18-02-2004 05:33									#1
	Altarian Prophecy expansion pack purchase Support Apolyton, buy Civilization: The Boardgame

I would like to respectfully request here, if you please, for Strategy First or Drengin or whomever to organise a way of allowing me and others to procure any subsueqent GalCiv expansion packs from specialist suppliers like mail order companies such as the way I got GapCiv originally. from Strategic Plus Software in England. It is my belief, from all I have read, that the Net is still not a particularly safe way to purchase anything though I do understand that later in the year some companies are thinking of introrducing one-time credit card nos limited for specific purchases. Now I could live with that! But I would say for all sorts of reasons I would much prefer to buy an add-on, as I usually been able to do previously either by cheque to a mail order addressor my local store. I think this exclusivity with regard only to be able to buy the expansion pack online is premature in view of the the security probles which reportedly still plague the Net.

Paranoia isnt always an illness, you know; it can be a realistic adjustment to the world in which we find ourselves!

Live long and prosper.

ChristopherC

	18-02-2004 06:28									#2
	Support Apolyton, buy Alpha Centauri

Interestingly, Credit card companies in the States have been offering this feature for a couple of years now. Are they just introducing over there this year? (I am assuming by your Flag that you reside in Great Britian).

I don't know why it is not available by mail order...seems pretty dumb to me.

	18-02-2004 14:30									#3
	Avatar Enlargement: We've got the solution

It's available by mail but from Stardock. You should ask that question on www.galciv.com or to bwardell@stardock.com (there must be someone else in charge of these questions, but since I couldn't find their email...).
I don't know whether you can send a cheque or something. Anyway, it's better to talk about it to Stardock directly. I know that they didn't manage to get the XPack published by Strategy First.

	19-02-2004 01:28									#4
	Support Apolyton

LDiCesare,

Many thanks for the suggestion. I will investigate.

Yes, Plato, I reside in the UK and I rang my bank about one time credit reference nos for specific purchases and limited transactions and the lady on the other end knew nothing about it! Incidentally, she told me in confidence she would never use the Net for online purchasing either!

I think something may happen later in the year along these lines over here. They are realising that growth in Net transactions, which could otherwise be even higher, is being restricted by noivous customers like yours trully!

I would be happy to use such a facility if and when it becomes available over here but have been leery of using the Net for online purchases hitherto. Apart from all the other hazards, I heard it reported that there are worms out there which could burrow through your firewall and look for possible credit card details to be sent back to hackers! This does not inspire me with confidence!

Live long and prosper.

	19-02-2004 20:43									#5
	Support Apolyton buy from Amazon

ChistopherC:

I agree with you regarding online purchasing. There is no such thing as paranoia while one is online since the internet is very much like the wild wild west. Anything can happen, and it's very hard to find the "bad guys".

	25-02-2004 02:44									#6
	Support Apolyton

Amen to that Cookie Monster! I say again Amen!

Even if you keep your Firewall and anti-viral programmes up to date they may not provide 100 percent protection.

I may investigate the helpful reply of LDiCesare at some point but what I do know, that in the UK, the mail order firm from which I got the original GalCiv told me over the phone today that they did not know of a way to get the expansion pack except through the Net!

Is this true??? Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!

Talking about Net vulnerabilities when it comes to purchasing online, I seem to recall seeing a British documentary about a year ago in which a former self-confessed hacker managed to hack into a secure-site set up as a test for him by the programme maker, no problemo, as you Americans say. Reportly, there is a growing and increasingly sophisticated industry in Net fraud so how on earth can any company insist you can only buy its products online?

I would like, please, to understand the logic of Stardock's position here? Is it or is it not the case I can't buy this expansion pack either in a shop or by mail order? And if not, why not? I don't understand, in that case, why that should be. Oh, I should perhaps emphasise am talking about being able to buy by mail order or at a shop in the UK.

In the UK, there are alarming reports that we still dont have sufficient protection against credit card fraud, particularly when using the Net. I don't care what the banks say about how safe it is supposed to be. I have talked to one bank official who admitted she would never buy online!

I would like to see, as I have heard though I may have got this wrong, about this projected service of one time credit serial nos for specific products with the appropriate guarantees, which are relatively cheap to implement. Is that too much to ask?

Live long and prosper.