In the holiday 2006 edition of PC Gamer there is maybe 1/4 of a page about lineage 2 written in the letters section of the magazine. There is an image of the dark elf with subcaption "Careful guys - she may look hot, but word on the street is she's got a nasty --- infestation."
Here is the letter that is captioned "Deport the ---s!"
The Chronicle Five update to Lineage 2 was just released, and still nothing has been done about the rampant --- infestation that's ruining the game. My buddy had his IT guys take a look at the game, and they told him pretty much all it would take to kill the --- was two lines of code to shut down running third-party programs, and some weekly maintenance. Is this true? And if so, why hasn't NCSOFT done it? Do they truely care about their subscribers and gameplay, or is it just about the dollar?
-Sammy Lynn
And here is the response one of the editors gave back.
The idea that MMO companies don't care about their subscribers and just want money is kind of a contradiction, because when you think about it, subscribers = money. Unless your game is fair and enjoybable, your chance of acquiring and keeping subscribers is nil. One clear sign that changes need to be implemented - and fast - is when subscription rates start dropping.
Of course, smart developers won't wait for subscription rates to plunge before dealing with problems. But fixing problems like the ones you describe is alot more complicated than adding a couple lines of code. There's a constant arms race going on between MMO games and people who are out to exploit them, and ---ters have becomes so sophisticated that no MMO has been able to eliminate them completely. Even WoW, which runs a program in the background to monitor the apps players are running, has its share of these issues.
Well while not exactly the publicity that lineage 2 needs it is still nonetheless publicity. Meanwhile Guild Wars has a full back cover advertisment, too bad we cant get one of those.
One thing I never understood about in-game security is this: why don't the publishers use software security tokens, encrypt the network traffic with a rolling key, and have a periodic authentication "heartbeat" between the client and server? This would increase network traffic but if it were done only once every 10 or 20 minutes it would not be noticeable. I would think if this were done there would be no such thing as illegal clients and the only thing left would be fancy keyboard and mice macros which HGMSpam has already said are legit.
And this is really proof that making large blanket reactions and banning alot really doesn't help the publicity one iota in this manner.
We don't really know this. Why? Cause technically NCSoft didn't advertise their mass bannings.
The only reason we know this is because of a random post from a GM or two and a decrease of bots on the servers. Their really hasn't been a press release.
I know NCNA seems to like keeping things very low key in regards to account termination for whatever reasons....but I think that in the last month or so, they have REALLY put the ban hammer down on those abusing 3rd party software.
'Farmer' clan AWOL? Yep. Silent groups? Here one day, gone the next. Notice a whiny post on one of 'those' forums about how many have got caught and banned lately? Hell Yes! (I can even get to those ever so elusive animal bone seeds AND turn them in!) Market corrections on price? Well....that's debateable. (Although I see prices are fluctuating, I think they are dropping overall.)
It's either that or the botters/sellers are abandoning the game overall now. If they are I think it's more because people (who buy) have 'bought' all the adena they 'need' and not because fewer people are playing/joining.
I don't know about you, but I think things have improved quite a bit lately. And I have been playing since the game came out of beta. (Now, if only those darn spoil tables would improve also!)
The only thing I would of like to seen different in the reply was instead of giving a WoW example and using an example of what NCSOFT has done. I have not played WoW but from what I hear and read they present themselves as an active force against 3rd party violaters. While I am not saying NCSOFT has done nothing to stop ---, they could use some help in their marketing department to enforce the community at large that they are attempting to stop them. The forum messages every now and then from a NCSOFT employee helps but not everyone reads the forums. Going back to the editors example of WoW and the program that searches for illegal apps doesnt really say how effective it is, but it gives me the reader the feeling 'they are really looking to bust these people' Even generic messages stating NCSOFT has improved their cheat detection methods, cheaters beware in game would help remind people that NCSOFT is doing something.
you have a right to privacy even if you have done something you shouldnt have. this makes sense to me. in the interim between being suspected by an authority and when the authority is deciding whether you did it or not, it makes sense to assume that you have not, instead of assuming that you have and humiliating you for something that you didnt do. people are much better at humilating themselves, no one else but them can do it best.
While I am not saying NCSOFT has done nothing to stop ---, they could use some help in their marketing department to enforce the community at large that they are attempting to stop them.
They have....Were have you been?
Mistryl, Rust, and Spam have stated it so many times i've lost count.... I mean what do you want? Someone from NC to post every 15 minutes, is that enough?
Like i said... They have stated it so many times they are turning blue in the face. It's the players that aren't listening!
My buddy had his IT guys take a look at the game, and they told him pretty much all it would take to kill the --- was two lines of code to shut down running third-party programs, and some weekly maintenance. Is this true? And if so, why hasn't NCSOFT done it? Do they truely care about their subscribers and gameplay, or is it just about the dollar?
-Sammy Lynn
hi sammy lynn. Your friends IT guys are very very stupid.
While I am not saying NCSOFT has done nothing to stop ---, they could use some help in their marketing department to enforce the community at large that they are attempting to stop them.
They have....Were have you been?
Mistryl, Rust, and Spam have stated it so many times i've lost count.... I mean what do you want? Someone from NC to post every 15 minutes, is that enough?
Like i said... They have stated it so many times they are turning blue in the face. It's the players that aren't listening!
Try improving your reading skills before bashing other's listening skills. The next line that you so conviently did not quote stated
The forum messages every now and then from a NCSOFT employee helps but not everyone reads the forums.
And i'm saying they have posted about the position they take. Even if they posted we have done X, Y, and Z. It won't be enough, people will still complain that enough isn't being done it's just the nature of the beast.
Well, maybe they should be reading the forums. Who plays a game, but doesn't take a active or semi active role in the boards?
When i signed up for the game, the first thing i did was sign up for the boards and stay active reading....
If people want to interact with the company that runs their game and hear from them, registering on the official forums is nothing more than logical.
The bot thing is an out of game problem, and as such I'm glad it's mostly spoken of hear rather than in game.
The bot thing is very much an in-game problem, as is their very presence and subsequent interference and effect on the market and character/clan/alliance influence on the server as a whole.
As has been said before, not everyone posts on this or any other message board, and in fact, I would venture to say that most people who do visit L2-related boards don't even post on these particular boards.
Seeking interaction from the governing body that presides over that with which one is concerned might logically presume registration and further regular correspondence through these boards.
But this is, firstly, a service that we are paying for that does not (or maybe should not) require from us even an ounce of extraneous effort to seek answers for that which we should be protected from in the first place.
Secondly, as has been shown populations around the world, even though we seek the attention and interaction of those governing us, most of us don't actively persue the methods of protest or appeal that is afforded to us by the laws and regulations that are prescribed.
And when we do persue those avenues of protest or appeal, this board and NCSoft are notorious for their censorship. So much so that even the most resolute of us have faltered to WoW's far superior Customer Service charms in the past year, after having been swatted down like pesky flies in the wake of NCSoft's seemingly callous handling of our grievances.
While you seem to be under the impression that it is us who are responsible for communicating our desires and needs to NCSoft, even in the face of their gag orders and censorship sweeps, it is actually them who are expected to (and should) anticipate, mediate, and satiate our wants, needs, and grievances.
We are paying for them to do their jobs, and their jobs are to make us happy as customers. They are the ones who should be coming to us to make us happy, not the other way around.
why are you guys still insisting for advertisements? i just dont get it. it's not the player's concern. it's the developer's concern.
>.>
It is also very much the players' concern whether or not this Massively Multiplayer Online game is advertised properly, because without a thriving, populated world with which to interact, this game wouldn't really be very "Massively Multiplayer," would it?
Well, this may sound strange, and ofc I dont like bots, but bots are good. As long as there are bots in L2, L2 is popular. Ppl buy adnea, ppl let them self lvl, its true. But if the bots leave, it means noone wants adnea or lvls, or in other words the game dies since ppl dont play it anymore.
You cant get rid of bots, no matter what you do, it is *not* possible. You can add security programms, change code, whatever, they will ever find a way around. And they do it faster then a new way is developed.
How often do great music, game or movie labels invent new copy protection? How fast is it cracked?
I dont like bots, but I learned how to deal with them. You say they take all lvl spots? Have you asked them to leave once? Not all bots are kind, and not all groups got someone who can answer, but it happens so often that you just have to ask if you can exp for 2 or 3 hours. In the end, bots dont want to be trained or pked/pvped. They want to bot, to make money. Talk to them, they will often log in another party somewhere else.
I hope this topic just get locked, not deleted, thank god its weekend and we can discuss this for 2 days.
I have noticed many bots dissapearing as of late, would be cool to get a status report like we used to see occasionally saying 'we have closed out X-number of accounts in the past month'
they will never stop, its impossible to completely block them out besides shutting down the game.
And ya, usually you can just ask RGIs to leave and 90% of the time they will, they dont want to be killed or GMed, they will be as courteous as they can be. If they arent responding just smack the group leader a few times 8-)
I still believe the bot problem could be solved with a GM in game making rounds. Hire a GM to make rounds on each server a few mins per zone per day. Even less time if they make daily random rounds. Spot a bot party, investigate and ban. Simple diligent solution. I dont think they want an effective solution to the bots cause the bots purchase alot of accounts. If they eliminated them or made it so it wasnt worth the effort, they would loose alot of business. A live farmer would not be able to run a party of bots anymore so each toon would have to be live players. Eliminates ebay money or would make it very expensive. 2 of the major problems in the game eliminated by random inspections of servers and zones.
I dunno, if you ask em L2 is a big world, if a GM had to physically make rounds constantly, I don't think the banning process would be any better...there are lots of places to hide in aden.
There is minor truth in what someone stated above, as bots keeping L2 popular. I am sorry, but NCsoft was about 5 chronicles to late to start banning bots. Maybe, just maybe the Chaotic Throne: Interlude will draw a new crowd if when it is released they market it, as almost if it was a new game. But there are a lot of next gen games coming out, L2 is a good MMO but it's golden years have passed, and now that is something that will just have to be accepted. New games, even ones made by NCsoft themselves, such as Aion, are going to take L2 players, just because the content is starting to be 'smart' and not grind.
if gm's logg random toons and not identified GM toons they can walk into any cata and see the bots and write them down and check them out then have them banned. Anyone playing l2 can spot the bot. I do agree it may come too late because alot of pvp players have been botting since c1 and they have the lvl advantage already, on their 3 rd sub class etc. But even the next gen games dont seem all that impressive. The grind is important. Anyone can logg WOW and be 60 in a few weeks. no one will max l2 in a few weeks (excpet bots). l2 is best pvp game i have found. the bots are the problem not only because of the farmers but because the grefiers who bot would hesitate to be so aggressive if they had to actually play to gain exp. the pvp would be better because both sides would risk loss of exp and would select their battles. Now we have toons on 3rd subclass bored because they botted all the way and the challenge of finding the best way to grind is not a factor for them. l2 would have lasted longer if the bot problem was dealt with. Now it seems pointless to keep grinding legit when large percentage are botting and l3 is in the works. Good game, best to date. Hope some game will find way to effectively deal with 3rd party programs and will continue to add new material and technology instead of starting a newer version.[ eq, eq2, lineage,l2,l3 etc.] hate to grind legit to have game replaced with newer version instead of simply updating the existing game. Bots + L3 = pointless grind in l2
The only thing that can slightly help is to focus on the farming type of bots, anything else at this point invites alot of trouble, regular players banned, regardless of wether it with NCSoft evidence was justified causes a lot of problems, their friends and clanmates would be less eager to play or quit along with them to another game and at this point in time it doesn't improve the game in the slightests.
Also notice that all of these bad reviews mostly deal with or are affected by farmer bots.
NCSoft has to remember they have 3 very dangerous opponents:
1. WoW
2. The new rush of MMORPGs coming out (Vanguard, Aion, etc.)
3. The ease that players can now play L2 in alternative manners
i said this before and i dont think i got a response
when u make an account for ur email for example, theres usually a picture with random words and letters like A9YT6 that u gotta type in to verify ur actually a person and not an email generator or something.
now why cant we have that in loading screen? wont the programs be unable to look at the random letters/numbers because it would just pick it up as an image file?