On the steam version of the game requiring an activation key to play online

To my understanding, PA:Titans when purchased from steam wouldnt require one of these (activation codes), but trying to play the game online (as my pc is just too ancient to support offline mod) results in a prompt requesting an activation code nonetheless.

I'd first tried to register an account with playfab, then realised I needed one here instead. Entering my password resulted in the prompt.

I couldnt launch the game directly from steam, either, had to launch it via local files, made sure it was set to be launched as administrator too.

If needed, I can throw in some screenshots, a friend suggested buying the original game to get the activation code which would allow for this to be played. I purchased that, and now trying to launch titans only allows for that game (PA classic) to be played. I can't really play online in PA Classic either though, but I suppose I can skip it since titans is evidently better.

Is there something I'm missing?

If you bought PA: Titans through Steam, you should be able to simply play it through Steam. If you get errors when doing so, post them here so we can fix it. You may want to try to disable the Steam Overlay for example. Though from what you are saying it sounds like it is a file permission issue.

As for the confusion about the activation code, there used to be three ways to buy PA, through Steam, through Uber itself, and at an actual store. If you didn't buy the game through Steam, you would use an UberID instead, which would need an activation code for on-line play, otherwise Steam takes care of it.

So if you launch it through the local files and sign in with a newly created UberID account, it won't have that activation code. You can however link that UberID to you Steam account if you are interested. You didn't need to buy another copy of PA.

I'd attempted to run the game directly from the stem client launcher, though even after disabling the overlay, the game would not run unless directly opened from local files.

I've managed to link my steam account to my verified uberID accoount, as suggested. I also uninstalled the game from steam, then installed the PA launcher, as it would appear the steam version had performance issues the PA launcher did not. Launching the game from the launcher however has now resulted in a loading icon for 'connecting to playfab ' to be displayed continuously disallowing me from clicking on any options. This icon has been rolling for close to an hour now, I've provided an image of it.

The launcher still only displays the old PA game backdrops when logging in, and in the background of the loading icon there is an offer to go and purchase the titans update, which I already have, though, I dont know if that means theres some updating issue or if theres a separate launcher from PA:Titans

I've finally managed to login, but I had to repurchase titans in order to do it

Unfortunatelty, the titans units themselves are unavailable, I can still only launch directly from the games local files, and despite having both versions, no matter which I open only the classic game is playable...

You should email support@uberent.com or open a support ticket. It sounds like you've ended up paying for the game multiple times, so hopefully they can work out how to refund you the difference once they get your account working correctly.

Alrighty, I'll be sending one asap... in my rush to get the game so that I could play with friends, I desperately attempted to get it by any means necessary, hence my buying it a second time.

Piggybacking here, but I'm a KS backer who never converted my key to steam because I didn't want to be locked in to using the steam client. Is this still the case or can I use both Uber and Steam's services if I choose to convert my key now?

You can use both. When you link your UberID and your Steam account, you can still launch PA outside of Steam and use your UberID to log in as well as use the UberLauncher to download updates.

Thanks, only got vanilla PA on steam when I redeemed though. I sent a ticket to support, hopefully they can help.