Even though
November 16 has come and gone Valve's Half-Life 2 problems have not vanished, with many
owners claiming that they have still not managed to activate their copy of the game.
MegaGames has been flooded by email messages from users facing severe connection problems
when attempting to activate their Half-Life 2 copy using Valve's Steam
service.
Valve has issued a statement claiming that the developer is aware of the
problem and is trying to address it, We've received a number of reports from people
experiencing delays with Half-Life 2 authentication. We are investigating the issue and will
update everyone as soon as possible. We appreciate your patience and hope to have everyone
in the game very soon.
This is one problem that the prominent developer cannot blame VU
Games for, especially since it is reported that copies of Half-Life 2 downloaded over the
Steam service and therefore bought directly from Valve, seem to have been activated
immediately.
From the vast number of messages received through the MegaGames mail
servers the pattern emerging suggests that U.K. owners of Half-Life 2 are facing the most
problems. Some users report that the Steam service seems to be asking them for payment even
though they have purchased a retail copy of the game, other users received error messages
while installing the game while the majority report getting a variety of ...game CD Key not
valid messages.
This new development just adds insult to injury and it is beginning
to look like Valve is trying to test the lengths to which fans of the Half-Life series will
go to in order to get the sequel. It is unlikely however, that new gamers will choose to go
through such a painstaking and elaborate process just to try out Half-Life 2, especially
when a pirated copy of the game is already available on Internet websites and that copy
works.
