Modding single player Mass Effect 3 bans you from Origin

[Karathos]

It's the Starcraft singleplayer controversy all over again. When will people stop popping a vein every time this happens?

This is the kind of shit that spawns the "entitlement" arguments that then get mis-used in other conversations. You're dealt a hand, you play your cards - you gambled, you lost, you got banned. Such a goddamn first-world problem it's just upsetting.

Grab a mirror, folks, and take a long hard look at the person that caused your ban if you received one.

This post represents everything that is wrong with society. This is not acceptable and yet there are people who actively support it. It reminds me of people who say the police have the right to knock your door down on the mere suspicion that you have a cannabis plant in your window box.

So let me get this straight.

Buying a videogame from a company - using their online service together with it - misusing the service - getting banned FROM AN ONLINE GAME PLATFORM.

Having law enforcement come into your house, into the place you live in every single day - They do so with no proof of anything, only suspicion.

Yeah, I can see how those two things are totally the same.

I'm not quite sure if you're trolling or just unbelieveably ignorant.

 

[Flames66]

It's the Starcraft singleplayer controversy all over again. When will people stop popping a vein every time this happens?

This is the kind of shit that spawns the "entitlement" arguments that then get mis-used in other conversations. You're dealt a hand, you play your cards - you gambled, you lost, you got banned. Such a goddamn first-world problem it's just upsetting.

Grab a mirror, folks, and take a long hard look at the person that caused your ban if you received one.

This post represents everything that is wrong with society. This is not acceptable and yet there are people who actively support it. It reminds me of people who say the police have the right to knock your door down on the mere suspicion that you have a cannabis plant in your window box.

So let me get this straight.

Buying a videogame from a company - using their online service together with it - misusing the service - getting banned FROM AN ONLINE GAME PLATFORM.

Having law enforcement come into your house, into the place you live in every single day - They do so with no proof of anything, only suspicion.

Yeah, I can see how those two things are totally the same.

I'm not quite sure if you're trolling or just unbelieveably ignorant.

I did not claim they are the same, i said one reminds me of the other. I agree they are not the same and one severity massively outweighs the other. My point is that it is the same principal. Modifying something in your own home that does not affect anyone else should be encouraged not punished.

 

[Meight08]

You have every right to modify any and all files you download. Being banned for modding Coalesced.bin is ludicrous. Especially when you consider that most do so to tweak performance, such as changing the FoV.

Not unless the EULA says you can, or the developers say that you can regardless of the EULA.

I didn't buy the game on Origin (360 version here) but unless they made you sign a EULA BEFORE you purchased the product they have no right to do this, but then again there is some shady legal stuff behind Origin anyway. Its best to avoid it all together if you want to buy video games as actual products instead of renting them for an undisclosed amount of time.

THEN MAKE A FUCKING COMPLAINT TO THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION INSTEAD OF WHINING!
sorry it just pisses me of when people complaint about stuff the "evil corporation" does without actually looking up your rights and see if its legal.

 

[Fappy]

You have every right to modify any and all files you download. Being banned for modding Coalesced.bin is ludicrous. Especially when you consider that most do so to tweak performance, such as changing the FoV.

Not unless the EULA says you can, or the developers say that you can regardless of the EULA.

I didn't buy the game on Origin (360 version here) but unless they made you sign a EULA BEFORE you purchased the product they have no right to do this, but then again there is some shady legal stuff behind Origin anyway. Its best to avoid it all together if you want to buy video games as actual products instead of renting them for an undisclosed amount of time.

THEN MAKE A FUCKING COMPLAINT TO THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION INSTEAD OF WHINING!
sorry it just pisses me of when people complaint about stuff the "evil corporation" does without actually looking up your rights and see if its legal.

It would be weird for me to file a complaint about something I don't actually own wouldn't it? I don't have the PC version of ME3 or Origin.

 

[NiPah]

...snip...

Fan praise should cancel out laws?

k

I wonder how you feel about the ME3 ending... /sarcasm

EDIT: My whole mentality came to being after my so called "world" was burned to the ground in WWI. Thanks for rubbing that in my face. I have a habit of forgetting all the years during and after WWI. I was so young then..... lol what?

I view the laws against modding in the same light as discussing the Super Bowl with a group of friends at work or you know, using an avatar of a copy righted film without the express written consent of its copy right holder. It's not black and white, yes people who make a mod of a game and sell it on the open market w/o consent are wrong, no people who make a mod that makes textures look better or clouds move and then make those mods available for free are not wrong in my opinion. Fan praise? I would believe the same thing even if fans didn't like said mod, it has to do with the gray area of ethics and laws.

I haven't played Mass Effect since the first game, I enjoyed the first game, but I lost my save files and never got around to replaying it to get a new game in 2. As per what I heard of the ending of Mass Effect 3, it actually sounds kindof cool from what I've heard (outside of the raving fandom).

Not your whole mentality, the mentality of the Dadaist art movement, I would say your mentality is more like what lead to WWI then what was found after it.

 

[Meight08]

You have every right to modify any and all files you download. Being banned for modding Coalesced.bin is ludicrous. Especially when you consider that most do so to tweak performance, such as changing the FoV.

Not unless the EULA says you can, or the developers say that you can regardless of the EULA.

I didn't buy the game on Origin (360 version here) but unless they made you sign a EULA BEFORE you purchased the product they have no right to do this, but then again there is some shady legal stuff behind Origin anyway. Its best to avoid it all together if you want to buy video games as actual products instead of renting them for an undisclosed amount of time.

THEN MAKE A FUCKING COMPLAINT TO THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION INSTEAD OF WHINING!
sorry it just pisses me of when people complaint about stuff the "evil corporation" does without actually looking up your rights and see if its legal.

It would be weird for me to file a complaint about something I don't actually own wouldn't it? I don't have the PC version of ME3 or Origin.

I mean against people in general sorry people who dont use their rights piss me off.
Friends?

 

[Fappy]

You have every right to modify any and all files you download. Being banned for modding Coalesced.bin is ludicrous. Especially when you consider that most do so to tweak performance, such as changing the FoV.

Not unless the EULA says you can, or the developers say that you can regardless of the EULA.

I didn't buy the game on Origin (360 version here) but unless they made you sign a EULA BEFORE you purchased the product they have no right to do this, but then again there is some shady legal stuff behind Origin anyway. Its best to avoid it all together if you want to buy video games as actual products instead of renting them for an undisclosed amount of time.

THEN MAKE A FUCKING COMPLAINT TO THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION INSTEAD OF WHINING!
sorry it just pisses me of when people complaint about stuff the "evil corporation" does without actually looking up your rights and see if its legal.

It would be weird for me to file a complaint about something I don't actually own wouldn't it? I don't have the PC version of ME3 or Origin.

I mean against people in general sorry people who dont use their rights piss me off.
Friends?

/brofist

Read the rest of the thread. Its kind of funny actually. Its one of the most pointless flamewars I have read in awhile.

 

[Weaver]

I feel I should be allowed to modify whatever is on my hard drive. And, since bill c-10 hasn't gone through, this is still legal in Canada.

I just can't believe people argue that if I want to change my FOV in mass effect 3 I deserve to be banned from all my games on Origin... not that I use Origin or own ME3.

 

[Something Amyss]

So you're saying if Da Vinci was alive today and able to sue... what Duchamp did would have been wrong?

If Da Vinci was alive and had a valid, active claim to copyright (Which, thanks to several countries, he probably could. Damn extensions), what he did would be copyright infringement, even if for the sake of "art." The only exception would be claiming satire/parody, which would readily go against Duchamp's argument for "readymades" as art.

You want to argue "right" and "wrong?" Those are fairly subjective. One can be "right" and break a law or "wrong" and obey it. But what he did is not illegal because he used a public domain work. The likeness of the Mona Lisa can be used without licensing even without an argument of "artistry." It's used on food products, FFS.

How about the urinal that he signed, should the Sloan Valve Company sue him? he used their IP without a signed letter of contract stating he had the right to use their product.

I take it you don't know how intellectual property works. That's okay, most people seem not to. One of the things that irks me about the term "IP" Is that it's used synonymously with "franchise" or in this case, "product." Both, technically, can be Intellectual properties, but being either does not necessarily indicate Intellectual Property.

 

[Waaghpowa]

It's the Starcraft singleplayer controversy all over again. When will people stop popping a vein every time this happens?

This is the kind of shit that spawns the "entitlement" arguments that then get mis-used in other conversations. You're dealt a hand, you play your cards - you gambled, you lost, you got banned. Such a goddamn first-world problem it's just upsetting.

Grab a mirror, folks, and take a long hard look at the person that caused your ban if you received one.

I believe you're referring to that incident where people were getting banned for running trainers? That's a slightly different situation seeing as Blizzards TOS specifically prohibited the use of unauthorized 3rd party software within the game. Most people wouldn't see changing textures as being a big deal since it's purely aesthetic.

Spoiler

2. Additional License Limitations.
The license granted to you in Section 1 is subject to the limitations set forth in Sections 1 and 2 (collectively, the "License Limitations"). Any use of the Service or any Game in violation of the License Limitations will be regarded as an infringement of Blizzard?s copyrights in and to the Service and/or Game. You ag
ree that you will not, under any circumstances:

A. use cheats, automation software (bots), hacks, mods or any other unauthorized third-party software designed to modify the Service, any Game or any Game experience;

For clarification, a trainer is basically a bot.

 

[Something Amyss]

And, since bill c-10 hasn't gone through, this is still legal in Canada.

Can you elaborate on the connection here?

 

[Something Amyss]

For clarification, a trainer is basically a bot.

You'll note it also says "mods," however.

 

[Epona]

I think they have they have the right to do that. Tampering with their game is a betrayal of trust... Unless they actively encourage it to the point of releasing a mod pack like Valve or Skyrim.

Oh wow, what a load of shit. So if I skip the boring parts of Titanic (everything except the ship sinking), is that a betrayal of trust too?

 

[Epona]

You have every right to modify any and all files you download. Being banned for modding Coalesced.bin is ludicrous. Especially when you consider that most do so to tweak performance, such as changing the FoV.

Not unless the EULA says you can, or the developers say that you can regardless of the EULA.

Are EULA's even legally binding in theory?

Are EULA's even legally binding in theory?

The validity of EULAs has been held up in several trials, while it has also been deemed not so in several others.

The legal status of EULAs in America is "legally binding unless you can win that specific case in court, and even then it only really applies to YOU specifically"

Until the supreme court rules one way or the other its in limbo with the see-saw leaning in the developers favor.

There are other uses of "contracts of adhesion" that are 100% legal in America.

It's the other way around, they are not legally binding until a court says otherwise. What if a EULA said that you cannot resell a game, would you be arrested if you sold the game? No, because the EULA isn't binding until a court says it is.

Fact is, the law simply isn't involved until someone brings in the law, an EULA has no power otherwise. Banning people from Origin may constitute a lawsuit so hold on tight.

 

[Waaghpowa]

For clarification, a trainer is basically a bot.

You'll note it also says "mods," however.

You'll also notice that the line states "Any unauthorized 3rd party software". 9 times out of 10 texture mods are simply the pre existing texture file slightly altered.

 

[Epona]

This is ludicrous. I am sorry but when I purchase a product from someone I expect to be able to do with it what I will within the confines of the law. EA can kindly go to hell.

Legally you are not allowed to mod a game unless the developer says you can. So you are allowed to do what you want with it in the confines of the law.

Show us the law that says that.

 

[Something Amyss]

You'll also notice that the line states "Any unauthorized 3rd party software". 9 times out of 10 texture mods are simply the pre existing texture file slightly altered.

It still says "mods." That means even texture mods are against the EULA. Sorry, but the fact that it then says "third party software," which is itself very vague and open does not change the proviso specifically on mods. Since texture mods are mods (the hint's in the name), it's still against the EULA.

 

[Epona]

Show us the law that says that.

Its all covered under copyright protection laws. You are not allowed to modify somebody else's copyrighted work unless they give you permission.

You didn't show us the law.

You can modify YOUR copy.

 

[Waaghpowa]

You'll also notice that the line states "Any unauthorized 3rd party software". 9 times out of 10 texture mods are simply the pre existing texture file slightly altered.

It still says "mods." That means even texture mods are against the EULA. Sorry, but the fact that it then says "third party software," which is itself very vague and open does not change the proviso specifically on mods. Since texture mods are mods (the hint's in the name), it's still against the EULA.

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.

 

[shintakie10]

Interestinly enough, in that same thread another Bioware employee said they in fact will not take action against you if you only mod the single player portion of the game.

Conflictin messages are conflictin.

Personally I say mod away cause fuck EA and fuck Bioware for goin along with such bullshit practices.

How is this company constantly makin it into the finals of March Madness again?