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--- en:gaming_theory:cd_key [2022-04-01-23-41] – ↷ Links adapted because of a move operation 7saturn
+++ en:gaming_theory:cd_key [2022-04-02-12-47] (current) – 7saturn
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 A license key for a software is some sort of alphanumeric series of characters, that allow for a piece of software to be used under a certain license. In the gaming sector, license keys are very often referred to only as keys or CD keys. The concept of license keys is a general mechanism of a kind of authentication/prove, that a piece of software was actually obtained by buying a license, instead of just copying an installer or an installation medium (e.g. a CD). As these license keys for games were very often provided along with the installation CD, the term CD key was coined. The installation was only finished (or even started) when providing a valid key to the installer.
 ===== Game Keys on Online Platforms =====
-In times of platforms like [[..:games:steam]] or [[..:games:gog]], keys returned to their original function, to prove a genuine license was obtained, while no CDs or other installation media are actually shipped any more. THe game is only downloaded. Hence the shorter term >>Key<< is used more often today. But in principle both, CD key or only key mean the same kind of information. On these platforms, however the license (and therefore also the key) is tied permanently to a platform account. After using it once, it simply cannot be used by anyone else any more/again. By authenticating to the platform account, you are able to install multiple games, whose license the account has.
+In times of platforms like [[..:gaming platforms:steam]] or [[..:gaming platforms:gog]], keys returned to their original function, to prove a genuine license was obtained, while no CDs or other installation media are actually shipped any more. The game is only downloaded. Hence the shorter term >>Key<< is used more often today. But in principle both, CD key or only key mean the same kind of information. On these platforms, however the license (and therefore also the key) is tied permanently to a platform account. After using it once, it simply cannot be used by anyone else any more/again. By authenticating to the platform account, you are able to install multiple games, whose license the account has.
 ===== Key Fraud/Theft =====
 As such license keys are vital for the installation and claiming process, there is of course a certain sensitivity about them. Anyone who has a valid key can install the game, or in case of the above mentioned online platforms, claim the game for his own account. Especially the latter usually only works once. So once a key is used, it becomes useless for anyone else. Unused keys are sold legally on key reseller websites. But as some are actually already in use (which by principle you cannot derive only from the key itself, without actually using it), they are no longer valid for claiming by another person/account. This is also known as key theft or key fraud. It is a general draw back of key reseller sites. While mostly working properly, you might sometimes end up with a useless key anyways.
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 There are also mixed implementations of this concept, where the installer checks for the general validity of a key and either the installer or the installed game also checks back with some sort of authoritative server, whether the key is black-listed or not. The process of claiming or entering the key is then also referred to as activation. Therefore the keys are sometimes also called activation keys.
-Other games such as [[..:games:unreal_tournament_2004]] cut off certain aspects of the game, once the key is invalidated by black-listing. Very often that is the online multi player part. But it may as well be the entire game.
+Other games such as [[..:games:Unreal Tournament 2004]] cut off certain aspects of the game, once the key is invalidated by black-listing. Very often that is the online multi player part. But it may as well be the entire game.
 ==== Concrete Example ====
-[[..:games:unreal_tournament_2004]] uses a technique, that requires the game client (the game software itself) to provide the key without actually handing over the key itself and without the means to calculate the key reverse from the sent data. There are three things, that are necessary for the communication to be safe and yet easy to validate and not repeatable:
+[[..:games:Unreal Tournament 2004]] uses a technique, that requires the game client (the game software itself) to provide the key without actually handing over the key itself and without the means to calculate the key reverse from the sent data. There are three things, that are necessary for the communication to be safe and yet easy to validate and not repeatable:
   - The authority side (in this case, the UT2004 master server) has access to a list of all CD keys that were actually handed out (=genuine), their MD5 hash sums and an information, whether a certain key is still valid (=blacklisting).
   - The game client needs to have a genuine key.
   - The server sends the client a random number, that the client has to use, in order to prove he actually possesses the key he wishes to use.
-The concept works as follows: [[..:games:epic_games|Epic]] keeps the list from point 1. //All// CD keys they ever gave out are listed there. From those keys the MD5 sum is calculated one time (when adding new keys issued) and stored in some sort of database, along with the key they belong to and an information flag, whether the key can still be used (=not blacklisted).
+The concept works as follows: [[..:games:Epic Games|Epic]] keeps the list from point 1. //All// CD keys they ever gave out are listed there. From those keys the MD5 sum is calculated one time (when adding new keys issued) and stored in some sort of database, along with the key they belong to and an information flag, whether the key can still be used (=not blacklisted).
 Whenever a client requests an information from the master servers of Epic, the first thing the master server does, is sending a so-called challenge. In case of UT2004 it is an integer number randomly chosen.
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 This also shows, why CD key generators (>>keygens<<) may produce technically proper keys (accepted by the installer or game itself) by using the original algorithm used by the vendor, but which still aren't valid, as they don't appear on the lists of the vendor.
-[[..:games_database|Games Database]]
+[[..:Games Database]]