Massively

Mortal Online plagiarizes EVE Online's terms of service

Justin Olivetti — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, EVE Online, MMO industry, Humor, Mortal Online

There's always that temptation in high school and college to simply copy someone else's work to get out of writing really boring papers. Still, no matter how great the temptation, it's good to abstain from such activities. While it's not only wrong, it can be extremely embarrassing if you're found out by the teacher and penalized for plagiarism.

We guess that someone over at Mortal Online really didn't want to work up an original terms of service (TOS) for the game, as a few sharp-eyed players noticed that the document not only was extremely similar to one in another MMO but failed to replace mentions of its source game. It appears as though Mortal Online took EVE Online's TOS and reworked it slightly -- and imperfectly -- for its own nefarious purposes, as you can see in the graphic above. The TOS has since been changed to eliminate the mention of EVE.

This recalls a similar misstep from last year, when Alganon was caught with its pants down after "borrowing" a press release from BioWare.

[Thanks to Jokkl for the tip!]

Mortal Online plagiarizes EVE Online's terms of service originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 09 Nov 2011 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

RuneScape is losing the war on bots

Eliot Lefebvre — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 21:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Economy, MMO industry, News items, RuneScape

We have an expectation of conflicts made up of good vs. evil. What we don't usually expect is for evil to win. But in RuneScape's war against the evil of botting, that appears to be what's happening. In a letter from Daniel Clough, it was explained that despite the development team's best efforts, the war on bots is being won by the botters. The re-introduction of the Wilderness and Free Trade has resulted in an explosion of gold farming and botting that just can't be held back.

The letter goes on to urge players to not utilize these services and report anyone known to be using them and outlines the steps being taken to try to beat back the tide. But as Clough puts it, while the staff sinks significant time and money into fighting the problem, it's fighting an opponent whose only business goal is to get back into the game. It's grim news for the game's players, certainly, and it doesn't bode well for the many other games waging the same battles.

RuneScape is losing the war on bots originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 11 Oct 2011 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Storyboard: Red light

Eliot Lefebvre — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 14:30:00 EST

Filed under: Culture, Opinion, Storyboard, Miscellaneous

When it comes to roleplaying, we've got more than our fair share of elephants in the room. Things we all know are taking place, that fall under the same aegis as the rest of the hobby, but things we don't really want to acknowledge publicly. Partly because you can have good roleplayers, people you know and play with, who have some less-savory elements lurking in the background. It's hard not to notice that a fellow roleplayer is cliquish, isolationist, and condescending... but it's very possible for a friend to be heavily into erotic roleplay (ERP) without you realizing it.

And it needs to be talked about. It needs to be addressed, because there's something strange about the entire roleplaying community pretending that it doesn't exist. From a combination of factors -- squick, inappropriateness, and just plain disinterest -- we've allowed a shadow community to grow up in the space around roleplaying, with the tacit hope that if no one mentions ERP as if it were a part of roleplaying, it'll just go away and we can go back to what we were doing before.

Before I go any further in this column, I'd like to note that some stuff in here might be squickworthy. It's the nature of the beast. Please tread carefully, and I apologize in advance to anyone skeeved out.

Continue reading Storyboard: Red light

Storyboard: Red light originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 22 Jul 2011 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Alter-Ego: DCUO's console conundrum

Krystalle Voecks — Sat, 19 Feb 2011 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: Super-hero, MMO industry, New titles, Opinion, Consoles, DC Universe Online, Alter-Ego

With the first month of DC Universe Online now in the past, the time has come for that all-important MMO decision -- is the game worth renewing? For some, the answer is no. The first major patch still has not dropped; it's meant to offer us many fixes and the new content we've been told is coming. Some players have hit the level cap and aren't interested in leveling alts or doing endgame content. Whatever each person's reason may be, the shine is wearing off for some.

Meanwhile, Hal Halpin, President of the Entertainment Consumer's Association, recently wrote a piece that presented another reason that some may not be renewing: Console gamers are feeling that Sony Online Entertainment has been less than open about the game's being locked to a single account. Many are upset about not being able to trade DC Universe Online in for another game now that their free month is up. His reasoning? "The problem, of course, is that console games are sold and the ownership conveyed, along with rights." There's only one flaw in that statement: This isn't anything new -- not even on consoles.

Continue reading Alter-Ego: DCUO's console conundrum

Alter-Ego: DCUO's console conundrum originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 19 Feb 2011 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Ask Massively: I am happy when I get to talk about Transformers edition

Eliot Lefebvre — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 16:00:00 EST

Filed under: Game mechanics, Opinion, Humor, Ask Massively

If people haven't noticed by now, I have fandoms that don't generally intersect with MMOs. So I'm happy to see that the Transformers MMO will be wide-ranging, while at the same time I understand that many of the things I want out of the game will not be happening. Then again, almost none of the things I want dovetails with more casual fans. Considering how strongly Hasbro is pushing the newly unified Transformers: Prime continuity, my vague hopes of seeing something set on Cybertron post-Reformatting are unlikely to come to fruition. (I will still be happier than those people who assume the series peaked 26 years ago.)

Leaving aside my personal pet causes, we've got the usual cocktail of questions for this week's Ask Massively, complete with a discussion of the dark art of modding and the far lighter art of inventory storage. If you've got a question for us, you can leave it in the comment field or mail us at ask@massively.com.

Continue reading Ask Massively: I am happy when I get to talk about Transformers edition

Ask Massively: I am happy when I get to talk about Transformers edition originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 18 Nov 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

The Digital Continuum: Federation stands for 'fighting' part 2

Kyle Horner — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 15:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, Opinion, Star Trek Online, The Digital Continuum

Continue reading The Digital Continuum: Federation stands for 'fighting' part 2

The Digital Continuum: Federation stands for 'fighting' part 2 originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 23 Nov 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

New perspective on EVE Online's latest bank embezzlement part two

James Egan — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Economy, Game mechanics, Interviews, Massively Interviews

We read about these things happening periodically, an EVE player pulls a runner with some huge amount of ISK and all sorts of drama ensues. It makes me wonder, what has the real life impact of this theft been on those of you involved with EBANK?

If you are to trust the forum trolls, EVE is JUST a game. But having spent 2 years on this project, real-life money and a lot of sweat and tears, it hurts to see EBANK's name being dragged through the mud, and putting up with the drama. It of course causes a huge amount of real-life stress, and makes you wonder about a few things. I even almost managed to miss 2 exams, due to having to deal with this. But it also gave us the opportunity to realize just how many people EBANK have helped.

2% of EVE's playerbase has an EBANK account, and we came to be the biggest investment venture in EVE, peaking at 2.5 TRILLION ISK. That, to me, is a pretty big thing, which I'm proud to take part in. But I can't answer this question on my own, hence here's my new CEO's take on it:

Continue reading New perspective on EVE Online's latest bank embezzlement part two

New perspective on EVE Online's latest bank embezzlement part two originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 02 Jul 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

The Daily Grind: What if everyone turned over server logs?

Krystalle Voecks — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 08:00:00 EST

Filed under: EverQuest II, MMO industry, News items, Opinion, The Daily Grind

One of the pieces of news that came out yesterday is the decision by SOE to fork over all server logs for the last four years of EverQuest II to a group of researchers from the American Association for the Advancement of Science. In saying "server log" one would assume that this means not only your combat log, what you've stuffed into the bank or sent through the mail, ~~but also the entirety of your chat logs; public channels, guild chat, and private tells.~~ The question today is - even though it is completely acceptable for MMO companies to do so per their TOS/EULA, how would you feel were you to find out your MMO company forked over all their information - including all your private discussion - to researchers? Would it cause you to seriously reconsider your membership in their games, if not cancel outright? Or would you be entirely OK with it, so long as it were only being used for scientific research?

Updated to reflect new information from SOE stating they did not release chat logs.

The Daily Grind: What if everyone turned over server logs? originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 17 Feb 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

EVE Online trojan warning

James Egan — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 10:00:00 EST

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.

EVE Online trojan warning originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 27 Sep 2008 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Picking apart the MetaPlace Bill of Rights

Samuel Axon — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 16:00:00 EST

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.

Continue reading Picking apart the MetaPlace Bill of Rights

Picking apart the MetaPlace Bill of Rights originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 18 Sep 2008 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

The Daily Grind: Read and understood

Tateru Nino — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 08:00:00 EST

Filed under: Opinion, The Daily Grind, Legal

End-User-License-Agreements, Terms-of-Use, Terms-of-Service. Some MMOGs and virtual environments get you to agree to them on first-use. Some get you to agree on every load and/or every login. In all cases, proceeding to click through indicates that you have (a) read it, (b) understand it, and (c) agree to abide by it. It is a legal contract between you and the operators and developers of the service.

But frankly, did you? Do you? If the agreement contains specialist legal terms, it is technically not even possible for the average user to proceed with any level of informed consent without considerable research. It is even possible that many of these agreements may fail to stand up in court -- there's certainly precedent for that, depending on how finely you slice it.

Do you read these manifestly lengthy and fearsomely involuted tracts? Do you understand them? Or do you just click on through and don't care what it actually says?

The Daily Grind: Read and understood originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 16 Sep 2008 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

GDC08: Are virtual item sales the way of the future?

Elizabeth Harper — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 16:30:00 EST

Filed under: Economy, Events, real-world, Game mechanics, MMO industry, Legal

With the stigma associated with the term RMT -- or "real money trading" -- companies such as Live Gamer and Ping0 have an uphill battle when selling their legitimized RMT services to many gamers. At GDC recently, Live Gamer's Andrew Schneider and ping0's Steve Goldstein tried to explain to a skeptical crowd why their forms of RMT trading are the future of gaming.

Though you hear a lot about WoW gold, all online games have a large secondary market for currency. These services are all operated outside of the publisher's terms of service or EULA and are very inefficient, both for the player and the company. The RMT industry is littered with account and credit card theft -- and when a customer's account has been compromised, they don't call the RMT traders: they call the game's customer support line. It's an immense waste of resources for the game company and a huge hassle for the player involved. (Has your World of Warcraft account ever been stolen? If so, you know it can take weeks to get everything restored.) If game companies don't address RMT issues themselves, they're just going to have problems with black market RMT. Live Gamer seems to offer a, "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" approach with their attempts to run a legitimate RMT business.

Continue reading GDC08: Are virtual item sales the way of the future?

GDC08: Are virtual item sales the way of the future? originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 08 Mar 2008 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Griefers can add value to a class

Eloise Pasteur — Sat, 03 Nov 2007 16:01:00 EST

Filed under: Real life, Culture, Second Life

Koin 6 News is carrying an article by Elizabeth Weiss McGolerick about griefing in educational settings in Second Life. The article may surprise some - it quite carefully points out that you get the equivalent to griefers in real classes, where you exclude them from class and usually you exclude them from your Second Life classes too, or move the class since that is simple where the land owner has neglected to give you rights to exclude others.

The piece discusses turning the situation into something teachable, the fact that no physical harm can be done, and goes on to discuss, accurately, the "Big 6" ways to get banned from Second Life. In the interests of disclosure, I work with 2 of the teachers interviewed through Literature Alive!

(Via SLReports)

Griefers can add value to a class originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 03 Nov 2007 16:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Imagined, but not owned

Tateru Nino — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 21:00:00 EST

Filed under: Real life, Business models, News items, Opinion, Second Life

Linden Lab has been overhauling its website and promotional material lately for the poorly understood virtual world Second Life. One of the key changes to be spotted is the alteration of the long-standing descriptor, "Second Life is a 3D online digital world imagined, created and owned by its residents", which now only reads, "Second Life is a 3D online digital world imagined, and created by its residents", and there's signs that the wording is still evolving a little.

The unannounced change has caused a fair bit of speculation, especially among those who were never all that certain as to what the ownership consisted of in the first place. In fact, that seems to be at the heart of the reason for the change.

Continue reading Imagined, but not owned

Imagined, but not owned originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 23 Oct 2007 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments