37 replies to this topic

[mattyboy]

Good for you. You made your point, for sure.

[chriso_86]

You guys think EA will figure out their screw up and possible make a revision to their game that takes off this crap? Or you think this game is just screwed from the start?

[Nvyseal]

Lets keep an eye on this, and report our findings here. Personally, i think many players wont even bother to read or understand what that paper says

[David_Heavey]

Yet ANOTHER Windows Issues with 2142

Quote

There is a long list of links that this goes to, but I am going to give you the short and sweet version of it. Basically there is another Windows file that is giving 2142 issues. Here is the scoop.
EA released a patch for Battlefield 2142 today, and I noticed this while looking through its ReadMe: "Players who have the Windows security update KB917422 installed may suffer from an application error when running Battlefield 2142. This error can be solved by uninstalling the KB917422 update."

And what does the Windows security update KB917422 do?

From Microsoft: "A security issue has been identified in the Windows Kernel that could allow an attacker to compromise your Windows-based system and gain control over it."
First spyware and now this. It is amazing what EA is trying to pull over on gamers with Battlefield 2142.

A lot of people are saying that people are just overreacting, but the truth is gamers never overreact as a whole. Gamers repeatedly buy bad games and continue to buy games where developers slip in such things as Starforce or the EA spyware. This just promotes further bullshit from these developers.

Starforce was only really shutdown because of the Sony BMG DRM fiasco. If that didn't occur I bet Starforce would still be in full force getting put into new games. EA will weather this storm and keep on marketing away the concern. They will make their money off the dimwits that haven't done their homework before buying. It is a sad tale that can be sung a 1,000 times.

I only hope that we've somewhat slowed the advance of spyware in games a little bit.

Windows Hotfix for the error!


GameSpy has posted their response to the rave over the new release, 2142!
The poster child for this practice is EA and its Battlefield games. Nearly every full installment in the series has seen a patch released within 24 hours of launch, and in fact it was the release of Battlefield 1942 in 2002 that led us here at GameSpy.com to make a habit of delaying reviews for multiplayer games. The sci-fi themed Battlefield 2142, which ships today, is no different; one patch has already been released and a second patch (which should be server-side only) should be released by night's end. As a result, we'll be testing over the next few days to get an accurate read on the online play before posting our final review, but with so many Battlefield fans here at GameSpy HQ, we've put together some initial impressions of what we've seen so far.

The year, as you've probably guessed, is 2142. Earth is slowly being covered in ice and two factions are now warring over what little habitable land remains. The setting is just an excuse to take Battlefield 2's gameplay and add some futuristic weapons and vehicles, from hovertanks to mech walkers. In many ways, BF2142 feels like an elaborate mod for BF2; the graphics haven't been significantly improved, there are still long load times and menu oddities, and if it weren't for some HUD tweaks and the new vehicles, you could forgive people for confusing some maps with BF2's.

Check out the full review, here!

DICE has gotten around to officially posting to the rave about the in-game ads. Here is their response.

Posting on behalf of the Dev Team
--------------------------------
Greetings,

We would like to provide more information on in-game advertising in Battlefield 2142. To try and help everyone better understand it, here is how it works.

The in- game advertisement is respectful of players' privacy: it never accesses files not directly related to the game, and it does not capture personal data such as cookies, account login detail, gameplay behaviour or surfing history. As it is an integrated part of Battlefield 2142 and not a separate program, it only runs when the game is running.

Because BF2142 delivers ads by region, the IP address of the player is used to determine the region of the player and helps serve ads by region and language; for instance, a player in Paris will be presented with ads in French. Note that this IP address is not stored on the advertisement server and is not repurposed for other uses.

A unique ID number is anonymously assigned the first time the player joins a Battlefield 2142 online game. It is stored locally on the PC but is not linked to any personal details.

The in-game advertisement gathers what we call “impression data”, such as location of the billboard in the game or duration of advertisement impression. It
helps see how many people have seen an ad – but not who has seen it.

We are also conscious that the advertisement shouldn’t distract the player from the overall gaming experience, so all ads fit in the unique environment of each level in the game. The content of the ads is also controlled to ensure that no offensive content is displayed in Battlefield 2142.

We all hope that this explanation will address recent concerns on the advertisement in Battlefield 2142.

See you on the Battlefield.

Your Dice Live Team

Source


So now they (EA) want us to remove a security update to get the game running with spyware they kindly provide in their software.

Come on EA ... Really.

PS Sorry for the length of the post guys. Just thought I'd whip it up for you all. Spud from our site found this and yet he still went and bought the game ...

Edited by David_Heavey, 21 October 2006 - 12:59 AM.

[m.oreilly]

thank you for that, dave. hey, let's all compromise our rigs for EA, shall we? hey, you could be conferencing right now on skype, right?

[David_Heavey]

m.oreilly, on Oct 21 2006, 02:29 AM, said:

thank you for that, dave

No problem. I just can't believe this from EA. My goodness. What a shambles.

[David_Heavey]

One of them is Need For Speed: Carbon. Guess what? Same in game advertising ...

[David_Heavey]

right on scara

[chriso_86]

Yeah, I played the demo from xbox live. It had in game ads as well. Also, it crashed on me within about ten seconds of starting a race, what a demo. lol

[mattyboy]

No doubt. I wont touch it. Even if it was free, I wont install in game ad games.

[David_Heavey]

scaramonga, on Oct 22 2006, 03:57 AM, said:

How long will it be before we find out that a copy of Photoshop or even an OS etc.....is riddled with this sh!t after paying good money for the software!!??

It wouldn't surprise me at all. MS bought one of these in-game advertising companies ...

[godless]

Its not really that huge of a deal, it doesnt collect information off of your computer, the fact it needs to go around a windows security update, and acts like spyware in that way is interesting (bah).. what is a big deal is the fact you are paying full price for a game that comes with built-in advertising, its not like they cut the price down, because it uses advertising, so ya EA sucks balls. Also, EA didnt need to design software like that, if all it does is get your IP (or know what region you live in to provide proper advertising), they could have simply built in a logging device that notifies the advertising program, designing it like that just seems so retarded...

Edited by godless, 22 October 2006 - 08:09 PM.