I agree, Did not like the activation process either.
And when I had already entered all my codes into stardock central I would have hoped activate.exe (or whatever it was called) would utilize that information so I would not have to retype it into a skinned application that did not look like it was part of stardock central (since it was not, why not?).

Copy protection sucks, yes, but piracy is a lot worse. If it weren't for the scum-sucking, yogurt-eating, low-life pirates, and you know who you are, don't you? we wouldn't be in this mess. How hard can it be to go through life and just not steal luxury items?

Copy protection sucks

The game isn't even copy-protected. It's only to get free updates for which you pay no money that Stardock work on for nothing that you're asked to spend 2 damb minutes registering.

I never use torrents, tried them years ago and they are full of viruses and spyware usually. I have already returned galciv2 like i said I was going to. the invasiuve part comes from the request for info that I have already given to the software, I dont want to have to re-iterate things like cd keys or serials, I just want the patchs and such. "treated like thieves" refers to the verification process, if I could do it offline I wouldnt be so peeved. If there was a multiplayer aspect then yes, it would be a reasonable request to provide the key so no one would be able play pirated versions. I just dislike the process is all, my opinion, my money, my solution is not to play the game. Steam does a similar thing right? And I have no problem doing that, since they have they multiplayer facet to their games. Fine for you to go along with this scheme, but not for me. It smells of MS and the crap they pull with pulling info out of users. nuff said, dont hate, its just my opinion is all. I dont pirate so dont imply that I do or would, I just dont like this delivery system for content for a game I have already payed for. Enjoy I guess, but this stinks like a big brother type of tactic. I am a private, tax paying citizen and I am speaking mainly to the makers of the game, with the hopes that maybe they could come up with a better system someday is all.

Once you've registered the game, you not only get free updates but you can re-download the entire game even years from now. 

In fact, once you've done it, you don't even have to remember the serial #. Your Stardock.net account (the same one you posted here) will have it tied to your account. So even if you lose the CD AND lose the serial # afterwards, you can still redownload the entire game no matter where you live or where you bought the game.

It seems like a pretty good trade for having to type in a couple dozen characters one time.

Then again, you don't need to download the updates. The awards you see on the page were based on what's in the box and what's in the box doesn't even require you to type in a single thing or have the CD in the drive.

Marcathonas seems like a contentious little snot btw

Aaand you were doing so well. But no, you failed. (For the record, I'm contentious towards idiots. You sir are one of them)

Just my opinion.

I think his problem was actually giving his info to the stardock account as well as the CD-Key. I don't know. Personally, you can put almost anything into the info for Stardocks account and they'll never really know. But I guess some people get a little paranoid about their personal information. In a day and age where your own government attempts to spy on its citizens in the name of finding people who might do harm to you or it, I don't blame him. But then, this does seem a little extreme as a reason to not even try.

Meh. Everyone has a beef with something. His might seem minor to everyone here, but its his opinion. Let him move on. Though, I'd be interested to hear what *HE* thinks should have been done as a copy protection for this game.

Sorry I also meant to add that yes I would prefer having a legit copy in the dvd drive and using that to verify that I AM NOT A THIEF

Some people will find any reason to complain...

First, to enter your CD serial isn't as bad as CD check copy protection or anything similaar. And you only have to type it whenever you update the game (latest patches). Update that, in theory, you should be only doing once in a while. Don't compare me to have to copy&paste (i have mine in a notepad file) the CD serial once (unless reinstall or update) than to have to put the CD in the drive whenever you want to play. I never use "patched" exes for my games but that doesn't mean that i don't love how comfortable is not to have cd check in GalCivII or Gods, which i bought from TotalGaming.Net.

Second, CD checks means that game developers need to check that you have a valid copy... isn't that to treat the legit user like a thief? As far as i know, Oblivion has cd check. Yet, you only feel a thief with GalCivII's update system. Although i can undestand that you don't like to write the (quite long) cd serial for the updates, i find amusing that you find no problem with the cd checks systems.

Third, the fact that once you register your legally purchased game you can download it whenever you want in the future from Stardock and that if even you lose your cd serial you can recover it just sending your mail adress to Stardock... well, who cares about that fact?  Really, who cares that if you scracth your cd copy you can download for free an updated copy from Stardock Central?  And we are talking about a game that on release (from what i read) was more stable than CivIV (totally unplayable until the first patch) or Oblivion (appart from the lies on the box about the FX series being compatible...), just to mention two of many buggy releases. And lets forget that the new patches don't just fix bugs. No! They also add new content! That's crazy! I'm not talking about HeroesV patch adding Highscore screen, but all the things that the patches add (form user request) appart from fixing bugs. That extra work should be ignored.  

In any case, for your style i would think that you are just a little troll... but of course, i'm a little fanboy so maybe i could be biased in my perception. That you dislike the updating process and therefore not play (and return) the game? That's your decission, nothing to say there. But to say that the system if worse than cd check, that treats you like a thief.... sorry, you are wrong there.

From an egocentrical point of view, i only care that i like the system (it would be better if i wouldn't need to copy&paste the serial, without cd check and nothing more... but i wouldn't be lving in the real world then) and love the game. So i'm having lot of fun, preordered Dark Avatar and, for the record, had little fun whenever i had to look for word 9-line 3-page 34 of the manual in my old MSDos games.

Let's try not to turn this into a multiplayer debate. On a completly unrelated topic, when I got my last job they wanted me to tell them my Social Security number before they would pay me. It's so unfair because my last job was at Wal-Mart and they didn't wan't my SS#. I'm tired of this company treating me like an illegal alien. I think I'll quit my new job even though the work is easier and they pay more because I don't want to tell them a 14 digit number.

BTW, if typing in a string of numbers is a problem, the GC2 serial number can be copied and pasted into the game's activation dialog. Even so, I think you only need to do it once per game installation. So, the complaint about entering a serial number is a somewhat invalid one. As far as personal information for the online account, I didn't give them much when I registered, at least nothing to be concerned about.