Blizzard Attacks StarCraft II Cheat Developers

[Iscin]

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?

Yes they are, this was on CheatHappens' forums too.

 

[Xorph]

I'm perfectly fine with banning multiplayer cheaters, as well as sueing the creators of the hacks (especially if they're charging people to download them), but the banning of single player cheaters was an absolute load of crap to me, especially since Blizz locked many people completely from the game, as in they couldnt even play the campaign/skirmish. I don't see myself ever buying Diablo 3, since modding the crap out of Diablo 2 is what keeps me playing it, and I dont want to loose my game just for trying to have fun in single player.

 

[Traun]

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

I can see now why Valve gets so much love.

So I'm guessing you're a cheater right? only a cheater would say something like that.

Blizzards problem is that they made the single player mode affect multiplayer. People were cheating to get awards which pissed people off who worked for it. I for one do cheat, but not on multiplayer, my problem with this is that it was Blizzard who fucked up in the first place. Cheating has never been illegal, hacks are, but what if I hacked a legally purchased copy? I've paid, it's mine as long as I don't use cheats on multiplayer, oh but whoops, multiplayer and single player are connected by this ignorant little fucking achievements that only douchy perfectionists care about. If they pirated it, different story, but if they own a legal copy, it's just alienating the fan base. BURN BLIZZARD! YOU MULTIMILLION PIECE OF CRAP, YOU'RE GAMES AREN'T THAT GOOD ANYWAYS!

So...your problem is that Blizzard is banning people who are using unfair means to gain achievements? This is nice...

This thread is looking like the thread in which Bungie reset cheaters stats.

 

[Rooker]

Ok, I am so thoroughly lost. Are people getting railed for multiplayer cheating, singleplayer cheating, both, any cheating at all? Don't most companies that create games with the strong potential for cheats (Like Starcraft and Warcraft's RTS games in the past) usually release their own set of cheats?

I'm lost. And I'm not gonna waste money on Starcraft II if I have to push through the campaign on my own merits. I suck, I know I suck, but I play legit when I play multiplayer and usually take it up the ass. Or get insanely fucking lucky and just happen to build a bigger, angrier army. I remember when I first got into battle.net though. It took me almost a month to stop reflexively throwing up all the cheats I'd learned. My first game people are watching "insecta-soul: Power overwhelming Insecta-soul: Operation cwol" etc. and I was laughed at. So I said "Hey, why aren't these working?" "Because it's multiplayer, they don't work in multiplayer." "Oh...I'm screwed." "Yep." I think I actually ditched that game, I don't really remember. I was 13 or 14 I think. (Let's back-up and think about that in some "underage gaming" thread later, parents bought it and Diablo 2 and I'm just fine)

I started playing later on and did mostly specialized games because then I was given the option of being on somebody's side and we all carved a path of devastation through our enemies. Get your ass beat slightly less often. I still played regular games once in a while just to see if I got any better. Won maybe...two games that I can ever remember and I just happened to be insanely aggressive in one of them. I remember almost prolonging a game once by hightailing my brand new CC out of the base, enemy wound up spotting it and catching up after cleaning out my one and going "Wait...why isn't the game over...?" That was kinda funny 'til he found it. I hadn't moved it anywhere to start building, I had just been like "Ok, run and hide and figure something out after I get away." Now I know better. So it's not like Starcraft hasn't taught me anything about legitimate gaming, but I'll be damned if I don't get to enjoy my plot. I have a friend who plays games through legitimately the first time and then screws with cheats to see what kind of fun you can have with them afterward. As I'm story-obsessed and royally suck at the tactical work that makes some fights easier, cheats are the only way I'm getting my story.

So backtracking all the way back to the main topic and what I really wanna know, are we getting nailed for any goddamn cheat or just these third-party things that are modifying the game? Considering I would never waste the money for a jacked up game, I'm hoping that I wouldn't be punished for the free cheats I get which I also would hope were the Blizzard-sanctioned modifications. Or did they take the route Halo was popular for (that was a concerning point but it turned out to be acceptable for me) and the game has no cheats and the only way to get them is through these third-parties effing with the game?

If it's just cheating in general or SCII has no cheats of its own to begin with, then I can't get it. I have no goddamn business buying it to begin with. I just don't have the skill for it. I could probably develop it, but I wanna get a game and fuck around with cheats to relieve stress. Getting my ass beat on a regular basis is not fun and it adds more stress.


EDIT: Oh, now I see it all. Of course those were made while I was typing this.
Thanks for the clarification guys. Now at least it makes more sense.
...Is there a "strike" code on Escapist? I'd rather leave my rant up but I don't want people reading it that now don't need to read it and give me the answer I already have.

 

[Gindil]

So...your problem is that Blizzard is banning people who are using unfair means to gain achievements? This is nice...

This thread is looking like the thread in which Bungie reset cheaters stats.

That's not it at all. Look two up for another side of the story.

 

[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?

Yes they are, this was on CheatHappens' forums too.

In that case I have lost all understanding for Blizzard's behaviour.

Third-party modifications are what kept Blizzard's non-WoW games popular for an insane amount of time, what are they hoping to gain by this?
Creating paranoia in modding circles about what is allowed and what isn't won't exactly help Starcraft II in the long run, and sueing people for several million dollar is essentially pointess because there's no way you'll ever see that money.

I really don't get this move.

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

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.

Are you missing the point that these cheats/trainers were sold rather than just given away?

 

[linwolf]

Blizzard I used to like you, now you're just a part of Activision.

Going after single player not cool.
Going after people making mods for single player not cool.
If you don't like mods, PC are no place for you.

 

[Littlee300]

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.

How did you get out of the basement? Get back down there and don't come back up until you brought you're rationality!
_____________________________________________________________
If the player disables the achievement things he should be allowed to cheat. So Blizzard should stop using the greedy approach and use the friendly approach.

 

[Staskala]

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.

Are you missing the point that these cheats/trainers were sold rather than just given away?

This is a dubious claim, if the trainers show up on a subscription based dedicated cheats/trainer/hacks/whatever site despite being made available for free, then you can also claim that they were technically "sold".

I seriously think that all discussion here is pointless due to lack of information.
We don't even have any details about what those hacks/trainers actually did.

 

[Evilsanta]

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.

Are you missing the point that these cheats/trainers were sold rather than just given away?

This is a dubious claim, if the trainer shows up on a subscription based dedicated cheats/trainer/hacks/whatever site depite being made available for free, then you can also claim that they were technically "sold".

I seriously think that all discussion here is pointless due to lack of information.
We don't even have any details about what those hacks/trainers actually did.

Well as a RTS trainer user i can fill up some of it.

It mostly have options like infinte resources or power and/or insta build units/upgrades ther are other ones but that are the most commons ones when it comes to trainers, atleast the ones on RTS games. And no i have never used on on multiplayer and i never will.

 

[BobisOnlyBob]

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

I can see now why Valve gets so much love.

Valve hates hackers and cheaters too. However, they only keep them off of "Valve-Anti-Cheat" servers, and generally don't pursue them this aggressively. They do go to lengths to prevent people cheating, but Blizzard's logic is correct if people are deploying these cheats in ranked public games. Team Fortress and Valve games use a dedicated servers model, rather than the unified matchmaking service used by Blizzard - by deploying cheats in a matchmaking service, you DO harm its value.

 

[Staskala]

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.

Are you missing the point that these cheats/trainers were sold rather than just given away?

This is a dubious claim, if the trainer shows up on a subscription based dedicated cheats/trainer/hacks/whatever site depite being made available for free, then you can also claim that they were technically "sold".

I seriously think that all discussion here is pointless due to lack of information.
We don't even have any details about what those hacks/trainers actually did.

Well as a RTS trainer user i can fill up some of it.

It mostly have options like infinte resources or power and/or insta build units/upgrades ther are other ones but that are the most commons ones when it comes to trainers, atleast the ones on RTS games. And no i have never used on on multiplayer and i never will.

Ah, sorry, I meant that more in the sense of whether they were singleplayer only, multiplayer only, or a mix of both, which seems to be the case, but I honestly don't know whom I should believe anymore. Neither Blizzard nor CheatHappens can be considered unbiased sources, after all.

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

**snip**

This is a dubious claim, if the trainers show up on a subscription based dedicated cheats/trainer/hacks/whatever site despite being made available for free, then you can also claim that they were technically "sold".

I seriously think that all discussion here is pointless due to lack of information.
We don't even have any details about what those hacks/trainers actually did.

1. If you want details see the previous ban of 5000 players, since this is the same hacks/trainers involved.

2. It is still up to the courts to decide, but I do agree with Blizz cracking down on people who have most likely profitted from something that isn't their IP.

 

[Lordedubs]

If anything, it looks really consistent with Blizzard's other recent heavy handed moves, almost none of which were rational or friendly to the consumer.

Make no mistake, though, I've no sympathy for hackers.

Also, someone should really call bullshit on this 'invisible lost profit' argument that's being used everywhere, for piracy and otherwise. Jesus Christ, just how many people could possibly be influenced by hackers in a game (especially in such a small number as SC2, and in a particular part of the game that's played by a vast minority)? Ten, fifteen people? I'm being generous here, too.

It is in Blizzard's rights to sue anyone they want for copyright infringement but just because there is a suit doesnt mean they will win a court still has to find that the defendants have indeed violated international copyright laws. The fact that they are damaging the games sales and their profits is unlikely but if they dont crack down on it it could get out of control like it did with APB and we all know thats why alot of people passed the game by because of all the rumors about hacking and botting.

Cheaters, botters, and hackers and the people who enable these individuals to do so have no right to complain. If you cant play the game the way its meant to be played then GTFO the gaming community you have no place here.

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

Also for those of you who are yakking about Activision's hand being in this, may I remind you that Blizzard has a history prior to the merger of litigation.
For those of you yelling about your "right" to hack software you bought here's the precedent:
BnetD Case [http://news.cnet.com/2100-1047_3-5845905.html]

 

[FightThePower]

I think this is probably the only time I've ever been slightly in favour of a lawsuit involving copyright infringement.

Mind you, it's weird to think that Single-player cheating is now looked down upon, especially since it wasn't so long ago that developers left cheats in their game. I actually wish they did that more often, I miss typing in HOW DO YOU TURN THIS ON and instant-winning.

 

[_Janny_]

banning of single player cheaters was an absolute load of crap to me, especially since Blizz locked many people completely from the game, as in they couldnt even play the campaign/skirmish.

Took the words right off my keyboard. I just don't get it, how is cheating in single player affecting Blizz? Whenever I get bored in a game I like to cheat for some mindless fun, but as long as it's not multiplayer I'm not hurting anyone. I don't get what they have against that.