Slashdot Mirror
Bungie Speaks On Halo 2 Leak
BlueMoon writes "A moderator on the official Halo 2 forums posted some speculations and warnings about the Halo 2 leak. To the question where the leak originated he answered "is almost positively the work of some jerk in the manufacturing plant who pocketed the game". They also send out a warning that posting any kind of information about leak will result in "having your XBox Live account's ability to play Halo 2 crippled as we can and we will ban your gamertags from access to vital parts of Halo 2's online experience"." TalkXbox has a repost of an official statement asking community members to assist in the capture of the folks who leaked the game.
...How are they going to find out my gamertag?
Nothing for you to see here, Please move along.
Rule number one: Don't talk about Halo:2 leaks Rule number two: See rule number one
Microsoft employs ninjas? Who knew?!
... to the first Slashdotter to post a link to the Halo 2 torrent whilst screaming "lol ban me you M$ l0s3rz -- i am s0 3l33t!"
... 2 ... 1 ...
3
(Score:-1, Wrong)
Ha! Detailed language analysis shows that slashdot editorials are written by the Bush election campaign!
I hear in the French version Master Chief surrenders to the Covenant within the first 10 minutes of the game anyway. Problem solved.
*Fortitudo, aequitas, fidelitas.*
Also, Zonk, your account will be suspended for posting links on the front of /. to the bungie.net website. Thanks for the crash!
When will companies realize that piracy is just an unfortunate part of doing business. Did they honestly think it wasn't going to be posted up on the internet? I've talked to a variety of friends and strangers. Those that are familar with Halo and Halo 2 all said that they knew of the leak, but they were still going to buy it when it comes out in a few weeks. Those that steal it now...probably wouldn't have bought it anyways.
and about that.. if I'd write anonymously somewhere about the leak, or the game, how would they know it's me?(to be able to fuck my xbox live ability, which I don't have, hell, I don't even have a xbox).
so.. they're resorting to fud to keep the lid down on this... which is kinda stupid because the leak is already mentioned on PRINTED papers as well..
here's an idea though, next time you're making a game: don't fucking sit on it for a month once it's ready, especially when you know that THESE THINGS HAPPEN in the industry.
world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
Now I loved Halo and can't wait for the sequel, but have we really reached the point where we'll turn in our neighbors not just to the gubmint but to the corporations we love as well? Can I get some Monopoly game pieces from McDonalds for killing the guy who made Super Size Me?
This is exactly the kind of thing peer to peer networks didn't need right now with all the litigation going around. Microsoft is sure to blame evil Kazaa, EDonkey, et al for what is obviously an internal matter.
Microsoft and other corporations need to look on the inside at their own employees before they blame P2P...P2P can't make it magically appear.
nice troll - now fuck off and die
l
you know no one who watched spiderman 2 three days before it was in theaters - the first "release" was a POS cam version on June 30th - the day the movie came out:
http://www.vcdquality.com/image.php/i-38602.htm
Peddle your bullshit elsewhere
I've just signed legislation that'll outlaw Russia forever. We'll begin bombing in five minutes.
Nabbing a CD off an assembly line is no better than downloading the game off the internet, it's stealing plain and simple.
and your sig says...
Software piracy is victimless theft
If you feel there is no difference between stealing a cd off an assembly line and downloading the game it contains from the internet... are you saying that stealing a cd off the assembly line is victimless theft?
At least with downloading a copy there is no actual physical loss, but between the combination of your statement and sig, you seem to be condoning stealing cd's... possibly from anywhere as it is 'victimless theft'.
You sir make me sick. Please get your ethics and logic in order.
Help Brendan pay off his student loans
The more people that know its actually been leaked, the more that will go out on the net seeking it. However, I don't feel that this leak will have a big impact on the games sales. It would be interesting to find out how many people actually have modded xboxes, and then on top of that... how many people would be happy with a 'french' version of the game. And of those people, how many will not care about gaming online.... i dunno, i think Halo 2's big selling feature was the Xbox live support. Lets wait and see.
Haha! He can't remember which way he's trolling!
They also send out a warning that posting any kind of information about leak will result in "having your XBox Live account's ability to play Halo 2 crippled as we can and we will ban your gamertags from access to vital parts of Halo 2's online experience"."
Could someone please explain how they could do this to someone who talked about the leak? I guess I don't understand the connection between an XBox Live account, what gamertags are, and if they mean talking about it on Bungie Forums only.
no need to seek the leak if you want a peek
FWIW I am a temp at MS. I have played Halo 2 multiplayer. It's a good game, but I am more of a PC guy and I prefer UT2004.
as long as it's from microsoft.
or is it ok as long as it's from any corporation?
how about your local computer dealer, you know, the one who hasn't been driven out of business by walmart yet? (because we all know stealing from walmart would be okay.)
So is the authour of the parent of this post - "Anonymous Coward" is very definatly a known troll...
Not everything that can be measured matters; Not everything that matters can be measured.
Is it true? Is Halo 2 really leaked?
It seems to be that way, yes. It would seem that the french PAL version of the game has surfaced on the internet.
Did Bungie get hacked or something?
Of course not. This is almost positively the work of some jerk in the manufacturing plant who pocketed the game is it is being printed in mass for world release on the 9th of November.
What can I do about it?
For starters:
STOP POSTING LINKS TO LEAKED INFORMATION WHERE THE PUBLIC HAS EASY ACCESS TO IT.
The rules have not changed from what we said about leaked magazine shots. Clearly, this leak is highly illegal. By posting links to where it can be downloaded, or even by posting links to screens of the leaked game, you're contributing to the problem by spreading the leaked information. Further, you may spoil the game for people who have worked hard to keep their first experience of Halo 2 pure.
As such, expect harsh reprimand for the posting of leaked information. A link or offer to give out a link via private media on the forums will get you banned permanently. The same goes for any kind of leak-related spoiler information. Further, you risk having your XBox Live account's ability to play Halo 2 crippled as we can and will ban gamertags from access to vital parts of Halo 2's online experience. We are NOT kidding around here. There will be no warning, no appeal, you'll just be gone.
If you come across a link to the leaked game, do not reply to it, do not post about it in other forums, do not in any way spread the problem. Message me, SketchFactor, Frankie, or Achronos immediately upon discovering the leak, and then leave it alone. Even telling your friends can result in the spread of the leak, which does us as a company harm.
What is Microsoft going to do about this?
There's no doubt in my mind that Microsoft has people tracking down whoever was responsible for this. I hope whoever it was thought that leaking the game was worth his job, I hear the Microsoft legal team employ some very effective ninja.
What do I do to avoid spoilers now?
I'm not sure what to tell you. This post makes it quite clear that spoilers from the leaked game will get people seriously banned, but we all know that won't stop some idiot from running in here with a screen of some huge spoiler. My suggestion? Avoid Halo 2 forums if you want to make 100% sure that you don't see any major spoilers. If you must visit forums, make sure you're very choosy about which threads you read. Avoiding spoilers is up to you, now.
That covers it. From here on out, any threads related to the piracy of the game will be deleted on sight.
Those are some outlandish claims. Where to start...
First of all you can't play these copies of the game on xboxlive. You can't play any backups on xboxlive because your modchip has to be on and nobody, I mean nobody has a way of playing backups on xboxlive.
Second of all how does it help you to stop spreading information about the leak by posting stop spreading information about this leak on your message board? I mean really. "Lets all just pretend this didn't happen okay guys?" That is a silly attitude.
Third, this is a part of life in the 21st century okay? Bungie should be flattered that someone probably wanted that game out so bad they basically just cost themselves their lively hood and maybe huge financial and/or criminal penalties to play the game early. I am sure that many more people are going to be missing work on the day Halo2 comes out in retail then those who are missing work today as a result of this leak. Lets look at this in a realistic light, anything digital is free for grabs period. Bungie has over a million pre-orders on this title, how many of those were cancelled as a result of this becomming freely available on the internet? None?
Another thing... you guys aren't Britney Spears with a new single who are in risk of being raped of profit. You are Bungie. Your company is a living legend about to release its masterpeice. Your game has a million preorders and the only way to play online is to own a legitimate copy, STOP FRETTING ABOUT IT! IT'S IN FRENCH FOR GODS SAKES! Even I won't download it.
As is predictable with slashdot, the kneejerkers are out in full force, so I'm going to clear a few things up here:
1.) Banning your xbox live account. Can the stupid bullshit about BWAHAHAHA how are they going to know my xbox live name when i post on slashdot. They are talking about banning you if you post on the bungie forums. That's it. Remember this isn't a press release, it's a FORUM POST.
2.) Banning your xbox live account - part 2. They aren't banning accounts for talking about it - they are banning for people who link to info on how to get it, whats in it, spoilers obtained from the leak, etcetera. Basically they're trying to keep the bungie forums a safe place to enjoy discussing the game, for those who want to retain the surprise at the storyline when the game is legally released, and of course cut down on at least a few people finding out where to get the game.
3.) "Microsoft piracy hotline is so ridiculous, this is just a game" nonsense. While it's true that the microsoft approach to software piracy in general is sometimes pretty outlandish, it's nothing new. The piracy website has been around a long time. Microsoft has been asking people to squeal on their buddies for a long time. Hell, I've seen advertisements telling you to turn in people who pirate M$ software. This is nothing new, and pretty much standard Microsoft fare, so don't act like it's so ridiculous that they are doing it for a game - It is the de facto corporate response to any piracy.
Ninjas? Was this written by an 8 year old?
Parent is correct, the notion that MS employe ninjas is silly. Everybody here at MS knows that Ronin are far more effective in terms of bang for the buck. Ninjas are very expensive, and non-tax deducatble.
HA! I just wasted some of your bandwidth with a frivolous sig!
Well, technically, grabbing a CD off the assembly line is worse, because there is physical theft involved. But according to the wonderful US system, if you get it from a P2P network, you are contributing to others infringement, and should thus pay for every crime they have committed as well. Expect the death penalty.
I for one, welcome our early-release-toting, dodge-the-death-penalty Halo 2 overlords.
-- Having a Creationist Museum is like having an Atheist place of worship
Why aren't they implementing high security levels in these plants, not unlike diamond/gold mines? I mean, if it's that easy to steal something worth many millions dollars, someone WILL do it (even if won't make a cent out of it, obviously). Prestige of being the first to release highly awaited titles is crucial on the warez scene I heard.
Eureka Science News - automatically updated
ARTHUR
Please go and tell your master that we have been charged by God with a sacred quest, and if he will give us food and shelter for this night he can join us in our quest for the Halo 2 Grail.
FRENCH HACKER
Well, I'll ask him, but I don't think he'll be very keen. He's already got one, you see?
ARTHUR
What?
GALAHAD
He says they've already got one!
ARTHUR
Are you sure he's got one?
FRENCH HACKER
Oh yes. It's very nice
CUT TO BATTLEMENTS. THE TAUNTER (FRENCH HACKER) turns to some others.
FRENCH HACKER
I told him we already got one.
They all giggle.
no you are wrong.
nabbing a CD off the assembly line is actual real theft.
downloading it is copyright violation.
there is a BIG difference.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
Yeah, that'll work, because we all know security through obscurity is the best solution.
The fact is, anyone who was going to pirate knows where to find it.
The people that pirate the game apparently already have a modded Xbox. Since they modded their Xbox I would guess that they would not be purchasing the game anyway. So really what kind of loss would Bungie be looking at in the first place?
Who the fuck are you to tell me what I can talk about and what I cannot talk about?
It's thier forum. If you don't like the rules, go talk elsewhere.. they are only banning people who talk about it on BUNGIE forums.
you wouldn't need to be good at programming, just change some random bytes. or fill it up with goatse.
Actually, I believe bittorrent prevents people from doing this very thing. It uses checksums for each segment transferred, so you can't just insert any old data in. You would have to insert data that matched the checksum. Needless to say, this is not generally an easy thing to do.
Don't count your messages before they ACK.
What did you expect them to say? "You can check out the leak and post about it here, but be sure to put *SPOILER* in your subject line!"
This is a post on their OFFICIAL forums. Of course they're going to seem arrogant! This is a game they've been working hard on for a few years now. They're trying to prevent folks from ruining the experiences of others by posting spoilers, screenshots, etc. of the game on THEIR official boards. Undoubtedly there are lots of Bungie/MS haters who would love nothing more to piss off Halo fans by doing those type of things.
-- jchenx
They aren't banning accounts for talking about it - they are banning for people who link to info on how to get it, whats in it, spoilers obtained from the leak, etcetera. Basically they're trying to keep the bungie forums a safe place to enjoy discussing the game
Sure, they have a right to control their forums, but the statement Bungie made isn't limited to just their forum. Here's a clip of the rather draconian announcement:
It really sounds like Bungie is trying to control the spread of free speech. It's a rather poor statement if all they want to do is provide a leak-talk free forum on the bungie forums. A good way to actually GET people to talk about something is to tell them very loudly to NOT talk about it. Get real Bungie, this is a game not a military secret. Sadly I think this is just a poorly thought out statement from one guy at Bungie, but since it's the only thing that's been said it's taken on large-scale meaning.
Bungie needs to realize that the cat is out of the bag and they can't do anything to put it back in. Anyone that wants to know will know. They should have just been as quite as possible, announce they're looking for the source of the leak, and remove any posts on their forums posting links to the game or spoilers.
AccountKiller
Before MS bought them out. How can a game company produce only 1 game and not sell the game engine to anyone and still stay in business? Id and Valve are different in that they sell the engine to other folks.
Erm...
There are quite a few game companies who have written their own software without licensing it out as a basis for the games of others.
Ignoring the fact that Bungie already has one licensee for the Halo engine, there's probably one little secret, one little flaw in your theory...
The Halo (1) engine actually isn't that great, and has many peculiar limitations. It's difficult to extend it (Halo PC is somewhat limited in modding potential - there's no chance of adding extra code without hacking the main Halo executable). Its design isn't really suited for online play, and isn't client-server like Quake, Half-Life, Unreal etc. (Gearbox did a pretty good job of retrofitting some modern netcode, but it's still not perfect).
There are a bunch of weird physics bugs involving moving objects (lifts, etc) and non-player entities - persuade a vehicle or monster on to a lift, and it'll fall straight through.
It's perfectly tuned for the game it was written for and works extremely well for that, but it's not some cross-platform, ultra-versatile thing like a Quake or Unreal engine. Anyone wanting to add to it will have to dig deep down into its innards.
As for the Halo 2 leak, probably the biggest problem isn't so much the hand-wringing about copyright theft, more the fact that Bungie has kept the full story of the single-player game a complete secret. There are most likely whole races of creatures you're not supposed to know about yet, like in the original Halo. And the pricks pirating the game are likely to be just the sort who will jump into some online forum to describe all the plot twists and characters.
Halo.Bungie.org has already closed its forums to new posting. Bungie.net are threatening people with permanent bans. Vicious, yes, but for a Bungie game, where the sotory is incredibly important, revealing the plot is wrong...
Tedious Bloggy Stuff - hooray?
If you don't own an XBox, in what way are you Bungie's customer?
Look, piracy is a pain in the ass for everyone. Do you think I want some jackass to spoil the story for me because they have no respect for the effort Bungie put forth to create the game? Of course not. I would rather see them hanging from a lamppost.
At least the Valve code leak was 1) not playable, and 2) did an (arguable) public service by revealing that the game was nowhere near completion. This leak is just some asshole.
Bungie is Microsoft, but they are as independent as well. Microsoft doesn't really interfere with what they do, and Bungie doesn't really get involved with anything outside of what they do. At least, that was the situation around the release of the first HALO.
Comment of the year
1- There is no point in acting as if the world has ended. Games get pirated all the time. In fact, ALL of them get pirated. What made you think yours would be exempt?
2- Repeatedly pointing out that this is "highly" illegal (is there a lowly illegal?) bores me. EVERYBODY knows it's illegal. Next, please point out that the sky is HIGHLY blue...
3- Pirate copies are available before your game was officially released, so what? Again, it happens all the time, especially with high profile games like yours.
4-Is this going to harm you more than if the game had been pirated one or two days before official release? No, to play a copy, one needs to have a modchip installed. People who have a modchip installed and are playing the leaked game were going to pirate it anyways once it was released.
5- Microsoft is investigating this and will prosecute to the full extent of bla bla bla.
Again, you're boring me. Most of these investigations get nowhere. If you do happen to catch the leaker, I hope that makes you happy because no one else will give a shit. The guy who leaked the HL2 source code was arrested. This didn't dissuade the guy who just leaked Halo 2. What makes you think this time will be any different?
To sum it up: It's no surprise that your game was leaked, it's no surprise that it will be pirated, and we all know it will still sell like hot cakes and that you will all make lots of money. Hell, you're already making lots of money, you work for Microsoft right?
So stop your whining. Thank you.
Disclaimer: My xbox isn't modded, I have not downloaded this leaked version and do not plan to.
They have denied that request, since the file in question is not illegal in sweden. The file only contains information on how HALO2 can be obtained - not HALO2 in itself - therefore the file in question is not at all illegal, according to swedish law (and The Piratebays lawyers views on the matter).
Also, according to previous court rulings - the owner / maintainer of The Piratebay cannot be held liable for how its users uses the service offered.
However, in the end, the seeders / downloaders that upload data, can be held liable - if microsoft can track them down AND get the court to force the ISPs to reviel who they are.
Well that's it. There's no way I'm going to even THINK about Halo 2 if the MS Ninjas are on the case. Everyone knows that ninjas are the real ultimate power. See Ninjas: http://www.realultimatepower.net/index3.htm
A hungry man will tell you anything if you give him a cookie.
"If you don't own an XBox, in what way are you Bungie's customer?"
No, but I bought the PC version and I wish I could get my money back. I played the xbox version in stores and wish I could get my time back. I also bought Myth and the Marathon games in the past. Before Bungie sold out and became one trick ponies.
"Do you think I want some jackass to spoil the story for me because they have no respect for the effort Bungie put forth to create the game?"
Why is it the jackasses fault for spoiling the story when you are the one to read the thread about the story in the first place. Did someone FORCE you to read a thread about the halo 2 story? Did they tie you down and pin open your eyelids forcing you to watch what it going on before the game hits the stores?
No, I just have a sense of ethics. Not everybody in this world is motivated by love of money.
They have no way to monitor all P2P traffic, obviously.
What they did was simple. They knew some common search term for child porn, and they searched the FastTrack network for hits. They then downloaded files, and registered the IP addresses of the people they had received kiddie porn from. They may also have checked the user's file list to see if he was sharing anything else.
It's that simple. There is nothing baffling about this. You can do it yourself! Fire up Kazaa (beware of spyware), and search for kiddie porn (use your imagination). Now you can download it and check the IP address of the person you downloaded from.
Actually, they used a customized FastTrack client which made all this easier.
But that kind of begs the question: Can Sharman Networks now sue OKOKRIM for this? They probably used an unauthorized client, after all.
Clever signature text goes here.