You obviously didn't play the game past level 1 or 2. Yangus gains a skill called "Whistle" at like level 4, that allows you to summon monsters to you. No 'mindless wandering around' there.
Furthermore, out of 2000+ fights clocked on my game (thanks Battle History!), I have *4* flees, and 2 wipeouts (as a result of Dhoulmagus, the first main boss in the game). Again, your tactics must suck, if you were dying that frequently, that you have to flee so often.
You keep referring to 'grinding', yet I didn't have to grind once, I just continued to progress through the game, moving onto the next area, etc. Maybe if you played a little more than 20 minutes of the demo at Walmart, you'd know what I'm talking about.
When D2 first came out, it was not uncommon for there to be 200,000 + people on any given realm at any given time. The sheer # of games was always around 75k to 100k on any realm at any time. Now it's more like 10k-15k.. Hmm?
Total Games Allowed is an option on their bnet software, just because there are lines now doesnt mean there are more games, on the contrary; they are using less machines and bandwidth dedicated to D2 because they are pushing other games like Warcraft 3, and World of Warcraft. And also, they lowered the total number of games allowed to try and thwart the botters (initially).
I'm sorry, I didn't respond to your second paragraph..:)
Just like it's impossible to write a program that cannot be cracked, it is also impossible to stop someone from being able to write a cheat or hack for a game. Given enough time, and enough interest, anyone with the skills necissary would be able to accomplish something like this for *any* game out there, past, present, or future. The only way to prevent this is to make it on a console (a very hard to hack medium). And even then, it's always going to be possible, and done.
Give people a medium in which to compete, and inevitably you will have people that must [try to] cheat. I suppose it's human nature to want to be the best, by any means possible. Again, I didn't write d2jsp for personal gain, other than as a programming and reverse engineering project.:) In that sense, I did in fact "win".:)
Go read my forums, to find out more about me before you continue to assume.
1) I pretty much quit playing D2 when I started work on d2jsp. The state of the realms is in fact so bad that it is both not rewarding, nor fun, due to the sheer number of cheaters out there. I have only recently even USED it [d2jsp], and that was for the enjoyment of writing intelligent scripts, and of course getting items for the free item giveaways that I host.
2) When I do play, and did play, I never once used any hacks/cheats/exploits. Not even maphack.
3) I have played a few times since I started writing d2jsp, and even wrote my own mod (check the Mod forum on my forums for a link to the mod) which was hosted on a private bnetd server, and I had strict anti cheat rules. You could not bot, use any cheats, etc.
It's ironic, and somewhat silly, yes. I wrote d2jsp for the challenge, not for any personal usage, so again, your arguments directed at me are totally moot.
Their computer hardware is lightyears better than it was when Diablo II first came out. There are far less players + bots active now then there was then.
You are pathetic. You are imposing what YOU enjoy about the game on OTHERS. What makes Diablo II so popular is the fact there are dozens of different aspects of the game to enjoy, and everyone enjoys something different.
Go back to your socialist country and stop trying to impose your opinions as word of god.
Once again, you can't play Progress Quest. You can still play Diablo II. There are many other types of scripts than 100% automation. There are many utility scripts that add features to the game, such as an onscreen dashboard that displays extended stat information that Diablo II hides from you.
I wrote this after all the hacked items, all the Iths, etc. These ruined the game. Duping ruined the game. Botting came long after these "bad cheats", and if anything, has only made the game better. It puts LEGITIMATE items back on the market, instead of hacked and duped ones. This gives players that refuse to use these cheats the only semi acceptable advantage possible. All items and experience gained with this bot is 100% legit, it does not make use of any exploits or bugs in Diablo II's code.
Blizzard went after bnetd because it allowed people to use pirated copies of their games on public servers. Since the people playing on Battle.net have already bought the game, they are in fact customers, and since we get over 100,000 unique hits a month, I'd say a huge portion of their customer base uses this (for whatever reason). That would be pretty silly of them to piss off such a huge chunk of their customer base, especially considering they aren't making nor losing any money in either case by the existance of this product. If anything, it only increases the longevity of the game, and popularity of the company, which can only mean positives for their marketing.
Blizzard punishes the legit players. I started getting into Diablo II hacking after being falsely accused of using hacks/cheats in the first place. This was back when they first started tagging "cheaters". I had never used a single hack or cheat before. They insisted I must have used some form of cheat, which was complete bull. After that I pretty much gave them my mind and decided "why not, I'm getting accused of it anyway, and am forced to play with other people that HAVE in fact cheated." Unfortunately, my case isn't the lone example. Remember the fix for the Soul Stone? Realm down for 30 minutes! Good job blizzard! What about the realm downs people still get all the time while playing legit? Funny, my bot and scripts never get realm downs... The storys just go on and on... So, if you want to continue playing the game "legit", and try and tell other people what to do, go right ahead. But don't expect people to voice their reasons as to why things are the way they are. Blizzard created the path on which its users have followed.
Unfortunately, there are no computer games out there that fit this bill. Every last one could be encapsulated with a script engine like the one I wrote for Diablo II.
Once again, d2jsp also works in single player mode, or on bnetd servers (which, for those that have been on a mountain top the past year or so is an emulator of battle.net).
In neither case does it violate any user agreement, or laws.
Man, all those people sharing their computer with utilities like SETI, Folding, UD, etc, must really be kicking themselves for being such "stupid heads."
And we won't even delve into the details of the OS, and everything you're sharing your computer with in regards to THAT.
Summary: Mildly humorous, if you throw away all logic.
Funny, it doesn't violate a single license agreement. You can use this program offline, it isn't strictly for battle.net.
As such, no company can tell you which programs you can and cannot use with their software. There is no EULA like that that would stand up in a court of law.
The license was written back when the program was originally going to be open source. I realized quickly that this would be folly, and decided against open sourcing it, and have been the sole developer ever since. This license is just a remnant from that era, and also a means of protection so people cannot sell my program on eBay. Yes, people have and do attempt that from time to time.
There are bots that run every boss in the game and take up to 10 minutes or more.
People manually running these bosses often take up just as much time, and can do them in the same amount of time, so that arguement is completely moot.
This [d2jsp and botting] has extended the fun and enjoyment that Diablo II gives people (and more many different reasons, unique to each person that uses it), so as such, it's a win win situation for everyone. Happy customers are more likely to be repeat buyers of a product.
In theory, this would be possible for any game.
How it works is, let's say you want to move.
script: move(x,y);
This would move your player as if you clicked those coordinates on the screen yourself (though other stuff is involved, it's game x y, which is not actual screen coordinates at all, so requires other things as well). d2jsp calls the function that "clicking" would, but does NOT use keypress or mouseclick events. It calls the functions as though the game itself were calling them.
In short, it requires lots of reverse engineering, as you can imagine. "Move" is about as simple of a function as one could imagine, other than "print", which again hijacks the print function inside Diablo II. d2jsp (in the latest version I am working on) can literally do almost *everything* that a player sitting there could. It's no longer a matter of can't.:)
Of course, a picture is always worth a thousand words, so getting someone to demo you a script in action would probably answer all of your questions. That, and of course looking at the scripts themselves.
A waste of time is investing literally hundreds of hours a week on a video game. This is quite the contrary, it gives you the ability to play when you want, with the awesome items/characters, without having to spend the countless hours to build them up yourself.
It's a concept even a non gamer should understand. If you already don't enjoy something, of course anything branched off of it will be of ill regards in your mind. This allows people that still enjoy the game a chance to still play and compete, while being able to fulfill other facets of their life.
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You obviously didn't play the game past level 1 or 2. Yangus gains a skill called "Whistle" at like level 4, that allows you to summon monsters to you. No 'mindless wandering around' there.
Furthermore, out of 2000+ fights clocked on my game (thanks Battle History!), I have *4* flees, and 2 wipeouts (as a result of Dhoulmagus, the first main boss in the game). Again, your tactics must suck, if you were dying that frequently, that you have to flee so often.
You keep referring to 'grinding', yet I didn't have to grind once, I just continued to progress through the game, moving onto the next area, etc. Maybe if you played a little more than 20 minutes of the demo at Walmart, you'd know what I'm talking about.
When D2 first came out, it was not uncommon for there to be 200,000 + people on any given realm at any given time. The sheer # of games was always around 75k to 100k on any realm at any time. Now it's more like 10k-15k .. Hmm?
Total Games Allowed is an option on their bnet software, just because there are lines now doesnt mean there are more games, on the contrary; they are using less machines and bandwidth dedicated to D2 because they are pushing other games like Warcraft 3, and World of Warcraft. And also, they lowered the total number of games allowed to try and thwart the botters (initially).
I'm sorry, I didn't respond to your second paragraph.. :)
:) In that sense, I did in fact "win". :)
Just like it's impossible to write a program that cannot be cracked, it is also impossible to stop someone from being able to write a cheat or hack for a game. Given enough time, and enough interest, anyone with the skills necissary would be able to accomplish something like this for *any* game out there, past, present, or future. The only way to prevent this is to make it on a console (a very hard to hack medium). And even then, it's always going to be possible, and done.
Give people a medium in which to compete, and inevitably you will have people that must [try to] cheat. I suppose it's human nature to want to be the best, by any means possible. Again, I didn't write d2jsp for personal gain, other than as a programming and reverse engineering project.
Go read my forums, to find out more about me before you continue to assume.
1) I pretty much quit playing D2 when I started work on d2jsp. The state of the realms is in fact so bad that it is both not rewarding, nor fun, due to the sheer number of cheaters out there. I have only recently even USED it [d2jsp], and that was for the enjoyment of writing intelligent scripts, and of course getting items for the free item giveaways that I host.
2) When I do play, and did play, I never once used any hacks/cheats/exploits. Not even maphack.
3) I have played a few times since I started writing d2jsp, and even wrote my own mod (check the Mod forum on my forums for a link to the mod) which was hosted on a private bnetd server, and I had strict anti cheat rules. You could not bot, use any cheats, etc.
It's ironic, and somewhat silly, yes. I wrote d2jsp for the challenge, not for any personal usage, so again, your arguments directed at me are totally moot.
Their computer hardware is lightyears better than it was when Diablo II first came out. There are far less players + bots active now then there was then.
You were saying?
You are pathetic. You are imposing what YOU enjoy about the game on OTHERS. What makes Diablo II so popular is the fact there are dozens of different aspects of the game to enjoy, and everyone enjoys something different.
Go back to your socialist country and stop trying to impose your opinions as word of god.
Once again, you can't play Progress Quest. You can still play Diablo II. There are many other types of scripts than 100% automation. There are many utility scripts that add features to the game, such as an onscreen dashboard that displays extended stat information that Diablo II hides from you.
Want to hear one of the biggest oxymorons in existance? "Original Idea" Go think about that, and call me in the morning.
I wrote this after all the hacked items, all the Iths, etc. These ruined the game. Duping ruined the game. Botting came long after these "bad cheats", and if anything, has only made the game better. It puts LEGITIMATE items back on the market, instead of hacked and duped ones. This gives players that refuse to use these cheats the only semi acceptable advantage possible. All items and experience gained with this bot is 100% legit, it does not make use of any exploits or bugs in Diablo II's code.
Blizzard went after bnetd because it allowed people to use pirated copies of their games on public servers. Since the people playing on Battle.net have already bought the game, they are in fact customers, and since we get over 100,000 unique hits a month, I'd say a huge portion of their customer base uses this (for whatever reason). That would be pretty silly of them to piss off such a huge chunk of their customer base, especially considering they aren't making nor losing any money in either case by the existance of this product. If anything, it only increases the longevity of the game, and popularity of the company, which can only mean positives for their marketing.
Blizzard punishes the legit players. I started getting into Diablo II hacking after being falsely accused of using hacks/cheats in the first place. This was back when they first started tagging "cheaters". I had never used a single hack or cheat before. They insisted I must have used some form of cheat, which was complete bull. After that I pretty much gave them my mind and decided "why not, I'm getting accused of it anyway, and am forced to play with other people that HAVE in fact cheated." Unfortunately, my case isn't the lone example. Remember the fix for the Soul Stone? Realm down for 30 minutes! Good job blizzard! What about the realm downs people still get all the time while playing legit? Funny, my bot and scripts never get realm downs... The storys just go on and on... So, if you want to continue playing the game "legit", and try and tell other people what to do, go right ahead. But don't expect people to voice their reasons as to why things are the way they are. Blizzard created the path on which its users have followed.
Unfortunately, there are no computer games out there that fit this bill. Every last one could be encapsulated with a script engine like the one I wrote for Diablo II.
Once again, d2jsp also works in single player mode, or on bnetd servers (which, for those that have been on a mountain top the past year or so is an emulator of battle.net).
In neither case does it violate any user agreement, or laws.
Man, all those people sharing their computer with utilities like SETI, Folding, UD, etc, must really be kicking themselves for being such "stupid heads."
And we won't even delve into the details of the OS, and everything you're sharing your computer with in regards to THAT.
Summary: Mildly humorous, if you throw away all logic.
Funny, it doesn't violate a single license agreement. You can use this program offline, it isn't strictly for battle.net.
As such, no company can tell you which programs you can and cannot use with their software. There is no EULA like that that would stand up in a court of law.
The license was written back when the program was originally going to be open source. I realized quickly that this would be folly, and decided against open sourcing it, and have been the sole developer ever since. This license is just a remnant from that era, and also a means of protection so people cannot sell my program on eBay. Yes, people have and do attempt that from time to time.
There are bots that run every boss in the game and take up to 10 minutes or more.
People manually running these bosses often take up just as much time, and can do them in the same amount of time, so that arguement is completely moot.
This [d2jsp and botting] has extended the fun and enjoyment that Diablo II gives people (and more many different reasons, unique to each person that uses it), so as such, it's a win win situation for everyone. Happy customers are more likely to be repeat buyers of a product.
Go look on ebay, and do a search for Diablo II.
Quite lucrative "hobby", I'd say.
In theory, this would be possible for any game.
:)
How it works is, let's say you want to move.
script: move(x,y);
This would move your player as if you clicked those coordinates on the screen yourself (though other stuff is involved, it's game x y, which is not actual screen coordinates at all, so requires other things as well). d2jsp calls the function that "clicking" would, but does NOT use keypress or mouseclick events. It calls the functions as though the game itself were calling them.
In short, it requires lots of reverse engineering, as you can imagine. "Move" is about as simple of a function as one could imagine, other than "print", which again hijacks the print function inside Diablo II. d2jsp (in the latest version I am working on) can literally do almost *everything* that a player sitting there could. It's no longer a matter of can't.
Of course, a picture is always worth a thousand words, so getting someone to demo you a script in action would probably answer all of your questions. That, and of course looking at the scripts themselves.
A waste of time is investing literally hundreds of hours a week on a video game. This is quite the contrary, it gives you the ability to play when you want, with the awesome items/characters, without having to spend the countless hours to build them up yourself.
It's a concept even a non gamer should understand. If you already don't enjoy something, of course anything branched off of it will be of ill regards in your mind. This allows people that still enjoy the game a chance to still play and compete, while being able to fulfill other facets of their life.