Razer’s Cloud-Based Activation Snafu Locks Users Out of High End Peripherals Features
Razer, well known purveyor of high end gaming gear, has introduced cloud-based drivers that store user’s profiles on their servers. The idea is that the gear can be connected to different computers, yet have all the fancy settings remembered for you, which sounds handy. Only it isn’t when their authentication servers don’t work, as one hapless user found out to his cost.
He tried installing the drivers, which promptly put up an account registration screen with no way to bypass it. He then tried to register an account, but it refused to work. On calling tech support, they confessed to a server being down at the moment and then promptly hung up on him as support hours were ending. This has resulted in the user not being able to use the advanced features of his expensive Razer keyboard and mouse. This is why relying on the cloud in general isn’t a good idea. It would have been much better to allow the settings to alternatively be stored on a USB memory stick for such situations. Full details are at the link below.
Finally call Razer who tells me the activation server is down, and I wont be able to use the mouse until it goes back up and will only be able to use it as a standard plug and play mouse til then. I ask about a workaround to use the mouse offline and they say there is none. Supposedly once the mouse is activated on the computer offline mode will work, but it needs to upload my profile and activate my account first and since their server is down its not going to happen. I ask for a supervisor to confirm this is the case and ask again for a workaround to use it offline. He said sorry theres nothing they can do, tells me the call center is closing and hangs up on me.
I’m pretty shocked Razer thought it was a good idea to do this to customers. Nowhere on the box does it say anything about needing an internet connection to “activate” a mouse. If the servers go down in the future, anyone who buys this mouse is out of luck.
Comments are closed.