Sims 3 $18.99 Spore $13.99 Champions online $22.99 plus others

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I'm seriously skeptical of this place. Part of it is just the price. I mean Sims 3 is a new, popular, AAA title. They can afford to sell it for less than $20? I'm not seeing that. It's $50 on Steam and Impulse.

I'd contact the publisher, check to see if it is legit first. Otherwise maybe you find your key has been deactivated later, because it was keygen'd/stolen.
 
My honest guess is they have someone on the inside at EA, giving them legit keys (perhaps for like $5 each). It's still unethical in that case, but still, the question is, are they legit keys.
 
Well the problem is if they are a "legit keys from the inside" thing, that just means that they could get banned at a later date. Also a possibility they are from other countries so maybe the English version doesn't work.

I can find -NO- indications that they are legit which in my case means I'm not using them. too many scams online, I assume scam until proven otherwise.

I mean services like Impulse, Steam, Direct2Drive, those are advertised on the publishers' sites. They'll straight out say "Go here to buy your shit online." This? Nothing, no information anywhere.

Highly suspicious to me. I'll be avoiding it I think.
 
theyre not even listed on resellerratings, which isnt proof but rather a HUGE red flag.
 
this is prob the same guys selling keys rediculously cheap that got shut down earlier this year. Basically they sell the same games in different countries for different prices. What cost $50 here goes for $15 in Kroatia (sp?) Same legit keys, just designed to be used in another targeted area. Last I remember the place got nailed and shut down but the keys stayed active since they were in fact legit keys.
 
There are a bunch of sites that sell keys. I think they buy them in places like India (Grand Theft Auto IV launched there for $7 or something) for really cheap then resell them.

These sites aren't super reliable, though. For Steam keys, I e-mailed Valve and they told me that if they find that a key was obtained through this way that it would be disabled.
 
Einhanderkiller said:
There are a bunch of sites that sell keys. I think they buy them in places like India (Grand Theft Auto IV launched there for $7 or something) for really cheap then resell them.

These sites aren't super reliable, though. For Steam keys, I e-mailed Valve and they told me that if they find that a key was obtained through this way that it would be disabled.
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Snitches ends up in ditches.


Yea, the name of the website "onlinekeystore" is already a red flag.
 
A quote from some other forum

"Originally Posted by SgtBaker
Oh and the onlinekeystore.com domain is registered to:

ONLINEKEYSTORE.COM WHOIS
Registrant:
1337-elite
34 newbridge hill
bath, banes BA1 3PU
GB

..yeah, really serious - would you give your creditcard number to this 1337-elite guy?

EDIT:
Furthermore, the domain Technical/Admin contact lists this e-mail as their contact address: [email protected].

Googling that e-mail (http://www.google.com/search?q=allyo...en-US:official) is kinda interesting, like for example post #44 in this thread:
http://www.dubayou.com/mob-boss-prev...e-modwars-bot/"
 
Dunno if you guys remember, but earlier in the year a guy was selling EA titles on ebay at $10 a pop. I bit on Mirror's Edge and Burnout. He got shut down by ebay for some reason or other, but my keys still work.
 
i'm still tempted.. red alert 3 for 12??

And their FAQ's are funny..

"Why arent proxy server allowed to use the shop system?
We are using SSL to protect our shop and SSL dont accept proxy server. It\'s coz of alot of hackers and scammers are using this proxy servers. Like every body dont want to get scammed, we also dont want to loose money."
 
Omegas said:
this is prob the same guys selling keys rediculously cheap that got shut down earlier this year. Basically they sell the same games in different countries for different prices. What cost $50 here goes for $15 in Kroatia (sp?) Same legit keys, just designed to be used in another targeted area. Last I remember the place got nailed and shut down but the keys stayed active since they were in fact legit keys.
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That's exactly what is going on here.


Also, just to let you know, spelling is correct, except its a C instead of a K (Croatia). ;) :D
 
This does work. Bought Champions Online. I live in the US and it works fine.
 
Zarkon said:
My honest guess is they have someone on the inside at EA, giving them legit keys (perhaps for like $5 each). It's still unethical in that case, but still, the question is, are they legit keys.
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Didnt this happen before with the Diablo 2 deals from last year??
 
bought 2 red alert keys, worked. they respond pretty fast too.

EDIT: Keys dont work for me to go online play :( "Serial key is invalid"
 
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me0w0w said:
EDIT: Keys dont work for me to go online play :( "Serial key is invalid"
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Not all that surprising. With the Internet in particular the "If it sound too good to be true it probably is," maxim holds very true. There are just lots of scammers out there, unfortunately, and they like to operate on the net since you can't punch them in the mouth when they take your money.
 
Champions Online just openned up and its a game that plans to be in it for the long haul being an MMO. So less than half price right now is definitely too good to be true.

However, a lot of games are becoming available cheap after their initial period. Maybe its the economy or the discovery that digital distribution is cheap so they are going for volume pricing, idk. But prices do seem to crash hard when they finally do crash.
 
Games certainly become cheaper with time, and often digital is cheaper. However, you see that price at places on Impulse, Steam, and D2D. So when you don't see the price there, you have to wonder.

Like I said, if you see a new online games service, especially when it isn't associated with an established company, call the publisher before you buy a game to make sure it is legit. Otherwise, you maybe get ripped off as is happening here.

Note that another warning sign here is that this service is from some random guy, who goes out of his way to hide his name. All the legit services are from established companies. Impulse is from Stardock, a private company in Michigan owned by Brad Wardell. Steam is from Valve, a private company in Washington owned by Gabe Newell and Mike Harrington. Direct2Drive is from IGN, a subsidiary of News Corporation, a public company headed by Rupert Murdoch.

In each case I can tell you who runs the service, and who is ultimately accountable for the company that does so. All this takes all of 5 minutes to find out. Onlinekeystore? To the extent they say anything at all it is that they are "RK MEDIA GROUP PTE. LTD." That would be ac ompany to which no info is available about, other than on their page.
 
I'm not sweating it at all. Reading their forums people have had issues and gotten them resolved. Worse case scenario, I have PayPal and Mastercard behind me. The keys might be grey-market, but I don't particularly care.
 
matt fury said:
I'm not sweating it at all. Reading their forums people have had issues and gotten them resolved. Worse case scenario, I have PayPal and Mastercard behind me. The keys might be grey-market, but I don't particularly care.
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Word. Screw the people who think we should pay higher prices for living in the US "just because."
 
My keys activated and downloaded through EA easily, I'm going to email them to see about my "serial invalid issue" when trying to play online. Seems like EA had this kind of issue at launch.
 
Got my 1st key issue settled. Bought a 2nd one and same thing. I'm sure it'll get fixed as well, but it would've been nice if it worked off the bat.
 
damn, I wouldn't mind owning spore.

So this place is legit (aka they're actually giving working keys)? Do they accept paypal? I don't feel comfortable giving them my CC number
 
If PC games were legitimately this cheap, it would definitely give them an edge over consoles. I know I'd start buying more on the PC and less on my consoles! Thats more coin to spend on upgrades!
 
sad thing is, these keys are bought for about $5 a pop in india and resold in markets that theyre not supposed to be. i too thought it was cool getting GTA4 for $20 on ebay right at launch, but its halfway piracy and halfway stealing... who knows though, maybe this will just force them to sell games for the same low-average cost all around the globe... as they should!
 
If it is true that they are keys from India or what have you, I don't know how you could say it was halfway-piracy or halfway-stealing. Frankly, that's just preposterous. in that case, it would be a legitimately purchased product that's just being used in a way that maybe the mfg didn't intend. Guess what? Sucks for them. Let me make an analogy. You like bread. Bread is sold in a neighboring state for 80% less than what it costs by you. So some guy starts buying lots of 80% off bread and selling it where you live for 40% off. Still halfway-piracy or halfway-stealing? Didn't think so.
 
krupted said:
sad thing is, these keys are bought for about $5 a pop in india and resold in markets that theyre not supposed to be. i too thought it was cool getting GTA4 for $20 on ebay right at launch, but its halfway piracy and halfway stealing... who knows though, maybe this will just force them to sell games for the same low-average cost all around the globe... as they should!
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matt fury said:
If it is true that they are keys from India or what have you, I don't know how you could say it was halfway-piracy or halfway-stealing. Frankly, that's just preposterous. in that case, it would be a legitimately purchased product that's just being used in a way that maybe the mfg didn't intend. Guess what? Sucks for them. Let me make an analogy. You like bread. Bread is sold in a neighboring state for 80% less than what it costs by you. So some guy starts buying lots of 80% off bread and selling it where you live for 40% off. Still halfway-piracy or halfway-stealing? Didn't think so.
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I don't know how many of you may be familiar with a discount outlet chain called Ocean State Job Lot. I think they are purely New England based.

Anyway, several years ago, they got their hands on Solomon skis. They bought up overstock from a Solomon authorized, Japanese wholesaler. They then sold them in their USA stores, for about 1/4 of the market price. The only difference between the Japanese skis and the American skis, was the color schemes.

Solomon took Ocean State Job Lot to court for selling a product that was intended for another demographic. They battled all the way up to Superior Court, and in each court, favor was found on the part of Ocean State. The court's ruling was that the skis were obtained thorough a legitimate purchase, and that the purchase was completely legal. They also ruled that once the product was released to market, regardless of the target region, that it was subject to any and all marketing transactions.

Ironically, Solomon retaliated by ordering all of their authorized RETAILERS to REFUSE to put bindings on any of the Japanese skis. :rolleyes:

Anyway, I don't see how software keys could be any different... provided that they truly ARE Indian or Croatian, or whatever, LEGITIMATE keys.

Now if these keys could be verified as legit, from whatever origin, I'd be interested in getting my wife and daughter a SECOND Sims3 key... so they can stop sharing the one game!!
 
matt fury said:
If it is true that they are keys from India or what have you, I don't know how you could say it was halfway-piracy or halfway-stealing. Frankly, that's just preposterous. in that case, it would be a legitimately purchased product that's just being used in a way that maybe the mfg didn't intend. Guess what? Sucks for them. Let me make an analogy. You like bread. Bread is sold in a neighboring state for 80% less than what it costs by you. So some guy starts buying lots of 80% off bread and selling it where you live for 40% off. Still halfway-piracy or halfway-stealing? Didn't think so.
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Do you really think they're going to let something like this catch on?

When we get BS DRM that requires authentification of my region and all the headache that will bring, I'll remember to send you a thank you note.

:)
 
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well, decided to give it a try. Figured if I got ripped off, it's only $15.00. They DO accept paypal.

Got the key sent to me a few mins after the order, downloaded EA d/l manager and it accepted the key just fine :) thanks for the heads up OP, bookmarked that site for future use. :)
 
I purchased a Champions Online key and it's invalid.

Sent them an e-mail and I'll let you know how it goes.
 
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