I know this is kind of old news but I’ve been busy, sorry I’m a little late.
A recently released mod allows fans of DICE’s Battlefield 3 to tweak the colors of Battlefield 3 which are pretty dull and heavily inspired by the deserts of New Mexico. This seemed like a pretty routine mod to be made considering the horrible obsession with how far developers can push the amount of brown they use. It also seems pretty harmless, especially considering there are many more outlandish mods made; a quick stroll through the mods for The Elder Scroll series will confirm that. The gameplay designer for Battlefield 3 didn’t like it, however.
@Minusthebeats@Demize99@zh1nt0 to colorful. Also I wouldn’t use those hacks if you don’t want a perm ban on your account. FYI warning.
Gustav Halling tweeted this in response to the creators of the mod, and went on to call the creators cheaters and used ironic quotes. I’m sure there is very little surprise from this, but still. These companies really need to get a handle on keeping their employees from saying stupid things and insulting their fans. This is the latest in a string of articles we’ve published about EA and Ubisoft sticking their feet so far in their mouths that it’s a wonder they haven’t suffocated yet.
There has been no response or statement from either EA or DICE on this matter. I think we should start complaining more loudly when a company outright insults us. They can call me entitled all they want to, it doesn’t change the fact that a video game company currently holds the The Consumerist’s “Worst Company in America” award, or that developers and publishers regularly insult and talk down to their fan base.
It may just be a warning you know? Some friends told me that apparently, the color-correction mod fires up Punkbuster’s alarm (or whatever anti-cheating system BF3 has) i.e. PB considers it a cheat, which more than likely, will get you banned.
I’d understand getting banned for using a visual mod if the mod colored every enemy soldier bright red or something. I guess if they really wanted this mod, they’d have to get the devs or pros to test it and see if it does give an unfair advantage.
In the link I provided to the mod site it says very specifically that it is not possible to change any aspects of the game such as sun glare and fog with the mod, only to modify the color filters and such. I can understand why it would get banned since it alters the game files, but there is no reason to call this a “proper cheat”, which he did if you read the twitter conversation I linked.
This guy sure is a PR genius. If the automated systems would flag this mod as an illegal modification he really should not have worded it in the way he did.
Something like: “Interesting, be warned though our automated anti-cheat systems might detect the modification of client side game files as a cheat :( so use at your own discretion”. Instead he decided that it’s better to just look like a dick.
Might I add that blocking access to a service or license some people have invested over $100 in because of a modification doesn’t happen in any other industry? It really shows how infantile the Videogame industry is when it comes to customer support.
Imagine adobe removing the license to your photoshop disabling you using it because you found a way to work differently with it or windows removing your copy validation when you find a way to hack certain aspects of it. It doesn’t fucking happen because it’d be a PR nightmare and yet the game industry thinks it’s the most normal thing to block access to a service because someone DIDN’T PLAY FAIR. Yeah cheaters are gigantic douchebags but you can’t stop them as history of numerous failed anti-cheat programs have shown. Just like stopping piracy through DRM doesn’t work. You can’t stop cheating through automated anti-cheat programs because people will always find a way around it.
TL;DR game industry sucks when it comes to handling people that want to give them their money.
And that’s all for this stupid rant.
>yet the game industry thinks it’s the most normal thing to block access to a service because someone DIDN’T PLAY FAIR
It is perfectly normal. (I mean for outright cheaters) This trend didn’t start with the “game industry”. You can find it in sports too, or entrance exams, and elsewhere.
It’s called breaking a rule, and getting punished.
yeah i mean f they allow the mod people will find a way to hide stuff in the files or something like they usually do
Correct me if I’m wrong but this only goes for sport at the competitive level (I.E. championships etc) and for those things yeah it’s perfectly fair to then block their access to the said tournaments and competitive scene. But you cannot stop a Tour de France cyclist that did doping from cycling recreationally. If you’re caught cheating they won’t stop you practising the sport they’ll stop you competing at a competitive or international level.
Now as far as I know BF3 is a GAME made for FUN. If it had a competitive scene sure cheaters would be lifetime banned and landed on a blacklist. But to ban people from their video game a service they paid money for, for breaking a rule as opposed to just banning them from servers individually is a bit overly harsh imo and I believe it’s what leads to collateral damage like people getting banned for using a simple colour adjustment mod or a model replacement mod through the use of automated anti-cheat software.
I am all for people getting punished for breaking a rule like a temp ban or a warning before a temp ban. But to permanently remove someone from his paid service because of a broken rule I’ve always found a bit strong.
>If it had a competitive scene sure cheaters would be lifetime banned and landed on a blacklist
Which it does have. I saw a couple of posts on some forums stating that they got banned already for using the mod. On a ranked server no less, which is a competitive server. Take that with a grain of salt.
Like I already said, if they really want to be able to use this mod, they’d have to prove to DICE that it does not give any form of “unfair advantage” first, then have it whitelisted.
>But to permanently remove someone from his paid service because of a broken rule I’ve always found a bit strong.
Hey, they agreed to the EULA, essentially a contract between the user and the provider, and you already mentioned the core of this: it’s a service they are subscribed to, not a product they own.
Now, whether it’s a service or something else, that’s the price of wanting to maintain quality and integrity, ideally at least.
It’s not harsh in the slightest. Sportsmen get banned from competing anywhere (which is essentially the reason why they go into sports), drivers get their licenses revoked, cops, teachers, doctors get their license revoked, and the list goes on.
I can’t really sympathize with people who voted yes to the EULA with their wallets.
>Like I already said, if they really want to be able to use this mod, they’d have to prove to DICE that it does not give any form of “unfair advantage” first, then have it whitelisted.
Which they wouldn’t, because they have already decided that their terrible post-processing trash is perfect. In addition, they are directly opposed to mods of any kind because the concept of mods undermines their ability to sell overpriced DLC. Oh, and they’re owned by EA. When was the last time EA did anything good for their customers?
>Hey, they agreed to the EULA, essentially a contract between the user and the provider, and you already mentioned the core of this: it’s a service they are subscribed to, not a product they own. I can’t really sympathize with people who voted yes to the EULA with their wallets.
Fitting name indeed; I’m sure that corporate dick is salty.
People are stupid. You’re never going to be able to solve that. They’re going to buy any trash if it’s marketed enough, especially if it has guns and it tries to look like CoD. You may think you’re helping people learn, but it simply won’t work. Their next Battlefield branded thing is going to sell millions. What you actually are doing, is defending horrible customer treatment. Oh, so they released a game that ruins everything with a bunch of trash? You wanted to fix it and they banned you and sneered in your face? Obviously you shouldn’t complain because you agreed to whatever bullshit they put in the EULA, which more than likely includes “you’re not allowed to sue us for any reason no matter what”.
Defending poor customer relations is never a solution.
Hey, I never defended Gus for whatever he posted and second, voting with your wallet works. You can see it in Valve and CD-Projekt. I’m not trying to helping people learn, I’m simply not sympathizing with morons who keep coming back for more even after they’ve been treated like shit.
Take this post from someone in Reddit:
“I got banned for it. I work for a Ranked Server Provider and have to shell out $60 on a new key. Stay away.
You MIGHT be able to use it in unranked. MIGHT. Not worth it IMO.”
Why, oh god why, would I sympathize with an idiot like this? Please tell me why? He gets banned and goes to buy the game again to continue playing. Really.
>Fitting name indeed; I’m sure that corporate dick is salty.
It’s bad to make assumptions like that douche. I just try to be calm instead of making knee-jerk reactionary statements.
>You shouldn’t complain.
Yes, you shouldn’t, not because you signed the EULA, but because you should try to let’s say, get the mod whitelisted instead? (Which is what I suggested)
And before you go off reiterating that DICE won’t do it, firstly, would complaining be any better than an actual effort to get the mod to be recognized? i.e. Try something constructive rather than whining.
well if the ban was only effective for play on competitive, ranked servers then you would have a point of comparison, but this is a complete account ban, even for non-competitive servers.
Is your definition of a competitive scene whatever the company tells you? Cause I’ve yet to see any prize money for players getting MVP or get any sponsorship deals.
You see the reason cheating is such a big no-no in competitive games is because of massive damages done to the image of companies sponsoring players/athletes and the sometimes massive prize money that then goes to a team or player that didn’t even deserve it.
You see competitive scenes are taken very seriously to the point of fucking stupidity (see sponsoring dramas during Wimbledon where a woman had yoghurt taken away from her cause it wasn’t the official yoghurt of Wimbledon, or the Dutch Bavaria incident during the world cup where thousands and thousands of dutch fans had to watch a game without pants cause Bavaria wasn’t the official partner of the world cup (Budweiser is afaik)).
Now the only real damage that cheating on a ranked BF3 server will do is essentially ruin the game for every other player on the server at that time.
I will admit that I do not know how sportsmen get into it but I imagine it’s much like E-athletes. They get into the sports/game they enjoy it a lot, spend a lot of time on it and they become outstandingly good to the point were they’re scouted into big teams (or in the case of korea they get licensed for it through winning a tournament).
And please do not compare playing video games to being a doctor where mistakes costs lives and the rules are there to prevent that or driving where the same applies.
And I’m not even going to go into the debate of how legally enforceable a EULA is.
My point is it’s overly harsh to ban someone from playing a video game when all they did was be a dick for a bit when the cost of a video game (both time and monetary value of a copy/code) is very high.
The reason cheating is a big no-no in competitions or anywhere else is because it’s wrong. Period. You don’t have to overanalyze that.
Now before anyone says anything stupid, I have never labeled the mod a cheat. It’s not as far as Im concerned but I’ve only ever looked at the comparison video on youtube. (Why the heck would I want it whitelisted if I think it is anyway?)
>voting with your wallet works.
Yes, that’s true. But the thing is, people are stupid. Like in the example you provided, they keep coming back no matter how many times they get fucked over. Placing all the blame on stupid people won’t work, because you’re never going to solve anything. So, instead of taking blame off of people like this jackass at DICE, give them a hard time for treating their customers poorly. Don’t go “well what did they expect, they agreed to the EULA”. Go “these people are idiots, but DICE are still enormous jerks and we shouldn’t tolerate this”.
>It’s bad to make assumptions like that douche. I just try to be calm instead of making knee-jerk reactionary statements.
The comment was partially a joke, but it certainly isn’t entirely unfitting. Being calm doesn’t equal shifting blame away from DICE. Yeah, people do stupid things, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t criticize DICE. They are still entirely to blame for banning people and prohibiting any kind of modding in the first place.
>Yes, you shouldn’t, not because you signed the EULA, but because you should try to let’s say, get the mod whitelisted instead? (Which is what I suggested)
What an extremely stupid thing to say. People shouldn’t complain when DICE treats their customers like shit? What the hell? And, hell, do you even understand how these things work? If you want support of a whitelisting, you’re going to have to spread the word to begin with, which would be “complaining” according to you. Second, this guy at DICE has already shown their hand. They think it’s “too colorful” and they’re obviously full of it since they keep insisting that their ridiculously shitty post-processing trash is great. Third, if a guy representing DICE is a sneering jackass to the customers, why the blue hell would you go “hello DICE, please whitelist this graphical mod”? They treat their customers poorly, their customers should treat them poorly in return. I don’t care if you think that’s unproductive; it’s better than sucking up to them when they give you a middle finger. Create a shitstorm and maybe, the idiots learn that they have to treat their customers well.
If they weren’t jackasses, they wouldn’t have forced people to use their horrible effects in the first place and the mod wouldn’t have existed. It’s not like people haven’t been vocal about all the blue, bloom and lensflare.
>And before you go off reiterating that DICE won’t do it, firstly, would complaining be any better than an actual effort to get the mod to be recognized? i.e. Try something constructive rather than whining.
Complaining IS an effort and constructive. It shows that:
1: People don’t think it’s ok for them to behave like this
2: People understand how ridiculous it is to ban people for fixing the mess they made
3: People want to be able to fix the mess they made
I mean, just what the hell do you think “something constructive” means? They already made a fucking mod to fix DICE’s mess! People are using it even though they might get banned. More people are getting angry because DICE are banning people for fixing their mess. Only a complete moron wouldn’t understand that this means that people want to be able to play without the trash effects. What do you want, protests outside DICE’s HQ? Petitions (never mind that all these people being angry is similar to a petition, in that they show that they care)? Going “hello DICE, please make this whitelisted! :)”? Want people to do all the implementing for them? Oh wait, they already did that one.
As long as it’s clear what you’re complaining about, complaining is constructive criticism. No, constructive criticism doesn’t mean you have to fix it for them. Pointing out flaws is constructive. I utterly despise this childish notion that, if you don’t criticize in a nice way, it’s not criticism or productive. The point has already been made; people want to play without DICE’s ugly effects. Presenting the point in a different way changes nothing. You’re perpetuating the idea that we should focus on how something is said rather than what is said. Which is infuriatingly stupid, and the reason for this “rant”.
“why the blue hell”
ok i giggled
Also, almost forgot. Ranked servers have always been competitive, even in other games. SC, SC2, BF2 etc. Why would they have anti-cheat systems if they weren’t?
So you’re saying that servers that use an anti-cheat system are automatically included in the pinnacle of E-athletes involving many and many hours of preparation, Organisation, effort and money because they use a shitty piece of automated software easily circumvented as is proven by the tons of people on battlelog with the most bullshit of stats.
Are you truly making the argument that a server that uses an anti-cheat system in order not to have cheating dicks ruin their games is instantly super serious about it’s attitude towards gaming and instantly feels that everyone on there should be expected to play at a certain level or fuck off?
Do you even play video games for fun? Do you even know what is coming out of your mouth at this point?
The only point I’ve tried to make is that companies shouldn’t have the power to remove your paid license ($100 product if you include some DLC) because the company in question is overzealous against cheaters (which will still cheat anyway) to the point of stupidity when they’ll even ban people using harmless modifications (which considering their past attitude on mods is probably not even why they do it, if it is then they’re certainly terrible at communicating that to their PAYING CUSTOMERS) just because of a legally questionable EULA.
I thought there were laws protecting consumers from companies doing this sort of bullshit but it appears I was wrong since they’re getting away with it.
Now if they’re getting away with it the question remains why are we letting them? We’re A the ones that (should) have sway with the governments through our votes B the ones giving them our money C calling each other entitled whenever we complain about the shit treatment we’re sometimes given as PAYING CUSTOMERS.
Salty I have no idea why you’re playing devils advocate in this case but please stop :(.
I’m starting to like doing stupid rants on this stuff.
Pb is a joke anyways. I was an admin for over ten years for an enemy territories jaymod server which recieved a fair amount of traffic. We did not run pb nor did we allow cheats. Part of the admins duty was to watch suspicious players and record their play to analyze for cheats. When you are an admin long enough its very easy to see most hacks, but i will not act like mistakes were never made. However the important thing here is that control of the gaming comunity was up to the gamers and not being dictated by a corporation. I really enjoyed the experience because as a group of admins ( about 7 of us) we were very good about being fair to the players by always following a set of rules. I dislike this recent movement away from being able to create private servers.
“This is the latest in a string of articles we’ve published about EA and Ubisoft sticking their foots so far in their mouths”
feet
Oh wow I feel silly. Thanks.
Actually, voting with your wallet doesn’t do shit, because there will always be 100 idiots who will buy said product anyways even if you don’t.
This is a 100% made up myth perpetuated by people who make bad and/or deceiving products so they can shove “free market” capitalism and therefore their terrible product, down the public’s collective throats.
I like when employees of companies speak their minds. Let the market decide, but I’d hate to see anyone fired for that. Maybe their core fans like when employees talk shit.
This is why I only buy games from indie developers that actually care and love their fans, and maybe Valve. EA and Ubisoft and most other game devs are just after MONEY.
Does the mod allow you to make all player character uniforms bright neon pink so that you can spot them a mile away, perfect targets for sniping or making any form of sneaking around useless? If so, then I think that such a mod would be an issue.