Age of Empire II licensing

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I bought a laptop on ebay that came with Age of Empire II supposedly legal.
I wanted to upgrade it but cannot locate a product id or serial number and in
the Age of Empire II folder, I found crack.zip.

Directory of C:\Program Files\Age Of Empires II

02/28/2006 10:14 PM <DIR> .
02/28/2006 10:14 PM <DIR> ..
09/01/2000 01:16 AM 2,643,424 age2upa.exe
08/08/2000 03:13 AM 2,695,213 age2_x1.exe
12/31/2005 05:04 PM <DIR> AI
12/31/2005 05:02 PM <DIR> Avi
12/31/2005 05:04 PM <DIR> Campaign
09/01/2000 01:47 AM 1,173,558 crack.zip
12/31/2005 05:02 PM <DIR> Data
12/31/2005 05:04 PM <DIR> DOCS

He sent me the following explanation:

From: John A. Castro [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Wednesday, February 15, 2006 7:27 PM
To: (e-mail address removed)
Subject: Re: Fwd: Macromedia Customer Service Request [8500854]

The Age of Empires 2 has an encrypted license that is universal and does not
require any kind of transfer. It is not a crack or pirated game, it is the
kind of license that is uniquely distributed to "audience samples" for free.
You see, whenever a company as rich as Microsoft is about to risk a lot of
money by distributing a game, they want to make sure it's a good bet. So,
they distribute games with Universal licenses to individuals, schools,
companies, corporations... and sometimes even government offices for
universal use. The licenses are permitted to be re-distributed to create
"hype" about the game, while regular consumers purchase the product at the
stores. This is about the only relationship Microsoft has with serious
gamers and hackers, because believe it or not, gamers and hackers are the
ones that make games popular. Having them think highly of your products,
despite not actually purchasing them, will generate revenue. This universal
license was given to me directly from Microsoft Headquarters. It is now
yours.


So is the game legal or what? My guess is probably not. Thanks.
 
Hi Ray Hayes,

I've never heard of a Microsoft policy to distribute free universal
game licences to gamers. Gamers are their market base afterall.

I think I can validate your suspicion about that yahoo email, but
if you still have any doubts, you could call Microsoft support. :-)

--
Cheers, *Windows_XP_MVP_Shell/User*
Jimmy S. http://mvp.support.microsoft.com

Visit my MSN Zone.com and Gaming Help Site: http://mvps.org/nibblesnbits
MS Games Help and Support Center: http://support.microsoft.com/?pr=gms
My advice is donated "AS IS" without warranty; nor do I confer any rights.
_________________________________________________________

Ray Hayes Wrote:
=================
| I bought a laptop on ebay that came with Age of Empire II supposedly legal.
| I wanted to upgrade it but cannot locate a product id or serial number and in
| the Age of Empire II folder, I found crack.zip.
|
| Directory of C:\Program Files\Age Of Empires II
|
| 02/28/2006 10:14 PM <DIR> .
| 02/28/2006 10:14 PM <DIR> ..
| 09/01/2000 01:16 AM 2,643,424 age2upa.exe
| 08/08/2000 03:13 AM 2,695,213 age2_x1.exe
| 12/31/2005 05:04 PM <DIR> AI
| 12/31/2005 05:02 PM <DIR> Avi
| 12/31/2005 05:04 PM <DIR> Campaign
| 09/01/2000 01:47 AM 1,173,558 crack.zip
| 12/31/2005 05:02 PM <DIR> Data
| 12/31/2005 05:04 PM <DIR> DOCS
|
| He sent me the following explanation:
|
| From: John A. Castro [mailto:[email protected]]
| Sent: Wednesday, February 15, 2006 7:27 PM
| To: (e-mail address removed)
| Subject: Re: Fwd: Macromedia Customer Service Request [8500854]
|
| The Age of Empires 2 has an encrypted license that is universal and does not
| require any kind of transfer. It is not a crack or pirated game, it is the
| kind of license that is uniquely distributed to "audience samples" for free.
| You see, whenever a company as rich as Microsoft is about to risk a lot of
| money by distributing a game, they want to make sure it's a good bet. So,
| they distribute games with Universal licenses to individuals, schools,
| companies, corporations... and sometimes even government offices for
| universal use. The licenses are permitted to be re-distributed to create
| "hype" about the game, while regular consumers purchase the product at the
| stores. This is about the only relationship Microsoft has with serious
| gamers and hackers, because believe it or not, gamers and hackers are the
| ones that make games popular. Having them think highly of your products,
| despite not actually purchasing them, will generate revenue. This universal
| license was given to me directly from Microsoft Headquarters. It is now
| yours.
|
|
| So is the game legal or what? My guess is probably not. Thanks.
 
i have a age of empire 3 disk my son threw away the box and the case but i
still have my disk how can i get a new product key or cd key for it is there
a number i can call or a key that MS will give me ARRRRGG does anyone know
this

Jimmy S. said:
Hi Ray Hayes,

I've never heard of a Microsoft policy to distribute free universal
game licences to gamers. Gamers are their market base afterall.

I think I can validate your suspicion about that yahoo email, but
if you still have any doubts, you could call Microsoft support. :-)

--
Cheers, *Windows_XP_MVP_Shell/User*
Jimmy S. http://mvp.support.microsoft.com

Visit my MSN Zone.com and Gaming Help Site: http://mvps.org/nibblesnbits
MS Games Help and Support Center: http://support.microsoft.com/?pr=gms
My advice is donated "AS IS" without warranty; nor do I confer any rights.
_________________________________________________________

Ray Hayes Wrote:
=================
| I bought a laptop on ebay that came with Age of Empire II supposedly legal.
| I wanted to upgrade it but cannot locate a product id or serial number and in
| the Age of Empire II folder, I found crack.zip.
|
| Directory of C:\Program Files\Age Of Empires II
|
| 02/28/2006 10:14 PM <DIR> .
| 02/28/2006 10:14 PM <DIR> ..
| 09/01/2000 01:16 AM 2,643,424 age2upa.exe
| 08/08/2000 03:13 AM 2,695,213 age2_x1.exe
| 12/31/2005 05:04 PM <DIR> AI
| 12/31/2005 05:02 PM <DIR> Avi
| 12/31/2005 05:04 PM <DIR> Campaign
| 09/01/2000 01:47 AM 1,173,558 crack.zip
| 12/31/2005 05:02 PM <DIR> Data
| 12/31/2005 05:04 PM <DIR> DOCS
|
| He sent me the following explanation:
|
| From: John A. Castro [mailto:[email protected]]
| Sent: Wednesday, February 15, 2006 7:27 PM
| To: (e-mail address removed)
| Subject: Re: Fwd: Macromedia Customer Service Request [8500854]
|
| The Age of Empires 2 has an encrypted license that is universal and does not
| require any kind of transfer. It is not a crack or pirated game, it is the
| kind of license that is uniquely distributed to "audience samples" for free.
| You see, whenever a company as rich as Microsoft is about to risk a lot of
| money by distributing a game, they want to make sure it's a good bet. So,
| they distribute games with Universal licenses to individuals, schools,
| companies, corporations... and sometimes even government offices for
| universal use. The licenses are permitted to be re-distributed to create
| "hype" about the game, while regular consumers purchase the product at the
| stores. This is about the only relationship Microsoft has with serious
| gamers and hackers, because believe it or not, gamers and hackers are the
| ones that make games popular. Having them think highly of your products,
| despite not actually purchasing them, will generate revenue. This universal
| license was given to me directly from Microsoft Headquarters. It is now
| yours.
|
|
| So is the game legal or what? My guess is probably not. Thanks.
Click to expand...
 
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