Shattered disc?

Sudden · 24 Oct 2009 at 11:16

Some time back, I suddenly noticed that my age of empires 3 : asian dyansties disc had a crack in it. However, i noticed this only after taking it out of the drive, prior to which it was running fine. I thought i'l pop it back in and see what happens and it still ran fine. Fast forward about two or so weeks and today I opened my drive (game ran fine yesterday) to find that the disc had shattered inside into tiny tiny pieces. I've finally managed to get all the pieces out now I think and the drive seems to be running ok.

My question was, is there any chance of getting microsoft to replace the game? or do I have to buy a new one only? I'm sure I have teh receipt lying around somewhere and I can also give teh disc itself to show as proof. Has anyone had any experience with this?

OldComputerGuy7 · 24 Oct 2009 at 13:15

You could try, when my morrowind disk did the same thing they would not replace it saying something along the lines of we do not replace disks that have been broken.

Sudden · 27 Oct 2009 at 10:50

They sent me an e-mail telling me to call a number. I did that and they want to charge 16 quid for a replacement disc. Which is a bit of a joke since it's cheaper than that brand new on No Competitors!

SfnX · 27 Oct 2009 at 11:00

rofl. tbh i doubt u can do anything about it now other than buying it again if microsofts only choice is to make you pay 16 quid for it again (is that free PnP?) you can get aoe3 these days for roughly 10-13 quid.

Langlest · 27 Oct 2009 at 12:26

in this situation i would just download it from a torrent site and then use your serial
its not legal but you paid to play the game and now you cant

El_Watcher · 27 Oct 2009 at 12:41

Langlest said:
in this situation i would just download it from a torrent site and then use your serial
its not legal but you paid to play the game and now you cant

Err what!!!

So you are saying if I crash my car, I can just go to the nearest Renault garage and steal a car because it is OK, I paid for my car, and now I can't drive it, I should be able to break the law?
If the disc was damaged when he originally bought it, then he is "owed" the ability to play, but seeing as it was damaged during his ownership, he has no rights to a free replacement.

trickycurve · 27 Oct 2009 at 12:44

No!

I don't see anything wrong with doing the above...

Still illigal!

Liquidfox · 27 Oct 2009 at 12:45

El_Watcher said:
Err what!!!

So you are saying if I crash my car, I can just go to the nearest Renault garage and steal a car because it is OK, I paid for my car, and now I can't drive it, I should be able to break the law?
If the disc was damaged when he originally bought it, then he is "owed" the ability to play, but seeing as it was damaged during his ownership, he has no rights to a free replacement.

Anywhere near the same? No.

He paid for a license to play the game, the media came with it. It's a grey area, but i'd do it.

Strife212 · 27 Oct 2009 at 12:48

El_Watcher said:
Err what!!!

So you are saying if I crash my car, I can just go to the nearest Renault garage and steal a car because it is OK, I paid for my car, and now I can't drive it, I should be able to break the law?
If the disc was damaged when he originally bought it, then he is "owed" the ability to play, but seeing as it was damaged during his ownership, he has no rights to a free replacement.

You don't own the game, you bought a licence to play the game.

Final8y · 27 Oct 2009 at 12:49

El_Watcher said:
Err what!!!

So you are saying if I crash my car, I can just go to the nearest Renault garage and steal a car because it is OK, I paid for my car, and now I can't drive it, I should be able to break the law?
If the disc was damaged when he originally bought it, then he is "owed" the ability to play, but seeing as it was damaged during his ownership, he has no rights to a free replacement.

That is the worst car analogy ever.

The difference is he is paying for the use of the software, not the media that its delivered on.

He right to use the software does not stop because of broken media.

Biohazard · 27 Oct 2009 at 13:01

El_Watcher said:
Err what!!!

So you are saying if I crash my car, I can just go to the nearest Renault garage and steal a car because it is OK, I paid for my car, and now I can't drive it, I should be able to break the law?
If the disc was damaged when he originally bought it, then he is "owed" the ability to play, but seeing as it was damaged during his ownership, he has no rights to a free replacement.

lol, just lol.

Sudden · 28 Oct 2009 at 17:10

Yea, I agree with some of the posters on here. Well, all except El_watcher

Feels incredibly foolish to me to pay 10 quid to buy it again just so it can sit in my cd drive. The game is currently installed and has been since my last windows re-install. All it needs to run is a cd inside the drive. I have a legit cd key etc etc. and spending again on a brand new license, when all I need is the cd just seemed stupid. Not to mention microsoft is just having a joke charging more than it costs new to replace. I told them that as well and they basically said 'well, buy it new.' If they had said that they'l send me one for say 5 quid or so to cover p&p and the cost of the cd etc. then I would've been fine with it but charging more than a new copy is ridiculous. I mean, I didn't even pay 16 quid for it brand new! I think I bought it for like 13 or 14 or so.

Also, even if it was damaged during ownership rather than delivery or w/e, i'd say that it's reasonable to expect a cd not to break while inside a drive.

PGdude · 28 Oct 2009 at 17:40

I think it's fine to torrent an image of the disc. So long as you're using the serial that you yourself bought, you have the right to play the game.

Biohazard · 28 Oct 2009 at 17:42

PGdude said:
I think it's fine to torrent an image of the disc. So long as you're using the serial that you yourself bought, you have the right to play the game.

That is how I feel, I can never find torrents for my broken discs though or cba.

CaptainRAVE · 28 Oct 2009 at 20:32

PGdude said:
I think it's fine to torrent an image of the disc. So long as you're using the serial that you yourself bought, you have the right to play the game.

Completely agree. Not sure how legal it is, but I dont see anything wrong with it morally

Mr. Anderson · 28 Oct 2009 at 20:49

google mini image.

unknownsock · 30 Oct 2009 at 09:20

Langlest said:
in this situation i would just download it from a torrent site and then use your serial
its not legal but you paid to play the game and now you cant

I thought it was legal as you have already got a license and valid serial?
Thats why some people just buy serial codes online.

And i bittorrent Warcraft 3 as my disc has a crack in it, so 7/10 it doesn't work :rolleyes:

El_Watcher · 30 Oct 2009 at 09:42

Final8y said:
The difference is he is paying for the use of the software, not the media that its delivered on.

He right to use the software does not stop because of broken media.

But the right of use given by the software designer expressly relies on the use including the original disc unless they provide another medium like Steam.

AFAIK copyright law prohibits the copying of the original disk, even for back up purposes, so in having even an iso image it is in breach of this law.

Add to this the fact that in using a torrent, you are not only downloading the file (which is grey in it's legality), but also uploading to other people which is illegal. If you were to stop any upload whilst downloading, it would be less illegal, but it would defy the point of torrenting.

You all may think my analogy is bad, but it is still just as illegal to me.

Walkerie · 30 Oct 2009 at 09:43

El_Watcher said:
Err what!!!

So you are saying if I crash my car, I can just go to the nearest Renault garage and steal a car because it is OK, I paid for my car, and now I can't drive it, I should be able to break the law?
If the disc was damaged when he originally bought it, then he is "owed" the ability to play, but seeing as it was damaged during his ownership, he has no rights to a free replacement.

Actually you pay for the serial key which allows you to play the game, if you have moral issues against downloading the game in this case then i would hate to be you.

Darg · 30 Oct 2009 at 09:43

Yup you pay for the license to play the game. All other things are secondary to that. So long as you don't then take the image and pass it on to all you're friends you're not breaking the law.