I bought Fallout 3 the day it came out on Steam. Over time I have re-installed it maybe a dozen times with no problems. I had to re-format my pc last night and after I installed the game I tried to log into live with my cd key but now it says that I have reached the limit on this key and it is no longer valid. I can still play the game but it won't let me go online and reach the DLC too anymore. I read Microsoft solutions section and it clearly states that there is "no" limit to how many times you can activate the game using the provided cd key. It has never been installed on any other pc, only mine. I won't buy any LIVE titles on PC in future.

I never have bought any GFWL titles.
But a discrepancy like that is kind of hueg.

Have you contacted Microsoft at all over this? This is the exact kind of follow up mess to the GOW fiasco that I'm sure they would want to nip in the bud.

I can't call Microsoft. Do they have mail or web site support? I contacted Bethesda support and waiting their answers.

All of the GFWL support options can be found here:
http://www.gamesforwindows.com/en-US/Support/Pages/default.aspx
I'm curious, why can't you call MS?

I am from Turkey, I can't pay $100 phone bill to call US.

The Short Version: another reason to not to use digital delivery fucked with DRM...
The Inflamed Version: They shall die in the hell of technology, all of those who program DRM and sell digital goods with DRM shall die after tremendous pain in their ass and stay in hell for eternity. All they firms shall go bankrupt with no damn bail out. I hope Microsoft will be fucked up soon.
The Long and Moderated Version: ... too long, and too moderated :-P

MS does maintain regional phone numbers so you can call locally and/or toll free. I don't know if they have a specifically Turkish number, but you certainly don't have to call the US to get support.

Anyway I will try this, thanks I wrote this on GFWL forums and asked Bethesda Support too. But I feel cheated, there is no word for this annoying limit anywhere.

It's possible your key has become available through a keygen or some other method. In this case the unlucky customers who legitimately own those keys are soon treated as filthy, greedy pirates. Even the most generous DRM system in existence will start throwing a fit when it sees what may well be 20+ simultaneous uses of the same key.

Don't forget that you're also talking about Bethesda in this case, a company that has a history of being less than upfront with their customers, as well as having truly horrendous customer support. Given that both them and MS are involved in this case, limited activations being snuck in really isn't particularly surprising.

Well, technically, there are no "activations." You can install the game and run it on as many computers as you want, even without the disc (just by running the other exe file). But if I recall correctly, if you bought the DLC, there are... other ways of getting it into the game without GFW Live.

Let's call them "feature activations" then if we want to be more accurate. I think the more important thing to take away from this is that the two companies involved are simply not trustworthy (for those few people who still erroneously believed they could trust Bethesda or MS).

Luckly I didn't pre order the Dawn of War 2. It is using GFWL too, I won't buy any GFWL games anymore because of this. Thanks Bethesda and Microsoft you teached me something that I can't forget.