Blizzard bans more SC2 hackers

[Exort]

But modding games is a long-standing PC tradition, as is cheating in them. This is the first case of single-player cheats being penalised by anyone, and there's no call for it. Let people play their game the way they want to, where's the harm? I thought Blizzard was a better company than that before they went after single player modders as well as those actually damaging peoples' enjoyment of the game online.

If you didn't know last time this thing happened, Blizzard claim that those hack work in Multiplayer and that is the reason the hackers got banned. If you want to mod the game make it not usable in Multiplayer and they won't ban you.
Modding the game is not a excuse, when it is useable in Multiplayer. Anyways you can use the SC2 map editor to mod thing which is way easier to get things done.

 

[Azure Sky]

It's against the Terms of Use policy. They brought this on themselves.

but the terms of use are silly.
thats like saying people in a dictatorship are brining the law uppon themselves.

You agree to the rules the first time you start the game up. You're well within your rights to decline them and return the game.

But that would involve reading them first, which I'm sure nobody does.

And that's a valid excuse to be exempt from them? =3

I'm waiting for the day when Blizz changes the terms of service for WoW (in one of the patches) to include something silly like "I agree that my character will walk on it's head every 3rd day of the month".
That would put the fear of "READ THIS BEFORE PROCEEDING" into everyone!

OT: Like other people have said, Blizzard can do what they want with their game to maintain it's integrity. I'm sure Microsoft would do this with their Xbox's if they could... oh wait.

Being a WoW player myself, I would find that Hilarious

 

[Exort]

Using modifications/hacks for SP shouldn't be treated that harsly if you ask me. That's plain nuts. If these programs ALSO offered MP hacks, ban those idiots but if not, leave them the fuck alone.

Blizzards side of the argument is that many of the trainers can work in multiplayer, however they are banning people who have never even played online in order to keep the integrity of the achievement system

How did they ban people that never go online?
It is impossible...

 

[Exort]

But that would involve reading them first, which I'm sure nobody does.

that is not a valid excuse...
Next time you might as well say "I didn't know I have to pay the credit card company back, not my fault I didn't read the agreement. It was too long."


For the people that says they just want to change a sound/Model file there is no way it can be mistaken as a hack.
Tons of people change those thing in WoW like the GreenFire mod for Warlock. Even though it is against the Term no one even got banned for it.
It is just those Hackers QQ about they got banned.

 

[Irridium]

It's against the Terms of Use policy. They brought this on themselves.

The same Terms of Use that show up when your installing the game? The terms that show up after you bought it, activated it on your account, and can't return it?

Yeah, because they're not divulged fully prior to purchase, they're pretty much meaningless.

Anyway, it seems most trainers can be used in multiplayer, and the trainers allow you to get achievements by doing next to nothing. Personally I feel that banning people who get achievements/special MP pictures is a bit harsh. Microsoft puts achievement bans on people who hack/cheat for achievements, wiping their gamerscore and not allowing them to re-gain any previous achievements.

Blizzard could have done the same thing.

This whole thing just seems so pointless to me. They're just pictures/achievements. Is banning someone over them really the right answer?

 

[Exort]

This whole thing just seems so pointless to me. They're just pictures/achievements. Is banning someone over them really the right answer?

The whole game is just pixels using your logic they should not ban anything at all.

 

[Irridium]

This whole thing just seems so pointless to me. They're just pictures/achievements. Is banning someone over them really the right answer?

The whole game is just pixels using you logic they should not ban anything at all.

No, thats just being obnoxious.

Using my logic, it would be silly to ban people from playing completely for cheating for some pictures/achievements. It would be better to just wipe their points/pictures and not let them re-earn them.

There is middle ground between "not banning anyone for anything" and "banning people completely for cheating for pictures/achievements".

 

[Exort]

Double posted.

 

[Exort]

This whole thing just seems so pointless to me. They're just pictures/achievements. Is banning someone over them really the right answer?

The whole game is just pixels using you logic they should not ban anything at all.

No, thats just being obnoxious.

Using my logic, it would be silly to ban people from playing completely for cheating for some pictures/achievements. It would be better to just wipe their points/pictures and not let them re-earn them.

There is middle ground between "not banning anyone for anything" and "banning people completely for cheating for pictures/achievements".

Ok, I get where you are getting at now. I thought you meant no punishment at all.
However, then there will be nothing to stop the hackers from doing it again.

Anyways, Blzzard claim the reason to ban them is because the Trainer is useable in Multiplayer. Not because of Achievements.

Actually in BLizzcon this year, the developers are talking about making acheivement earnable offline, because they aren't sure if it is safe from hack even now. So there is no point of using the online protection anymore.

 

[Irridium]

Ok, I get where you are getting at now. I thought you meant no punishment at all.
However, then there will be nothing to stop the hackers from doing it again.

Anyways, Blzzard claim the reason to ban them is because the Trainer is useable in Multiplayer. Not because of Achievements.

Actually in BLizzcon this year, the developers are talking about making acheivement earnable offline, because they aren't sure if it is safe from hack even now. So there is no point of using the online protection anymore.

Sucks when your post gets eaten, doesn't it?

Anyway, I feel as though these achievements/pictures seem to be causing more harm then good. And its why Starcraft 2 should have had a proper offline mode(haven't played the game. From what I've heard the only way to play in "offline mode" is to play as a guest). By proper offline mode I mean able to set up a separate account just for offline mode. That way people who want to use single player hacks/trainers can do it and whatever else they want. Plus it would mean that those doing it online will most likely be doing it for nefarious purposes.

Online protection is another can of worms I'd rather not get into right now. Suffice to say I find it bullshit since it screws people with slow/no internet over.

 

[Gindil]

Well this is trying to avoid such a similar shitstorm.

They've just made a new storm, just as stinky and about as much of a mess.

 

[bob1052]

Anyway, I feel as though these achievements/pictures seem to be causing more harm then good.

Not for people who play the game as was intended

And its why Starcraft 2 should have had a proper offline mode(haven't played the game. From what I've heard the only way to play in "offline mode" is to play as a guest). By proper offline mode I mean able to set up a separate account just for offline mode. That way people who want to use single player hacks/trainers can do it and whatever else they want. Plus it would mean that those doing it online will most likely be doing it for nefarious purposes.

There are already systems in place to allow cheating in a way intended by Blizzard, trainers (when online) are just unnecessary ways to use cheats without the logical restraints put in place.

Online protection is another can of worms I'd rather not get into right now. Suffice to say I find it bullshit since it screws people with slow/no internet over.

In this day and age this does not apply to many people.

Also if these people were not connected to the battle.net (using the given offline accounts), Blizzard would not have been able to ban them, no one impacted by this falls under the slow/no internet group.

 

[kickyourass]

While I do think this rule is kinda stupid, the players in question agreed to the Terms of Use set by Blizzard, and then they violeted those terms. If they got banned it's entirely their own fault.

It's against the Terms of Use policy. They brought this on themselves.

but the terms of use are silly.
thats like saying people in a dictatorship are brining the law uppon themselves.

No, it's not, you can't agree to a dictatorship if you don't like the Dictator it's sorta touch shit. With terms of Use you have to agree to them, if you dislike the terms for a certain game then DON'T AGREE TO THEM!! If YOU break rules that you fully agreed to, then as far as I'm concerned you don't have any valid reason to complain whan you get punished.

 

[Exort]

Ok, I get where you are getting at now. I thought you meant no punishment at all.
However, then there will be nothing to stop the hackers from doing it again.

Anyways, Blzzard claim the reason to ban them is because the Trainer is useable in Multiplayer. Not because of Achievements.

Actually in BLizzcon this year, the developers are talking about making acheivement earnable offline, because they aren't sure if it is safe from hack even now. So there is no point of using the online protection anymore.

Sucks when your post gets eaten, doesn't it?

Anyway, I feel as though these achievements/pictures seem to be causing more harm then good. And its why Starcraft 2 should have had a proper offline mode(haven't played the game. From what I've heard the only way to play in "offline mode" is to play as a guest). By proper offline mode I mean able to set up a separate account just for offline mode. That way people who want to use single player hacks/trainers can do it and whatever else they want. Plus it would mean that those doing it online will most likely be doing it for nefarious purposes.

Online protection is another can of worms I'd rather not get into right now. Suffice to say I find it bullshit since it screws people with slow/no internet over.

Sorry can you elaborate on offline account?

Currently you have three Offline Account named: Guest1, Guest2, Guest3, which is completely offline, since it is completely offline I don't see how Blizzard can moniter any activity at all, therefore no way of banning you.

I think you might be confused between Online Single player and Offline Single Player.
If you hack in Online Single Player you can get banned, but not Offline Single player, again because Blizzard can't moniter what you are doing.

By the way, Blizzard don't really ban people for using custom Skin or Sound file, in WoW it had been done for years, and I yet to hear a case of people getting banned for it. For example the GreenFire Mod for Warlock.

 

[technoted]

I say go on Blizzard, they've always had a strict policy when it comes to cheating on their games and so they should. If people don't feel like playing the game properly whether it's online or on single player by using hacks that go against the terms of service then they're bringing on themselves and should be banned for it. Most of the people I game with agree with me on this, play fair or don't play at all, the only reason people are complaining now is recently games companies don't really tend to care whether people cheat anymore and more and more people get acustomed to it and basically feel that it's fine and a legit tactic. And then you get people who jump on the bandwagon and say "Yeah banning people is wrong, they should do this and this instead of banning!" without fully understanding the argument. No one complains at the mass bannings they did on Starcraft 1, Warcraft 2 and Warcraft 3 or even on World of Warcraft when a player is caught cheating so why now all of a sudden in Starcraft 2?

Also, what would taking away their awards and ranking do, they'd just cheat it back up, banning shows that they're not going to take any shit and give people another chance to abuse the system.

 

[John Funk]

The trainers that people are being banned for are the ones that do the exact same thing that Blizzard's in-game cheats do, only they don't disable achievements. It's the same thing as hacking your gamerscore. And in both cases, you deserve the ban.

 

[Irridium]

Not for people who play the game as was intended
There are already systems in place to allow cheating in a way intended by Blizzard, trainers are just unnecessary ways to use cheats without the logical restraints put in place.

Playing and cheating the way it was intended(boy does that sound strange. "cheating the way its intended) is all well and good, but its fun to screw around with the game and change things. And plenty of fun is to be had by playing the game and experience it in way the developers never intended.

In this day and age this does not apply to many people. Also if these people were not connected to the battle.net, Blizzard would not have been able to ban them, no one impacted by this does not fall under the slow/no internet group.

Well, according to this piece [http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-10454133-94.html], it appears that roughly 40% of people in the US don't have broadband(high speed) internet.

That is less then people with broadband, but its still a shit-load of people. And to just ignore all of them is just stupid.

 

[SL33TBL1ND]

It's against the Terms of Use policy. They brought this on themselves.

Modding files has always been a violation, and yet the PC has seen the growth of a strong modding culture.

No, it hasn't. Let's take a look at say, Unreal Tournament for example. All the maps and mods for that game are completely legal. The developers even released programs for those so inclined to do this sort of thing. The difference here is that Blizzard are stopping people who are changing game content without permission.

It's always been a violation in some games, then, and yet I doubt many games don't have some sort of third party mods for them, even when Devs went out of their way to make them unfriendly to modders.

It annoys me that Blizzard is cracking on single player cheats/hacks/whatever - if they're that worried about people being able to easily get medals and stuff, then let them run it offline or something - geez, it's not like their game is sacrosanct or something. They need to lighten the fuck up.

I cheated a lot (in single player, of course) when I was starting on PC games because I wasn't great at them and I found it fun. As I matured I came to relish the challenge of actually playing the game and pretty much never cheat, but I can easily understand the motives of those who do want to dominate the AI or mess around with something cosmetic or over powered or just plain silly. Banning these people is just stupid. If the only harm they have done is to gain some virtual awards illegitimately do a Bungie and take them away FFS.

There are already cheats within the game for people too use if they want to. Yes, only small harm has been done, but that doesn't change the fact that what these people have done is illegal.

Illegal? Does that mean the police should be involved? I dunno if the EULA is even legally enforcible, what with you actually having to purchase a non-refundable good before having the option of accepting it. As to the cheats in-game, these don't cover all the options possible, or give people the freedom to really fuck around. People want to have fun their way, not through some closeted, corporate supplied and limited means.

Long story short, I think Blizzard reacted incorrectly to this. Costing someone $60 for changing a unit's sound files it bullshit - a blanket response is a failed response to something so diverse as 'modding game files'. Take away their single player medals or whatever, not their bloody game!

I agree that EULA's are stupid, but that doesn't stop the fact that these people agree to this contract on installation. They've broken their end of the agreement so Blizzard is allowed to do whatever it says they can within said agreement.

It's against the Terms of Use policy. They brought this on themselves.

The same Terms of Use that show up when your installing the game? The terms that show up after you bought it, activated it on your account, and can't return it?

Yeah, because they're not divulged fully prior to purchase, they're pretty much meaningless.

Anyway, it seems most trainers can be used in multiplayer, and the trainers allow you to get achievements by doing next to nothing. Personally I feel that banning people who get achievements/special MP pictures is a bit harsh. Microsoft puts achievement bans on people who hack/cheat for achievements, wiping their gamerscore and not allowing them to re-gain any previous achievements.

Blizzard could have done the same thing.

This whole thing just seems so pointless to me. They're just pictures/achievements. Is banning someone over them really the right answer?

It says, on the box of the game that you'll need to agree to some form EULA and it even gives a url to said EULA. People can check this before they buy it.

 

[zehydra]

It's probably because of the idea, that if someone is using external programs for single player, they're one step away from using them for multiplayer. Despite this, as people before me have stated, it IS against the EULA.

Besides, if I'm correct about this, they can still player Single player while they're banned, right?