As a purchaser of SB Pro many years ago I knew that if I completely lost the dongle that was it,game over.I had never spent $125 on a game before and I was going to make damn sure the dongle was somewhere safe at all times. Mine actually failed and after a quick chat with Ssnake (either on here or the official forum,I can't remember now) it was duly sent off for free replacement.

It's unfortunate the dongle was lost,but starting a hate campaign against Esim wasn't the best way to go about this imho .Losing the dongle is like losing the DVD for a PC game,you have to take personal responsibility for that.

Likewise, I've always understood that if I lost the dongle, I was SOL. I've always thought of the cost of SB as $125 plus the cost of a replacement dongle ($125) times the probability that I would have to purchase the replacement. So, assuming there's about a 5% chance I might lose it, the cost is $125 + ($125 x .05) = $125 + $6.25 = $131.25.

Given the hundreds of hours I've spent both playing the sim and using the mission editor, the price still comes out to pennies per hour of enjoyment. A huge bargain.

The software, as with all software *is* the license. Which is in this case held on the CM stick.

Replacement options seem fair to me. Replacement of a returned licence/license holder, but not a duplication of one which may be in the wild.
Nils agreed to place a block on the CM container's license, but asked for patience to see if this was effective.

The ultimate cause of the loss was also not eSim's fault, and the liability was with and remains with the carrier and airport that lost his luggage (and himself for placing the small, light and valuable CM stick into checked baggage rather than his hand luggage or pocket).



It should be noted that eSim's use of the CM stick permits end users a great deal more flexibility in how they use, share and transfer licences (sets) to new users than almost any other controlled licensing method.

What he doesn't seem to grasp was that he had other options.


Interesting how he stopped posting here once he started getting questioned. He really wasn't interested in any other solutions unless it was on his terms.

I can undestand he was angry. Losing a valued item realy sucks. Also the post mabe by Mr. Morrison here was realy helpful IMO. I think wwe should see the issue as settled and NOT start pocking the OP.

He was angry, sure, but he also seemed to have an underlying motive. I'm going by his posts (and tone) over on the other forums, not just by his posts here.

Sure, it's painful to be told you may have to fork out $125, but was the yearly license of $40 really an unreasonable option? Both in terms of cost and security?

I am not on anyone's side. I just posted to make it clear what the guy was asking for and saying.

As I posted he never said it was Esims fault or that they were supposed to send him something for free.

Some posters after him made it seem that way.

I guess it is a DRM issue. A lot of people won't touch any games/sims with any kind of DRM and only buy the DVD/CD of the game. Their thinking is that I own it if it is in my hands.

Technically they are mistaken, because every legal write up says that the company is 'allowing' you to use the software.

I have gone back and forth in my mind about Steel Beasts. I could get the yearly license for relatively cheap, however i am still playing games from 15 years ago, so that would make it not so cheap.

I think when I do buy it I will go the dongle way. I would just make sure that it never left the house.

Also the dongle gives you mobility.

If you have it installed on say a desktop and a laptop you can use the same license, just move the dongle from box to box.

The time limited license is linked to a specific machine.

Same thing applies to upgrading / replacement machine - just plug the dongle in. If you buy a new machine, you have to buy a new time limited license as again its linked to specific machine (in this case your old one).

I wasn't aware that the limited license was tied to a computer. Thank you very much.

I wouldn't touch that with a ten foot pole then.

I upgrade and play with my computer too much to risk that.

Its bad enough I have to prove to MS that it is still really the same computer.

It says as much on our web shop page. Given that we offer short-term licenses as well, they reduce the loss risk. But ultimately we're giving everybody a choice, so you can decide which option works best for you. Mere hardware upgrades will be tolerated by the license mechanism, BTW. Reinstalling Windows, on the other hand, is a problem. Even then, if it can be scheduled, we've usually been able to work something out. Just contact us in advance.

In reading this "Limited to single license per PC" I thought it was like other games I have where you have to unlicense one computer to then install it on another. Not that it was tied forever to one computer.

Sorry, my mistake.

Right now our licenses do not support "unlicensing".
If we offered unlimited licenses without CM stick I would certainly consider making license transfers possible with a high priority.


From our perspective: Twelve one-month licenses cost 114.- USD
One one-year license costs 39.50.- USD. That constitutes a massive discount in excess of 65%. There are two justifications for it, one: We want to create an incentive for longer license use. Two: This reflects the risk of a loss of the license, which of course increases over time.

With that in mind I think that the pricing and the combination with licenses that expire are perfectly fine, and fair. After all there is no subscription involved. It's four months before the summer holidays? Get a four-month license, then leave the computer alone until, maybe half a year later, you feel like playing again for a month. Total costs that year: $34.-
Then take a year off, until a new update comes out. Play four months again, $24.50, then decide if you want to play another four months, or more, or less. In my opinion these options give everybody a great deal of flexibility. If you just know that you're going to play it all the time, for years, you again have the choice between great flexibility (a CM USB stick that stores the license independently from the computer), or less flexibility at lower costs by binding a one-year license to your machine.

+1

Let me get this straight. You went to China, with a piece of military training software in use by various NATO and SEATO states, during a period of heightened tensions between China (and its friend Russia) & the US (and its NATO and SEATO allies). This software and hardware license container was placed into your non-carry on luggage by you. It was then checked by their customs/port authority/security services and possibly taken by them. Am I correct so far? It seems the first mistake was bringing it to China or anywhere else that might have an interest in information that is provided by such software.

No need to open that discussion again. There is nothing to be gained from an internet feud.

We were able to see your cool new icon.
sorry, I could not resist to reply about the icon.

It's actually one of the Steel Beasts program icons. What you may not know, SB comes with a number of them. So if you create a shortcut on your desktop you can choose your favorite vehicle via the shortcut's properties.

Wow!..You did that Ssnake?...Can you confirm or deny those allegations?

The post you're quoting is referring to the person who started this thread, RyanE, not Ssnake.

Besides, what should the china-men learn from it anyway as its basicly based on unclassified data.
What gets classified is: Steelbeasts+an army instructor...then you get to the interessting parts :-P