As we all are aware, big companies such as Blizzard and Sony Online Entertainment are preventing players from using their software once they have been caught (sometimes not even proven) cheating. What are your thoughts on this? My (long) opinion: If I spend my hard earned money on something and I want to modify it, it should be my right. If I modify my PS3 to do something it wasn't designed to do, I am still allowed to play my games on it (albiet, online games maybe not). I understand their position. I also understand the challenge in creating cheats. I used to hack the heck out of Sony's games back in the day. It actually started off as trying to fix a bug that would crash my PC. I found the error and patched the game in RAM, viola, no more bug. I graduated to altering the behavior of other things such as how the HUD was displayed and things like that. Once I got to know this software inside and out, I began playing with giving myself an unfair advantage. I didn't do it because I "had to win", I did it because it was fun to learn about assembly and reverse engineering. I ALWAYS sent my findings, source code, and notes to Sony. I never played with my cheats on for long, only to see if they worked. In the end I got banned from their game because I was "caught cheating". Now, I asked them to prove it and got nothing but line noise. It's obvious if I admit to cheating and provide code and other things. To that arguement I asked them to prove that my source code was even legitimate or functional. Again, line noise. I didn't care if I got my account back. My argument was that I paid for the software and anything loaded into my RAM was MINE, not theirs. I never modified their original files. They conceeded and offered me my account back. I told them not unless they wanted to hire me. Few weeks go by and I turned them down after I had a chance to seriously think about the whole thing. Now Blizzard is dropping the Banhammer on its Starcraft 2 customers. I am fine with losing online priveleges (though I feel a perm ban is harsh). I am NOT fine with losing the ability to play single player mode. So I cheat playing against the AI... does the AI have emotions now and is crying? I do NOT own Starcraft 2 and doesn't look like I ever will. Though I feel if a company has the ability to revoke access to my software (I still don't see how this is even legal), then they it should be a REQUIREMENT to provide verbose details in the matter. If it was a breach of the Terms of Use, prove it. I don't mean just say "we found software on your system", actually give me process names/ids, file names, RAM dumps of my processes. All of which are now being covered under the ToU (we allow them to own our RAM). Along with justification as to how this is a breach. Am I wrong? Am I giving cheaters too much credit?
Most of the time, cheats (and support for "training programs" as they are called, are added in the game on purposes, for the developer to skip ahead for testing. This is fine, and accepted. It's usually the developer or the people that work as a summer job as game tester leaks them out on sites. Now you have a different kind of cheats, where you use another software or modify the game files, to provide additional or any cheat.. this is again fine, no one really cares.. but when it comes to multilayer games, this is not good, as you ruin everyone else fun, and everyone else 60$ investment. Imagine you play play Starcraft2, and as soon as you start the game, and this happens most of the time, you are surrounded with tanks as soon as you start, and shoots you, and you lose. Will you still play StarCraft 2, or go "everyone cheats, screw it"... I think you'll go with the later path. Now a game like StarCraft which has both offline and online multilayer component, is a bit tricky.. some people cheat for single player.. but who knows that this doesn't provide you with you an edge on the multilayer component as well... Remember that such game is not 2 different games, one per each mode.. it's the same game, using the same engine, using the same game library files. Modifying any of them affect or can affect, both game play mechanics, hence why Blizzard has no choice to ban player that applies cheat on either single player or multilayer. The butty, and experience of a game, is to be challenging. If it was easy, then it provide no fun.. go watch TV, or youtube video's of matches of the game, if you want everything easy. Yea it's boring, but it's boring both ways. You feel some level of accomplishment when you are skilled enough to pass through a difficult level... yes it can be annoying for some, but that is what is fun. Another reason why games don't give you rights to modify the games, comes in the old old days where game consoles didn't really exist, and to play games you had to do a place which had an arcade machine(s). Now before continuing, arcade machines are expensive, and developers needs money to live. Keep that in mind... What happen, back in the days, is that let's say you had store of sorts, and you had an arcade machine with the game Asteroid for example. You make money, people came in play all the time. a year later or so, people stop coming as they want change or are bored with the game. So what happen is that people sold (and this was a successful buisness) add-on card that you add to the console which modifies the game, even imitating the version 2 of the same game series. Not quite the same game, might be very buggy, might use the same name while it's not the same game, but hey it's 1/4 of the price, as you don't need to buy a whole new arcade machine. Now what? Well you would do like most people did, get these add-on board instead of buying the new machine, especially that you know that this modification circuit board actually made the game interesting and a with a switch of the arcade machine sign, people will come back and play. More money for you. Also, another market, is that people really took softwares, decompile them, tweak them, or simply change the layout, and change the software name of course, and sell it for much cheaper. This was completely legal at the time. In both cases, the result was that studios were closing down. No more money was coming in. Imagine you are developer, you work with your friend or team your butt off a cool software which you call PhotoShop (assume you made it), and then I come, take it, switch the tool bar to the other side (let's say), and call it Photo Pro, and sell it for half price as you... and every version you release, I do the same thing. Why would people buy your software when mine can do the exact same thing, the same way, but half price. Something had to be done, desperately, and recognized by the law.. and the solution was the introduction of the license agreement, which clearly state you can't modify the software and the only you owe is the product key which if you are found distributed or go against the license agreement you agree that the company has the right to revoke it, and you don't have the right to use this software anymore if your key is revoked. It sounds bad, but it's just for the developers protection. Now, if I do what I said in my example about PhotoShop or like the arcade modders developers, I don't have the right, PLUS, to really remove any gray areas in bending the law, we have the copyright laws kick-in, so even if I don't agree at the license agreement and just hack a software, I can't.
The first rule of software is: you don't own the software. You own the right to use it --under terms and conditions outlined: play nice and don't copy and pass on, or modify and pass on which is basically the same thing. The problem is that MMORPG companies make their money off Fun. Fun is the service they provide; the game is just the medium. When people start cheating or griefing other players, the game becomes No Fun At All and people leave and money is being lost. So the smack-down on this is pretty heavy. As GoodBytes aptly points out, cheating innsingle-player mode may give you an unfair advantage in practice without penalty or foresight (knowing what comes at the next level) so that is also frowned on.
Ahhh you're talking about the whole "we're banning you online because you cheated single player". It's a pathetic idea, It's like punishing someone for not voting in a democratic company really in my opinion, totally pointless. As you say that they have no proof that basically means they have no leg to stand on surely? I view that as abit messy simply because it's like going "Sure you can get on this train to London" then stopping half-way and saying 'Sorry walk the rest of the way, you didn't sit in the right seat' it's pathetic. As they don't have any proof anyway... surely they can't stand to do that? Thats like my office bringing someone in and accusing fraud with no evidence. This is basically something I agree with to be fair mate, To be honest we won't ever win against the companies so they'll impliment this regardless, but I think it should go on a... "We have found software on your system that could be used for cheating... file x file y file z Windows Vistax32 Windows Vistax64 .idf .bleh Please remove these files within one week or this game will be locked." Thats only how I see it occuring. Otherwise you're going to have alot of angry gamers tearing Iceland apart.
That only came about as people were cheating on single playing by modifying game files then instead of reverting back to the original files they would then connect to multiplayer with the modified files still. This happens happens in alot games, swapping files around so you have the non modified game set for multiplayer isn't hard
So... if someone fidgets it should automatically just change the version to 9.99999134 or something so it won't let them connect to games?
In some games it does but if your gonna mess about with your game files then why try connect to multiplayer knowing what state they are in?
It's probably not purposly thought of mate. I tried to connect when I moded Freelancer and forgot all about it to be fair mate.
You got a point there, the only game i mod at all is diablo II but i keep 2 copies on that, one for single player and 1 for online. And thats only possible as i have multiple serial numbers for it. So yeah il concede on that 1, they should at least give you a warning about modified game files.
Cheating in singleplayer where there is no competition or attached leaderboards etc (eg you cant one up someone else) is perfectly acceptable and game companies should have no problem with it. Cheating when in multiplayer or when singlerplayer leaderboards etc are involved is just bad sportsmanship and those who commit it should be banned etc etc.
Sounds like your own problem, really. The game works entirely as intended. If you did something to mess with that then you need to take responsibility for the effects of your actions. In this case that responsibility is remembering to change the files before playing online.
Hmm you appear to have not read where that part came from, Nexxo... you haven't either? I don't have an issue with modding files... I did forget because this was six months down the line post-armed forces training when I jumped back online really mate. It's the idiots who change little things to give them an advantage. I changed files around because I played multipul modded servers over the course of six months forgot I was running something else, as anyone would. Occassionaly I would forget I have Mod 1 on when I logged onto Mod 2's servers, failed and just sorted it out. However we did have a few people being "smart" and changing little numbers here and there to give their weapons a little perk or make their fighter spin faster etc... We did catch them out. But if you're going to start banning people you need proof not some crap. But thats just me.
