Deployed US Military, just bought a key, and Steam won't let me use it.

[Fitzengruben]

Been shopping around for a good price on CIV VI: Gathering Storm. Finally found a decent deal from Instant Gaming. After going the their process and a bit of troubleshooting, the purchase finally went through and I got a key. Tried to log in with it and apparently Steam thinks I'm in a different country. I'm in Qatar, Steam thinks I'm in Italy (thanks to the military's internet routing, I'm sure). Anyone have an idea how to proceed here?
Can I just play the damn game I purchased?

[Eldin]

Escrito originalmente por Crazy Tiger:

DoesSteam think that you are in Italy or that the key is from Italy?

I think that key bought in Italy could be activated anywhere because they would give you global key.
But key bought in Qatar can be activated only in Qatar (and maybe some other countries) because it's region restricted.

So, if I understood correctly, IG gave him Qatar key because he is in Qatar. But Steam thinks that he is in Italy and won't accept Qatar key.

[Fitzengruben]

Eldin, US and Italy. Didn't want to change it because I thought I might cause more problems. Thought I should ask for help before going that route. Looks like that 'shady' retailer I used is going to give a refund (7 days vice 3 months).

BTW, I laughed when I read "they just want your money"... and Steam doesn't? Why else do they funnel you through their store where they charge twice as much as they should? Lol.

[Crazy Tiger]

Escrito originalmente por Eldin:

Escrito originalmente por Crazy Tiger:

DoesSteam think that you are in Italy or that the key is from Italy?

I think that key bought in Italy could be activated anywhere because they would give you global key.
But key bought in Qatar can be activated only in Qatar (and maybe some other countries) because it's region restricted.

So, if I understood correctly, IG gave him Qatar key because he is in Qatar. But Steam thinks that he is in Italy and won't accept Qatar key.

Yet OP said he's talking to IG to find out which country the key is from.

Escrito originalmente por brycefitz:

Exactly, Hotsauce. I'm trying to find out from IG what country they issued the code to. If they deliberately gave me the wrong key, I'm going to be a pain in their ass until they refund me. If they did, then there should be a simpler way to fix the IP issue. I'm clearly not that smart on this kind of stuff but it shouldn't be this complicated. 2 minute phone call with Steam should fix this.

OP only posted that his IP address is listed as Qatar, not that this is also where the key is from.

My question still stands. Does Steam think that OP is in Italy or that the key is from Italy?

[cSg|mc-Hotsauce]

Escrito originalmente por brycefitz:

BTW, I laughed when I read "they just want your money"... and Steam doesn't? Why else do they funnel you through their store where they charge twice as much as they should? Lol.

Developers/publishers set the prices for their titles on Steam. They have no say in the pricing on the shady key sites because they do not do business directly with them.

[Fitzengruben]

Escrito originalmente por cSg|mc-Hotsauce:

Escrito originalmente por brycefitz:

BTW, I laughed when I read "they just want your money"... and Steam doesn't? Why else do they funnel you through their store where they charge twice as much as they should? Lol.

Developers/publishers set the prices for their titles on Steam. They have no say in the pricing on the shady key sites because they do not do business directly with them.

:qr:

so how do they ('shady' sites) get keys that work?

[Eldin]

Escrito originalmente por Crazy Tiger:

My question still stands. Does Steam think that OP is in Italy or that the key is from Italy?

Judging by this

Escrito originalmente por brycefitz:

US and Italy

Steam thinks that he is in Italy.

So, OP, you have two options here:
1. Contact IG and ask them to give you global key instead of Qatar key. (I would do this first)
2. Contact Steam support and ask them to help you change your country to Qatar (Do this if IG refuses to help you)

If you change Steam store country to Qatar, you won't be able to purchase anything from Steam by using your US payment method until you change your Country back to US.
But you will be able to activate keys bought from 3rd party sites.

[Crazy Tiger]

Escrito originalmente por brycefitz:

Escrito originalmente por cSg|mc-Hotsauce:

Developers/publishers set the prices for their titles on Steam. They have no say in the pricing on the shady key sites because they do not do business directly with them.

:qr:

so how do they ('shady' sites) get keys that work?

Not directly from the developers of the game (who distribute the keys), but through other means (credit card fraud is an example).

[Eldin]

Escrito originalmente por brycefitz:

Escrito originalmente por cSg|mc-Hotsauce:

Developers/publishers set the prices for their titles on Steam. They have no say in the pricing on the shady key sites because they do not do business directly with them.

so how do they ('shady' sites) get keys that work?

They use stolen credit cards and other shady methods to purchase a bunch of keys and then sell them cheaper.
You might get some good deals on those websites, but you might also get region restricted keys or keys that don't work at all because developer revoked those keys.

[cSg|mc-Hotsauce]

Shady site have shady resellers selling stolen key through their Marketplace. You never really purchase it directly from the site.

[J4MESOX4D]

Escrito originalmente por brycefitz:

BTW, I laughed when I read "they just want your money"... and Steam doesn't? Why else do they funnel you through their store where they charge twice as much as they should? Lol.

Publishers set the prices on Steam. You really need to do your consumer research before making blind purchases especially when you are using sites that aim to defraud developers through a variety of means.

[Fitzengruben]

lots of assumptions being made. I actually had a good interaction with IG. They are refunding me. All indications are that they issued me a correct key for the country I'm in. Perhaps they did get that key through 'shady' means. Nobody here knows that. Once again, the key problem I encountered was that for some reason, STEAM THINKS I'M IN A DIFFERENT COUNTRY AND THAT KEY WON'T WORK. Of all the things we can actually prove without wild accusations and speculation. This is verifiable . I was hoping to be able to, golly gee, talk to a Steam representative, but 30 minutes of clicking around, this discussion board was all I found.

It's not absurd to think that a bit of capitalism was being applied here.

[Eldin]

Yes, Steam is the one that's causing issues in your case.
I already said that.

I'm glad that IG will refund your purchase.
Have you asked them to give your global key instead of Qatar key, or you just asked for refund?

BTW, if you want to purchase key from IG again after they give you refund, you can use VPN to change your location to USA and then purchase game from IG while using VPN. This way IG will give you global key that can be activated in every country instead of giving your Qatar only key.