I just bought fallout second hand of ebay and i got told that the cd key can only be used once, Is this true? And if it is, Is there anything i can do.

Im not sure, but buying second hand you don′t pay the developers so therefor they can′t give you a new game. But you should contact them and check, it′s worth a shot..

:/

There's a reason almost nowhere sells PC games second hand- because these days, very few can be resold.

can someone just give me a proper answer

I hate this. I bought Battlefield BC2 on Amazon, and found that the previous owner had redeemed the VIP Code. Instant 800MSP outlay required.

OP - if you bought the game second-hand, and the code doesn't work, the previous owner will have redeemed it. My advice in the future is to check with sellers that the code is still available, and go elsewhere if it's not. It's why I don't buy any of these DLC-heavy games second-hand anymore.

Sorry for the bad news.

New Vegas is a Steamworks game, once it's key has been registered to a Steam account it cannot be registered to another. So if the game has already been registered you cannot register it for yourself anymore, if it has not been you can register it to yours, but the key will be useless afterwards. There is no way to "unregister" games on Steam.

Welcome to the wonderful world of PC DRM :hehe:

This is why Steam is pathetic IMO. Valve could allow for Steam accounts to transfer access rights from one account to another, but refuse to. This is the gist of the argument that many make when they explain that you don't actually buy any games from Steam, you lease permanent access.

Yep. The old west days of buyin yer games on a CD or DVD and it's yours forever to sell or give away or copy 100 times and sell for $5 each to everyone at your middle school... are long gone. The punks and warez types ruined it for everyone... so here we are.

Hardly. The choice of media is unrelated ~and an entirely moot point.
Its just a majority of paranoid developers with visions of grandeur about their newest product (or cash cow ~depending on the company) that insist that their product be wrapped in a safety blanket.

Not everyone does it that way, and I generally support those who choose not to over those that do.

How does what you've said apply to Steams' refusal to allow a secure transfer of digital rights (from account to account within their system)?

Because the agreement you agree to when you buy their games says you can't. :shrug:

So don't buy Steam games, miss out on many of the really good games, and rail against the machine. But it's here to stay, I don't see it going away anytime soon, it's only been getting stronger and more popular at a rapid rate. I don't resell PC games, never have, and don't consider it any kind of a show-stopper if gaming companies make it so you can't. Sorry for those who want to, but if they're depending on reselling PC games for their primary income... well, there are a lot better and more efficient ways to make some coin. PC games are now one-sale entertainment deals, not resale investment properties. Times change. How you buy games changed. I actually prefer it the way it is now, myself. Since running a used-game resale operation isn't anything I care about, I find the extra services and features and convenience (and really great deals on really great games!) of the whole Steam operation to be a definite bonus. To each their own preferences.

PS: sorry if this gives all the rabid DRM/Steam haters an infarction, but you're a dwindling minority... time to adapt or die. ^_^

I don't buy their games ~One time, I was forced to use them for this single player game that had no Earthly use for an active internet connection save their Steam DRM ~it had a great heritage, and I thought I must get it (FO:New Vegas). Another two times I "bought" two games that I thought that I would not be able to find anywhere else ~and had immediate buyer's regret when I did find one of them for sale in a retail store, with the DVD and manuals in the box.

Given the choice I'd not hand them a cent.

:Sigh:
This is the same post again, that a lot like to put out in defense of this onerous business practice. Its the new and ain't it great.

Its funny, the military has a crisis of the moment, where they are finding out that the 3D plans for some of their attack subs are interpreted differently by the later versions of the software used to make them ~and its deadly dangerous to trust the new version, and the new methods.

I'll tell you this... in two years I've bought 60 games from GOG, and maybe 7 from other vendors, and I actually have retail versions of several games still wrapped in the box and never installed due to the crap they wrapped them in.

As gamers, games are like food; but when the troff stinks, I tend to look elsewhere to survive, not adapt to the stench of the 'food' additives.

*edited

Pretty soon consoles will have DRM, since publishers have discovered how large the secondhand gaming market is. It will also drive down the price of games. I think it is a great thing since I never buy used games or try to resell mine. For the people who shell out $50-60 with the intent to resell the game after use you will have to learn to bargain hunt.

EDIT: I wonder what would happen if auto-dealerships programmed DRM into vehicles? Would it force them to make vehicles that are not built like [censored] and fall apart after 5 years?

I don't care about selling used games (I never sell my games), I care about being able to install and run them in a few years. DRM can make this a terrible hassle; especially with a game whose company either vanished or no longer supports.

(I also care about being able to play them without the need for an active internet connection ~or worse... one that has to connect to a non-existent company! :shocking: )

Well, I honestly hope folks who prefer not to use Steam (or similar services) continue to have other choices for how to purchase games. But I gotta say, it ain't lookin good for ya....

Steams' no problem as an option, so long as its not the only option. I actually would not mind a gifted Steam copy in the retail box (or even just an offer for a discounted one).

I would have preferred for New Vegas to ship with Steam on the DVD as an optional installer to enable Steam related features in the game (if one wanted them).

---

Something to know of, and contemplate... http://www.1up.com/news/framerate-issues-prompt-witcher-2-drm-removal


I would raise my esteem by a mile if New Vegas received a similar patch.

In that case there is usually an official or unofficial way to get around the DRM. I am sad that DRM requires internet access... but they could have toll-free number to call for activating the game (still have a problem if no company buys the rights to the program if the developer/publisher go out of business).

I have suggested that many times. Valve could have used a system like Microsoft did with XP phone activation; but they could also have a dedicated modem link for activation only.