Modding single player Mass Effect 3 bans you from Origin

[KingsGambit_v1legacy]

I would like to point out that a VAC ban =/= a Steam ban

VAC bans only get you banned from valve multiplayer games, but the Steam clinet itself still have the same "we can ban you from all you games if you hack' rules as Origin does.

something Valve really needs to change, though they are less included to use it.

That's what I thought about VAC...well I wasn't sure the exact nature of the ban. Would a VAC ban in one game lockout another game? And it still wouldn't prevent players playing on non-VAC protected or privately hosted servers to my knowledge (ie. the game and even its multiplayer component would remain available, but VAC protected servers would not be?).

I've modded more than one steam game, never thought twice about it. Single player games that is. Even replaced the main exe of a couple of them for having known bugs/incompatibilities or adding >4gb RAM support. Alpha Protocol and Skyrim I think, those are both modded, along with Vampire: Masquerade - Bloodlines, DX:HR and both Fallouts.

 

[SajuukKhar]

That's what I thought about VAC...well I wasn't sure the exact nature of the ban. Would a VAC ban in one game lockout another game? And it still wouldn't prevent players playing on non-VAC protected or privately hosted servers to my knowledge (ie. the game and even its multiplayer component would remain available, but VAC protected servers would not be?).

I've modded more than one steam game, never thought twice about it. Single player games that is. Even replaced the main exe of a couple of them for having known bugs/incompatibilities or adding >4gb RAM support. Alpha Protocol and Skyrim I think, those are both modded, along with Vampire: Masquerade - Bloodlines, DX:HR and both Fallouts.

VAC only work on Valve games and an exceedingly small number of other games that use VAC, and most VAC games have tons of non VAC protected servers becuase everyone knows VA is broken and can take days or weeks to actually ban people for cheating sometimes.

I don't think Valve would ban you for Skyrim since Bethesda lets people mod the FFFFFFFFFF out of it, and Valve's normal "we don't really give a shit about anything" laid-back approach means they probably would never ban you for anything unless you are phishing or doing some major hacking.

Given that I see tons of people playing "NON STEAM GAME ELDER SCROLLS 5 SKYRIM" all the time shows they have no desire to actually police anything.

though they could, and that is a problem.

 

[userwhoquitthesite]

this is the stupidest thing i've heard of today. sweet jesus EA you are retarded. in no possibly way is this affecting ANYONE but that persons personal preferences, and creativity, why the hell would anyone possibly defend EA on this? Why?

edit: read up in the thread, and it seems to only be affecting multiplayer "cheaters" which is more than fine with me, however if someone gets caught in the crossfire, that is very unfortunate, and EA should do what they can to get that person there account up and running ASAP and maybe a free spectre pack or something.

Read the lock: If origin detects mod to the single player, you will be banned.
I just try not to give ea my money at all

 

[iRevanchist]

I bought the game, I have the power to modify it, therefore I should be able to. And don't give me that 'but it's art' excuse: yes, video games are art, but if i bought a unique painting from someone and wanted to smear some paint on it, no one should stop me. I bought it, its my painting now.

 

[WickedSkin]

Goddamnit Activision and EAs anti-modding policy's have really gone to far now. Really the whole industry seem to be leaning towards "NO MODDING ALLOWED".

Which is not only a kick in the teeth to PC gamers but also those console gamers who're waiting for the day when open ended modding comes to consoles (if it ever does).

I feel sorry for console gamers. They really miss out on a lot of fun. Demand modding on consoles as well. As consumers we should ask for something more for our money. Sure you could mod for Unreal 3 on PS3. But that's far from enough.

Every game is better when it has a modding community.

 

[SajuukKhar]

I feel sorry for console gamers. They really miss out on a lot of fun. Demand modding on consoles as well. As consumers we should ask for something more for our money. Sure you could mod for Unreal 3 on PS3. But that's far from enough.

Every game is better when it has a modding community.

I actually wish Valve would make the "steambox" console, I bet it would allow both the console itself and the games on it to be super moddable.

 

[Zayle79]

How come the UI of Origin and the like get to throw "buy" and "purchase" around when they don't sell games? It's a bit dishonest, and making them change it to "license" would make people much more aware of this EULA nonsense, wouldn't it? Is that something that could be done?

 

[SajuukKhar]

How come the UI of Origin and the like get to throw "buy" and "purchase" around when they don't sell games? It's a bit dishonest, and making them change it to "license" would make people much more aware of this EULA nonsense, wouldn't it? Is that something that could be done?

Well technically you are buying/purchasing the License.

 

[Zayle79]

How come the UI of Origin and the like get to throw "buy" and "purchase" around when they don't sell games? It's a bit dishonest, and making them change it to "license" would make people much more aware of this EULA nonsense, wouldn't it? Is that something that could be done?

Well technically you are buying/purchasing the License.

Yeah, but if people had to click a "buy license" button rather than a "buy game" button, they'd be much more likely to read up on the sneaky nonsense EA pulls with their EULAs. Of course, I just discovered that they use the ambiguous "add to cart" instead, so it doesn't really matter anyhow.

 

[SajuukKhar]

Yeah, but if people had to click a "buy license" button rather than a "buy game" button, they'd be much more likely to read up on the sneaky nonsense EA pulls with their EULAs. Of course, I just discovered that they use the ambiguous "add to cart" instead, so it doesn't really matter anyhow.

Steam says
-Add to cart
-Purchase for myself

I don't see it anywhere say "buy game", It may say that on origin but I don't use that crap, and if it did say "buy game" that's kinda lame.

 

[Zayle79]

Yeah, but if people had to click a "buy license" button rather than a "buy game" button, they'd be much more likely to read up on the sneaky nonsense EA pulls with their EULAs. Of course, I just discovered that they use the ambiguous "add to cart" instead, so it doesn't really matter anyhow.

Steam says
-Add to cart
-Purchase for myself

I don't see it anywhere say "buy game", It may say that on origin but I don't use that crap, and if it did say "buy game" that's kinda lame.

Yeah, I just realized that. They use ambiguous terms to avoid exactly this. I still think they ought to make it clear to the average buyer that they're technically buying a license and not a game, though. That's at least as important as the ESRB/PEGI/whathaveyou rating, I think, and they certainly don't go putting those in tiny text at the bottom of the page.

 

[A-D.]

Time to bring out the halfway legal-speech here.

The EULA usually is a Agreement that you sign, therefore it is legally binding, however as with most legal documents, there is usually not a clear-cut way of whats forbidden and what isnt. For example, if you buy a Product which has a EULA, which is generally the case, you may not copy it to be sold, you may not make it publicly available. In essence, you can sell your Copy, but you cant make multiple copies and either sell them or give them away, thats a breach of said contract.

However you are within your Rights to make backup copies of any software you purchased for your own personal use, meaning im legally allowed to say make 20 copies of the game i just bought. However im not allowed to remove the DRM on it or change anything in the code that would provide me to get around said limitations. However i can, provided i have the knowledge and tools, modify the game to my liking provided it does not change the Game in any way as to make it into something else. For example, you cant mod Half Life 2 to be Mass Effect 3, well you can, but its a breach of contract. You can however modify Half Life 2 to be Half Life 2+Mods, or ME3 to be ME3 with small additions.

In short, you are allowed to change anything within the game as long as its not essentially a total conversion without prior consent from all parties involved. So you can change the FoV and such in ME3, however it would have to lock you out of Multiplayer since it might be a unfair advantage to other Players. Origin however should not have the Power to ban all of your Games and Account from its service, meaning one infraction in a single game should not equal losing all games you own.

 

[RhombusHatesYou]

I actually had to respond to this post just to thank you for teaching me a fantastic new word. I usually hate most American slang, it makes me grind my teeth. However "shitfuckery" is pure class and now stands 2nd only to my real favourite (which has no parallel in british english), "clusterfuck".

*glares*

That's Aussie slang not American, meaning "something bad", "something I disapprove of" or even "something I don't understand so I'm just going to be dismissive".

 

[KingsGambit_v1legacy]

*glares*

That's Aussie slang not American, meaning "something bad", "something I disapprove of" or even "something I don't understand so I'm just going to be dismissive".

Hah, sorry man, it does sound like an americanism tho! :-D I took it to be synonymous with "shennanigans" which makes sense in context. Truth be told, I can't take aussie slang seriously. First, use of the word "spunky". Second, the way you pronounce "data" ;-) Hehe, still tho, LOVE IT!

 

[Callate]

snip

Thanks for the info. I'd still feel a little leery about the saves until I knew whether ME3 or Origin checked for changes in game saves, though.

 

[SajuukKhar]

Thanks for the info. I'd still feel a little leery about the saves until I knew whether ME3 or Origin checked for changes in game saves, though.

I don't really see how they would know if you modded your saves or not.

The gibbed save editor only changes flags and the like, it doesn't add new code or w/e.

I don't see how they would know, but airing on the side of caution is good till it can be determined either way.

 

[RhombusHatesYou]

First, use of the word "spunky".

No one uses 'spunky' these days unless they're taking the piss... although 'spunkrat' still exists...

Second, the way you pronounce "data"

buh?

 

[dessertmonkeyjk]

So... no HD texture mods? The game certianlly can use them BADLY. You can see the pixels in the blood for crying out loud!

 

[Something Amyss]

I'm speaking specifically in the case of Blizzard. Blizzard is ok with mods seeing as there are whole sites devoted to Starcraft 2 mods, editing tools and here. So we can deduce, based on that, that the TOS refers specifically of unauthorized 3rd party software that alters game experience and service.

No we can't. You can assume, but that's far different from what can actually be deduced. It only indicates permissiveness thus far, and does not guarantee freedom from bans for mods.

Sorry.

 

[Tanakh]

No we can't. You can assume, but that's far different from what can actually be deduced. It only indicates permissiveness thus far, and does not guarantee freedom from bans for mods.

Sorry.

Did you realize that is an official blizzard page? Like hosted by Activision official? It at least guarantee freedom from bans from those community and in hose dev mods, as well as a dev kit for mod developing and hosting your mod themselves if its popular enough.