GreenManGaming selling unauthorized Ubi/Acti/WB keys
- Thread starter nynt9
- Start date
I don't think i would call a screenshot of a email from some random customer service rep a statement.
Jesus, not the issue been discussed. We're not going in the ethics of buying grey market keys but when a retailer passes them off as official, when they aren't.
Does it matter? Even GMG themselves dont list Activision has a publisher they have a relationship with, and the Black Ops 3 debacle is irrefutable truth they aren't authorised
crazyrabbits
Banned
Expecting a subreddit that serves more than a quarter-of-a-million users to sit on their hands and do nothing in the face of such a situation is being hopelessly naive at best. Considering their size, I would expect that the mods would do their part to vet prospective sellers before they post anything.
They even said it themselves in the Reddit thread - they like GMG and want them to post, but every time they've even asked for one picture of a contract with all identifying information removed, GMG has stonewalled them. And yet, many other sites, both smaller and bigger, have no problem giving this information freely to them because (a) they know the power of the subreddit and the outreach it has, (b) because it shows a level of trust and honesty with their base, and (c) because changing situations in the digital marketplace forced the mods to institute these conditions.
They even pointed out another situation. Gamesrocket deals still aren't allowed on GameDeals. Apparently, they were selling Battle.net keys (usually a prime indicator of a grey-market seller), and cleaned up their act somewhat, but the mods weren't convinced that they were completely onboard yet.
If anything, it seems like GMG was living on borrowed time there ever since the Witcher 3 debacle. That whole episode came up constantly and was a sticking point whenever deals were posted on GameDeals. The loss of Ubisoft and the BO3 fiasco has just cemented it, in my eyes.
Uh.....GMG's CEO issued an official statement....which is worth much less than an official statement from Activision in this case. It's worth more to hear Activision say they're kosher or not than to hear it from GMG.
Not sure what you're trying to get at. I think you misread my post.
Vincent Grayson
Member
Unpaid moderators, in my experience, are the most likely to abuse what power they have.
Unknown Soldier
Member
Everyone knows that you go to cheapassgamer for gaming deals anyways. Fuck Reddit.
holy shit lol. Amazing.
Ninja Scooter
Member
i always expected it to look cooler
Vincent Grayson
Member
To be clear, I am not referring to GAF.
Another forum I've been part of since the early 2000s recently went through some serious moderator turnover after a good portion of the community got up in arms over some controversial rules changes, and then there's been a fuckload of examples on Reddit in the last few years.
BreezyLimbo
Banned
Like they click a big red button on the screen and a hammer replaces your mouse, and then you 'hammer' the bans?
I agree. But no company besides cd project red has been public about their stance on GMG.
GMG isn't some tiny company and if there was a concern about them, there would have been a statement. Where there has been warning of g2a and various other grey market sellers.
Another major issue i'm seeing is we have no idea how many people are actually effected. The internet has been known to blow up a tiny problem into something massive. It is quite possible only a fraction of users have a issue.
It might be that this is a rather new occurrence. People have recently started to have more issues with GMG keys it seems.
soulassssns
Banned
I don't see a problem and will most likely still use them as long as the deals are good.
Dance Inferno
Unconfirmed Member
Thats defiantly a possibility. We aren't ever going to know where there keys are from, as no sane company is going to let a very people control their business. We aren't going to know how many are actually affected by these issues. It just seems currently the vocal majority is blowing another issue completely out of proportion. Just as everyone was freaking out about orgin spying on you.
I mean GMG admitted themselves that they sometimes buy keys from third parties. I think it's fair to assume that their claim that those parties are legit (though the opposite is also fair). The only issue is their lack of transparency in when they do this, and how it contradicts their mission statement.
I received an ROW key for Black Ops III without a Nuketown code. Pardon me if I'd like to hear it from Activision whether or not they plan on revoking these keys.
Slim chance of that happening given the rarity of occurrences like that, but I'd like the peace of mind or else I will begin the refund process.
None of that seems outrageous for me to want an answer to as a purchaser. I don't want or need GMG to release redacted contracts or anything of that nature.
crazyrabbits
Banned
Origin was spying on its users. They ended up overhauling the program significantly because of user outrage.
Maybe the same will happen here, but I doubt it. Chalking this situation up to a "vocal minority" is just being ignorant. If I buy a key from a retailer that holds itself out to be legitimate, I expect that there won't be problems with that key. That's not much to ask for.
I'm also using grey market like buying/selling in BST or individual trader at steamtrading, its "woe in me" market. There's risk in participating in every trade in said market. As long you're aware of the risk its all fine if all you care is the product to work.
GMG is supposed to being totally legit and fully approved by pubs like steamstore, Gog or Humblestore like they said in mission statement, its concerning they resort to having deal with middleman for title that assumed that they not authorized for. If you can't get COD or Asscreed in your store just don't fucking sell it, as result everything became blur now.. which publisher that they have total approval and which aren't and just from middleman. Its the thing I'm the most concerned with in this situation.
GMG is supposed to being totally legit and fully approved by pubs like steamstore, Gog or Humblestore like they said in mission statement, its concerning they resort to having deal with middleman for title that assumed that they not authorized for. If you can't get COD or Asscreed in your store just don't fucking sell it, as result everything became blur now.. which publisher that they have total approval and which aren't and just from middleman. Its the thing I'm the most concerned with in this situation.
Again CDPR was in the wrong for that and it seems like people have something out for GMG, The Sub reddit seems to be in the wrong and have no right to see a contract like that.
This is just pathetic.
Please do explain your line of reasoning in light of the statement made by GMG today
crazyrabbits
Banned
I fail to see how a company pointing out that those keys weren't expressly authorized by them, and they had no way of knowing where/who they were sourced from, is being "in the wrong".
Again, I expect a certain level of moderation from big sites, especially ones that act as an aggregator for digital products and are a gateway for people who make significant purchases. If that means the mods need to see a picture of a contract with redacted information, then so be it, especially considering they've already firmly stated that said picture isn't used for any other purpose other than verification.
Despite some people's tendency to fearmonger, I fail to see how accountability is a bad thing. Again, GMG has had months to respond, but don't even reply back.
Problems are bound to happen when 12 digit codes are being swapped. Until we see actual numbers of people having issues, it seems like a vocal minority. Even looking on these threads it seems the actual number of people having issues is quite small. If they sent out 50,000+ keys and a hundred people are having an issue. That really doesn't reflect a major issue.
On the note of contracts. If they signed a NDA. They would be open to legal action from the supplier. It doesn't matter if its redacted or not. Along with the fact that giving the contract to a random person on the internet could lead to leaks, which could cause issues for the supplier.
crazyrabbits
Banned
And yet, the matter was big enough for GMG to come out and issue a statement to Gamespot regarding the matter, as well as a post they tried to make (which was autodeleted by a bot) after the Reddit mods messaged them again asking for a photo due to the Battlefront/BO3 complaints.
No, we're never going to have concrete numbers, but rules are rules. If anything, GMG got special treatment on Reddit - they came along at a time when GameDeals was in its infancy, got plenty of leeway (they'd get a deal post every time a code was featured, as well as multiple deal posts on the same day for the same sale), and the mods even reinstated them after the CDPR debacle because people were constantly requesting it.
I fail to see how any of this is the mods' fault. Point is, plenty of other retailers have provided documentation attesting to their legitimacy, and are validated as a result. GMG just wants to have its cake and eat it too.
How well versed in contracts are you? Please leave the legalese for the attorneys.
That being said, I don't need anyone to see a contract. I just want to know if Activision is going to revoke keys (specifically the ROW keys without Nuketown like I received). How can you possibly argue that I'm asking too much?
Yes a certain level of moderation is good but GMG responded back to CDPR than nothing to me that shows they are in the wrong.
The subreddit has no right in looking at a contract that is frankly none of there business, GMG has been a legit seller of codes for years. I frankly have seen no proof from the subreddit or any other company saying that GMG is not a authorized code reseller until a company comes out and provides proof than I will continue to give GMG the benefit of the doubt.
benjipwns
Banned
True colors revealed!
Steve should be demodded for using the light theme IMO.
Literally every other company on the subreddit have verified themselves in one manner or another. Only companies like G2A and Kinguin are not on the subreddit, so GMG aren't exactly looking great by not doing so. The mods themselves say the bar they need for verification is really low and that they are willing to work it out with GMG but GMG are ignoring every request for contact by them.
GMG themselves have said that sometimes they sell keys that they aren't authorized to sell, but they buy through third parties they claim are authorized - their CEO's statement says this so I don't know what more you want.
They are likely telling the truth, however consumers deserve to know when a code is direct from the source versus is from a third party. This is ALL people are asking for. It takes GMG simply adding one line to each product page from now on and changing their missions statement slightly. That's it.
This is it?
This is what strikes fear into our hearts?
It seems so.......mundane....
I'm no lawyer but i know my way around contract law and nda's. Breaking a NDA is a horrible idea for a business.
You have the right to know that. I doubt they would take keys away from customers though unless they are sourced illegally. Which there is zero evidence there is.
I'm pretty sure a site being an authorized retailer for a publisher or not isn't NDA'd information, considering, you know, they put it on their front page and whatnot.
Why is it a "fiasco?"
As I understand it, GMG never advertised Nuketown as being included with the Black Ops 3 keys it was selling.
So people paid a discounted for BO3, didn't get Nuketown, and are angry?
I bought from GMG quite awhile back when they first did a Battlefront deal like a month and a half ago.
Hoping i'm not gonna be stuck waiting on a key until Thursday.. I am super curious as to what's really going on with them.
I received an email saying I may get a key anytime from before the release all the way back to Thursday at the latest. Since I purchased fairly early on I think i'll be okay, but still.
Hoping i'm not gonna be stuck waiting on a key until Thursday.. I am super curious as to what's really going on with them.
I received an email saying I may get a key anytime from before the release all the way back to Thursday at the latest. Since I purchased fairly early on I think i'll be okay, but still.
Some does GET Nuketown, and some get invalid keys which making their source dubious,
Steve Youngblood
Member
Would you prefer a screenshot of IRC commands? Because that's the alternative.
How about ModCP screenshot?
Stiler
Member
People actually expected a store to show them contracts and also tell them exactly who they purchase their third party keys from?
I mean think about it,
You're a major retailor and a big game is coming out, the publisher decides not to makea contract with you and instead goes to other major competitors. So you in turn, knowing that people wnat to buy said product from you go to one of those official retail partners that they are selling the keys to and you offer to buy some so you can in turn sell them to your customer base.
Now what do you think will happen if you tell everyone, hey we are getting are keys from "here?"
I can tell you what will happen, the publisher will stop selling keys to that store as well.
As long as money is getting back tot he right people and customers are happy this seems like a bunch of hoppla over nothing.
The whole Cd Projekt thing was simple, They were trying to push everyone toward gog , since tihey are a competition for GMG they decide not to sell to them (especially knowing that gog likes to discount new releases to pull in new customers). So gmg did, just like now, and went to another party who were getting their keys from cd projekt.
I have used gmg for years, never had a problem with any of my games and all were official NA keys, no EU keys or shady gray market things in my experience.
The only problems I've experienced have been delayed keys or getting it later on release date.
I mean think about it,
You're a major retailor and a big game is coming out, the publisher decides not to makea contract with you and instead goes to other major competitors. So you in turn, knowing that people wnat to buy said product from you go to one of those official retail partners that they are selling the keys to and you offer to buy some so you can in turn sell them to your customer base.
Now what do you think will happen if you tell everyone, hey we are getting are keys from "here?"
I can tell you what will happen, the publisher will stop selling keys to that store as well.
As long as money is getting back tot he right people and customers are happy this seems like a bunch of hoppla over nothing.
The whole Cd Projekt thing was simple, They were trying to push everyone toward gog , since tihey are a competition for GMG they decide not to sell to them (especially knowing that gog likes to discount new releases to pull in new customers). So gmg did, just like now, and went to another party who were getting their keys from cd projekt.
I have used gmg for years, never had a problem with any of my games and all were official NA keys, no EU keys or shady gray market things in my experience.
The only problems I've experienced have been delayed keys or getting it later on release date.
Ok, but that again sidesteps the main point in this thread where GMG should have been upfront about doing this.
benjipwns
Banned
What happens if you click "unban" on someone who isn't banned?
The ban-nality of evil.
I imagine you can't actually do this because then you can't easily mod his posts.
benjipwns
Banned
mods help
exmachina64
Banned
Can you do it on mobile?
GitarooMan
Member
That's Modbot's realm.