end-user-license-agreement posts

WAR hotfix patch cleans up quests and PQs, hides EULA

by William Dobson Nov 21st 2008 at 12:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Patches, Quests, Warhammer Online

Following the release of patch 1.0.5, a further update to Warhammer Online has addressed a large number of bugs in various quests and PQs, the full list of which can be found in the hot fix patch notes. A handful of RVR-related problems were also quashed, most notably the lack of Healer NPCs in Kadrin Valley warcamp, and some missing set items in Tier 3 Gold Keep bags.

Further tinkering with client performance and stability made it into this hot fix as well, with a focus on "periods of intense combat" -- we'll have to see how that one pans out. However, arguably the best part of the patch is one of the simplest changes -- WAR's EULA will now only need to be agreed to when changes are made to it. Joy! It's the little things in life that make us happy.

Tags: ea, ea-mythic, electronic-arts, end-user-license-agreement, eula, hot-fix, hotfix, mythic, patch, pqs, public-quests, quests, war, warhammer, warhammer-online

EVE Online trojan warning

by James Egan Sep 27th 2008 at 10:00AM

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Exploits, Game mechanics, News items

CCP Games issued a warning today, regarding a trojan found in a macro for EVE Online. CCP Wrangler said that the macro is being offered by 'Gold Harvest Macro Solutions' and ostensibly allows a player to automate their skill-training with a queue, eliminating the need to periodically log in and change skills. CCP became aware of it and put it through testing; here's a shocker -- the shady software contains a trojan. Please contain your surprise.

CCP Wrangler's full announcement (login required): "A number of players have recently received an advertisement for a skill training macro, this macro is sent by Gold Harvest Macro Solutions who claims that the macro will let you create a skill training plan and have your character automatically train your skills. This macro has been tested and it contains a Trojan, so make sure you do not download any software from these people. If you downloaded the program, make sure that you run a complete scan of your system and then change all of your passwords!"

Not that anyone who uses programs like this doesn't really understand they're breaking the accepted rules of the game, but pretty much using any 3rd-party automation with the EVE client is a bad move.

Tags: ccp, ccp-games, ccp-wrangler, end-user-license-agreement, eula, eve, eve-online, exploits, macro, skill-queue, skill-training, skills, terms-of-service, tos, trojan

Picking apart the MetaPlace Bill of Rights

by Samuel Axon Sep 18th 2008 at 4:00PM

Filed under: New titles, Opinion, MetaPlace, Legal, Virtual worlds

MetaPlace is not an MMOG. It's a platform for creating virtual spaces that can be used for anything the creators can imagine. As such, the traditional MMO EULA is completely inadequate. Raph Koster -- the head honcho on the MetaPlace project -- made that clear in a panel at AGDC08. So, the folks working on MetaPlace had to come up with a whole new set of rules -- rules that allow users ownership of their virtual property, for example. There's a veritable landmine of problems awaiting this endeavor, of course. That's not to say it's impossible. It's just going to be extremely challenging.

Koster published a first draft of the Terms of Service for MetaPlace on his blog the other day. It's based based on the Declaration of the Rights of Avatars that he conceived back in 2000. Readers of the MetaPlace ToS are likely to come away with two impressions. The first: that it's really cool and admirable and that in a general sense, Koster and friends are on the right track. Two is that the MetaPlace team seems to be underestimating just how epic a quest it's committed itself to.

Tags: areae, bill-of-rights, blog, declarion-of-the-rights-of-avatars, discrimination, end-user-license-agreement, eula, metaplace, privacy, property, raph-koster, terms-of-service, tos