Ratboy’s “Rant”icles #5

MMO Spyware… Watch out!

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There’s been a whole crazy discussion about the recent insinuation that Battlefield 2142 has spyware built into their game. Yes I know, you’re immediate reaction is to shout out “ZOMG! I needs my tin foil hat to stop the Government from spying on me over the internets through the games.”, but in reality this entire recent debacle has been blown out of proportion.

As someone who’s recently picked up the new Battlefield game (Silver Gunner for the win) and been playing it on and off the past few days, I must say that I didn’t even notice the in-game advertising. The main reason that I actually noticed this was because good old Penny Arcade decided to be nice and poke fun at it. That being said, the in-game advertisements aren’t even that noticeable and really don’t show up as much as you’d think they would. Personally I spend more time honing my timing for rocket shots then I do looking at the shiny backgrounds that EA has provided in their new game.

Here’s the official release from The BF2142 Developers about this “scandalous affair”:

Posting on behalf of the Dev Team

--------------------------------

Greetings,

We would like to provide more information on in-game advertising in Battlefield 2142. To try and help everyone better understand it, here is how it works.

The in- game advertisement is respectful of players' privacy: it never accesses files not directly related to the game, and it does not capture personal data such as cookies, account login detail, gameplay behaviour or surfing history. As it is an integrated part of Battlefield 2142 and not a separate program, it only runs when the game is running.

Because BF2142 delivers ads by region, the IP address of the player is used to determine the region of the player and helps serve ads by region and language; for instance, a player in Paris will be presented with ads in French. Note that this IP address is not stored on the advertisement server and is not repurposed for other uses.

A unique ID number is anonymously assigned the first time the player joins a Battlefield 2142 online game. It is stored locally on the PC but is not linked to any personal details.

The in-game advertisement gathers what we call “impression data”, such as location of the billboard in the game or duration of advertisement impression. It
helps see how many people have seen an ad – but not who has seen it.

We are also conscious that the advertisement shouldn’t distract the player from the overall gaming experience, so all ads fit in the unique environment of each level in the game. The content of the ads is also controlled to ensure that no offensive content is displayed in Battlefield 2142.

We all hope that this explanation will address recent concerns on the advertisement in Battlefield 2142.

See you on the Battlefield.

Your Dice Live Team

There are two reasons I bring this up… First off there’s a growing real market exploitation for MMO’s coming around the bend. With the recent push of the World of Warcraft Collectible Card Game and in-game benefits for purchasing card packs, it’s obvious that real-world marketing companies are starting to take notice of the MMO industry. For all of you who remember the Everquest 2 Pizza Hut fiasco that became the punchline of so many internet jokes, and the first chance of social contact for Everquest players, you’ll know that this has been growing for a while.

Fear not though, hope is not lost! Richard Duffek, Community Coordinator from EA Mythic Entertainment threw the following out to the vulture like fans of the Warhammer Online community when this topic came up in the Warhammer Alliance forums.

There are no plans to put advertising in Warhammer Online, Dark Age of Camelot or Ultima Online. EA looks at products on a case by case basis to determine if it is appropriate for advertising to appear in the game.

We realise that they wouldn't make sense in any of our fantasy MMO's.

So despite the recent decision to throw advertising into Battlefield, this is NOT a decision that translates to all of their games. Players need not fear seeing advertising in their Warhammer Online experiences, as EA has not deemed it necessary to put real world advertising in their games. It still remains to be seen if other MMOs will be able to stand up to the pressure of the real world market as it pushes further into the MMO Industry. I for one wouldn’t be surprised if the next World of Warcraft expansion dealt with the Goblin Undermine and was entirely filled with advertisements. Those Goblins swindled me enough times in WoW I for one don’t want them anywhere near my credit card!

Instead of going to the malls you just need to start up a match of Battlefield and see what new things are coming up in stores! Instead of picking up a phone book, you just need to type “/pizza” and your MMO will call your local Pizza Hut quick as it can! Want a new item in Warcraft, just go pick up a pack of their collectible card game and throw out the cards once you’ve got the item. You probably don’t have any real friends to play it with anyway. This is the society we are heading towards, sad as it may seem.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to put on my tinfoil hat and wait for EA to burst into my house and take me away… wait nothing yet. Maybe they aren’t as bad as all this internet badmouthing makes them seem. Who’da thunk it?

-Ratboy

Don't agree with this article? Have your own views on that you think should be expressed? Feel free to post your own views on our Forums or even sending me an email: Ratboy@tentonhammer.com