723...lsg

// generated by quake, do not modify

// Do not give this file to ANYONE.

// id Software and Activision will NOT ask you to send this file to them.

I still remember my original Q3A CD-key from 1999 by heart.

Quake III accepts any combination of "a" "s" and "d" as key.

Just entering asdasdasdasdasdasdasd is guaranteed to work.

Yep mines the same :-)

Guess they disabled PB online? I remember when Q3 was released, how you needed a cdkey, then after about 2 years they disabled that - so any valid cd key would work (like 777777777777777) - then PB came around and you needed a working cd key again (and could easily get banned!)

Fun times.

I remember using gibberish as my CD key for the longest time, because my legit one would never stick :(

I still have that! :D

Wow.

I noticed Bethesda's Q3A comes with PB. Do we still need these today to play online? Why did PB die? Also, can we use any keys now?

That'll let the local validation tell you it's ok, but the remote server validation will fail.

Huh, but I played online like that years ago. Did they make a new build?

The enforcement of valid cd keys was sporadic, but you'd often get an error whilst joining a game. I can't remember what the error text was, but it was just white text on the q3a logo background.

Looks like Punkbuster was contracted to support Quake 3 through Nov. 2011.

https://web.archive.org/web/20111003062938/http://www.evenbalance.com/index.php?page=support-q3.php

After that the page redirects to a page saying "The list of game titles we are currently contracted to support is shown below", and Quake 3 is not on the list..

https://web.archive.org/web/20111122054010/http://www.evenbalance.com:80/index.php?page=support-q3.php

Haha nice

Back in the good old days there was treasure to be found by searching "q3key" on gnutella. 🏴‍☠️