Can I install Sins on two PCs?

Yes, you can install it on your laptop and desktop PC at the same time. The license agreement/EULA allows this.

-HM

You can install it on any computer, but the updates and the ability to play online is tied to your CD key (user name and password), which is one account.

Does that mean its legal for 6 people to play Sins in a LAN party with only 1 copy? If so, I think its great. Most of the time people will do this anyway, and I know a lot of people go out and buy the game later, since they want to play more online. This is especially true of less heard of games.

I believe you can play two people on a local LAN with one purchase. I recall reading that in a different post.

Also, there is no DRM on the disc. A giant thank you to the developers for making this move and for letting me feel less like a thief. I know of a couple guys that bought the game just to support the DRM free disc so that other developers/publishers can get the hint.

Great work guys.

Nothing will physically prevent you from putting your serial number on any PC you want. After all, there is no DRM of any kind on the game. But the EULA really only covers one PC and a spare of some sort (in most cases, a laptop). From Eula.txt:

"YOU MAY:
1. Install and use one copy of the SOFTWARE on a single computer.
2. Install a second copy of the SOFTWARE on a second computer only if you are the main user of this computer (home computer or laptop for example).
3. Install the SOFTWARE on another computer only if you change your main workstation. In such a case you must uninstall the software from the old computer."

Thus, they allow you to be able to play on LAN between two machines.

-HM

Thanks for the replies.

I just wanted to make sure that after I installed it on the laptop I didn't get my serial number invalidated or banned from online play (not that I'll ever be good enough to play online).

Note that technically they are allowing you to install it on two computers because YOU use two computers, not so your friend can play with you at the same time.

That being said, I think getting your friend to sit down and try the game with you to see if they like it is exactly the kind of sales-producing sharing that DRM prevents and the music/software industries don't want to admit helps their sales more than harms them.

The hardcore pirates that will not pay for your game no matter what are not stopped by DRM anyway. There's nothing out there (short of persistent server-based games) that doesn't get cracked within hours anyway.

The devs have no trouble with you installing it to as many computers are you own and use. (Trying to define that properly -- ie no loopholes -- in a legal document would be... difficult, so thats probably why they didn't bother). In an LAN game you require a unique serial for every 2 players -- which is to say, 2 players per CD key. Online its one to one however.

It's kind of too bad there isn't an option to install it on multiple computers for local LAN play only, even if you don't own the other PC. I'd think for LAN party games this would really make Sins popular and increase sales, but SD would need to figure out a way to prohibit single and on-line play via IC while still allowing the LAN games. In other games that allow this option, usually it prohibits playing multiplayer outside of a LAN and also the single player mode campaign mode, which seems like a reasonable compromise.

It's kind of too bad there isn't an option to install it on multiple computers for local LAN play only, even if you don't own the other PC. I'd think for LAN party games this would really make Sins popular and increase sales, but SD would need to figure out a way to prohibit single and on-line play via IC while still allowing the LAN games. In other games that allow this option, usually it prohibits playing multiplayer outside of a LAN and also the single player mode campaign mode, which seems like a reasonable compromise.

Sorry for the double-post. I got another forum message error and it re-posted. Has anyone else been seeing errors? It doesn't happen consistently, but often enough.

Just for the sake of argument, I'd be curious to know if anyone has gone through the effort of testing the game on LAN and seeing exactly how many serial numbers it needs. My guess is that the programmers set it up so you can either have the same serial number on as many PCs as you want, or you can actually have NO serial numbers on any of the PCs. But somehow I doubt that the game checks to see if there are two and no more, and my guess is it won't care if you have a serial number or not.

-HM

That'd be good to know.