activate Stardock Product

Maybe you have the Collectors Edition - in which case you need another serial number emailed to you.
Go here:
https://www.stardock.com/support.asp

No, I have the regular edition that I bought from an EB retail store. Before the update I could play and I wasn't prompted to activate it

I too have had the boxed retail version (non collectors) and have had no problems playing til I downloaded the latest patch. Now it wants me to activate Stardock product. What is going on?

After doing some testing, it is definitely the new patch causing this. Reinstalling the software and only patching up to the d1 patch and everything works fine. Intall the x patch and it wants to do a stardock activation even though its a retail version.

Open game. Click update SN. Enter SN. Click OK, See if that works. Other than that...

Go to SDC. Tools, register products. Click games. Find GC II from the dropdown. Select. Enter SN. Click ok.

If one of those dosen't work I dunno then.

I still cannot play the updated game. Is there nothing I can do?

Just type in your serial # that's on the back of the CD.

Updates require a serial # to be entered. The serial # is on the back of your CD. 

Once you have put that in, you won't even need a CD.  You'll have access to the full game on-line even years from now.

Thanks for the quick reply.

I've done so repeatedly. The serial number is clearly labelled on the jewel case and before this update I was playing. Also, before the update that Product Activation box did not appear.

Yup, me too.  Activation required after patch. I'm fed up at this point.  Any takers for a new box version? Mail me if interested.

Apparently you did not read any of the messages in this topic. The problem is not getting the patches with our serial numbers, but after installing the latest patch the game now will not load...it pops up an activation window that will not accept our serial numbers. This is a huge problem and I have not seen one post that actuall addresses this even though there are multiple threads with people having this problem.

Just type in your serial # that's on the back of the CD. Updates require a serial # to be entered. The serial # is on the back of your CD. Once you have put that in, you won't even need a CD. You'll have access to the full game on-line even years from now.

FrogBoy.. You are really confusing me here.  What do you mean by on-line?  I want to play the game from CD years from now.  On another computer.  FROM CD.  NOT on-line.

What are you taklking about?  Activation, serial numbers, CD on-line.

PLEASE CLARIFY.  What is the security and activation policies???????

 

Once you have installed from the CD, you do not need either the CD or to be connected to the internet to play. The updates downloaded from Stardock Central require your serial number to get the update, and after it installs it, it performs an Activation check, like Windows XP does after you install it.  If something goes wrong, as it appears that it has, it will continue to prompt you for your serial number.  You may need to try deleting your sig.bin file and then try again. Once you have registered your serial number with us, you don't ever have to worry about having the CD or serial number again, because we can send the serial to you again if you lose it.

So you release a buggy program that requires an update to work properly and then put the "product activation" in that update?

I like a lot of things about Stardock and your products, but if this is how you're going to implement "copy protection" this is the last game I'll buy. I feel very strongly, rightly or wrongly, that I should be able to install the game, and play it, long after you've gone under. This isn't the case here, is it?

I just purchased Gal Civ II today from an indenpendant retailer. I'm in Australia and the game has just been released here. When I attempted to download the patch it asked for my serial number and told me that it is invalid. I have already emailed support and am waiting for it to be rectified. Very frustrating to purchase a game and to be told it's an invalid serial which I have retyped several times. I dont really want to start any games until it is properly patched

Well, maybe in Australia there is the same screw up on serial Id than for the european release

This is a real kick in the teeth. It has been frustrating enough to have to wait for so long for the game to become available here, Australia is always pretty much last to get anything in stock, and then after rushing out and buying the game I now have to wait to activate the product, who knows how long it will take to get assistance from tech support. I received an automated email which had a procedure for manually registering a product which would be useful except that the procedure doesn't work for Galactic Civilizations 2! I'm sorry but I would much rather have a company force me to put the cd in the drive and actually have a serial ID registration system that works, I personally find that much less of an inconvenience than having to wait around before being able to properly enjoy the game. I have never had this problem before. I'm starting to lean towards the side of Starforce now, I purchased a game which had that protection system AND a serial number registration and it was a painless installation.

I am from Melbourne, Australia.

I bought the game from Metro PC,
Downloaded the patch was asked for a serial number, keyed this in and no problems at all. For me it was a painless installation.
If you want starforce installed on your PC good luck you will have problems with other applications and a nightmare.

I have never come across such a great company, I bought a pirated copy of galciv sometime ago not realising it was pirated and sent it to Stardock, well not only were they very helpfull but also sent me a free copy of galciv. Here I am a happy customer.

Kudos to Stardock

So you release a buggy program that requires an update to work properly and then put the "product activation" in that update?

1.0 ran stable on my pc (and most people's PCs from what i understand) with no problems.

I'm having issues getting the updates for GC2.

I bought the Limited Edition in it's nice tin box, installed it & it works fine. After working out that in Stardock Central I needed to select GC2 (instead of the default "Games Subscription"), after putting in my serial number, it tells me that my Account information has expired, would I like to renew? I click yes & it takes me here: https://www.stardock.com/order.asp

What should I be doing?
I already have Stardock Central installed & I have an account (I checked this by going to DL Stardock Central again & then logging in with my email address & password, it tells me "You have successfully created and validated your Stardock.net account and are ready to download Stardock Central."), so what else do I need to do?

Any help would be appreciated.

Edit: Do I have to validate my stardock account? & if so, how?

Edit #2: Ok, I've ben given my second serial number & everything's updating now...