Left 4 Dead 2 - Resale Question

[tubeway]

Hey guys, I picked up a sealed copy of Left 4 Dead 2 for PC from a local thrift store. It looks like the seal may have been tampered with, though. I wanted to resell it, and I'm not sure what the implications of that may be. What's the best route to go? Should I open it up and try to verify whether its serial has been used? I don't play current PC titles, so I don't know what the risks here are in trying to resell it. Thanks.

[Kitsune Sniper]

Once the serial key is used, it cannot be used again. Ever. It's automatically tied to the user's Steam account, which is required (even if you don't have one, you have to create one when installing the game.) So if you sell it, and it's been used, you're going to have to issue a refund.

I'll give you $5 for it, though. If the key works. ;p

[tubeway]

Thanks for the information, but I think I'll pass on selling it for five bucks since I paid ten.

I'm just going to try installing it on my own computer. If the serial works, then great, I'll just play it.

[garagesaleking!!]

If the original installer uninstalls it then a new person can use it right? Is this just with games that are associated with steam? so they are eliminating the resale of modern pc games?

[Flashback2012]

If the original installer uninstalls it then a new person can use it right? Is this just with games that are associated with steam? so they are eliminating the resale of modern pc games?

Doesn't matter if the original user uninstalls the program or not, once they register they key, that's it. As far as them trying to eliminate the resale of modern PC games, keys have been around for forever. Steam was just a twinkle in Gabe's eye when they introduced CD-Keys. It seems in the last decade they've ramped up the need to register the keys online though.

Steam it seems is more of a blessing than a curse as companies are releasing their back library of titles on there. It's MUCH easier getting the download for Loom off of there than it is to hunt down a copy in the wild and hoping it'll work correctly on my setup. That's not to say you can't find PC games in the wild, it's just they're not as common as their console cousins. There's been a decent amount of great finds in the Dec/Jan finds in the What's It Worth forum lately.

[ScourDX]

Well if the install works, good for you. If not, you can always crack them.

[Kitsune Sniper]

Doesn't matter if the original user uninstalls the program or not, once they register they key, that's it. As far as them trying to eliminate the resale of modern PC games, keys have been around for forever. Steam was just a twinkle in Gabe's eye when they introduced CD-Keys. It seems in the last decade they've ramped up the need to register the keys online though.

Steam it seems is more of a blessing than a curse as companies are releasing their back library of titles on there. It's MUCH easier getting the download for Loom off of there than it is to hunt down a copy in the wild and hoping it'll work correctly on my setup. That's not to say you can't find PC games in the wild, it's just they're not as common as their console cousins. There's been a decent amount of great finds in the Dec/Jan finds in the What's It Worth forum lately.

Unfortunately a lot of these companies release buggy ports and never fix them. See the Oddworld set, it took me a FULL WINDOWS REINSTALL to finally be able to play the games. And nobody in the company ever bothered to make a patch.

GOG.com is where all the good classic stuff is. Cheaper than Steam, no DRM, lots of bonuses, and you can download the games as many times as you want.

[Flashback2012]

Unfortunately a lot of these companies release buggy ports and never fix them. See the Oddworld set, it took me a FULL WINDOWS REINSTALL to finally be able to play the games. And nobody in the company ever bothered to make a patch.

GOG.com is where all the good classic stuff is. Cheaper than Steam, no DRM, lots of bonuses, and you can download the games as many times as you want.

I'll have to check GOG.com out. Thanks for the info.