[rassy7]

Ok, I did what you said. Completely uninstalled and deleted everything everywhere. Reinstalled the game and installed the (patch 2.05.13) which didn't mention anything about the GOTY version. I couldn't find any that specifically said "non-GOTY" but this one from GameFront didn't mention it.

Then, I started the game and activated it with the Assault Squad serial key.

***Then, after reading a different thread about activating MoW:AS, I activated the game on Steam with the GameSpy key. Then, I launched the game through Steam and it worked.

However, I backed out of the game and immediately exited steam and launched the game through the desktop shortcut and tried to enter a game like I did before and I got the Desynch error again.

So, I guess you can get TO the multiplayer lobby and attempt to enter games w/o steam activation but apparently, in order to actually play the game, you NEED to activate MoW:AS on Steam with the GameSpy key (which was provided on the inside cover of the game case for me) then launch through Steam.

I wish I'd known this before but I couldn't find any documentation of anything telling me I had to activate the game on Steam. An error message or prompt in hte multiplayer lobby saying the game needs to be activated on Steam first would probably help eliminate this confusion.