Not sure how to fix this (bug or otherwise)

[Eldanesh]

I never saw the website, I got it off ebay thinking it was legal, anyway, I'll see what I can do.

[Annette]

I've disabled a couple of links in this thread which lead to a site selling illegal versions of the game. We cannot and will not offer technical support of anything other than legitimate versions of the game. If you purchased Dominions 3 from someone other than a reputable, authorized reseller or directly from our site, thinking what you bought was a legal copy of the game, we recommend you contact the seller and request a refund. You should find pricing fairly comparable among legitimate resellers. So if you find the game in "new" condition for one dollar, you can be sure it's a pirated game and that we won't be able to help you make it function properly.

[Gandalf Parker]

Buying a used copy off of Ebay can be a problem also. You have no idea if the person deleted their key, or lent it to friends.

[Annette]

I should also note that if your game has been translated into something other than English and/or it was delivered without a 300 page printed manual, it is not a legal copy of the game. If anyone needs help determining if a seller is legit or if the copy you have in your possession is authorized, feel free to bring your questions to our online customer support center. There's a link on the left sidebar of this page.

[Edi]

It should be noted that if it was bought from the Neogames site, it is automatically a pirate copy. A Russian friend of mine checked the place out at my request and the conclusion was that they are flat out lying about being an official distributor.

[Ewierl]

Do also note that there are people among us (ie, myself) who bought their copy straight from Shrapnel yet still have this problem. There's a lot of jumping to conclusions, "If you have this problem you must have a pirated version, therefore..." that always crops up in this discussion.

[Gandalf Parker]

Well in this case the site pretty well settled things.

But you are correct. On the other hand, even with legal copies its often been a good suggestion to delete the key and re-input it from the manual.

[Edi]

Ewierl said:
Do also note that there are people among us (ie, myself) who bought their copy straight from Shrapnel yet still have this problem. There's a lot of jumping to conclusions, "If you have this problem you must have a pirated version, therefore..." that always crops up in this discussion.

As Gandalf said, this case was pretty straightforward. We had his own words and the site in question and we had that checked out just to be certain.

On a more general note to everyone:

I have noticed that there have been instances of people jumping to conclusions, which they should not do. Everyone should be given the benefit of the doubt and assumed to be innocent until proven guilty. That said, healthy suspicions are not wrong. Just don't accuse anyone unless you have actual evidence of piracy. If in doubt, contact a moderator first and let them sort it out.

[Annette]

Ewierl said:
Do also note that there are people among us (ie, myself) who bought their copy straight from Shrapnel yet still have this problem. There's a lot of jumping to conclusions, "If you have this problem you must have a pirated version, therefore..." that always crops up in this discussion.

Have you entered a customer support request for technical support?

[Archonsod]

Gandalf Parker said:
even with legal copies its often been a good suggestion to delete the key and re-input it from the manual.

To me that sounds like something is altering the key file either during or after it's creation. Wonder if over-aggressive anti virus or similar could be to blame...