Gabe Newell Speaks On Recent VAC Controversy

[Strazdas]

Full text:

well, if it truly only does what he said it does in his post, then i do not blame him for taking this action.

Whenever a company says "trust us" I lose all trust. I understand why they are being secretive on what their software does, but this is my privacy and I don't have a Facebook page for more then messaging friends because I don't trust Facebook, I can't see why I should trust Valve with this.

but he did tell us what he does and why should we be ok with it. its not like facebook that sells your data. valve does not collect your data in any way nor do they check your history, only specific DNS of a hack maker.

It cracks me up that cracks have DRM now.

cheats are not cracks.

Whilst a true statement I am curious. What does a game retailer/developer/publisher (valve is all three) have to do to earn your trust? Sell you games? Make games you like? I'm actually curious here.

i would say be open about what they are doing in situations like these.

Paying for cheats is a thing? Like, really? Loading a piece of Software from a shady background with shady functionality, that even messes with other stuff on your PC (like manipulation the DNS lists) and actually paying your hard earned money for it!?
Some people are really in need

its the internet equivalent to stealing your coworkers project and presenting as your own just so you would be "Better".

 

[Zac Jovanovic]

I can't be the only one who notices how shitty VAC is at doing what it's supposed to do.
Ban waves every 6 months and leaving players at the mercy of cheaters in the meantime, unless the developers give players ways to moderate servers themselves and do VAC's job for them.

 

[BloodRed Pixel]

Ever thought about you that YOU misused the trust of Valve and ALL the other gamers FIRST by starting to use CHEATS?

so yeah, a few among us games spoil the experience for everyone, thanks!

Get some skill or get lost.

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

**Snip**

From what I gathered too, he even said as much that it doesn't really use that function anymore because that "era" of circumvention has passed for the most part. So effectively its only leftover functions that aren't even enforced en masse, don't collect data only sniffed for certain domains/ip's and genuinely was used ONLY to keep games balanced and fair within the existing mechanics. Of course any time a company does any sort of data collection, a number of people are going to call it nefarious.
Especially here, there's such a negative knee-jerk reaction to almost any news involving corporations and their practices, and sometimes it seems people don't read entire articles, just taglines, title and a few select sentences to "confirm" that "I'm right, they're evil/wrong/bastards".
Oh well.

 

[teebeeohh]

Much like the singles complaining on Valentines day are more annoying than Tue actual couples, the people who ***** about everyone defending valve are more annoying than the people defending valve. Especially when they fail at basic reading

 

[CriticalMiss]

Paying for cheats is a thing? Like, really? Loading a piece of Software from a shady background with shady functionality, that even messes with other stuff on your PC (like manipulation the DNS lists) and actually paying your hard earned money for it!?
Some people are really in need .

Gotta keep those kill:death ratios high! Buying food and paying bills is less important to some people than looking 't3h 1337' on the interwebs.

And since this presumably only affects people on multiplayer games I guess all those Sinn Sage videos I've been watching are under Valve's radar. Time to fire up TF2!

 

[SinisterGehe]

Alright the amount of hate radiated towards Valve and Gabe is getting absurd.
I think this is good, I like it at they are open at least - compared to some companies we know of.
So why all the hate? If Steam touched you the wrong way then stop using it and tell the an adult.
Stop flinging poo at him just because he is part of a successful company and is rich.

This is fucking absurd and disgusting to read.
I trust Valve - never an issue with them that I wouldn't been able to solve - at least with help of Finnish Customer Rights Agency who always clarify my rights and position. And they follow them Eu standards and laws (Because their European office is in Luxembourg they have to)

So I don't get the hate.

And no - do not reply me with your particular sob stories or sources of anger

 

[truckspond]

If this was a company like EA then I would be furious. But because Valve have actually been the ONLY company to build up so much goodwill by being so consumer friendly and NOT treating their paying customers like pirates but still reaping the benefits (They managed to turn RUSSIA - the piracy capital of the world into their largest paying market in europe! Just by actually providing a decent alternative to piracy!) I am willing to trust them on this.

They have built up a vibrant and thriving community around Steam and they have managed to keep a purely multiplayer game going since 2007 (Name one other multiplayer game that has lasted for almost seven YEARS and still has such a vibrant and growing community!) during which time it switched to the fairest free-to-play model around where you can experience ALL of the gameplay without paying a cent or waiting 24 hours before you can take a step and the playerbase is still growing to this day! (And before you ask: Trading =/= Gameplay)

Because of that I am not outraged.

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

I trust Valve because I know they are long term thinkers and they're ran by actual gamers. They understand the value of respect and loyalty among the customers and would be foolish to do something stupid to endanger that.

 

[JayRPG]

Valve asks for trust?

Are they kiddin', stupid or just cynical?

But I do take the explanation. It just means I'm uninstalling CSGO right now and will never play a multiplayer game again.

That is, honest to god, the biggest overreaction I have ever seen to something so-nearly meaningless in my entire life.

1. He actually said they no longer even use this protocol because there is already a work-around
2. Even if they were still using this... it really doesn't mean anything;
All it did was check your DNS Cache... your DNS Cache... meaning all it saw was a list of IP Addresses - The protocol would have a list of IP addresses known to be cheat DRM checks, it would look into DNS cache for one of the IP addresses and VAC ban you if it found one.

Having access to someone's DNS cache doesn't give even near-close to the amount of information people in this thread think it does. It's nothing but a list of IP addresses your internet connection has reached out to. They can't actually see what you're seeing, or what you're typing or what you are searching.. hell, if you really were on a porn site they wouldn't be able to tell what video you're watching - they could only see that you are on a porn site.

What could Valve possibly do with a vague list of IP addresses you've visited?

Not to mention "ipconfig /flushdns" before playing anything with VAC would mean they see literally nothing (unless you are web surfing while playing).

 

[MHR]

Got some real paranoid people 'round here. Valve is just tryin to keep cheaters out of your TF2.

People act like companies trying to find out stuff about you so they can figure out what brand of diaper your baby wants are going to cause 1984. It's ludicrous.

Solution: Hand out tinfoil hats in TF2 so nobody can police your dirty thoughts.

 

[Use_Imagination_here]

Ya guys do know that your web browsing is being tracked anyway? By at least 1 party at any given time? How do you think Google places those ads?

This isn't anything new, I don't know why there's an article about valve having done it briefly in the past as part of and anti cheating system designed to help YOU. As opposed to Google, which is doing it right now, primarily to make money. It isn't a matter of trusting Valve.

 

[42]

To be quite honest, I wouldn't mind GabeN having knowledge what porn I'd watch. Only because it'd be Half Life: Gordon Threesome.

 

[Insideout Ink Demon]

Gabe, you need new glasses, that monitor is crazy