If AoW doesn't tickle your fancy I'll hand over Steam key to [url=http://store.steampowered.com/app/10170 ]Wolfenstein (2009) [/url]

Drawing will end when I get Alan Wake reinstalled and running.

Which at this rate could be hours... could be days. Life's a gamble.

I should've probably given this a shot before reinstalling. However, when I tried to run in offline mode it still wouldn't work. Doesn't make sense to me. It also kicked up some weird azzed message about not being in synch with the cloud like it was on another computer or some shit. I just clicked ok whatever. Start the damned game. Same error popped up. The key I have has only been used by me hopefully. I bought it from GMG. Probably the last time. Should've just bought at steam or GG for 6 USD more. But, now we get to have a fun giveaway with the money I saved. :D

Dont panic with the key, when you entered it in Steam if it had been used already it would have told you that and not gone any further. Its now in your games library and is safe.

One thing I would recommend, especially if you do decide you want to use Steam a bit more is activate Steam Guard, it kind of works like the authenticator that you can get for battle net accounts. If someone else tries to access your Steam account you get an email with verification code.

This code gets used if you say activate Steam on another of your machines of if you buy a new machine you can de authorise your old machine etc.

Literally when you click Steam then settings its on the first tab at the top. Make sure to activate it for the extra security.

That message really looks like it can't contact it's servers. Offline won't work as the game has never been activated. Looks like the problem is on their end. Have you tried changing the server? Try something like Russia, it is around the world, but they are past midnight and should be less demanded.

And GMG is known for Steam key shennanigans, I never buy there, so I can't really say more.

Just wanted to post to enter for the Wolfenstein giveaway ;)

But I've had that message pop up for me a few times in the past. Almost always it's happened during a major sale or free weekend. After either a few tries or a couple hours of waiting, though, it's always worked for me. Verifying the integrity tends to fix some weird issues with games, as well. (Sorry to hear it didn't fix your issue >.<)

I get that message a lot with games like Skyrim and Dawn of War 2 etc.
The usual remedy for me has been to try again and again every ten minutes until it suddenly works.

For the record, Steam really hates me. I get that thing really often. For example, every time someone is visiting me and wants me to show a game to them. The other message I get often is "Steam servers are too busy to handle your request.". A few times the games have gone kam-blooey and I've needed to "verify integrity" or whatever it's called, but the verify integrity always hangs at the end and I've got to close it. Sometimes it starts redownloading bits of the game after it, sometimes it does nothing.

It probably has nothing to do with you having bought the game from elsewhere.

Don't blame GMG. It's not their fault. I got my key from there and the game plays without a problem. Steam took the key from you and allowed you to install the game. This means the key is legit and now the problem lies solely with Steam. Maybe the Steam activation servers are acting weird where you are. Maybe try the Steam forums and see if anyone has any suggestions for you there?

Thanks for the giveaway! I prefer Wolfenstein.

This is already enabled. And here's what happened earlier. I wanted to check something out on Steam. Well, I had the client open but minimized. I wanted to log into the site via the web browser as I was sitting near half across the room so I could read wtf I was looking for. So, I log in via web browser. Whoah, it kicks out an email straight to my inbox wanting me to verify that it was actually me logging in. Like I was logging in from another damn machine or something. Made no sense to me. Never used it before, I'm sure I'll get used to it after some time.

Right about GMG. Was just trying to save a few bucks. As I said, it came up fine earlier this morning, but I only let it run for like a minute or and turned it off. Maybe it didn't have time to activate. I'll try switching servers if it keeps kicking up shit after the re-install.


Right. It's probably nothing to do with the key. Just the initial stages of paranoria after going through all of this for one game. I did however research GMG a little bit about this process before I bought my key. And yes, they have had issues in the past. None that I came across that outright said "the bastards sold me bad keys" or anything like that. Mostly folks having issues activating them cause of the amount of time between purchase and steam getting to actually process the keys.

I've seen these messages several times, but only ever on the storefront page.
My usual reaction is "Well, if you don't want my money...."
Bummer to get it after you've paid :(

Well, they can take my money now and shove it right up their asses (I'm certainly not going to do it for them) for all I've gotten for it so far. Butt, yes you're right it is a bummer. Makes the bum hurt. Makes you butthurt.

Just like real life it's best to stay away whenever there are crowds of people.

I've always had issues when buying a game on release on steam.

Wait 1 to 2 weeks after release or really wait until there is a sale and then you should be good to go.

No sense wasting your time since you'll never get it back.

Its just teething troubles mate. Just a shame that you have bought a game that you have wanted for a while now due to it being held back due to a console. The servers are getting hammered due to MW3 multiplayer being free this weekend. Its not so much the multiplayer servers its Steams download servers that are getting hit with the thousands of download requests they will be receiving for MW3.

In all fairness Steam is usually pretty damned good service, its virtually essential now for PC gamers.By early hours of the morning on Saturday it will be working absolutely fine again.

I think what is happening is the game is trying to activate for the first time and due to the downloads of MW3 its making it difficult.

You can disable Steam Cloud if you want. You right click the game on the left and select properties. In there you have an option to disable Steam Cloud Sync. Some games though the saves are on the Cloud like AvP 2010 so if you disable the Cloud it can cause you to lose your savegame.

So I would say, disable Steam Cloud on Alan Wake and exit out of Steam, then restart Steam and re enable Steam Cloud. Should force it to resync for you.

Meh, it's alright. Turned it into a giveaway. Nice av btw.
Well, teething troubles and newness to the service. I'm sure once the newness has worn off I've grown accustomed it'll be fine. But yes, there was quite the build up of anticipation for the game. An almost sexual excitement(jk)(maybe). So, yes to have it kick up that little error message the very moment I had sat down and prepared myself to play... it's nearly enough to make you spring from your seat and out the nearest window.

I know the feeling

I pre purchased RAGE and on the day of release the servers were getting hammered that much that it took ages for the game to unlock. I couldnt get into the game itself for a few hours after the unlock was complete also. Kept getting a message saying that the servers were to busy. Same happened with Deus Ex Human Revolution.

Thankfully Alan Wake I managed to get straight into it and have been enjoying it so far.