CD Keys - Legal or not?

[ajt09]

Got a question, and it's one that cannot be answered simply, even though tried numerous sites via google.

Basically, the little 'un wants WoW Cataclysm for his birthday which is just a week away. Went on the official site, £29.99 upgrade cost. Then I heard about online retailers selling CD activation keys "legit", for prices like £17.99 etc. Initially, I was tempted because of the "legit" wording. However, after verifying wether or not it is legal, I got a lot of mixed information as to wether or not it is legal or not.

Basically, I just want to know if it is in fact legal to buy CD activation keys online (and safe), as to be honest, when it comes to some copyright laws etc, I'm not the most clued in. I basically don't want to pay for something, that is breaking the law and potentially risky. If I have to, I'll just pay the £29 (even though it does seem pretty steep). And if it is legal, can anyone point me in the direction of a secure site?


(As I said I'm not very clued in on these subjects hence the asking so no insults-I'm not going to do something that breaks the law)

 

[Joel`]

What retailer is selling them? If it's a trusted one, it'll be legit. And I thought it was £30 to get the client and to upgrade from Blizzard?

 

[W4FC B3N]

Break the bank for the tot, it's his birthday after all! Just to be on the safe side.

 

[ajt09]

What retailer is selling them? If it's a trusted one, it'll be legit. And I thought it was £30 to get the client and to upgrade from Blizzard?

There's various retailers-all with pretty mixed opinions from people. We downloaded the Cata downloaded as he already had the previous expansions, it's just the content thats needing activating via key. As far as I know

 

[Dunc]

Unsure. I imagine if it's just the code they are selling, then it should be fine, I mean, I guess it would be. Although, if they give you a code, and it doesn't work, then you are paying.. what.. £17.99 + £29.99 (after buying the real one) so just shy of £38.

Could just go safe? Or ask Lee, he seems to know alot about WoW.

 

[ajt09]

Break the bank for the tot, it's his birthday after all! Just to be on the safe side.

Was just thinking that if we could save a bit of cash on the game, could get him an Xbox 360 game aswell

---------- Post added at 07:33 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:31 PM ----------

Unsure. I imagine if it's just the code they are selling, then it should be fine, I mean, I guess it would be. Although, if they give you a code, and it doesn't work, then you are paying.. what.. £17.99 + £29.99 (after buying the real one) so just shy of £38.

Could just go safe? Or ask Lee, he seems to know alot about WoW.

Pretty much what other people were saying, then there were others saying they were being scammed, but the number of people with positive reviews pretty much outweighed them. And the sites I googled had the OK status on my Norton 360 security thingy

 

[Sean]

The copy of Football Manager 2012 we offer is just a code that can be activated in Steam so it's a similar idea.

Just do some checking up on the website that you are looking into and make sure it has plenty of positive reviews.

 

[ajt09]

The copy of Football Manager 2012 we offer is just a code that can be activated in Steam so it's a similar idea.

Just do some checking up on the website that you are looking into and make sure it has plenty of positive reviews.

That's actually a good point about FM 2012-should've thought about that :$.

Going to pretty much check every site as much as possibly can. Still have til next week so that gives me a bit of time to verify things

 

[hammer104]

I've bought a cd key for a game before.. it was basically a digital download version whereas i reckon if you buy the 29.99 version you'll get a disc with the game on it? not 100% certain though

 

[tubby]

I've bought a cd key for a game before.. it was basically a digital download version whereas i reckon if you buy the 29.99 version you'll get a disc with the game on it? not 100% certain though

Exactly. It costs less because you dont have a physical copy of the disc, just a digital download. Games through steam would be fine (though I dont think they sell CD keys anymore, CS:S keys used to be £5 but no longer exist on ebay).

Since WoW is online anyway it's hard to illegally crack anyway (unless you play on private servers or something, not sure I dont play it myself) so £15+ for a 'legit' CD key is probably what it says. Contacting Blizzard would probably be the best option if youre still unsure, or look for testimonials/ comments section on the site selling the CD keys

 

[ajt09]

I've bought a cd key for a game before.. it was basically a digital download version whereas i reckon if you buy the 29.99 version you'll get a disc with the game on it? not 100% certain though

No discs no-£30 for the Cata download. Basically the necessary client is already installed with the previous expansions. At the moment the previous expansion (Wrath of the Lich King) is being played as there's no access to the new content yet as it hasn't been activated as yet.

 

[Chokopop]

About the positive reviews.

- Some websites (Yes, I've learned it the hard way), are actually paying people to write positive reviews of their site, to lure people into buying their stuff, which in reality is a scam. I've been tricked like that, luckily I could recall my money due to a "defect" item, program, etc. from the payment method they were using (Something similar as paypal, can't remember what it's called).

The point being, how can it be legit if the sell it for more the £10 cheaper? How do they get the activation keys so cheap? Surely, they can't get them anywhere else but in the stores, unless they have some kind of secret supplier.

I could be mistaking, but I'll never do it, just to be on the safe side.

 

[Mads2506]

Was just thinking that if we could save a bit of cash on the game, could get him an Xbox 360 game aswell

---------- Post added at 07:33 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:31 PM ----------



Pretty much what other people were saying, then there were others saying they were being scammed, but the number of people with positive reviews pretty much outweighed them. And the sites I googled had the OK status on my Norton 360 security thingy

An unreliable site does not necessarily have viruses in them, even thepiratebay.org has OK status and that's certainly not legal, lol.

 

[ajt09]

About the positive reviews.

- Some websites (Yes, I've learned it the hard way), are actually paying people to write positive reviews of their site, to lure people into buying their stuff, which in reality is a scam. I've been tricked like that, luckily I could recall my money due to a "defect" item, program, etc. from the payment method they were using (Something similar as paypal, can't remember what it's called).

The point being, how can it be legit if the sell it for more the £10 cheaper? How do they get the activation keys so cheap? Surely, they can't get them anywhere else but in the stores, unless they have some kind of secret supplier.

I could be mistaking, but I'll never do it, just to be on the safe side.

Pretty much why I was asking. Some people were saying it could be that the goods were too damaged to be sold, so rather than just throw them away and lose profit, they just sell the activation codes so they at least get something. Seems plausible I guess.

---------- Post added at 08:34 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:32 PM ----------

An unreliable site does not necessarily have viruses in them, even thepiratebay.org has OK status and that's certainly not legal, lol.

Think the main issue for me isn't the viruses, just the security of the payments. Last thing I want is paying for something, and basically not getting it, or finding out it's against the policies of Blizzard.

 

[Chokopop]

Pretty much why I was asking. Some people were saying it could be that the goods were too damaged to be sold, so rather than just throw them away and lose profit, they just sell the activation codes so they at least get something. Seems plausible I guess.

---------- Post added at 08:34 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:32 PM ----------



Think the main issue for me isn't the viruses, just the security of the payments. Last thing I want is paying for something, and basically not getting it, or finding out it's against the policies of Blizzard.

Of course, but I'd pay the extra money just to be on the safe side... But that's just me.

Not sure if it is against Blizz's policies or rules. If it is, you should be able to find it somewhere on their website.

 

[ajt09]

Of course, but I'd pay the extra money just to be on the safe side... But that's just me.

Not sure if it is against Blizz's policies or rules. If it is, you should be able to find it somewhere on their website.

Yeah I'm gonna check it out on the forums

 

[Chokopop]

Yeah I'm gonna check it out on the forums

Of course, there is another way. Send a Email to Blizzard support. I sent a Mail to them, due to me losing my Diablo 2 CD Key. They are very helpful, very polite and they answer very fast.

 

[Mads2506]

Of course, there is another way. Send a Email to Blizzard support. I sent a Mail to them, due to me losing my Diablo 2 CD Key. They are very helpful, very polite and they answer very fast.

Seems Blizzard are the best with their support. You have to create a new account or something to contact Steam support and EA support don't help with anything.

 

[ajt09]

Seems Blizzard are the best with their support. You have to create a new account or something to contact Steam support and EA support don't help with anything.

I've heard a lot of bad things about Steam support. Admittedly never had to as never had any problems

 

[Mads2506]

I've heard a lot of bad things about Steam support. Admittedly never had to as never had any problems

Yeah, you have to create a "support ticket" or something stupid like that.