What Brad said . Matrix is the publisher, AGSI is the rights holder, then comes us taking care of the game. Call it a loose confederation.
Anyway, we're still here coding, editing databases, and providing what support we can muster.
Matrix is definitely your primary contact on serial number issues but...
One solution has been to uninstall the game, then reinstall. When you reinstall make sure you install the patch(es) to the same location as the original game. We've seen some people install the original game to say C:\Matrix Games\HCE then install 2008.044 to C:\Games\HCE resulting in a SN error since the game is then split between two locations.
Thanks for attempting to help. I get the same result with the original release and subsequent patches. I have verified that the directory the patches are installed to are the same as the game is installed to.
I opened a ticket with Matrix in addition to several emails and still no joy. I can't say that it seems they are very concerned with the customer support aspect of the business after going a whole week without getting a single contact from anyone at tech support. Disappointing.
I'll try to send an email to the gentleman mentioned above and see if that can get anything moving. I'd really like to enjoy playing one of my all-time favorite games again! Thanks again for the help.