A friend gave me a key cause they had bought a supporter pack... but I can't play?

Did anyone ever hear anything back about this? I bought a supporter pack so I could give a friend a key to play with me. He got the key and I got the message that I am in for EA but he cant use the key says invalid. I checked the key myself and it says the same thing. I have not seen a response from anyone. Surely they are not trolling and giving people keys for a free game. We paid for EA and that's what they keys should be for. Am I crazy?

received a +1 key from my friend's supporter pack yesterday.

same issue,

- redeemed fine on steam
- downloaded on steam
- installed on steam
- launched from steam

- pressed login, redirected to pathofexile.com
- logged in existing account, asked to validate email link
- clicked email link, page had confirm button, clicked confirm button
- back to game, "no early access key linked"

- checked account page -> early access : "no key linked"
- checked account page -> connections : correct steam id, links to my steam profile
- checked shop -> redeem key : entered same key successfully used on steam, "invalid key"

- sent support mail, hoping i can play before real launch. :)

Death~

The steam key given is just so you can download it on steam. It doesn't give you the actual EA access. If you're getting a key from your friend make sure it's the actual EA key.