This really, really frosts my nether regions.
I was apprehensive enough about the new BF2142. I've heard some about the advertising that would be included in-game. EA promised it would be non-invasive, but how realistic would a futuristic battlefield game be with billboards blaring out the features of the new Dodge Neon? (Arguments against really caring about in-game adverts run to the extent of, if you're paying attention to the adverts you're likely to get fragged anyways, so just ignore them.) But the bigger picture is, would this save the consumer anything in costs for the game? Are we going to get the option to pay full-price for a copy of the game that doesn't include the advertising? Oh wait, you mean the game with the ads costs the same as a regular game? You mean (surprise, surprise) EA is only doing this to generate more profit for themselves?
So I downloaded the demo anyway and gave it a spin. Completely unplayable at first (and by that I mean it crashed to desktop, no errors given, every time I tried to fire a weapon). Wouldn't run at all without a DirectX upgrade, that's fine and expected. Realized I forgot to check for video card upgrade, whoops nVidia just released a new one (most likely to adapt to the new game in question). OK, video driver upgraded, all settings down to minimum. Can play through a round, and then partway through a second round, CTD again. Aha, audio drivers, still had the original embedded audio drivers from when I built the box almost two years ago. (Funny how this was the first game to notice that, even BF2 didn't mind.) Right, new updates, no CTD. Crank up the settings... hm. No visible difference. Though on the Titan maps I do tend to CTD every 4-5 rounds or so.
Alright, but that was just the demo, the retail versions might be better. (Forgetting for the moment, how many patches BF2 took to ensure playability...)
But now that the retail version has arrived, we have new reports of EA shenanigans. Posted on several spots around the net, but specifically one bit on Shacknews reports:
Online advertising for the gamer generation
I'm talking around the point here now. What I'm trying to get at, is that if this is server-based, then fine, the basic objection is that of in-game advertising alone. Any tracking would be done solely to report to the advertisers what's hot and what's not.
Now, is this tracking client-based? Will my already overloaded and struggling DSL connection have to accommodate ad tracking along with the game streams? Will EA really only pass the ad info along, and nothing else (including ip address and user id) to the advertisers? And is this a precursor to more? If we all accept this behavior, is that a blank check to EA and other big game designers to push the envelope more? What's to really prevent the game from quietly monitoring my out-of-game activity to more accurately report my interests to the advertisers, thereby "improving" the "quality" of my in-game adverts?
I know I'm not the only one concerned about these developments, judging from the online activity at gaming news sites and forums. But so far, it is all unverified hype and conjecture. I would really, really like to hear from someone I know, who can reliably tell me what the EULA addendum is, and how it affects their gameplay...
UPDATE: Ha, somehow I missed this making the frontpage of Slashdot on Tuesday as well...
UPDATE REDUX: Posibly much ado about nothing. But still it would be a good idea to keep an eye on it...
Thread with some results of retail installations:
http://www.gamerswithjobs.com/node/27747
EA clarifies Battlefield 2142's IGA spyware:
http://www.joystiq.com/2006/10/18/ea-clarifies-iga-spyware/
I was apprehensive enough about the new BF2142. I've heard some about the advertising that would be included in-game. EA promised it would be non-invasive, but how realistic would a futuristic battlefield game be with billboards blaring out the features of the new Dodge Neon? (Arguments against really caring about in-game adverts run to the extent of, if you're paying attention to the adverts you're likely to get fragged anyways, so just ignore them.) But the bigger picture is, would this save the consumer anything in costs for the game? Are we going to get the option to pay full-price for a copy of the game that doesn't include the advertising? Oh wait, you mean the game with the ads costs the same as a regular game? You mean (surprise, surprise) EA is only doing this to generate more profit for themselves?
So I downloaded the demo anyway and gave it a spin. Completely unplayable at first (and by that I mean it crashed to desktop, no errors given, every time I tried to fire a weapon). Wouldn't run at all without a DirectX upgrade, that's fine and expected. Realized I forgot to check for video card upgrade, whoops nVidia just released a new one (most likely to adapt to the new game in question). OK, video driver upgraded, all settings down to minimum. Can play through a round, and then partway through a second round, CTD again. Aha, audio drivers, still had the original embedded audio drivers from when I built the box almost two years ago. (Funny how this was the first game to notice that, even BF2 didn't mind.) Right, new updates, no CTD. Crank up the settings... hm. No visible difference. Though on the Titan maps I do tend to CTD every 4-5 rounds or so.
Alright, but that was just the demo, the retail versions might be better. (Forgetting for the moment, how many patches BF2 took to ensure playability...)
But now that the retail version has arrived, we have new reports of EA shenanigans. Posted on several spots around the net, but specifically one bit on Shacknews reports:
So. In the latest CGW podcast, they received retail boxed copies of BF 2142.Now, this is taken with a grain of salt as I haven't seen a retail version yet. Actually, it would be a bit hard for me to do so, as in order to read this EULA addendum you would have to buy the game, open it up and thereby nullifying almost any chance of returning the software if you disagree with this addendum. However, some intrepid poster managed to dig up the actual text about the spyware/adware (again, take with a grain of salt, note the numerous misspellings such as "anonymouse", though it may have just been retyped from a hard copy):
When you open the box, a big slip of paper falls out first, preceding any discs or manuals. The slip of paper says, essentially, that 2142 includes monitoring software which runs while your computer is online, and records "anonymous" information like your IP address, surfing habits (probably via cookie scans), and other "computing habits" in order to report this information back to ad companies and ad servers, which generates in-game ads.
Now, I can live with certain in-game ads (though apparently there will be Dodge truck and Neon ads in the bleak, futuristic world of 2142), but including a lengthy description - outside of even the EULA - seems to indicate even EA knows that this is some shady borderline spyware shit. I don't support it and won't be buying 2142 (for a host of other reasons, too).
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.Reportedly this is a heated topic over at the official forums for the game, but it seems they're deleting threads on the spyware subject every 5 minutes. (Now that may just be pure conjecture, and I haven't verified the latter tidbit.) All this, of course, has been explained away by EA and DICE as nothing so sinister:
Originally Posted by [DICE]CKMCSo maybe there's nothing to worry about, no "Big Brother" type monitoring of anything outside of the game (though I did like the one reference to BF1984) - but wait, hasn't something like this been done before?
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.
Online advertising for the gamer generation
After updating my version of SWAT4 to the latest patch from Vivendi, I soon discovered that the game was phoning home to grab posters to place in the enviroment of the game's levels. Not only did it do this for every level that was played, but it also informed the advertisers of how long each poster was viewed, and by which gamer. Expect to see this kind of advertising and brand placement becoming standard fare in the very near future.Ah yes, there's the article I remember from last year when this type of BS started. This is a fascinating read of the first iteration of in-game adverts with associated monitoring. In order to track just what was being reported by the game back to the ad servers, the authors loaded up their favorite packet dumper.
The most shocking part was next. The client contacted madserver to tell the advertisers how long the gamer spent with each advert in their view. This is mapped to the gamer id, so they know which player in the game saw the advert, and when, for how long, and from how far away (by virtue of the size attribute). Even the average viewing angle is passed back.Now they did offer a solution for this game, essentially modifying the host file to point the ad servers back to 127.0.0.1 (basically, /dev/null). But back to BF2142, where the severs (if ranked, like BF2) are closed-source to the point of no modifications (which is reasonable, and prevents exploitation), would the advert reporting be done at the server level or at the client level? Can such a thing be blocked?
...
If this stuff is just first generation, then who knows how invasive and/or detailed this technology could become. It should be made clear that this advertising format doesn't just simply mean putting posters on the walls of levels, but also objects, such as vending machines in the game could be branded by advertisers. For further reading, check out http://www.massiveincorporated.com/. Also take note of the plethora of game publishers they have already signed up, as displayed at the base of their website.
I'm talking around the point here now. What I'm trying to get at, is that if this is server-based, then fine, the basic objection is that of in-game advertising alone. Any tracking would be done solely to report to the advertisers what's hot and what's not.
Now, is this tracking client-based? Will my already overloaded and struggling DSL connection have to accommodate ad tracking along with the game streams? Will EA really only pass the ad info along, and nothing else (including ip address and user id) to the advertisers? And is this a precursor to more? If we all accept this behavior, is that a blank check to EA and other big game designers to push the envelope more? What's to really prevent the game from quietly monitoring my out-of-game activity to more accurately report my interests to the advertisers, thereby "improving" the "quality" of my in-game adverts?
I know I'm not the only one concerned about these developments, judging from the online activity at gaming news sites and forums. But so far, it is all unverified hype and conjecture. I would really, really like to hear from someone I know, who can reliably tell me what the EULA addendum is, and how it affects their gameplay...
UPDATE: Ha, somehow I missed this making the frontpage of Slashdot on Tuesday as well...
UPDATE REDUX: Posibly much ado about nothing. But still it would be a good idea to keep an eye on it...
Thread with some results of retail installations:
http://www.gamerswithjobs.com/node/27747
EA clarifies Battlefield 2142's IGA spyware:
http://www.joystiq.com/2006/10/18/ea-clarifies-iga-spyware/
No comments:
Post a Comment