Blizzard Attacks StarCraft II Cheat Developers

[Staskala]

I don't like to say I told you so...but...wait no I do like to say I told you so.

So I fucking called it!

I knew their banning of single player cheaters was only the first step, now we're going to see what happens when the EULA is actually enforced. I'm looking forward to following the case actually, hopefully those being sued don't just capitulate and surrender because I think they'd have a good chance of getting the EULA eviscerated in court. I really hope this bites Blizzard, and the EULA especially, in the ass.

That's copied from the other thread that was started about this, just fyi.

This law-suit has nothing to do with Starcraft II's EULA, Blizzard's line of argument is monetary damage by scaring away (potential) customers with cheats.
That's why their chances are rather slim, this argument has won Blizzard several cases already.
The EULA doesn't hold up in court anyway, but in this case it doesn't have to.

 

[MurderousToaster]

"OK, listen the fuck up.

You are going to sue very, very quickly.

Now... and by quickly I mean FUCKING quickly.

If you lose the case, it means you're going to lose 50 DKP because you didn't know what the fuck to do.

And watch the FUCKING litigation.

Throw more lawsuits, more lawsuits!

I don't see enough lawsuits!

At $40,000,000 you will stop lawsuits. Until then I want more lawsuits!"

Possibly an accurate representation of Blizzard briefing their lawyers.

 

[Keava]

I dont know, I dont cheat/hack on ANY game I play, since it pretty much ruins the point. HOWEVER ruining someones financial future and possibly their life because they erroneously believed they wouldnt get caught doing something, in the grand scheme of things, relatively minor, I think is more douche-baggish than what the hackers did in the first place. I mean, ruining someones real life over a VIDEO GAME is completely over the top. I sincerely hope Blizzard loses these lawsuits.

Except for Blizzard it's not a video game. It's product they made to make money, and if something hurts that product they have right to take any legal actions, because in the end it's their finances being harmed.

That said however i don't really get the whole problem. As i understood from previous reports those hacks been used in single player games, and pretty much only affected achievements which mean, uh nothing?
Oh okay, maybe the cheaters got a few unlockable portraits more, i don't think that really ruins the multiplayer experience that much. It's not like they made cheats to win automatches/ranked games.

 

[Boemmel]

Okay, so Blizzard, and Ubisoft games are off my list. Activision? Still undecided...

I can see now why Valve gets so much love.

Um, you DO know Activision is the parent company of Blizzard (so Blizzard is actually a part of Activision), yes?

And face it, every single one of the big gaming companies had minor and major screwups in the past and will have those in the future again (Valve, to take that example, had that nice little problem with accidentally banning a few thousand innocent MW2 players back in July...).

Also, they all seem to do more and more of those strange or frankly ugly kind of things especially to PC players in recent years, it sadly is an industry-wide trend. So, refusing to buy certain specific games because of such an incident, I totally understand and support. But if you do keep completely boycotting entire companies, I am afraid you will be playing classic and indie games exclusively pretty soon, as there not that many big gaming companies and frankly, they are all guilty of doing shady things by now. Which admittedly is a pretty demoralizing point of view of the gaming market.

My own personal attempt at resolving this mess: I do not outright boycott specific companies, only specific games and otherwise started to support a lot more indie games in recent times. It is far from perfect and can be frustrating as well, but I feel it is kind of a relatively doable compromise at least for now.

 

[Lightslei]

I've always wondered... WHY create these hacks when you know it WILL lead to lawsuits? They might be great hackers, but on every other level they're butt-head retarded. You don't dabble with someone elses software without permission! First rule when it comes to programing.

There's nothing more annoying than a hacker or a cheater when you're playing a game straight, so I have to say I'm glad to see Blizzard taking care of business.

Couldnt agree more. I think blizz made a fair point with "hacks ruining further expansion sales", it's very valid. I quit CS because of all the framerate hackers, never even bothering to try CS:source, and i bet im not the first.

The correct answer actually is you dabble in other people's software for personal use .

(Mostly bug fixes, because I moved files and stuff >.<)


@Person above: Atlus. (or whatever it's currently been divulged into)

 

[Gsmoove]

Activision is throwing around their weight too much, they're turning into bullies and what we must ask is how long before they start targeting innocent people.

 

[Evilsanta]

Well if it was on multiplayer i can see why...Kind of.

I only use trainer or other cheats on RTS singleplayer against bots mostly when i feel to, Well to just fuck around. Or if am stuck somewhere on a game, like a difficult boss.

For example on Supreme Commander it is really fun to build a shitload of the experimental units and just bomb the shit out of the AI enemies. Or on Sins of a solar empire and attack with the biggist fleet that ever existed.

 

[Throwitawaynow]

That said however i don't really get the whole problem. As i understood from previous reports those hacks been used in single player games, and pretty much only affected achievements which mean, uh nothing?
Oh okay, maybe the cheaters got a few unlockable portraits more, i don't think that really ruins the multiplayer experience that much. It's not like they made cheats to win automatches/ranked games.

If they mean nothing why are people using 3rd party cheats to get them, furthermore why are they paying for them?

Spoiler: Your argument is invalid

http://ui15.gamespot.com/1614/invalidargument_2.jpg

 

[Therumancer]

Interesting news. While I like the idea of this, I don't think it will make much of a differance in the long run. I think it's a good thing that Blizzard is trying to maintain the integrity of their games, and the value of their achievement system by going after cheaters.

On the other hand, I fail to see what they are accomplishing. Unless they manage to bring criminal charges to bear and actually get them to stick, with people going to jail, this is pointless.

On the surface 88 million dollar lawsuits sound incredible, but in the end it's pointless if the person doesn't have the money. Debtors prison doesn't exist anymore, and the court system is liable to simply ensure that the person makes an effort to pay it back according to their means, which for a basement dwelling haxxor could amount to sending them like a $5 money order every month or whatever.... I mean a lot of factors come into play, but the bottom line is that you can't get blood out of a stone. The only way you can go to jail for not paying these settlements is if your not making an effort (and effort can mean quite little) or have the money but are refusing to fork it over. Simply owing money can't get people imprisoned as a general rule in the US at least (maybe in Peru, I don't know their legal system).


All rambling aside, the point is that I doubt anyone is quaking in their grav boots. Look at it this way, it's intimidating to go to court and all, but if someone sued YOU for like a hundred trillion dollars and one, does it matter if you don't have that much money and never will? Actually I'd imagine some of these guys might be laughing because Blizzard is spending tons of money going after them, and will never even break even on their legal fees because the people they are going after doubtlessly don't have it.

I like the idea, but it's a PR stunt. Weight being thrown around for the sake of it being thrown around, and to generate hype for caring about the integrity of their games.

When someone actually goes to jail for a serious amount of time over this (which to my knowlege has yet to happen) then it will be a big deal and actually matter.

 

[sdafdfhrye3245]

From what I understand the cheats where only for single player and if they were only for single player I don't see how they would lose potential customers. If anything they would be gaining some.

 

[Lazy Kitty]

Those hackers got what they deserved...

 

[SturmDolch]

Good. The people hacking in multiplayer are losers. The people using third-party software to cheat in single player are still messing with the game. Here's a list of cheat codes that work in SC2 [http://www.cheatcc.com/pc/starcraft2cheatscodes.html]. The only reason I can see for using third party software is so that it doesn't deactivate achievements when you're playing through it. Which is cheating the system.

If you want to cheat in single player, use the cheats provided or make your own custom map with the included map creator.

 

[Iscin]

Talk about a little biased journalism?

Before anyone else jumps on an anti-cheaters band wagon here, these people are not being sued because they enable cheating in multiplayer. In fact at least some hackers said they would change their programs to work STRICTLY in single player after Blizzard started banning players. No... Blizzard have been banning players who used these programs in single player, Blizzard allows cheating like this anyway via in-game cheats, it is just that trainers allow for greater options.

Doing this Blizzard might very well be forcing players getting these permabans to buy the game all over again if they want to keep playing (these are not little bans people). Frankly, it has become a mess made by Blizzard by this point. Of course this is a fair deal of speculation, but with its WoW empire and Activision in the room with them, Blizzard might be feeling more temptation/pressure than ever before to become extra greedy.

So what is it about? Money.

Edit: For reference please see this correspondance http://www.cheathappens.com/article_blizzardbans.asp

Everyone is entitled to their own opinions naturally, but the facts are that Blizzard are not playing totally kosher here.

 

[Keava]

If they mean nothing why are people using 3rd party cheats to get them, furthermore why are they paying for them?

From a gameplay point of view? They don't have any effect. Having a fancy portrait does not make one a better player, does not warrant a place in diamond league, does not win tournaments. It's simple cosmetics that only mean that you grinded for them if you did it legally. At least in WoW some achievement gave you a mount, or a fancy title or vanity pet. In SC they just unlock a portrait you probably won't even look at outside of loading screen.

And people don't pay for them. As far as im aware the only payment involved is for membership to given hack/cheat/trainer sites archives which is usually not limited to SC hacks.

 

[James Raynor]

I don't think they can really get anywhere with singleplayer cheats. Multiplayer cheats are another story though.

 

[Gindil]

Permaphrost... what an original name. Not.

I'm with Blizzard on this. I get tired of dealing with people who cheat and hack in order to gain an unfair advantage against me in multi-player.

The people selling multi-player hacks knew what they were getting into. They can't feign ignorance.

What amazes me is that no one has looked further into the story. It was single player too [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/104294-Blizzard-Gives-Single-Player-StarCraft-2-Cheaters-a-Time-Out-Opens-Can-of-Worms-UPDATED], where they basically tell people "cheat at your own risk"

So all in all, this is a money grab mostly. There's a reason I won't support Blizzard and Activision games. Some corporation telling me how to enjoy a game is kinda missing the point.

 

[Staskala]

I think this needs some clarification:

Are these "hacks" the same singleplayer hacks that warranted all those recent bans or are we talking about different hacks specifically designed for multiplayer?

 

[Iscin]

Permaphrost... what an original name. Not.

I'm with Blizzard on this. I get tired of dealing with people who cheat and hack in order to gain an unfair advantage against me in multi-player.

The people selling multi-player hacks knew what they were getting into. They can't feign ignorance.

What amazes me is that no one has looked further into the story. It was single player too [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/104294-Blizzard-Gives-Single-Player-StarCraft-2-Cheaters-a-Time-Out-Opens-Can-of-Worms-UPDATED], where they basically tell people "cheat at your own risk"

So all in all, this is a money grab mostly. There's a reason I won't support Blizzard and Activision games. Some corporation telling me how to enjoy a game is kinda missing the point.

I agree, check out my previous post.