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A Message On Football Manager 2012 Activation


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Each year we give you an update on the status of copy protection and activation of Football Manager and the decisions taken as we know it’s a hot topic for many of you, although for many others it’s not really an issue at all.

As you may remember, last year we decided against any activation as we couldn't find a solution that we thought struck a balance on combatting piracy and not penalising the genuine consumer. We did make our position on anti-piracy pretty clear though, we see it as a big problem for our game and we said we'd continue to look for a solution that stopped, or made it very difficult to pirate the game and play it for free.

This year we have found what we believe is an acceptable solution. Any version of Football Manager 2012 bought on disc will have to be activated through the Steam network, so therefore purchasers will have to have an internet connection for initial activation. This is a one-time only activation which requires you to sign up for a Steam account (which is free) and to install the Steam client and once it has been done the game can be played offline by turning on Steam's Offline mode. With those two simple steps done there are no more hoops to jump through or steps to take.

We appreciate that the vast majority of people reading this post on the forums are genuine consumers of the game, and that having to activate is not as simple as putting the game in the drive and playing. However we hope that, as a fan of the game, you feel that having to do a one-time activation is worth it to try to prevent others playing the game for free and stealing what you purchase with no punishment, and with no contribution toward the future of Football Manager and it's development. Make no mistake, if a quarter of the people that usually pirate the game switch to purchasing Football Manager 2012, the sales of the game worldwide would more than double. This would lead to increased development budgets and more benefits for all of you who do buy the game.

We've taken this decision because we believe that the steps the consumer has to take are not excessive, and that as a one-time only measure with no tracking or reporting it is not too intrusive. Having worked with Steam for a few years now we also believe that their system is ever improving and gives Football Manager players a good service of free auto-updating, achievements and other great benefits without cost or hassle.

We hope you understand and support the decision. It's by no means taken lightly, although I hope for the vast majority of you it's nowhere near as big an issue as we treat it as being.

In summary:

• You need to connect to the internet to activate Football Manager 2012 on PC and Mac before you start playing it

• To activate you will need to sign up to, and install the Steam client

• Once you have activated Football Manager 2012 you can then play it in Steam's "offline mode" - meaning you do not have to be connected to the internet to play

• Saved games are stored locally on your machine, but you can play Football Manager on any machine by signing into Steam and selecting it from your purchased games

• Staying connected to Steam will mean Football Manager 2012 is automatically updated with any patches or data updates released

Football Manager 2012 Activation / Steam FAQ

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Bad move in my opinion. This restricts people playing in other countries who do not have Internet Connections (which inturn leads to them maybe pirating it themselves when they wasn't going to do that in the first place).

Also, If this is an anti-piracy measure - there really is no point. Hackers always win... unfortunately.

I would reconsider that move.

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Don't like the idea of it at all. Real consumer's should not be forced to have steam to play the game, this coming from someone who has lots of games on steam including FM. Don't like it at all and will almost definitely cause a stir.

Not everyone is lucky enough to have an internet connection.

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Just a quick question, for those who don't have interent, could they register the game say on their parents computer then play the game on their laptop.

The reason I ask many students, use university internet or library internet, so downloading steam may not be possible

Thank is advance,

The Welsh Lad

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Just a quick question, for those who don't have interent, could they regiter the game say on their parents computer then play the game on their laptop.

The reason I ask many students, use university internet or library internet, so downloading steam may not be possible

Thank is advance,

The Welsh Lad

You can use someone else's PC with internet connection, create your account and activate fm on that account then use your own PC to play the game. This isn't a problem because the fm12 activation code is fixed to YOUR account and not a certain PC.

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Can SI explain what the situation would be for FM gamers in the same household then?

Sounds to me like because of idiots stealing the game me and my brother have to buy the game twice despite living in the same household? Or is there an option for this problem? I don't see why we should have to buy the game twice, its extremely harsh. We don't buy two Fifa games for example. Last couple of years I have acitivated through Steam and he has used the disc so I'm guessing now he will need a Steam account and his own activation code which means buying two games? Not very fair is it?

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Just a quick question, for those who don't have interent, could they register the game say on their parents computer then play the game on their laptop.

The reason I ask many students, use university internet or library internet, so downloading steam may not be possible

Thank is advance,

The Welsh Lad

No, IIRC you'll will need to be able to login to Steam to play the game if it's been registered on a different machine, not sure if you can get around this by installing it on your laptop when you're back at your parents but it sounds plausable.

As for activating via Steam I am 100% against a game developer forcing me to install 3rd party software to play their game, this is unacceptabel & has just put me back to the position of not buying the latest release since 1992.

Can SI explain what the situation would be for FM gamers in the same household then?

Sounds to me like because of idiots stealing the game me and my brother have to buy the game twice despite living in the same household?

Techanically under the EULA on all previous versions this is what you should have done anyway.

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Nobody likes the necessity of measures like this but it's becoming industry standard it seems.

Like it or not you can't deny them the right to take anti piracy measures and I don't subscribe to the give up because you can't beat them view.

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Can SI explain what the situation would be for FM gamers in the same household then?

Sounds to me like because of idiots stealing the game me and my brother have to buy the game twice despite living in the same household? Or is there an option for this problem? I don't see why we should have to buy the game twice, its extremely harsh. We don't buy two Fifa games for example. Last couple of years I have acitivated through Steam and he has used the disc so I'm guessing now he will need a Steam account and his own activation code which means buying two games? Not very fair is it?

That's true. You won't be able to play on two computers at the same time as when you login to Steam from another computer it kicks the person off who was on the account first.

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I've never used Stream so this is a bit of a newbie question. Once activation happens, can I delete Stream off the computer or does it need to stay installed?

Steam will have to stay installed.

Edit:

bye

i've been using steam for 3 years and never had a problem, jesus some people are so paranoid

I don't think that's the problem though. People have problems in the past and once you have one problem with something, you're never likely to go back to it. It's a shame, but as Kriss said, it's probably the only way to beat it at the moment.

I use Steam and have never had a problem, yet. I will buy the game but if people start to get issues with registering it, then SI may lose customers.

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Can SI explain what the situation would be for FM gamers in the same household then?

Sounds to me like because of idiots stealing the game me and my brother have to buy the game twice despite living in the same household? Or is there an option for this problem? I don't see why we should have to buy the game twice, its extremely harsh. We don't buy two Fifa games for example. Last couple of years I have acitivated through Steam and he has used the disc so I'm guessing now he will need a Steam account and his own activation code which means buying two games? Not very fair is it?

Thats the downside of priacy prevention. Your only problem would be if you both wanted to play the game at the same time. Because like I was told above its not linked to a pc.

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I've never used Stream so this is a bit of a newbie question. Once activation happens, can I delete Stream off the computer or does it need to stay installed?

Unless something has changed it needs to remain installed.

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I've never used Stream so this is a bit of a newbie question. Once activation happens, can I delete Stream off the computer or does it need to stay installed?

Steam will need to stay installed on your computer. You will also need it installed for steam to update any patches that are released by SI anyway.

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Nobody likes the necessity of measures like this but it's becoming industry standard it seems.

Like it or not you can't deny them the right to take anti piracy measures and I don't subscribe to the give up because you can't beat them view.

This is not anti piracy measures at all though. Steam games can be cracked very easily (for example.. CSS and newer games such as Red Orchestra) - same as any other game.

I myself personally, have around 30 games or so on Steam, including FM2011, and am fine with the move. But there are consequences for the average consumer when taking this decision.

Edit: I would personally make the game a GFWL game. Let people have Xbox Live achievements - just this will get people to buy it. It will also open the game up to different markets. Yes, GFWL games can be played even without a cd key - but this is same with any other game.

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Thanks for the responses guys, still seems unfair to me. Not gonna be stupid and say 'I'm not buying the game now blah blah blah' but for someone like myself who has been playing the game for 10+ years and my brother for around 5+ years to have to suffer because of criminals is just ridiculous. I don't blame SI but I'm not happy about this, no issues with Steam either, I quite like using Steam for myself but now we need two accounts, two codes and two games in the same house? Madness but nevermind.

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This is not anti piracy measures at all though. Steam games can be cracked very easily (for example.. CSS and newer games such as Red Orchestra) - same as any other game.

I myself personally, have around 30 games or so on Steam, including FM2011, and am fine with the move. But there are consequences for the average consumer when taking this decision.

Edit: I would personally make the game a GFWL game. Let people have Xbox Live achievements - just this will get people to buy it. It will also open the game up to different markets. Yes, GFWL games can be played even without a cd key - but this is same with any other game.

We can assure you that this measure has been taken to combat piracy. Like other solutions nothing is 100% effective, but this is the reason for required activation this year.

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Thanks for the responses guys, still seems unfair to me. Not gonna be stupid and say 'I'm not buying the game now blah blah blah' but for someone like myself who has been playing the game for 10+ years and my brother for around 5+ years to have to suffer because of criminals is just ridiculous. I don't blame SI but I'm not happy about this, no issues with Steam either, I quite like using Steam for myself but now we need two accounts, two codes and two games in the same house? Madness but nevermind.

You've always needed two games. The license for a game only covers one person.

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• Once you have activated Football Manager 2012 you can then play it in Steam's "offline mode" - meaning you do not have to be connected to the internet to play

• Saved games are stored locally on your machine, but you can play Football Manager on any machine by signing into Steam and selecting it from your purchased game.

So everytime I want to play FM I have to log on, switch to offline mode. So installing it onto a loptop without internet connection is going to be a problem. Or does this only apply to FM that has been purchased and downloaded through Steam, and not on Disc.

EDIT: The reason why is that I can take my sae game anywhere, I have a pc at home with interent but my laptop doesn't

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So everytime I want to play FM I have to log on, switch to offline mode. So installing it onto a loptop without internet connection is going to be a problem. Or does this only apply to FM that has been purchased and downloaded through Steam, and not on Disc

This would apply to the disc aswell. As when you put the disc in, the steam installation will come up - you log in and then you enter your cd key. After that you would install it via disc and you have the option to download it.

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So everytime I want to play FM I have to log on, switch to offline mode. So installing it onto a loptop without internet connection is going to be a problem. Or does this only apply to FM that has been purchased and downloaded through Steam, and not on Disc

no you've got it wrong, you only need to activate it online once, then switch to offline mode in your settings, then you can play without a connection for months or forever until you want a patch

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I love how everyone bashes Steam right away because of experiences they haven't had with it. I've been using Steam since 2004 and own 258 games on it. It saved me around two grand in total expenses because of the outstanding sales they have. Steam is not a virus, it's not going to do anything to your computer. Stop being so paranoid and buy it! Steam is an amazing tool and you have no reason not to like it.

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I want a hard-copy of the game, ALWAYS, I don't use digital downloads I buy the disc...

and then I'm going to be FORCED to install a piece of software that is invasive, intrusive, using resources unnecessarily, that I'm never going to use for anything else, its effin scandalous! I'm proper not happy! :mad:

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Although I understand the reasons from a developer POV I personally think its a huge mistake from a consumer POV and will create a lot of unhappy customers.

Personally I have Steam installed with a few games played through it including FM10 & 11 but I was leaning towards not using Steam for FM12.

Twice this last year I have been left unable to play FM11 due to loss of internet connection - I usually play in "online" mode and although Steam has an "offline" mode the way it works seems to have changed. You used to be able just to select offline mode when an internet connection wasn't available but now you have to log in online to set the offline mode which is impossible when your connection is being worked on by BT leaving you unable to play any Steam registered games.

The only workaround would leave me having to put Steam in offline mode permanently just in case I don't have a connection when I get home on a night.

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So everytime I want to play FM I have to log on, switch to offline mode. So installing it onto a loptop without internet connection is going to be a problem. Or does this only apply to FM that has been purchased and downloaded through Steam, and not on Disc

No this isn't the case. You need to log on to activate. Then once you're activated you can change your Steam account setting to Offline Mode and the account will remember this setting and will allow you to play the game without connecting to the internet.

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Although I understand the reasons from a developer POV I personally think its a huge mistake from a consumer POV and will create a lot of unhappy customers.

Personally I have Steam installed with a few games played through it including FM10 & 11 but I was leaning towards not using Steam for FM12.

Twice this last year I have been left unable to play FM11 due to loss of internet connection - I usually play in "online" mode and although Steam has an "offline" mode the way it works seems to have changed. You used to be able just to select offline mode when an internet connection wasn't available but now you have to log in online to set the offline mode which is impossible when your connection is being worked on by BT leaving you unable to play any Steam registered games.

The only workaround would leave me having to put Steam in offline mode permanently just in case I don't have a connection when I get home on a night.

You don't need to be online to go into offline mode if you had your password saved before going offline.

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Hi, Yes Steam will need to remain installed. However this offers great benefits such as top quality download speeds, automatic updates & achievements to track you progress

Achievments do not enhance my gaming experience, I don't care to automatic downloads as I'm quite capable of doing this myself & using torrents has always given me good download speeds because I'm not a leech.

I'm sorry to say that unless I can be convinced that Steam has changed it will not be getting anywhere near my rig, I installed it when it was first used for FM activation & I removed it after 3 days because it was an intrusive, data mining annoyance that I had no trust or confidence in.

We can assure you that this measure has been taken to combat piracy. Like other solutions nothing is 100% effective, but this is the reason for required activation this year.

Obviously you cannot discuss numbers & I wouldn't expect you to do so but was there an identifiable reduction in retail volumes when you removed the need for Steam activation? I assume you've factored in the economic downturn & any changes in territories the game is sold in.

Basically I do not accept the arguement that is always made of 'we will sell more with this measure in place', I am however open to accept facts when they speak for themselves.

Edit: Time to research Steam & update my knowledge base.

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So everytime I want to play FM I have to log on, switch to offline mode. So installing it onto a loptop without internet connection is going to be a problem. Or does this only apply to FM that has been purchased and downloaded through Steam, and not on Disc.

EDIT: The reason why is that I can take my sae game anywhere, I have a pc at home with interent but my laptop doesn't

Half the time you won't even know Steam is there, really. I don't have a problem with Steam and it's good imo. I guess I'll do exactly the same as I did last year by installing it and then having to insert the activation code, like you did for FM10. My Steam account is always logged in so when I turn my laptop on and it's set up in automatically signs me in as I have the automatically sign me in thing ticked. If I don't have internet connection, it'll say Steam has failed to sign in or something. Retry or start in offline mode. If I know I don't have an internet connection then I'll click start in offline mode and I'm good to go.

So, if you're able to get an internet connection for the day the game comes out you could install it and you should be fine.

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I find the Steam thing a little tedious, though not massively life-altering, but I just don't agree with you that this will help to combat piracy. Your .exe will still be cracked, and then the pirates won't need to activate through steam anymore, only the paying customers. The lost revenue sucks, no doubt, but Steam is in no way a solution.

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Achievments do not enahnce my gaming experience, I don't care to automatic downloads as I'm quite capable of ding this myself & using torrents has always given me good download speeds because I'm not a leech.

I'm sorry to say that unless I can be convinced that Steam has changed it will not be getting anywhere near my rig, I installed it when it was first used for FM activation & I removed it after 3 days because it was an intrusive, data mining annoyance that I had no trust or confidence in.

Steam uses hardly any resources to run. And calling your computer a "rig" suggests that your computer can certainly run this game anyway without any difficulties..

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I look forward to seeing all those who said goodbye back here within a month of FMs release, Steam is perfect for me, always has been and always will be

The majority of people that are saying bye, is not ao much to with steam its do with that to play the game WE HAVE TO install steam and it can't be un-installed

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