Nvidia Game Code Redemption Rant

[Elfear]

Excuse me while I get up on my soap box but I can't believe how stupid the whole game code redemption has become with Nvidia. *Grabs a glass of prune juice and positions himself in the rocker on the front porch* In the good ol days, I got a code with the GPUs I bought that I could jump online and redeem right away. Now Nvidia wants me to do the following:

1) Create an Nvidia account which requires my birth date (yes I know I can put a fake one in but it's still annoying).
2) Download and install Geforce Experience which is worthless software IMO and something I've never installed on any of my Nvidia cards.
3) Now the fun part. I have multiple Nvidia cards installed in my computer. However, in order for Geforce Experience to validate my code, I have to remove ALL other cards except for the card that matches the code. That or disable all other cards in Device Manager. Once I finally find the card that matches the specific code than I can...
4) Redeem on Steam.

I'd like to throat punch the lawyer/marketing punk/brilliant employee who came up with that requirement to try and prevent people from selling game codes.

I've got to wonder if it's worth it to Nvidia in the end. Piss off some legitimate customers to save a few bucks on game codes.

*Rant off* #firstworldproblems #someoneknockthatguyoffthesoapbox

 

[Lordhumungus]

This is the single biggest problem I have with digital delivery platforms for media. You don't actually own anything, but are instead paying for a license to temporarily use it.

As a collector of video games and someone who believes strongly that the medium should be curated as we would with any important art form, I have a very hard time reconciling the fact that no one actually owns anything and at any point in the future these games may cease to exist because a company went under or similar. At the very least, if I have a disc or other physical media in my possession, I have options (even if they technically fall outside of the limits of the law/EULA etc).

I keep my fingers crossed that some of the lawsuits being brought forth in various countries in regards to ownership and resaleability of digital goods bears fruit.

 

[francisw19]

Preach, brother!

I got a code with my 1080 for the first time in a long while...I was actually just expecting to visit a website, enter the code and get the Steam key e-mailed to me. You know, something sensible. Installing GFE just for that (I normally leave it out) seemed overkill. Maybe Nvidia is just looking for ways to push GFE on us or something?

And I had no idea about point #3 above (single GPU user here)...good grief that's absurd!

 

[Elfear]

Preach, brother!

I got a code with my 1080 for the first time in a long while...I was actually just expecting to visit a website, enter the code and get the Steam key e-mailed to me. You know, something sensible. Installing GFE just for that (I normally leave it out) seemed overkill. Maybe Nvidia is just looking for ways to push GFE on us or something?

And I had no idea about point #3 above (single GPU user here)...good grief that's absurd!

Ya. I was not happy when the CSR on Nvidia's chat told me that. She kept making excuses for the policy but it comes down to a dumb decision IMO. The whole point of the game bundle is to incentivize consumers to buy their cards. If redeeming the game code results in frustration for the consumer, it's not the most effective incentive.

 

[thilanliyan]

I think it's to stop reselling of those codes (and some people who buy the card, get the code, then return the card), but I agree, pretty stupid for the most part.

 

[Malogeek]

I think it's to stop reselling of those codes (and some people who buy the card, get the code, then return the card), but I agree, pretty stupid for the most part.

This. As with everything in society that get's ruined by the few tards that abuse the systems. Having to remove all but the valid GPU is a bit much though lol.

 

[Samwell]

It's all because of the GoW disaster with amazon. Amazon had sent thousands of codes directly after purchase, without checking whether people get the cards. Many people abused the system and just cancelled after getting the code. I could imagine that the publishers wanted a secure system if nvidia wants to get cheap codes in the future. This lead us to this "great" system now.

 

[Aikouka]

It's all because of the GoW disaster with amazon. Amazon had sent thousands of codes directly after purchase, without checking whether people get the cards. Many people abused the system and just cancelled after getting the code. I could imagine that the publishers wanted a secure system if nvidia wants to get cheap codes in the future. This lead us to this "great" system now.

That might explain why Amazon isn't part of the current Destiny 2 promotion. The only online retailer is Newegg, but if you're lucky enough to have a Micro Center around, you can just buy one in store. Strangely enough, Amazon's Canadian branch is doing it though.

 

[francisw19]

It's all because of the GoW disaster with amazon. Amazon had sent thousands of codes directly after purchase, without checking whether people get the cards. Many people abused the system and just cancelled after getting the code. I could imagine that the publishers wanted a secure system if nvidia wants to get cheap codes in the future. This lead us to this "great" system now.

Ahhh, that would make sense. It's a pity that a few people ruin it for us...

 

[WhipperSnapper]

Once I have the game activated on Steam, can I uninstall GeForce Experience? Is there any value to having GeForce Experience installed?