which I can download my purchase then I am going to a middle-man from now on, and if I am FORCED to use something like SDC, then you lose my purchase. I have learned my lesson, hopefully you will learn yours and not force the consumer into a frustrating position where I regret ever doing business with you.

Galenbd, I have tried all the suggestions Kryo has given. When I try to update SDC I get a message saying my email address does not match their records. Well I have a "Stardock Central Validation" email dated 30 Dec 2006 still in my in box so I'm wondering what their records say. The belligerence you see is a product of me jumping through hoops for four hours and getting nowhere.

Wow, RandomJames! You trust them with your credit card information but not your email address. There really is no need use a tricky email account. The email address is to benefit you, not them. Anyone can misuse information, but my experience is that the Stardock guys have always been straight-up.

It sounds like you have two or more SDC accounts that you need to merge.

I feel like I need to stick up for Stardock. The folks are really helpful here, and more active in support and game enhancements than any gaming company I've ever done busines with. SDC is more than a bit clunky, and I agree that the instructions for downloading and installing DA are not very good, but the end result is that you are not reliant on a disk (lost, scratched, or just the hassle of inserting it), like almost every game out there. They will even resend you the serial number if you lose it. I'm willing to bet it will take less time and effort for you to get Stardock working than it did to compose your last post.

Stardock has been developing SDC for years and I seriously doubt they will give you a direct link.

Peace.

Caeli,

Did you try this?

Fire up SDC.
Go to the games tab.
In the menu, click on tools-register products.
Choose the product from the dialog box.
Copy and paste the DA serial number they sent you.
Enter the same email address as you entered when you purchased the game.

I actually got on error message here, but I was able to continue. I had two Stardock accounts and that threw SDC for a bit of a loop. I did contact Stardock and they promptly merged my accounts.

Click on the +sign for galciv2 click on the DA icon, and hopefully you will be able to click on the install button (where the purchase button is/was).

When I started the game I had to re-enter the serial number and email address.

Good luck.

A) My GC2 is not showing up as registered for my account (WHY?) I sent a support ticket. GC2:DA is nowhere to be found. Not even under my installed copy (from CD) of GC2!

If you haven't already then, contact [email protected].

It looks like you registered GC2 under another account with your yahoo email address on it. Support has gone ahead and merged that one into the account you bought DA under (the sbcglobal address you just posted with), so if you log into SDC with that one you should be good to go.

If DA does not appear *at all* when you click the [+] next to GC2 in SDC, then you have an old version of SDC. Download and install this one and it should fix that.

I have had the sbcglobal account for quite a while and should have registered both under the same. Anyway, it's showing up now thank you!

I don't know if it will help anyone or not, but when I tried to play Dark Avatar on second PC, I had to re-enter my CD Key into that second PC's copy of SDC. This contrasts with Valve's Steam program, where you can login to a copy of Steam on any computer anywhere, and have instant access (without re-entering a CD Key) to your registered games.

So remember to keep your CD Keys handy. If you don't have them around, you can have them sent to you by entering your email address in the box here:

https://www.stardock.com/support/

Or you can choose Tools - Lookup Serial Number in SDC.

-HM

Did you explicitly register it the first time? I've never had any issues like that myself--I just install SDC on the machine, log in, and download away.

Sure did. I preordered in July and received the key in November for the beta testing. Used it on my home PC with no problem.

So just yesterday I launched my copy of SDC on my work PC and noticed that although Dark Avatar was listed underneath the GalCiv2 "trunk", the button to the right said "Purchase" (or something like that) instead of "Install".

So then I went to the "Register Products" section of SDC, and noticed there was no serial number entered. I entered the number I got back in November, and then it was recognized.

Come to think of it, it did seem odd, because I sure don't remember having to do this on my work PC for my copies of GalCiv1, Altarian Proph, or GalCiv2. I assumed I just forgot that I re-entered the serials.

-HM

I did Kryo. And sorry about being so bitchy about it yesterday. I'm sure it will get resolved. When I got DL a couple months ago registering & patching it went so smooth that I expected getting DA would be the same.