Blizzard Banning Single Player Cheaters?

[tiredinnuendo]

First, everyone saying that they "own" the product needs to look up software licensing. You don't own shit.

Secondly, read what this guy says.

Even cheating in single-player using 3rd party methods rather than the usual built-in codes is still using 3rd party software to hack, modify and abuse the game. Wether used in multiplayer or not, I can imagine Blizzard might take issue with people screwing with their magnum opus.

Allowing use of third-party tools to modify their product is a slippery slope. You want to cheat, use the cheats. If you want achievements, don't cheat. I don't see how this is complex.

- J

 

[tiredinnuendo]

First, everyone saying that they "own" the product needs to look up software licensing. You don't own shit.

Secondly, read what this guy says.

Even cheating in single-player using 3rd party methods rather than the usual built-in codes is still using 3rd party software to hack, modify and abuse the game. Wether used in multiplayer or not, I can imagine Blizzard might take issue with people screwing with their magnum opus.

Allowing use of third-party tools to modify their product is a slippery slope. You want to cheat, use the cheats. If you want achievements, don't cheat. I don't see how this is complex.

- J

This has already been solved:

Nintendo argued that Galoob infringed its copyrights by creating ?derivative works? based on its copyrighted games. The Ninth Circuit excused Galoob with a somewhat technical analysis. A derivative work, the court explained, must incorporate the original work in some ?concrete or permanent ?form.?? The court said the Game Genie does not contain, produce, or duplicate the original game in any lasting form. The court also made arguments about the importance of allowing freedom to innovate, comparing the Game Genie to the important innovation of spell-checkers that enhanced existing word processor programs. A finding of copyright infringement in this case, the court warned, might chill innovation and fail to protect society?s interest in the free flow of ideas, information, and commerce.
In an independent stream of analysis, the court also held that Galoob's device constituted "fair use" under copyright law.

http://museumofintellectualproperty.eejlaw.com/exhibits/game_genie.html

A trainer or mod is no different than a Game Genie or spell checker and has been deemed legal. Blizzard is on shaky ground here.

Perhaps your NES differed from mine, but I don't recall ever agreeing to a license agreement to play Battletoads.

EDIT: Actually, let me think that through... there probably was some form of agreement in the manual, though obviously nothing to click "I Agree" on. I suppose if there was such an agreement back then, we'd have to look at how it's changed before saying this is just like a Game Genie.

- J

 

[gl1koz3]

What the. Last time I checked, I do what I want with my single player game. Because it's SINGLE PLAYER.

The fuck acheivements are doing there... or even have weight for my silly experience with the computer... I don't get.

 

[mattttherman3]

Man, just have in game cheats that disable achievements like GTA4

 

[PhiMed]

Even cheating in single-player using 3rd party methods rather than the usual built-in codes is still using 3rd party software to hack, modify and abuse the game. Wether used in multiplayer or not, I can imagine Blizzard might take issue with people screwing with their magnum opus.

Huh, used to be that when you bought a game, you owned that game and could enjoy it's content in whatever manner you saw fit. Now apparently you're somehow insulting the developer's artistic sensibilities if you cheat or mod the single-player aspects of the game, and they can take away your right to use a product which you legally purchased.

I'm sorry, but to me that seems a lot like bullshit. There is a clearly defined rationale behind banning people who cheat in multiplayer - they are giving themselves and unfair advantage in a competitive environment. That doesn't apply to single-player, even achievements for actions completed within single-player. When servers and matchmaking are provided by the developer, the developer has the right to enforce it's own rules on players who choose to engage in the multiplayer aspect of the game. However, the idea that because the developer requires an arbitrary connection to a server in order to play the single-player game, they should also be able to prevent people from playing that game? Nope.

Just another reason to pirate games, well done Blizzard, you've leapt willingly on to the bandwagon that's ruining your own industry.

They're owned by Activision. Are you really surprised they're contributing to the ruin of the industry?

 

[Altorin]

Man, just have in game cheats that disable achievements like GTA4

they do.

that's sort of the point.

There are ingame cheats that disable achievements.

 

[The Unworthy Gentleman]

Snip

I would usually agree with what you said but you have to see it from Blizzard's perspective here. They see people using third party cheats or mods that are allowing people to gain in game achievements which, supposedly, affects your prestige in multiplayer. The people who use these mods and hacks will gain achievements they don't deserve and are 'ruining' the game.

Now, I use ruining loosely there because it only makes them seem better than they are and I assume has an affect on a leader board (I don't know, I don't play Starcraft).

But in principle, you're right. Big companies shouldn't be allowed to mess with people's games and ban them because they want to add to it. However, when it affects the multiplayer then it should be punished. The best way to get around all this is to keep single player and multiplayer separate completely.

 

[blankedboy]

If it's affecting stats and achievements, then yeah, inbuilt cheats only, pplz.

What's so wrong about this? They're stopping people cheating the system.

 

[Altorin]

I'm unsure about how I actually feel about this.. on the one hand, blizzard already offers cheats for single player. And a powerful world creator which can give you any kind of gameplay experience you want..

So the only reason I can think to hack the game is to boost achievements, which at first glance seems odd, but I cheated in one of my 360 games to get achievements for it (In my defense, it wasn't as easy as just putting in the code and bing 1000 gamerscore, it took me a solid week while cheating to get them all).. so it'd be hard for me to be critical against these people..

On the other hand, I doubt I would hack a 360 game to get achievements.. I only utilize cheats that are in the game, and the bugs sometimes associated with them. My Dragon Age Origin achievements show that I did the level up glitch at some early point (in actuality I never used that character to beat the game, but you wouldn't know it to look at it), and I used a level up glitch for the specific purpose of getting achievements in Fallout 3 the day before I had to return it to blockbuster (which also is hilariously blatantly obvious cheating in my achievement list)..

So yeah, i have a history with cheating to get achievements.. But I think the crux of the matter is.. if the developers patched those glitches out of the game, I wouldn't get butt hurt... I think if blizzard had made glitches that allowed for easy achievements, I'd probably use them... but if they patched them out I'd say "oh well, that was fun while it lasted" and work for them legitimately.

So I think that purposefully creating glitches in the game to make achievements easier to get and then getting butthurt when blizzard decides that they want to "patch them out" (It's not what they're doing, I get that, but it's what they SHOULD want to do, if it were possible), I think that's sort of silly.

Banning is the wrong move. Wiping achievements, that I can understand, suspending from multiplayer games, that I can understand. Something to say "We don't like you doing this, we caught you doing this, here's a slap on the wrist".. Make it a painful slap, but just make it a slap. Banning people from playing a single player game is a HORRIBLE precedent.

 

[ThePirateMan]

Banning is a bit too harsh, but otherwise I don't really see much of a problem.

It's not really a game for mods outside of the custom games anyway and the singleplayer allready has built in cheats.

 

[deth2munkies]

I have 0 sympathy for idiots that cheat in single player with 3rd party programs. There's no bloody reason for it, the game is rather simple on easier settings, has cheat codes built in that do everything a trainer would, and has no fucking point other than to make it less fun.

 

[Charli]

Nope I agree with them, if you intend to lie about your E-Penor, we will castrate it.

Oooh yes.

 

[Acidwell]

What everyone on this thread seems to have forgotten is that when you install the game you agree to a legally binding terms of use agreement and a licence so just because you bought the game doesnt mean you can do whatever the hell you want