Slashdot Mirror
Battlefield 2142 to Bundle Spyware?
An anonymous reader writes "Kotaku reports on a Shacknews Post. Battlefield 2142, the new Electronic Arts game, is expected to include mandatory spyware in the retail package. The software will apparently monitor web browser and other computer usage; this information will be used to deliver targeted in-game advertisements. Other popular game titles have included spyware in the past to aid anti-cheating measures. Is spyware acceptable to the public when it comes with a game, or has EA made a PR misstep?"
I always love to have as many backround processes running as possible!
no
Isn't spyware illegal or am I thinking of Malware? Either way it's not good.
Suprise, another Battlefield game I'll be skipping
Jaysyn
There is a war going on for your mind.
Now, it will have to be rated 18+
Because a game that does something I would never let a game do dang well better be free. Not to mention the computer I use to play it (or whatever system it's on). Because I sure as heck am not wasting good money on this. Yeah, it's a good idea, but I don't need another avenue for anyone to throw their products in my face. I get enough of that already.
This sig isn't original enough, it's time to come up with something witty...
So this is why they need dualcore for the new games.
and paid for 2142 via EA's downloader - and the EULA made no mention of this.
Now either the kotaku is imagining bits of paper, the online purchased version is magically pure or EA are about to get themselves a huge class-action kicking.
I loved BF2, shelled out for the hit-or-miss expansion packs and already felt slightly narked off. I think this is the final straw - wish me luck on getting a refund.
Interesting to a point - I really could care less about in-game adds, but monitoring all of my internet traffic and placing in-game adds?
3 thoughts on this:
#1 - It probably won't be long before someone develops a web browser wrapper that 'fakes' site visits.
#2 - How explicitly does EA describe what they're collecting and how? If they're scanning my cookies, that's one thing. Directly monitoring packets is another level of bad.
#3 - How long do you think it will be before some adult site that daddy was visiting gets into Jr's game because everyone logs in on one account? I can see the laywers salivating......
What? You can't be serious! Oh wait.... You are?
/.ers, is this the starting of the end of privacy? Whatever happened too good old gaming.
Now really, who will get all this money for advertising? The consummer still needs to buy the game, right? So what, all this spyware and ads revenue is a "bonus" to the game developer? If the game would be offered for free upon installation of this spyware, I would then accept it. I would get myself another HDD with another Windows installation just for that game.
My fellow
The hip way to get your IP. No ads, ever.
Is spyware acceptable to the public when it comes with a game, or has EA made a PR misstep?
It's only a big PR misstep if the general public is informed that this is a horrible idea. If it's just a couple of geeks muttering, it's not a problem at all (since most of /. hates EA already).
Therefore, I suggest telling all your friends that EA will be watching their every step online and they'll be open to identity theft. Come to think of it, would EA have pr0n ads in game if that's what your browsing history indicated? Now that would be hilarious.
"Billy! Why is there a naked lady in your game?!? Someone get me Jack Thompson on the phone, because it's time to sue!"
This is entirely unacceptable...in any and every way.
Anti cheating measures are a good idea, but isn't it OUR perogative if we cheat or not? If there is a vested interest in prevention of cheating [such as MMORPG] then it is acceptable.
For single player games using spyware in the game is unacceptable...would the game stop functioning correctly if some antispyware software picked it up? Who knows...all i kno9w is that I won;t be buying the game.
Flippin liberties!
>>>Scanning for I.D.I.O.T.S. >>>
>>>I.D.I.O.T.S. FOUND! >>>
So EA/Dice has a really unstable, memory- and processor time-hogging bastard of an engine that'd barely run well even if it had exclusive hardware access, now they want to run more and really nasty stuff too? They just could have made a new game instead of an overhyped, overpriced and unnecessary mod. That's one more copany I won't be buying from anymore.
This crash was brought to you by Dodge. Buy bigger cars.
Fight hunger. Filet a politician and send him to a 3rd world country of your choice.
Another reason to pirate the game, the pirated version won't have the spyware with it. Arrrggghh!
No no, not on EA's part. Okay, so yes on EA's part, but also - first thing I thought though was that once people figure out the algorithm for this, it's going to be so much fun.
Also, as this is EA, chances are they're not going to realize that Firefox is a web browser and then wonder when their statistics show that half of their userbase doesn't surf the internet at all.
I'll be able to see online casino, pr0n and body parts enlargement ads in my game ! What a great idea.
I didn't found something funny to put here.
Firstly, I hate spyware, but don't we all.
It seems to me that this is a bit of a double dip on their end. I could see putting up with this if it was actully financing "free" content that I could receive down the road. Professional caliber add-ons for example.
Some Questions remain
1. Can you turn off the spyware?
2. If so will it still be feature complete with the spyware turned off?
3. Will it uninstall when the game uninstalls?
4. What new security holes does this open?
5. Will the upfront purchase price be subsidized by this spyware?
-Lemur
If all I use the web for is to browse nudie sites, will this mean I can get free pr0n in-game?
The software is optional. All you have to do, I click on "I Disagree" and installation of BF2: 2142 is completed. The installation of this 'spyware' comes after the setup installs all the neccesary files for BF2: 2142. I'd recommend the installation of the software because unlike other direct marketing approaches, this one is very much more precise. Now don't worry if EA is going to crack down on you, Kotaku, for having cookies to torrent websites, etc. That data doesn't even get transmitted. And the software is only activated when you are not playing the game and only while surfing the web.
I personally don't plan on buying BF2: 2142 because it doesn't appeal to me. I'm happy with BF2.
Previewing comments are for sissies!
I stopped buying EA games a few years ago after bizarre experience interviewing with Maxis. I was going for a high end programming job and everyone I interviewed with posed a question that was clearly straight out of their current task list. I gave good answers to everything and everyone seemed happy and impressed. I even exchanged some followup emails with one developer about a particularly odd math algorithm he had been working on. They seemed eager to have me onboard. Then the HR dept stepped in. Clearly they were still chained to EA and disconnected from Maxis. She determined that I was a low level system admin and even though we had discussed salary in the 120-140 range she said because I was just a system admin they could only offer me 40k. Cue twilight-zone music. I tried to explain to her that I was a senior developer and had just spent two days interviewing with all of the other deveopers there. Apparently this pissed her off something awful. I tried to contact some of the people I had interviewed with and she had forbidden them to speak with me. Real nice. So I figured that if HR runs the shop, it must be hell to work for. I have never heard anything positive from any EA owned shop's employee. I joined the developer's boycott of EA at that point and chalked it up as a lesson learned. Despite the fact that the Battlefield series of games looks really pretty, I still won't support EA. They do dirty business and destroy small studios. I wish there were some way to support the developers who bleed for them without contributing the the hateful machine that the conglomerate has become. Just my $0.02
Spyware is malware, if it installs without the user's consent, and then silently phones home with your usage information in the interest of forcing advertisements on you. If this game is really going to do this, then I'll boycott it.
/* No Comment */
The representatives of DICE (the developers, EA is the publisher) have now clarified on the forums that it only records what ads you look at and for how long you look at them - it does not monitor your browsing habits, your cookies, or your hard drive.
Or so they say...
But even if it's not spying on my pr0n, I still have problems with paying full price for a game and having it be supported by ads. If they want to knock off $10 and give me in-game ads, that's fine by me. I consider it a fair trade. But the recent ad craze in the video game industry is not lowering prices, it's just creating more revenue for the game publisher.
And since EA is not only charging for cheat codes and adopting **AA tactics on torrents I've decided to stop buying EA products - even Spore.
This rumor has been going around the net based off of ONE post on the ShackNews forums, with no confirmation whatsoever as far as I can tell. It seems to be fueled by the neverending hate for anything that EA does.
I highly doubt that this is true.
Would you, as a potential customer for Battlefield 2142 prefer to get targetted in-game advertisement or no advertisement at all?
Seems clear to me; as it does not benefit the customer in any way, he shouldn't have to pay (using personal information as a currency) for it.
Slashdot social media options: AIM, ICQ, Yahoo, Jabber and Mobile Text. Why no MySpace?
So, slashdot is reporting on Kotaku reporting on a Shacknews post? Are there any more layers we can go through there?
It's like sex, except I'm having it!
Between this, Starforce and various and sundry other egregious invasions by game software, I've completely given up on the PC as a games platform. Sure, I've still got one for web browsing, video editing and other "serious" things, but if I want to play games I'll keep them to the consoles, thanks. This rather helpfully keeps my PC a fair bit more stable, too.
"I Know You Are But What Am I?"
Here:j pg
http://www.hostimage.org/img/82432.jpg
http://img110.imageshack.us/img110/8276/82432xn8.
Did anyone actually read the information that came with the game?
Here are quotes from the devs on the subject:
DICE CKMC posted: The information that is gathered is specifically related to the ingame ads themselves and not anything personally related to you.There is no additional spy ware software installed secretly to your machine.
DICE CKMC posted: Data will only be gathered from in game. Web browsing and other profiling data is not being gathered.
Squib has essentially nailed it. The purpose of the gathering is to determine if an ad is viewed by players.
DICE CKMC posted: As I have mentioned before (in other threads/interviews) there will be no adverse affects on players from the advertising aspect. It will not impact gameplay at all. You most definitely will not receive any emails or other forms of solicitation due to this.
I will add that if any of you do receive negative solicitation related to anything Battlefield please let me know.
I just called GameStop and cancelled my preorder.
I was all excited to pick it up and play, too. Just itching to order a new video card (over instead of buying a new Mac) to play this and a handful of other gems on. Guess I'll be sticking with the 360.
The line must be drawn here. Not even this far, certainly not any farther!
Business practices such as these really are an insult to the community. 'You're going to take our crap and like it!' - and the shitty part is that people do, over and over again. Stop cramming advertisements up my ass - I don't care about your shitty product. If I get my arm blown off in 2142, I don't want to see an advert for Bandaids. I certainly am not interested in a Dodge Neon.
I hope the lack of my sale takes money out of your pocket twice. I'll be encouraging all of my friends to cancel their preorders, now, and some of them are significantly more paranoid about Crapware than I am.
Informatus Technologicus
The Software may incorporate technology developed by IGA Worldwide Inc. ("IGA") (the "Advertising Technology"). The purpose of the Advertising Technology is to deliver in-game advertisements to you when you use the Software while connected to the Internet. When you use the Software while connected ot the Internet, the Advertising Technlogy may record your IP address and other anonymouse information ("Advertising Data"). The Advertising Data is temporarily used by IGA to enable the presentation and measurement of in-game advertisements and other in-game objects which are uploaded temporarily to your personal computer or game console and changed during online game play. The Advertising Technology does not collect any personally identifiable information about you, and EA will ont provide IGA with any of your personally identifiable information. The servers used by the Advertising Technology may, from time to time, be located outside your country of residence. If you are located within the European Union, the servers may be located outside the EU.
By installing and using the Software, you agree to: (i) the transfer of the Advertising Data to servers located outside your country of residence and, if applicable, outside the European Union; (ii)the collection and use of the Advertising Data as described in this Section; and (iii) the delivery of advertising and marketing content by the Advertising Technology. IF YOU DO NOT WANT IGA TO COLLECT, USE, STORE, OR TRANSMIT THE DATA DESCRIBED IN THIS SECTION, DO NOT INSTALL OR PLAY THE SOFTWARE ON ANY PLATFORM THAT IS USED TO CONNECT TO THE INTERNET."
slashdot troll = you make a compelling argument I do not like the implications of.
"Other popular game titles have included spyware in the past to aid anti-cheating measures. Is spyware acceptable to the public when it comes with a game, or has EA made a PR misstep?"
/. post makes it out to be.
What a disgusting attempt to inflame people on an issue that doesn't exist. First of all, anti-cheating measures are not spyware. Spyware reports back on what you are doing. Programs like PunkBuster or Warden (part of Blizzard's WoW client) do not report on anything except the game process, UNLESS THEY CATCH YOU CHEATING.
Secondly, there are more options than "spyware is acceptable" and "EA did something evil". For starters, maybe (probably?) Battlefield 2142 does not contain spyware. Maybe it does, but it is opt-in, which would not be evil. Maybe it does, but is opt-out on install, which would still be evil but not as bad as this
And maybe this whole thing is made up because AFAIK, nobody other than that one ShackNews forum poster has confirmed this.
Maybe I'm just naïve, but a firewall should be able to block the program from accessing the internet. Sure, you still have a background process running on your machine, but at least it's not invading your privacy. On the other hand, if it accesses the 'net through BF2142 you're gonna have a problem.
/. story says though, it may be a big PR misstep. If gamers experience lag or their computer crashes because of this new software, there's going to be hell to pay for EA. Therefore, EA better make damn sure their software is bug free and totally unobtrusive. Even then, gaming sites may make such a big deal out of it that they'll back off.
On another note, this trend of adverts in games is becoming alarming. Is this the "next-gen" of ad placement? As the
I hope they do, because if EA is allowed to do this it could set a very bad precedent.
-Parallax
Seriously, what the hell?
If i buy BF2142, which I won't, then I've already given my share to the developers and anyone else that deserves to get paid. It would be a whole other matter if the game was free, or significantly cheaper, but it's not.
Basically, I PAY lots of money to GET ads, and there's not even a way to pay MORE to get RID of them!
Blog -
You know, before now I wasn't especially interested in 2142. I thought BF2's multiplayer was pretty weak and can't run it on my home computer anyway, so naturally I wasn't looking forward to what amounts to a retail mod of a game I already didn't like. After this, though, I'll be telling all my friends - including a few avid BF2 players who have been anticipating this release - to avoid this shit like the plague, at least until a hack is released that disables this dandy little 'feature' EA has decided to so graciously bestow upon this highly anticipated title. (As though they actually need more money. What, is EA poor or something? Correct me if I'm wrong, but I seem to remember EA being in fairly good shape, huge and happy as ever. Seriously though, targeted in-game advertising? Look, if you want more money from someone after they buy your shitty game, make them subscribe to it or something, don't cram out of place car billboards and dick-pill banners down their throats.)
I'll laugh my ass off if they start banning people for blocking the in-game spam and spyware, too. Though I can't say I'd be in such good spirits if I happened to be one of the folks unfortunate enough to have pre-ordered this online, not knowing I'd be allowing this garbage onto my computer but still wanting to play. That would be grounds for massive E-rage, and frankly, I think anyone who pre-ordered should be investigating the possibility of a refund as soon as possible.
Yes Starforce is EVIL, yes unskippable cutscenes are EVIL, yes doctored screenshots are EVIL, yes Ads in agmes are totally EVIL, but this the bullshit you get from what I laughable call the 'triple A' industry.
Most indie games have none of that crap. I am very loud and blatant about not pulling any stunts like those for my games. Plus theres no console approval board between me and my customers, and no console licence fee either.
Dont lump in the good old indie dev with the scum who pull stunts like this.
DRM-free indie games for the PC and Mac: Positech Games
Companies will scream "free speech" if states try to outlaw "mandatory, up-front-in-your-face-we-told-you-its-here" spyware.
BUT if states use the "minors don't have full rights to engage in contracts" logic, they CAN restrict purchase of such software to people over the age of 18 and withstand court challenge.
THAT is one way to curb such evil.
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
From the actual box disclaimer (linked in another's post) it appears that the software is used to monitor and/or distribute how often the in-game ads are viewed, not the browser etc. This bring a few questions:
a) Does said software run when the game isn't running
b) Does it connect on a specific port or to a specific IP (can I block it)
c) Where is this info located besides in-box. If a user has opened the box, most outlets will not accept a return
d) Can somebody give a working link/email for EA's complaints department
is slashdot seriously linking to a Kotaku 'story' that has as its only source a post on a web forum? You have got to be joking - sites like Kotaku, Joystiq, etc have no credibility, its just a big circle jerk of bloggers. they have an even dumber version of slashdot - they post stories on the site that are found elsewhere 99% of the time, often linking to a story on another gaming blog, that links to another blog, that links to the real story, which often times isn't credible and can't be backed up.
These sites will post anything and everything on their front pages to drive in traffic, and never make any attempt to tell us when the things they have 'reported' are completely wrong. Posting this drivel on slashdot or digg only adds to the problem.
Pretendo, $ony-Bony, and Micro$haft will all do this eventually on their consoles along with their third party developers inserting it into their games. Always go with an open source solution. This is the only way to prevent spyware of anykind.
I am addicted to BF2 and love the game, but this move to delivering new add-ons via this downloader has me steamed. Still haven't played the EF and AA add-ons for this reason. Who wants something in their startup tray just to download some files. Who needs stupid IE browser requirements just to download some maps. Who needs OS requirements limited to XP when the base game plays fine on 2000 and 2003 (which I am running). I want disks and full tranferrablity without being online. The EA downloader move was the first warning that this franchise might be going in the wrong direction. I guess EA downloader must have been successful enough that it lead EA to believe BF players are willing to bend over and take it up the ass. Sad what EA is doing to this wonderful franchise and sad what players are willing to accept.
"Those who would give up essential Liberty to purchase a MMORPG deserve neither Liberty nor a MMORPG."
It's true no man is an island, but if you take a bunch of dead guys and tie 'em together, they make a good raft.
from summary: "Is spyware acceptable to the public when it comes with a game, or has EA made a PR misstep?"
One may as well ask "Are rootkits acceptable to the public when it comes with music, or has Sony made a PR misstep?"
We all know how well that one worked out. At least it's well publicized before the release, so that the hew and cry can prevent it from happening in the first place.
I like the Battlefield 1942 engine, but I kind of hate how EA and Dice is milking the engine releasing games based on it with only graphics changes, while the engine is still somewhat "static", so most mods gameplay is not that all different. The engine feels like a non-engine, something you can't do different gameplay styles. And theres still bugs from the original version on the latest one.
:D
:(. (Why the game is soo slow and "brown" on my computer?.)
Having that, I dont care much, except that seems that releasing soo fast destroy older communitys around older versions and add nothing. Is much like Battlefield is a episodic game, with several episodes, but not cross compatibility. You buy extensions of the game as new games, but these new "games" break backward compatibility, so break the gamming server community. Yea, It hurt the gamming scene.
Having that. I checked BF2142, and there are more about the problem. The engine is the BF2 one, with his problems and lack of flexibility. The gameplay is still good, but somewhat lost in translation from.... PlanetSide. Yes, because not only some ideas look ripped from PlanetSide, but are not well translated. This why If you like Battlefield 2142, you sould absolutelly download and play PlanetSide, because with the same hovertanks, pods, AMC, titan bases, etc.. is a much better, rich game, with a real MPORTS experience. Not only that, but seems that these poor villains of SOE able now to play the game to level 6 withouth pay, for free
And not only that, but PlanetSide is designed around a simpler engine, that give smoother gameplay, and as much more and different refreshing weapons.
And that is SAD. Because I like Battlefield, and the Battlefield gameplay. I like how DICE understand realism, and how mix realism and gamism to make a vivid experience. We have lost YEARS with new and new releases of Battlefield, but the engine is not much better. Meanwhile look at Quake, Unreal or other engines, theres eons of evolution on a few years.
note to self: I love the hovertank. I miss my copters
-Woof woof woof!
So, if this game is anything like C&C Generals or the expansion packs, it will be so buggy it wont play out of the box, it will be owned by blatant cheaters for the first year and then the expansion pack will come out and similarly be owned, they will never include the ladder pack and other promised features, BUT they will have spyware installed on your computer.
Where do I sign?
Well it looks like EA is doing their part to kill off that pesky PC gaming once and for all. I'm sure that there is all kinds of spying going on on users during online console games, but at least none of that involves (potentially) the kinds of other private crap I have on my PC. As usual, hacks will be born to get around the spyware, but isn't anyone getting a little tired of this yet? I know I am, soon the only game I'll be playing on my PC is solitaire!
To the making of books there is no end, so let's get started
At least we'll get a free game out of it. What's that ? we won't ? Screw that. Let the collective boycotting begin (in case you weren't boycotting EA games already)
A million monkeys and this is the best sig they could come up with...
I played the demo of BF2142, and was underwhelmed. I've played a lot of BF1942 (well, mostly the Desert Combat mod) and BF2, so I thought BF2142 would be a definite purchase for me. Still, I found I didn't enjoy the demo as much as I anticipated I would. I figured I'd wait a bit, see if some friends bought it, maybe pick it up after a patch or two was released. However, if they're going to attempt to spy on my other computing activities so they can deliver targetted ads in-game, I definitely will not be buying it now or at any point in the future. Glad I chose to wait!
One would think the stock market would react to this (ERTS) - a fun game in itself!
Take the 90-Day Challenge! http://rwmurker.bodybyvi.com/
I seriously doubt they'll advertise porn sites in game...
Perhaps if vendors are starting to include spyware and/or malware with their products, we should anticipate them and take defensive measures. What about running packaged apps in a VMWare ( or Xen ? ) partition and having the base O/S watch for and shut down undesirable actions, like phoning Big Brother? Sort of like intentionally rooting your own p/c with a white root kit
I read about this on some forum, and went and listened to that podcast. What we have here is a case of slashdot linking to kotaku reporting on a shacknews story about a podcast, in which the following happens: They read out loud the relevant disclaimer that comes with the game (as posted earlier here), and then a voice - the voice of a game dev interviewed earlier in the podcast, if I'm not completely mistaken, that is to say a competitor of EA - pipes up saying "THAT MEANS SPYWARE" or something to this effect. And everyone goes crazy. What the actual disclaimer seemed to say to me was that they transmit your ip to the adserver in order to push their "content" to the bf2142 client, and will not transmit any personally identifiable data.
Now, the ad scheme is really despicable IMO, and if I buy the game I will certainly not install that feature if it is optional, and if it is not, I will just block the adserver. But is it spyware? I doubt it. What the hell happened to doing some basic research before posting sensationalist "scoops"?
Great, more adware that won't run on linux. Thanks for nothing EA
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v402/ojibewa/214 2ads.jpg g
Scanned straight from the paper in the box.
http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/7315/igavy2.jp
Another good shot with the box.. Way to go EA....
This story has been circulating on various BF2142 forums for some days now. It's been blown out of all proportion.
According to representatives of DICE, the game levels will contain billboards which will display real adverts. The game will track which billboards the player looks at and how long they look for. This information will be reported back to base with the player's IP address. No other information will be tracked with respect to advertising.
I believe that they will update the adverts from time to time but I haven't seen this confirmed yet.
It has nothing to do with web browsers. There's nothing secret about it. It doesn't identify individuals directly. (Only their PCs) All in all, I don't think this really deserves the word "spyware". It's just in game advertising with the equivalent of click tracking.
To er is human.
I've not been playing many games recently but now the Winter nights are drawing in again, I think I will dig out Ethereal and start seeing what sort of activity is happening on the good old Ethernet...
I know Steam is a bug hunk of spyware and, for that reason, the last Valve game I bought (and played) was the original Half-Life and expansions - and there's no way I'm buying another game from them until it's removed.
I've never played BF1942 because WW2 games don't really interest me, I'm more into sci-fi games - I probably would have bought BF2142 unaware of the built-in spyware but thanks to this Slashdot article, it'll just go into the list of "Games I Never Played"...
Gentoo Linux - another day, another USE flag.
How exactly is this flamebait? Slashdot will give mod points to pretty much any idiot nowdays.
> The software will apparently monitor web browser and other computer usage;
> this information will be used to deliver targeted in-game advertisements.
Great. Now when I surf to lezlovevideo.com, my son will see an ad for Where The Boys Aren't, Vol #47.
(-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
Apparently, Pepsi, Bandaids, and MySpace all still exist in 2142. Who would've known that EA's latest Battlefield game could predict the future?
Sorry to rant, but this is pretty much the last straw. Why do you keep getting more and more shi. crammed down your pipe every time you go out and do the honest guy thing, i.e. buy a game instead of just downloading and cracking it?
I just bought two games. One was a "gold" edition (read: An ancient game and its add-on, repackaged and bundled in a vain attempt to make yet another buck with it) of Stronghold 2. Nice, I thought, 20 bucks for a game that's not too shabby. Cool. Put it in... DVD doesn't read. Hmm... On the homepage you get the recommendation to update your Firmware (ok, check, did that. No cookie, though), and if that doesn't work, heck, get a new DVD drive.
Hello? Your game's incompatible with the DVD standard, but I should go out and get a new drive? Here's my suggestion: You take that piece of crapware back and that's the last you ever heard of me!
The other one came along with StarForce, Brigade E5. The old Jagged Alliance player in me, after their homepage said it would certainly not be infected by the copy protection equivalent of iron shackles, was jumping with joy until the installer popped up the requirement to install the malware driver. Ummm... well, it's nice that they now warn you before infecting your system, but in general, I'm no fan of drivers that invade my Ring0. I'd feel kinda violated.
And the list goes on. Games that don't run. Games that are buggy like pre-betas of Windows. Games with a translation that makes bablefished porn pages look like Shakespeare. Games that install some drivers onto your machine that make it as stable as pigs on stilts.
And that's what you want 60 bucks for? I am honestly expected to shell out 60 bucks and have that crap crammed down my throat, and I get the feeling I should feel damn honored to be allowed to even consider me part of the "community" that's forced onto me as well?
Sorry, but that's not what I want. The games go back to the store today. The 60ish bucks I get back will prolly go as a donation to PirateBay or some similar organisation. Not that I'd use them, but it's nice to know there is actually a source for games that allows me to play them.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
How am I going to explain the highschoolsluts.com billboard I'm hiding behind?
You forgot to mention they are also members of the Evil $oftware Alliance
http://www.theesa.com/about/esa_members.php
Maybe they could change the TK punish system so instead of subtracting 6 points, it makes you watch a 30 second advertisement. Now that would be a punishment.
I Heart Sorting Networks
Remember when cable tv came out and one of the things they said about it was that you would get commercial free tv? Remember when you could watch PBS and they advertized that an advantage of Public TV was the absense of ads and commercials? Ya, I can't remember these things either. PBS shows are the same length as regular commercial tv shows and the spare time is spent showing you ads and commercials for the proud sponsors who brought the show to you. Cable TV, well heck, not only do you get commercials, you get half a day of commercials/infomercials on most of the cable networks and then another third of the channels are shopping networks selling you either fake gem jewelry or jesus. Commercials and ads in your games are product placements and they're the thin wedge which just keeps pressing on you until you give up fighting it. A little bit here, a little push there and they'll soon have you further wired and hooked into the stuff they want to sell you. After all, your car advertises the make and model and where you bought it. You buy shirts advertising the brand on the chest and you buy tee shirts advertising everything from the Tequila you think is cool to the Car you wish you had. And after all, buying things is your duty anyways. Didn't President Bush and all the government authorities tell us after 9-11 to go about our business of living our lives and buying things?
Enjoy your Karma, after all you earned it. Feel your Karma Joe, feel it burn.
I was debating on whether or not to get BF2142. This was what I was looking for. If they bundle ANYTHING (bad) besides the game, I will not be getting it. PLUS there are ads in the game?! No way, if I pay $50 for it, I want it ad free. You lost a sale EA.
j
Just block all traffic to the master ad server. It's not YOUR fault if their server appears to be down. Well, maybe it is, but the game doesn't know that. :)
(That is, if you feel you still MUST buy this game still.)
I might have bought it but now I certainly won't. Time to break out my MAME disks.
It is by the juice of the coffee bean that thoughts acquire speed, the teeth acquire stains. The stains become a warning
I and my clanmates would very likely have purchased your software (garbage though it is, even without spyware). Now I most certainly won't, and most likely my clanmates won't either.
There is no -1 Disagree mod. Slashdot.org/faq defines mod options. USE IT.
I'm sorry, but this is sad - even pathetic... You are now going to pay a premium for a game and you are going to be forced to watch advertisements? Yes, I know, there are tricks you can use to avoid having to see the advertisements, but don't forget the basic premise - you paid for the game and now you are paying to watch the advertisements. The part that is pathetic is we, as consumers, somehow have made the transition to finding this acceptable...
EA,
I was deciding if I needed to download an "extended demo" version of this software, or I thought it was good enough to buy.
Thanks to this new informaton I now know that I will be waiting for those third party developers to remove the inability to play without the cd in the drive and the spyware in your game, and I will get a copy from them instead.
I hope they dont charge much for these ACTUAL WANTED features in the game, but even if they do, they will be the ones who earned the money.
-Thanks again
Spend $50
Hell if it has ads on it then I want the game for free. Why should I pay for the game when they will be generating money from ads geared towards me?
Can I bum a sig?
"I see you've been 'pwned', would you be interested in Viagra(tm) so you can feel like a man again?"
"I see you've been playing for over 4 hours, would you be interested in a coupon for Preperation H?"
"Your browser is open in the background to 'www.HornyTeenSluts.com', could I interest you in singles available in your area?"
"I was scanning your email while you were playing and found a letter from what appears to be your girlfriend who is breaking up with you. Could I interest you in a special at 1-800-FLOWERS? No? How about those available singles I mentioned before?"
It is by the juice of the coffee bean that thoughts acquire speed, the teeth acquire stains. The stains become a warning
So does that mean if I visit Slashdot while Battlefield is running the game will be covered with ads featuring Natalie Portman and hot grits?
"But this one goes to 11!"
Here is my quick and dirty translation of the salient parts:
I'd play BF2142 if I could blow the ads up with a round from my RPG. I'd especially like to empty a clip into the actors from the "teens rapping about diarrhea" ads that were on TV a little while back.
It is by the juice of the coffee bean that thoughts acquire speed, the teeth acquire stains. The stains become a warning
Pretty soon the only people (other than we good-natured yet paranoid slashdotters) who have privacy will be the scary four horsemen of the infopocalypse: Terrorists, drug dealers, pedophiles, and organized criminals. Hooray!
exactly... I don't have a problem with advertising in games - as long as that makes it so that I don't have to spend as much ON the game.
If I were to encrypt all my FireFox private data (cookies, history, etc), would that make a difference?
Is there an extension out there that anyone knows about that will encrypt FireFox's private data on exit, and unencrypt it only when FireFox is running?
Or will this matter? Does the Spyware activly run on your computer? Or only when BF2142 is running?
DRM on Zunes. Spyware on hit games. Is this companies shooting themselves in the foot? Or is it that the average consumer knows nothing about such things - and thus doesn't care?
Find Escorts, Strippers, Massage Parlours, Swingers
The apocalyptic future looks like... an amusement park! It'll be fun to see if they can put ads in the game without making it look like toonland. I'm sure I'll get a glance at it on some buffoon's computer at a lan party. Who knows, maybe I'll even get mesmerized by some ad while people are getting fragged everywhere.
My only regret... is that I have... bonitis..
The 360 or at least (XBox Live)is not immune to this tactic. Check out this link to a diffrent Ad server company coming to a game (and other apps) near you.
r /05.04.06.htm
http://www.massiveincorporated.com/site_network/p
Yep...the company is being bought by Microsoft and one of the stated reasons is to provide ads to XBOX Live games.
I used to play Ultima Online before Origin was devoured by EA. The first thing EA did with the game after aquiring it was to make a nifty little EA intro/advert screen that popped up on login. Everyone just "Esc" keyed past it.
The SECOND thing they did was to remove the ability to "Esc" past it. You had to sit through 20 secs of advertising for the company that you were already sending cash to every month. This, all long before they even tried to improve the actual game
Shows where the real priorties lie in the minds of those with the keg tap in hand..........
I know of a few people that have a gaming rig. They plays game on it and that is all. No surfing, no email reading, no writing of a document, no programming...
so if the computer in question only plays the game and no surfing so no data collected, will all the ads be blank?
"this head-shot is brought to you by 'empty box' visit 'http://www..com' to support them"
This kind of thing could lead to a new golden age of gaming! I strongly recommend investing heavily in video game company stocks. This explosion in gaming that this sort of thing will bring could be limitless! Hang on, folks! It's gonna be one hell of a ride!
PS: I know I was wrong about that turn-of-the-millenium tech bubble lasting forever, but I know I'm right about this one!
Modern copyright is theft of culture from everyone and it retards the progress of the useful arts and sciences.
They have no right to monitor your system first off.
Secondly, you payed 50 Dollars for said game (bf2142), and they have the nerve to advertise to you in game?
If there are advertisements the game should be absolutely free as in beer.
I think it is time for a boycott against companies like EA thinking that they have this much power to tell the User that they must submit their privacy to play a game.
It is a sick world out there.
It is not just this, everything out there these days is out to minimize your privacy
Examples:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15221095/ (loss of privacy)
http://www.epic.org/privacy/terrorism/hr3162.html (the patriot act)
Personal Freedoms FTW!
Live Free
I think as long as the software only runs when the game runs then it is part of the package. If it installs some kind of daemon or service then I think it needs to be an optional install.
The "Other popular game titles have included spyware in the past to aid anti-cheating measures" are quite a different thing than this. For example, the most popular game to include "spyware" is World of Warcraft which calls it's "spyware" Warden. The difference? Warden only runs while the game is up, and it only sends hash data to Blizzard so they don't have any idea what you're doing unless it specifically matches a known cheating program. The problem with this EA Bullshit, is that it's active all the time, choking up resources, it's literally spying on everything you do. On top of that, the reason is to display ADVERTISING in a game you ALREADY BOUGHT. That's just completely unacceptable. It's like those god damn ads they show before movies. Except in this case, EA would be breaking into your house and installing cameras. I'm all for advertising as long as it's legitimate and used to pay the costs of delivering free content. Anyone who uses advertising to supplement their income for a paid-for product (which is completely capable of turning a profit on it's own) needs to be executed, or at least given a few decades of jail time.
Many organizations pay or otherwise reward their membership to provide consumer data. In this instance the game ought to be free. Or, alternatively, EA ought to pay people playing the game a monthly fee.
Consequently, they are unlikely to care a hoot about in-game advertising, won't even give the piece of paper in the box a second glance and flock in their masses to go and buy it purely because advertising has told them that's what they have to do. In turn, EA will sell lots of copies, proclaim it as a "hit" and they will do it even more in future games.
Nope, that still doesn't mean I'm going to even resignedly buy it, but the fact is that whatever we Slashdot crowd think or do, we're still just a minority percentage of the consumer base.
Gentoo Linux - another day, another USE flag.
A minor's parents can repudiate a contract in most cases. However, it's not likely you'll see an army of parents taking their kid's poison-included games back for a refund.
The state could, if it wanted to, ban all software sales to minors and not face court challenge. However, it doesn't want/need to go that far - if it chooses, it can choose to ban only certain games, such as those that are pornographic, extremely violent, or which install spyware on your PC.
Of those states that have laws, most ban sales to minors of only certain games. I'm just suggesting they add one more category *evil grin*.
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
I'd just like to publicly thank nintendo for hopefully putting an end to the drama and politics surrounding the 'need some perspective' video game culture that is going off the deepend. Oh look a video game, pew pew pew, done! Privacy, spyware, contracts, wtf?
if someone can figure out what exactly it monitors I would definately like to go the other way.
Totally pollute whatever pool of information they are watching. It would be great if BF2142 started serving me pron advertisements ingame.
Ad supported games, fair enough
Paid for games, fair enough
Games that you pay for and THEN get inundated with ads? absoloutely ridiculous.
http://spamdecoy.net - free throwaway anonymous email - avoid spam!
Nexuiz is the best first shooter game out there, IMO. And it's free too!
I bought Battlefield 2 when it came out.
I had to spend an hour and a half bypassing their "copy protection" software just to play it. I have Daemon Tools installed. It didn't like this. Now, if I'd pirated it I'd be saying "well played, EA". But I didn't. I paid for it.
As much as I want to play BF2142, I'm not doing that again.
Breaking Into the Industry - A development log about starting a game studio.
I'll not buy Battlefield 2142 until some Anti-Spyware Bill gets in effect...
Another game/program to definitely NOT purchase or ever play. I wouldn't install it even if it were free. Heck, not even if they paid me 10X the price of the game...
My vote is this is a huge PR blunder on EAs part. There is absolutely no way I will ever support that kind of behavior from a company. No spyware, rootkits, etc. period! This is my machine, not your market research project.
--- Just another Code-Monkey
I wonder how long until someone can release a "patch" that would squash the Spyware process or keep it from communicating with the Ad servers? I'd gladly stand outside the local big box stores with a stack of disks to hand out to the poor saps that buy it without even knowing it's going to be "calling home" every time they go online.
"Spyware: It's In the Game." from a Digg comment.
Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
And I've already installed the beta... maybe it's only beta spyware as well ;)
I will forever be a student.
I didn't cancel my Auto Assault pre-order when they announced advertising. I should have (irrespective of the end game quality). But I'm making a stand here; if they want to sell a reduced cost, advertising supported version, sure, I'm happy for them, but I'm not buying a full price game and then getting adverts in it. Let alone spyware...
My computer, my Internet connection, not yours, EA...
The gaming industry are going through the same as the film -> TV industry.
Movies.. Large and expensive one-off production.. One-off payment to view.
TV... cheap to make... lots of small programs.. commercials.. recurring payment to view.
Games are moving this way too.. monthly subscription models, advertising, etc.
The problem is, TV costs like $40 a month for about 90 channels with more adverts than content, end even then its all just re-runs of re-runs, the only new shows are all cheap reality shows and designed to appeal to people with no IQ.
I can see games going this way too. The big epic games are a thing of the past... New games will just be a re-hash of some earlier game, nothing new, and filled with click-through advertising. And you pay monthly to play it.
I've had so very many things on my computer, that contained spyware, that I have overcome. It just doesn't feel like this is going to be any different, why are so many knowledgable people scared? Do you know something I don't? Sure it's screwed up, and that is DEFINITELY the topic of discussion, but, if you want the game, you should still buy it, install it, KILL the spyware, and play it! Can I get an 'ell yeah??
I called up EA and they couldn't help me, obviously, hoped I could get them to say too much. God no, they're like robots. I just wonder if they're going to be running a background process, because I am sure I could paralyze that easily without affecting the game. I hope. In a way, this is just an extra challenge and if you figure out how to disable it, you're going to feel like you've conquered the world! Messed up thing to say, but, AM I RIGHT!?
Anyway, whoever figures out an easy way to disable this before me, TELL THE WORLD!!! IT IS YOUR DUTY!!!
No way.
Im pissed cause i hate spyware (seen Enemy of the State too many times) and i was so hyped to buy this game. It was a MMOFPS i thought was worth my money. Looks like my x-mas list just got shorter.
L. Ron Hubbard, of course!
Subtitled:
Battlefield Earth, I betcha!
Lee
Well well then, I know what games I won't be buying. This reminds me of that whole Sony rootkit thing all over again. It seems the many large corperates out there seem to be under the false impression that the consumer is willing bend over and be raped with such things like forced rootkits, spyware and ingame ads.
Buy the game. Refuse the EULA. Return it. Reason for return: did not agree to EULA.
The wondrous free market provides no other means of effective protest. Hail Santa!
Edith Keeler Must Die
It's comming to the point where you will have an OS you use (dual boot) for games (or through some hardware partitioning) and an OS you use for everything you hold dear to your heart that you don't want people knowing.
Of course as you point out, they have the ability to link the information. We are talking about advertisers and publishers here. How much time do you think will pass before one will want to have accountability from the other and viewers of ads will be identified? When i heard about this story on NPR a few weeks ago, i was shaking my head... OF course one of the aspects brought up was the appropriateness of current company advertising in futrue evnet games - or even fantasy games. Talk about taking you out of suspension of disbelief!
Look, BF1942 was the best thing I had ever played. BFV kind paled in comparison-- mostly because I couldn't find any decent mods for it... and frankly there weren't any good maps. Then I went out and bought computer so I could play BF2. I litearally pulled the BF2 specs and made sure they were covered in my purchase. I am very disappointed w/ BF2. Why? Because I had to login to their servers in order to play the full game. I paid full price just so I could play part of a game. That urked me to no end! And they didn't have any good maps... unless you registered. It's only saving grace was the Modding community. They had maps, weapons... and they made the game play a lot better than what EA could do. And now they want to spy on me when I'm not playing the game? I'm already miffed that game play sufferes when the net is down... what the J.H.C. am I supposed to do when I'm waiting on the cable guy?!?!? Now EA expects me to pay to let a third party on to my computer just so I can probably play a half of the game? No thank you! Isn't this like an auto sales man selling you the car and then saying, "Oh, you have to drive my grandmother to work, so we can better serve you". That's CRAP.
OK, so it's gonna have ingame ads and spyware. Two problems.
1)Someone else already mentioned background processes running. Yeah. I always load up my machine with as many background processes and serviceas as I possibly can when I want to have a smooth, efficient gaming experience. Actually, I even use as many command line options as I can to save every last bit of RAM I can (-noipx -nojoy etc.)
2)If this damn thing has commercial sponsorship why do I have to BUY a copy? I dont have to BUY NFL games. Why? Because Budweiser is interrupting the game and selling me BEER. It's the tradeoff of sponsorship vs. purchasing. BF2142 should be free to the consumer. My big hope is that no one buys it.
3) (I know, I said two) Privacy? On box notification? Is there going to be sufficient warning to the user about this? What about firewall issues?
4) (ugh, 2^2 already?) Will my Sony rootkit allow this new spyware to work?
All the more reason to pirate! Arrrrrrrrrrrrr!
I'll save my money for a game developer that has some human decency. There are plenty out there.
Tired of Political Trolls? Opt Out!
It's not acceptable to me, but I'm not a target customer.
Since the target customers probably already run MSWind, this is likely not to be any increase in their degree of compromise. (But what does it do about firewalls? Nat translators? Etc.? These can all be handled, but each one that you handle increases the size of the code.)
I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
Will Ad-Aware or SpyBot scans now have you uninstall BF2142 or at least notify you when its installed?
i cant seem to come up with a sig.
I do this now for things that I consider risky (like P2P). I know of at least 2 other people who also have spare computers setup just for this purpose. If games start installing spyware, I'll soon have a gaming and a non-gaming computer.
YES! I'd love to see Victoria's Secret ads from my wife's internet cache while sitting in a tank cruising along the battlefield! And why not share them with the entire online world playing with me!
What a fannnntastic idea!
I doubt it's even true.A perfect work around to anyone concerned about privacy would be to create a new profile on their computer and only use that profile with the game. This way EA would not ever get any of your cookie or internet history, assuming they dont scan every profile on your computer. If that was the case you can always put security on your profile folders so only the owner can access it.
Other then that I will not be purchasing this game or any other game that requires I let them search my drive for personal data. That is just stupid.
I love how it say "May Contain" in the first sentence... It either does not contain, in that case they are not enclosing said piece of paper, or it DOES contain. What bullshit. I'm depressed. I loved 1942 when it came out, the mod to Desert Combat was amazing.. After Vietnam I sorta lost my passion for it, now it is a dead game, and a dead Developer.
EA has joined Sony on my boycott for life list. Simply for believing they could pull one over on us.
looks like we have a legitimate reason to pirate the game. pirates always seem to remove the copy protection/spyware/ads. :)
Why not just call up EA (+1-650-628-8468) and ask them if it does do this, ask for a copy of the full EULA while you're at it and voice your concern.
I would tend to agree. However, if it's in the EULA, even if cleverly buried in all the legalese you find there, it's legal to the best of my understanding.
Sounds like Battlefield 2142 is one game I won't be needing to even consider purchasing unless some over at EA comes to their senses.
Where can we go (in the electronic world) where we can NOT get any ads?! Games used to be one place. Not anymore!
Spyware is spyware. I'm about to cancel my order. Malware should NOT be tolerated in ANY form.
How do they intend to present these ads? On billboards in the game, mid-screen while waiting to re-spawn? Or is it product placement? For example, you tell your squad member to watch out for the guy behind the gray Honda Ridgeline that YOU see, but he never looks because all HE sees is a red Chevy Corvette, and as he runs past it some futuristic spec-ops or sniper steps out and shanks him in the kidney.
Beware of the Redittor who loans you a Sharpie.
I bought BF1942. Loved it.
I bought BF:V. Loved it.
I bought BF2. Really liked it.
BF2142: Massive extension of the BF2 system that rewards people for playing the game obsessively by giving them in-game advantages over people that have a life. That alone was putting me off buying it - I resent dying to somebody purely because they don't have to work for a living and could thus 'earn' the bigger better equipment.
Now this? Absolutely no. I have no spare CPU cycles anyway, why waste them being advertised to. I also don't trust EA.
Sorry, but no Dice.
Or MS Office, Adobe Photoshop, etc. etc.
To be more specific: OSS games are fine. It's the closed source games you cannot guarantee.
Users and businesses alike need to figure out the only way to know with 100% certainty that you are spyware free is to use open source. Exclusively. To run closed source software on Linux, as newbie users normally wish to do, is hardly better than running it on Windows. I know. I was in that camp myself before I really caught on to the whole ownership thing.
Work stations, and anything handling sensitive data, should be pure OSS. Play on a different system altogether. I use a console. Same with anything DRM - runs on a different device than my work.
Do we believe the developers preaching to their choir at their message boards, where they aren't bound by any law to speak truthfully about their game? Their claim is that this software is small and limited to in-game ads.
or
Do we believe the hard-copy legal disclaimer that is included in every copy of the game (except for online purchases) that tells you that you are agreeing to be spied on just by having this game on an internet-connected computer?
Frankly, regardless of this current software's extent, the idea that this software effectively gives legal consent to do the kind of spying outlined in that disclaimer is enough to keep me (and most sane people) from buying this game.
I'd allow it assuming the software was free.
I can see comapnies marketing two distinct versions of their games, ones with spyware and one without.
People will pay premiums for privacy.
But at the same time, people won't pay to lose their privacy. I doubt the market will bear something like this. But that's just me being hopeful.
"I have an odd craving to whisper about those few frightful hours in that ill-rumored and evilly shadowed seaport of dea
I'm a big fan of BF2 and have played it a lot. Gotten quite good at the game even.
But I downloaded BF2142 demo, and I'm really not very impressed.
Plenty of flashy graphics, but they destroyed much of the game play. It kind of reminds me of how Battlefield Vietnam was hosed after BF1942 had been so good.
I guess I'll wait for BF2242
Really i even had to check the date there to make sure this
was not the 1st April
what sucks most about this is that the BF2142 demo rocks. If this is true, now i'm gonna feel wierd about buying the game. I want to, it's a fun game, but spyware is a pain in the ass. Maybe somebody will come up with a crack to remove it, then there will be just gamey goodness....
sometimes, i wonder if i'm the only conservative on teh intarweb. ah well, back to mah hogs and warmongerin'....
I am a computational scientist/aerospace engineer/mechanical engineer. I grew up in a small midwestern city that is the world headquarters of a major company that designs and builds earth moving equipment, so I knew several engineers there (parents of my peers). I spoke to an HR person representing them at a job fair in my senior year of college. I told the HR folks that I wanted to do computational fluid dynamics, preferably application/model development or verification/validation related to engine componants, but I was flexible. They told me they didn't do their own CFD development, but they had a group that developed mechanical linkage design software. I intereviewed with them, and was offered a job, but turned it down because another company offered me a job doing what I wanted to do.
months pass... A friend of my little brother becomes a co-op at the company I worked for. I hang out with him a few times, because he is 800 miles from home/college and doesn't know anyone there. Turns out his dad was the lead engineer for a group that did exactly what I wanted to do, and was activly looking for someone to hire at the time I interviewed, but HR was incompetant...
"I'll have a Guinness, no wait, make that a Coors Light" -Grad student I work with, who shall remain anonymous...
So now not only do I pay full price (actually overprice since its a "premium game") and subject myself to advertising on my dime but now I have to allow them to monitor my online activities to be able to play as well? No thanks, I was going to buy this one ASAP but I dont want to play it that badly. How freakin greedy and evil can a game company get? It was bad enough when EA was snuffing out small developers to rape and pillage their work while treating their employees like sweatshop workers, but now the target for their tactics are their customers...when is enough enough?
Interesting!
You got there first, but I was going to make exactly the same reply....
I wonder how many slashdotters also thought that a simple "NO" is really the only reply required to just about any question containing the phrase "...is spyware acceptable...?"; without really needing any further discussion!
Cheers!
"This flag capture was sponsored by Pepsi. FRAG. YOUR. THIRST."
Great game, but it contains spyware to help boost EA's profit even farther. Sorry but this is a game to pass. It tracks your cookies and internet traffic external to the game, and uploads them to companies to help target popups on your screen, in essence it tracks your viewing habits on the internet. While it does say it's anonymous. If it is uploading cookies that contain personal information. What else can be contained in a cookie?
EA has gone to far. Privacy is not something you should ever allow infringement on. Welcome to post 911, where privacy is for sale, and you are the product.
So does this mean, if I don't agree with the little white slip on the inside of the box, can we return the product for a full refund?
Thanks for the posts it will not be the first time that Slashdot has help avoided a mistake.
OK, I'm forty three, about time I stop Playing/Supporting games I guess...
This is the final straw...Mandatory Spyware ? (FEATURE ALERT !!),
Who would have thunk it....
I hope the Vista Developers team doesn't get any brilliant ideas from this....
How's about a Pepsi commercial while you're looking up word spellcheck ?
Do they really think we'll buy into this ?
'turn on, tune in, and drop out!'
End of Line.
Or anything with DRM or the new spyware 'feature' from EA . I have better things to do with my time and the game I want to play when I shell out $50 is the one in the box not the get around our DRM game. So I'm sitting out in protest. I know too many people will put up with it, or worse purchase it with no idea their computer is being infected with this stuff, and we'll be stuck with DRM and spyware forever but it's all I can do. If you want the horrible gory details of my experience with BF2 and it's DRM read on. I bought battlefield 1942, battlefield vietnam, battlefield 2 and it's expantsion special forces and with each version the DRM got worse and worse until finally with BF2 I spent more time dealing with the DRM than playing the game. A friend and I bought 3 copies of the game 1 each for me, him and his wife. The first couple times were ok. Then we got the first patch. Suddenly his PC would complain about not being licensed to play the game. Even though between us we'd spent $150 for the privilege. So we uninstalled and reinstalled and everything went ok... A few more hours of playing then we had to give it up for a bit of time due to schedules etc. The odd thing is each time a patch came out we had to repeat the same procedure on at least one of the PC's. Given the length of time it takes to install, this got old really quickly. Eventually we got to the point where we were installing the game, about 3 patches (we had the incremental ones) then the special forces update and another patch (actually I think it was reapplying one of the earlier patches since it actually came out after SF but there was a bug and SF would overwrite something from the patch). So two of us sit down to play. One of us gets the dreaded message. Uninstalling and reinstalling takes about an hour, unfortunately all the time we had to play. So I go back the next day to play again... This time all three of us. I'm up and running. But, the dreaded message pops up for him. Frustrated, we turn to the internet. Naturally we've done this before... but why not... Finally the problem comes to light. My friend likes to keep multiple accounts on his machine with different access rights. unfortunately not having administrator rights doesn't seem to be an option for battlefield so he gave the accounts he created to play that privilege. But, since so many things in windows require admin. sometimes he'd be logged in as that on one of his pc's and install the patches while he was waiting for something else to finish. To save time. So, turns out there's a bug in the DRM software that gets 'confused' when you install the patches under a different install than the previous versions. The resulting behavior isn't an error though. Instead you simply get told you're a criminal and that you can't play. The fix? what we were doing. Completely uninstall and reinstall everything. By the time we finished that process only took an hour or so each time. Mike
Consider this: The *only* time I have ever heard of this game, was just now. And still, the only thing I know about it is it will be bundled with "spyware."
Think the game will get my attention when I see the box on the shelf?
-fb Everything not expressly forbidden is now mandatory.
So according to that post on the BF2142 forum, the IGA code will record the amount of time a player has an advertisement in their view? Eventually players will try avoiding looking at ads, perhaps because there's a slight framerate loss, perhaps because they just dont like looking at ads. EA will get annoyed with low ad view counts and hire ad snipers to hide in the ads, forcing players to constantly have to look at ads as they walk through town. **over ventrillo** Guy1: Sh!t, there's a sniper in the Maxi Pads billboard! Guy2: Maxi Pads, wtf? I only see a Krispy Kreme billboard **bam** Guy1: Yeah that's the guy. Guy2: Sigh.
I've been extrememly excited about this game for a long time. I suppose it was just chance that the delivery hadn't been made yet. I most certainly will NOT be buying this game now. BF2142_Customer = BF2142_Customer - 1
Fuck that, seriously fuck that.
You pay for a game and have to watch ads in it too?
If its free, then okay for the ads.
But if you pay, its not okay with ads.
They cant have the cookie and eat it too.
I always disliked EA.
Hope nobody buys that junk game.
Funny thing is that the cracked version on the Internet probably have the spyware removed, so this shit hits the legit people who actually pays for games.
Dumb ass EA, fuck them!
To the people who are saying "I bought it, so it shouldn't have ads"; how do you feel about doing exactly the same thing with your television channels?
(I do agree about the spyware concept being bad an' all)
If you play the demo, you come to realize that Battlefield 2142 is just a full-conversion mod to Battlefield 2.
* Engine is almost exactly the same - don't even think they added HDR.
* Gameplay feels like BF2 with the addition of a couple mechs on the map, and "hover-style" vehicles stolen from Tribes.
* More unlocks than BF2. At least in BF2, you started with a full arsenal. You have to UNLOCK GRENADES!
* Significantly less classes, which I think takes away from the game.
Titan mode sounds good, except that the corridors are too damn dark and compact to have been designed by anyone competent. Playing inside the Titan is no fun, especially in a game known for it's extravagant outdoor battlescapes. It's like they purposefully took a step backwards.
Speaking of taking steps backwards, the infantry combat really suffers compared to the the improvements made in BF2. With the mechs and agile hover vehicles, infantry combat now seems even less important. Also, the cap points on the demo map are really spread out, so it you can't get a vehicle at spawn, the game turns into "find a vehicle." In BF2, by contrast, the cap points are typically close enough that you could reach most of them on foot. Perhaps if you gave all the infantry jet packs....no, wait, then you'd have Tribes.
In fact, the more I look at the game, the more I want to call it Tribesfield 2142. All the vehicles and base-killing of Tribes without a single jetpack.
Man is the animal that laughs.
And occasionally whores for Karma.
How about a polite survey instead
When the game is launched, the every now and then the user is asked politely if he/she wanto answer a one to five minute survey. He/she is told this survey helps the game developer and publisher keep their online ranking system profitable and functional well beyond the games peak sales time. The survey system is completely optional and you can opt-out in the game settings menu.
Battlefield 2 has a very well working (for a first-time service) online ranking system that means a lot to the game an their players.
http://bf2s.com/player/71497639/ (me)
http://bf2s.com/player/77933681/ (my friend arneloff)
I wouldn't mind spending 5 minutes a month to keep such a system up and running, or even fund a future AAA title with just as good voice acting. And I belive many people would, as http://www.tns-gallup.no/ seems to be successfull.
Now instead of screaming "foul" why can't you idiots could open your mind and find up a solution that benefits everybody. Not many Apple users "think different" in here.
Teasing the nobles, and rightfully so!
Aren't the companies and their ad agencies who use spyware such as this to advertise their products just as bad as EA? Spyware and spam wouldn't exist if it wasn't making money for anyone.
Such a silly idea - why didn't they give people the option to choose if they wanted to install the rubbish? If they ticked NO then the advertising system in-game could've just served out generic/random adverts like 99% of advertising systems on the 'net... not a difficult compromise - unfortunately now it's too late - the game's already packaged.
No matter how great it is, I won't buy it.
I will not pay to have ads splashed in my face. And this is just on step scummier than that.
Too bad most buyers will be teenagers, who won't base their purchasing decision on such criteria.
Your plan is assinine, unacceptable, and will drive me to ANYONE else who DOESN'T have this shit embedded in their games.
I don't want to be targeted. I want to target pixels on the screen damnit!
It's NOYFB what I view when I'm not playing the game. Hell, it's NOYFB what I view when I AM playing the game.
If you want ad's in the game - then I want the game for free. I still don't want to be tracked as to what ads I looked at or didn't look at.
If I pay you > $0.01 for the game, then NO ADS...
Grow a brain you assholes...
Here is an interview with the CEO of IGA, the company delivering the ads to BF2142. Pretty brief really.
Explains what they capture and why they capture it.. Basically, they need the IP so that they're serving Pontiac ads in the US and Holden ads in Australia.
Having already installed 2142 (the beta was enjoyable, so I pre-ordered it), it's not as if I can cancel my order. You know, as unhappy about this as I am, I think I would be satisfied if the game actually worked. Unfortunately, at the moment, it appears that nobody can play for more than about five minutes without losing their connection to the master server, thus being disconnected from the current server and dropped back to the login screen (hence this thread: http://www.gamespot.com/pc/action/battlefield2142/ show_msgs.html?topic_id=m-1-30954553)
You'd think that with more than 7,000 employes (according to wikipedia), maybe, just maybe they would have actually deployed a network solution that actually works. One would also think that their experience with Battlefield 2's master server system, likely very similar, would have prepared them for this (or the multiplayer beta, or the demo). But no.
Bundled spyware -- well, I'd *barely* tolerate it if the game actually worked when I bought it. But that, plus a game that is currently non-functional? WTF, EA, WTF? And of course they are already part of the development of Crysis and the new Command & Conquer, two games that I was really looking forward to. Now, I'm not so sure...
---
Also: http://www.igaworldwide.com/ Sadly enough, they barely even put in the effort to mask one of the key aspects of their business: "Market research and intelligence for publishers" (see: IGA services > advertising formats). Spying much?
"Unenforceable" isn't the right term. Minors are allowed to enter contracts all the time, and indeed many of them are enforceable. The thing is, minors are granted the power to nullify any contract they've previously agreed to, but they must be able to return whatever benefit they got out of it.
For example, if a minor buys a candy bar and then eats it (any cash transaction is a legal contract), she can't turn around and demand her money back. The contract is enforceable, and there's no legal way she can get her money back. However, if she decided she wasn't hungry she *could* come back the next day with the uneaten candy bar and receipt and demand her money back, and legally the store would have to comply, even if they had a "no returns on food items" policy.
As applicable to this situation, the minor is still bound by the EULA, but theoretically retains the right to return the video game (realistically, I'm not sure how easy this would be to pull off at your local Best Buy, and most people wouldn't bother to take them to court.) IANAL, so take this all with a grain of salt, but I have confirmed this info from several sources. There are probably other laws that affect a minors' contracts, but I'm pretty sure this is the basis, the default when no other law specifically prohibits/voids a contract with a minor.
I'm not even going to bother pirating this game.. That'll show em!
Appears you can disable the spyware with network tricks. A indepth walkthrough of Massive Inc's AdClient software can be found here...- and-videogames.html
http://wearyman.blogspot.com/2005/08/privacy-lies
http://community.rantmedia.ca/node/3394
Here's how to disable the Spyware
You can create permanant IP routes to "no-where" that will prevent the Spyware from ever connecting to the Massive Inc server.
You need to find an IP address on your network that not in use. (Try your computer's IP address, but replace the last number with "254") Try to ping that IP address and make sure it fails to respond.
Here is the list of servers normally used by Massive Inc's AdClient
madserver.net (38.119.38.151)
ad.madserver.net (38.119.38.151)
imp.madserver.net (38.119.38.153)
media.madserver.net (38.119.38.152)
So now to create permanant routes in the Windows registory causing those IP address to go to "no-where" to find a gateway for those hosts.
C:\> route -p add 38.119.38.151 10.0.0.254
C:\> route -p add 38.119.38.152 10.0.0.254
C:\> route -p add 38.119.38.153 10.0.0.254
Here are the rules:
1) You give me a product, I give you money. That's the deal, don't abuse it.
2) All software should stay in their 'sandbox'. i.e., unless I explicitely allow the program to do so all software should shut down in its entirety when I click close. That goes double for games. Remember playing games is not the only thing I do on my computer.
3) I don't give a shit about ingame advertising.
4)Never install secondary programs that run outside of the game environment. Be it for anti-piracy, or any other reason.
5) Never monitor my browsing
6) Never send my data anywhere without my explicit consent each and every time.
8) Ever
Are you outraged at paying $90/month for sattelite or digital cable TV when *GASP* it's full of ads known as "commercials" which interrupt the programs you paid for?
We are one consciousness experiencing itself subjectively. Back to you with the weather, Bob!
I'm not happy with EA's decision to track my viewing of ads in game that shouldn't be there in the first place, so I figured out what servers are being used to track this information. Server IP addresses: 72.32.5.0 - 72.32.5.15 Port: 9961 These IP addresses are registered to IGA (In Game Advertising) and this is where the game reports the information to. If you block port 9961 or block complete access to those servers, EA can't track your usage. The game functions just fine with these addresses blocked. Hopefully enough people will block these servers to make the information they garner useless forcing EA to reconsider this technology.
- Robert Beaubien - Sr. Software Architect - Kool Software LLC - "No trees were harmed in the sending of this messag
Well this was disappointing news. I had high hopes for this game, but I'm definitely not buying it now. I stopped playing counterstrike after steam stopped working under wine/cedega every time it updated. Now EA wants me to install spyware just so I can play their game? Insanity. It seems that game companies are following a disturbing trend of attempting to force consumers to accept changes that they (the companies) determine to be appropriate without caring about what the players themselves think. The demo was annoying enough, with the unskippable advertising for the full game every few rounds. But being a demo, it was understandable. Now mandatory spyware in a completed game? Not on my computer. Kind of reminiscent of why I stopped using windows in the first place...
I cancelled my order at Amazon because no spyware is good.
Your order has been successfully canceled. For your reference, here's a
summary of your order:
You just canceled order #002-0000000-0000000 placed on October 16, 2006.
Status: CANCELED
___...
1 of Battlefield 2142 (DVD-ROM) [CD]
By: Windows (Primary Contributor)
1 of Battlefield 2142 Pre-Order Flash Drive
____...
Because you only pay for items when we ship them to you, you won't be
charged for any items that you cancel.
Thank you for visiting Amazon.com!
Had to post this, spotted it on the EA forums funny as hell http://img86.imageshack.us/my.php?image=resizeofbf 2142adds1xn6.jpg
It sucks, we all can agree, but I've played the demo and I like it, if it wants to see what I visit, as much as I don't like it, whatever. I don't go around looking at pr0n all day long. I check my email, my facebook, my slashdot, and news. If it wants to advertise for CNN while I'm killing sombody, fine, whatever. I still plan to buy this game, I'm sure sombody will find a way around it eventually, but it shouldn't take away from the game all too much.
WoW has spyware, and I don't see Blizzard hurting for sales.
In fact, I bet many of the people pontificating about how they won't buy BF2142 are WoW players.
GCHQ Quantum Insert installed. If only our tongues were made of glass, how much more careful we would be when we speak
Found BF2142 contacting this IP address: 72.3.184.153:17475
:)
A quick WHOIS and bingo:
WHOIS Record For
72.3.184.153
Record Type: IP Address
IGA Technologies, LLC RSPC-68993-1122139655 (NET-72-3-184-144-1)
72.3.184.144 - 72.3.184.159
Just edit your hosts file in c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc and add:
# IGA Ad Servers for BF2142
72.3.184.144 localhost
72.3.184.145 localhost
72.3.184.146 localhost
72.3.184.147 localhost
72.3.184.148 localhost
72.3.184.149 localhost
72.3.184.150 localhost
72.3.184.151 localhost
72.3.184.152 localhost
72.3.184.153 localhost
72.3.184.154 localhost
72.3.184.155 localhost
72.3.184.156 localhost
72.3.184.157 localhost
72.3.184.158 localhost
72.3.184.159 localhost
Done.
"What's the use of a good quotation if you can't change it?" - Doctor Who