SOE Threatens Bans for Planetside 2 Modders

[JonB]

SOE Threatens Bans for Planetside 2 Modders

Even users running benign apps will be banned from the game, including deletion of characters and items.

To prevent cheating, Sony Online Entertainment has posted an announcement on their forums informing users of Planetside 2 that modifications to the game's client will result in a ban from gameplay resulting in loss of characters and items. Further, applications that simply modify Windows or Directx can result in suspensions unless they are specifically exempted by SOE. "We cannot make exceptions to this," said a representative of SOE, "if we allowed [harmless apps] they would simply be used as a shield excuse by players trying to cheat." A clarification posted several days later outlined some apps that are allowed. "Mumble, Teamspeak, Fraps, and of course Steam, which all use overlays, are expressly allowed. Having an overlay to display information to the user not related to Planetside 2 itself is fine."

It's a very unforgiving policy, and will probably result in a few bans of people running safe apps, but SOE is avoiding cheaters at all costs: "The most simple guidance here is do not use third party programs which change the Planetside 2 gameplay in any way unless it has been specifically cleared by SOE." Well reasoned arguments aside, an app bare, modless world is a pretty strange one in contemporary MMOs - where the standard for some time was the "mod-what-you-want" user interface of World of Warcraft. It may be a matter of context, as a First Person Shooter, Planetside 2 relies on a more competitive atmosphere than World of Warcraft and MMORPGs, but it's an interesting move away from openness and customizability for the freemium world.

Source: RPS [http://forums.station.sony.com/ps2/index.php?threads/important-client-modifications.54265/]


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[ZippyDSMlee]

Then make a program that funnels mods through making it safe and secure.. I swear they can't think their way out of a paper bag!

 

[Thedutchjelle]

Then make a program that funnels mods through making it safe and secure.. I swear they can't think their way out of a paper bag!

Mods for an MMOFPS? Wouldnt that give people running those mods an advantage over those who don't? :\

 

[ZippyDSMlee]

Then make a program that funnels mods through making it safe and secure.. I swear they can't think their way out of a paper bag!

Mods for an MMOFPS? Wouldnt that give people running those mods an advantage over those who don't? :\

Not if you lock all the values but texture, animation and model.

 

[Ruairi iliffe]

While I'm a big lover of modding, I agree with their stance as a player.

Yeah it sucks I can't push my FOV up, but as I've came across several gods damn them Aimbot bastards, I will back this.

 

[Meight08]

Planetside 2 is a very hack sensitive game so i can't really blame them for it.
A single speed hacker
OT: Planetside 2 is fucking awesome, Can we please get a review for it?

 

[Froggy Slayer]

I sort of agree here, but I would like to see modded servers popping up at some point.

 

[kajinking]

I think this may be in response to several forum posts by players accusing SOE of doing nothing as well as a prominet Twitch Steamer openly accusing at least two of the top ten on the leader boards of being hackers including the 1# spot. However this does concern me slightly since I know that people with colorblind issues have large problems playing this game right now and this stance pretty much makes fixing that issue through mods impossible. Sadly I can understand their ruling on this but however it won't go without hurting a few legit players.

 

[Thedutchjelle]

Then make a program that funnels mods through making it safe and secure.. I swear they can't think their way out of a paper bag!

Mods for an MMOFPS? Wouldnt that give people running those mods an advantage over those who don't? :\

Not if you lock all the values but texture, animation and model.

..but the only way they make money with this game is with their aesthetic unlocks bought with real cash. If people are going to mod their own in then they won't make any money out of this game.

 

[Timmey]

Seems fair to me. Seeing as how receptive the development team have been, it wouldn't surprise me if you asked them to put a certain thing in the game, instead of running it as a mod, they may well do it if enough people agree.

 

[fix-the-spade]

That's ok, I made a backup copy and am farting about with it inside of a closed environment, because I'm not completely stupid.

Normally SOE/Sony as a whole's obsession with you not touching their toys really annoys me, but in this case I can understand. There isn't really a PvE environment to play with in Planetside, so anything you do affects the guy next to you and the guy on the other end of your sights. I think disallowing FoV alteration is a mistake that will be fixed in due time, the multi-screeners and 16:10-ers will demand it.

 

[ZippyDSMlee]

Then make a program that funnels mods through making it safe and secure.. I swear they can't think their way out of a paper bag!

Mods for an MMOFPS? Wouldnt that give people running those mods an advantage over those who don't? :\

Not if you lock all the values but texture, animation and model.

..but the only way they make money with this game is with their aesthetic unlocks bought with real cash. If people are going to mod their own in then they won't make any money out of this game.

Ah I didn't think they are that desperate for cash, maybe then have it so subscribers can run it?

It can be done but ya if they are getting money from texture/model changes then there is nothing to mod.

Tho I you could sell modable templates that do not overlap with what you are selling in the store and sell the templates thus making a bit more money.

 

[Thedutchjelle]

Then make a program that funnels mods through making it safe and secure.. I swear they can't think their way out of a paper bag!

Mods for an MMOFPS? Wouldnt that give people running those mods an advantage over those who don't? :\

Not if you lock all the values but texture, animation and model.

..but the only way they make money with this game is with their aesthetic unlocks bought with real cash. If people are going to mod their own in then they won't make any money out of this game.

Ah I didn't think they are that desperate for cash, maybe then have it so subscribers can run it?

It can be done but ya if they are getting money from texture/model changes then there is nothing to mod.

Tho I you could sell modable templates that do not overlap with what you are selling in the store and sell the templates thus making a bit more money.

They're not "desperate" for cash, but it's a free-to-play game where you can buy aesthetic stuff to make your character look nice, similairly to how Team Fortress 2 plays nowadays. If they allow people to make their own stuff they will not make any money out of this game as it's free-to-play. Subscribtions would just drive people away - I know I would stop playing it.

Not every game needs to be moddable.

 

[LordFish]

As a poor school boy with a failing CRT monitor that was gradually getting very very dark; I installed a mod, possibly even considered a cheat, that allowed me to tweak the brightness up past what the Steam Engine had permitted. I likely still saw much less than those with working monitors, especially nice big ones.

Not saying it should have been allowed, but there are a lot of legitimate reasons for a quick mod.

 

[ZippyDSMlee]

Then make a program that funnels mods through making it safe and secure.. I swear they can't think their way out of a paper bag!

Mods for an MMOFPS? Wouldnt that give people running those mods an advantage over those who don't? :\

Not if you lock all the values but texture, animation and model.

..but the only way they make money with this game is with their aesthetic unlocks bought with real cash. If people are going to mod their own in then they won't make any money out of this game.

Ah I didn't think they are that desperate for cash, maybe then have it so subscribers can run it?

It can be done but ya if they are getting money from texture/model changes then there is nothing to mod.

Tho I you could sell modable templates that do not overlap with what you are selling in the store and sell the templates thus making a bit more money.

They're not "desperate" for cash, but it's a free-to-play game where you can buy aesthetic stuff to make your character look nice, similairly to how Team Fortress 2 plays nowadays. If they allow people to make their own stuff they will not make any money out of this game as it's free-to-play. Subscribtions would just drive people away - I know I would stop playing it.

Not every game needs to be moddable.

Desperate for cash is desperate for cash that's why free to play games tend to so grind over loaded and option lite.

And yes every game needs to be modable it would save us the agony of playing crap games when the community can fix and improve them faster than the devs can.....

 

[taciturnCandid]

Then make a program that funnels mods through making it safe and secure.. I swear they can't think their way out of a paper bag!

Mods for an MMOFPS? Wouldnt that give people running those mods an advantage over those who don't? :\

Not if you lock all the values but texture, animation and model.

It is an MMOFPS. Making people be able to change textures would make a huge difference.

A texture error in halo: combat evolved for pc was a good example of this. The error made invisible people turn pink and really stand out. That significaly changed my experience because those people weren't hidden anymore. All you need to do is to make player textures appear bright purple and enemies are easier to see even from a long distance. That is a huge advantage.

 

[ZippyDSMlee]

Then make a program that funnels mods through making it safe and secure.. I swear they can't think their way out of a paper bag!

Mods for an MMOFPS? Wouldnt that give people running those mods an advantage over those who don't? :\

Not if you lock all the values but texture, animation and model.

It is an MMOFPS. Making people be able to change textures would make a huge difference.

A texture error in halo: combat evolved for pc was a good example of this. The error made invisible people turn pink and really stand out. That significaly changed my experience because those people weren't hidden anymore. All you need to do is to make player textures appear bright purple and enemies are easier to see even from a long distance. That is a huge advantage.

All the more reason to make them dark and dull LOL

But ya there's not much room to mod anything.

 

[shintakie10]

Im actually fine with this.

An MMORPG that doesn't allow mods is a bad idea because of the way the interface works. The button placement, visuals, procs, blah blah blah are all fairly difficult to keep track of when you're playin somethin like WoW. A mod simply helps you get all that stuff easier to see.

Its why I detested SWTOR for a while actually. The lack of mods and the inability to do somethin simple like move the interface around made me want to punch baby seals. Eventually they allowed people to move the interface, but as far as I'm aware stubbornly refuse to allow mods.

However an MMOFPS like Planetside doesn't have those kinds of issues. The HUD shows exactly what you need it to show. There are no procs to react to. Everythin you need is easy to see and easy to get to. The only major concerns were FoV issues and colorblind options that I saw. Both of those can fairly easily be addressed by the developers of the game.

 

[fix-the-spade]

As a poor school boy with a failing CRT monitor that was gradually getting very very dark;

I think that's your cue to go to a local independant PC shop and ask do they know anyone with an old (but working) monitor that could be persuaded to part with it for twenty five bucks.

 

[SecretsOfMoon]

I wonder, how exactly do they determine who's using what and when, to do a spot of cheating. How detailed information can they pull about what programs and services one is running? Also, rootkits.