Today I Smiled: Over the Limit

I've been having internet slowness of late and I am glad to learn that the reason for it is simply because for the first time ever, I've exceeded my monthly allowed download. This is partially thanks to all the downloading of Christmas present games but more so this pretty impressive app I was introduced to called XBMC. I suggest you google it up to see if what it does interests you.

My guild has also decided to give external voice chat programs a try, since many of the coop games just don't offer it nor do we really want someone hosting a voice server that will impair their performance. We did try Teamspeak first but since setting up a server was too messy we went with Mumble instead and that has been performing admirably so far. The text to voice chat does sound like a funny robot though. Not as cool as Arnie as a robot in the upcoming Terminator reboot though.

Also good to learn some interest exists to revive the old Wizardry Online. Not so good to hear of Elder Scrolls Online's performance though, but hey - if it goes free to play then I can finally play it again (I did run about in the Beta). As usual I also have some tunes for you, the first is one suggested by guildmate Carbon called AMV Psycho Pop. If that is too psycho or pop for your liking then maybe you'll instead enjoy the piano soloist, Jon Schmidt and his song, All of Me.

Lastly almost everyone has been dishing out the hate on early access zombie game H1Z1, yet in the sea of Steam reviews saying "Not Recommended", this one made me laugh:

That's it for now! Hope you all have a wonderful day! :)

MMOs: Cheaters in the Third Party

[Part of my MMO Design Folder] 

"It's ok to cheat if you don't get caught."  That line of thinking seems to extend into MMO's.

In most MMO EULA's I seem to recall a line wherein "the use of third party software" is a punishable offence. This might not be the case anymore (I tend to gloss over EULA's these days) but if it is then there would be a lot of people who commit that crime (ooooh cyber crime, so futuristic). I think we should pop on some definitions though for clarity. Let's define "third party software" as code created by a company or person, unaffiliated to and/or not endorsed by the game publisher/creator, which gives the user an advantage over someone without the same software while playing the game. That's pretty fair isn't it?

I think we'd all agree that someone who has code to give them god-mode would be pretty unfair (happens regularly in GunZ the Duel I might add), and the guy that runs faster on foot than someone flying in a jet plane is probably hacked. Throw in the farmbot plague which is impressively far reaching when you think about it. These are usually very obvious and no one, other than the exploiters themselves I imagine, would really have an issue with the game masters going after these particular players (or robots, whatever).

But what about that program that changes the font for your client so you lag slightly less, or the one that lets you see the specific durability value of items, or the mod that changes your HUD to make it less cluttered than the vanilla version? Do they give you an advantage over someone who doesn't use it? Let's blur the lines further and ask - what about teamspeak? Or that program that lets you monitor the real time auction house prices (like gw2spidy)? What about youtube walkthroughs? They are all technically software.

Ofcourse the game might actually endorse some 3rd party stuff (eg. GW2 put Dulfy -in- the game, so I take that as an endorsement) in which case those should be absolutely fine - but as for the rest? Guess justice isn't so much a solid line and more a wavy faded noodle, around which the "cops" tread lightly and are fearful or are simply too impotent to go uphold their own laws when it becomes difficult or inconvenient to police (mirrored in real life). That leads to the question - if something is not policed, is it still "cheating"? At what point does "being resourceful" cross the line? I guess the answer to that comes down to you.

It's ok, she's not looking anyway.