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Blizzard wins its case to shut down World of Warcraft bots
Bad news, everyone. It increasingly looks as if you're going to have to actually play World of Warcraft instead of just letting a program do all the work while reaping the benefits. After a two-year legal battle, Blizzard has emerged victorious in its case against Ceiling Fan Software, responsible for two of the most popular WoW botting applications. The company is facing a $7 million judgment and has been ordered to fully cease operations. Ceiling Fan Software issued a statement saying that the company lost its fight to allow people to play World of Warcraft as they chose (although the method of playing in question, it should be noted, involved no actual play of the game). This is the second such time that Blizzard has targeted people creating software directly contrary to the game's basic user agreements and also the second victory the company has acquired in that same arena.
Over 6100 accounts banned for cheating in Final Fantasy XIV
It's been hard to miss the spam in Final Fantasy XIV lately. You can't walk into a major city without seeing several dozen people shouting repeatedly about selling in-game currency, which has resulted in a lot of people getting to really kick their blacklists into overtime. But Square-Enix isn't ignoring the problem, and as of today we've been informed that a lot of players are out of the game for cheating. If you can really call them "players." 6,154 accounts have been removed from the game for advertising RMT services, while another 156 have been removed for "illicit activity." The game has also undergone a bit of maintenance to help eliminate the (unspecified) methods of item use that contributed to the problem. Whether or not this will eliminate the shouting spam that plagues the major cities remains to be seen, but it's certainly worth hoping, and it's always good to see the RMT crowd get what's coming to them. [Thanks to Scott for the tip!]
EVE Online's anti-bot policy now two-strikes-and-you're-out
Are you a fan of charts and graphs? Are you curious to know how CCP's war on bots is going in EVE Online? If you answered in the affirmative to either of those questions, the latest EVE dev blog is tailor-made for your reading pleasure. In it, the firm details organization and personnel changes to the anti-botting team, and it also acknowledges the substantial amount of user feedback that frowned on the rather lenient "three strikes" enforcement policy. Effective immediately, then, EVE Online is switching to a two-strike policy wherein strike one results in a 30-day ban and strike two results in a permanent ban. Furthermore, any client modification or "involvement in RMT" will lead to a permanent ban on the first offense.
Guardians of Middle-Earth: A fun game doomed by its business model
The MOBA genre has exploded in recent years, with global giant League of Legends becoming the most actively played video game in the world and competitive tournaments getting more viewers than some televised sports. Today's MOBAs appeal to casual and competitive gamers alike, but until recently very few had crossed the console barrier. Released on PS3 and XBox 360 last December, Guardians of Middle-Earth took traditional DotA gameplay and made the quite experimental leap onto consoles. I'm not much of a console gamer (you can take my mouse and keyboard away when you pry them from my cold, dead hands), but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to see how Guardians of Middle-Earth stacks up against its PC-based counterparts. Monolith Studios has done great things in adapting MOBA gameplay to a console control scheme and audience, and the core game really is a lot of fun to play. But in charging an initial purchase price for a game that relies on having a large community, publisher Warner Bros. may have accidentally consigned Guardians to the scrapheap. In this hands-on opinion piece, I explore Guardians of Middle-Earth and ask why it's already a ghost town just three months after launch.
Blizzard bans thousands of bots from Diablo III
Diablo III is a few thousand players lighter today, as Blizzard announced that it had culled the unfaithful (read: botters) from its fold. Community Manager Lylirra issued the grim proclamation: "We've recently issued account bans to several thousand Diablo III players who were found to be using botting programs while playing. In addition to undermining the spirit of fair play, botting, hacking, and other forms of cheating can also cause technical problems with the game as well as contribute to performance issues with the Battle.net service." Lylirra also said that the Diablo III team is working to add a feature that will allow players to directly report naughty bots through the game itself.
Blizzard Customer Support live Q&A recap
Yesterday, between 5pm and 6pm Pacific, Blizzard's Customer Support Team took part in a live Q&A, using some new software to answer players' questions in real time. In attendance were CS Forum Representative Vrakthris, WoW Game Support Manager Marcus Maczynski, SC2 Game Support Manager Angelo Concepcion, D3 Game Support Manager Andreas Unger, Senior CS Information Specialist Charles Areson, and CS Social Media Manager Antonio Achucarro. With players asking the questions, there was fairly high traffic for the team to deal with, Zarhym told us they received over 1,500 questions in under an hour! Not all of them could be answered, but we've been busy pulling out the key questions and responses for your delectation. Comment From legracen Are there any plans to update/change the in-game ticketing system for World of Warcraft so that the wait times for tickets can be reduced? Marcus Maczynski: Hello Legracen! We're constantly evaluating how we receive CS requests from players. Right-Click-to-Report and self-service options (such as Item Restoration) are both examples of this building in this efficiency. Updating the in-game interface to prompt players for exactly the information we need to service their requests is definitely something we want to do.
Guild Wars 2 and the war on bots
A big victory has been won in ArenaNet's ongoing war on Guild Wars 2 bots. Big steps have been taken since the game's launch: As of now, only about 20 bots an hour are reported, compared to over 2,000 an hour just a couple of months ago. ArenaNet has been working on automating the process of identifying and terminating bot accounts, as security coordinator Mike Lewis explains in a new blog post. There's now a pretty high likelihood of stepping into Lion's Arch without getting immediately spammed by five gold sellers. Possibly more importantly, ArenaNet has started offering support for folks whose accounts have been compromised. Account restoration recently got added to the Guild Wars 2 support page, which is something that's been much in demand.
Blizzard lowers the boom on Diablo III cheaters
Blizzard's had all it can stands, and it can stands no more. The studio is taking aggressive action against botters and cheaters in Diablo III, reporting that it's gone through "several rounds of account bans" against such players. The studio also used the ban announcement as an excuse to clarify its position on hacks and third-party software. If you're curious about what steps over the line that Blizzard has in mind, wonder no longer. Beyond allowing some players to get away with an unfair advantage over others, cheat programs reportedly cause instability and performance issues with client software and Battle.net at large. "We strongly recommend that you avoid using any third-party software which interacts with Diablo III," Blizzard posted, "even if you are accessing that software from a reputable third-party site-as doing so can result in permanent ban from the game."
Robot Hall of Fame inducts Big Dog, PackBot, Nao and WALL-E (video)
It's the sort of ceremony that's so magical it can only occur on even-numbered years. Inventors, educators, entertainers, college students and media folk gathered at the Carnegie Science Center in Pittsburgh, PA tonight for the 2012 inductions to the Robot Hall of Fame, a Carnegie Mellon-sponsored event created to celebrate the best of our mechanical betters. This year, the field included four categories, judged by both a jury of 107 writers, designs, entrepreneurs and academics and the public at large, each faction constituting half the voting total. The show kicked off, however, with the induction of 2010 winners, the Spirit and Opportunity Mars rovers, the da Vinci Surgical System, iRobot's Roomba, the Terminator and Huey, Dewey and Louie, a trio of robots from 1971's Silent Running. The first 'bot to secure its spot in the class of 2012, was the programmable humaoid Nao, from Aldebaran Robotics, which beat out the iRobot Create and Vex Robotics Design System in the Educational category. The PackBot military robot from iRobot took the Industrial and Service category, beating out the Kiva Mobile Robotic Fulfillment System and Woods Hole Oceanographic's Jason. Boston Dynamic's Big Dog ran over some stiff competition in the form of Willow Garage's PR2 and NASA's Robonaut to win the Research title. And WALL-E triumphed over doppelganger Johnny Five and the Jetsons' Rosie in the Entertainment category. Relive the festivities in four minutes after the break.
ArenaNet offers explanation for Guild Wars 2's diminishing returns mechanics
ArenaNet game designer Jon Peters has explained the reasoning behind the diminishing returns karma mechanics that many Guild Wars 2 players have complained about in recent weeks. "These systems are put in place to protect the economy from botters and exploiters. We will close exploits as quickly as we can. These thresholds help create a safety net to keep the economy safe when we aren't there to deal with the offender," Peters says in a post on the GW2 forums. Peters also says that the devs need to work out a few kinks, and that ArenaNet does not intend to put an end to legitimate farming gameplay. "We believe some of the threshold systems are just too harsh empirically and we'll be adjusting those systems within the next few weeks to ensure that fewer legitimate players are being impacted," he wrote. [Thanks to Divalicious Diva for the tip!]
Robot Hall of Fame voting begins for class of 2012, Johnny 5 learns where BigDogs sit
It's that time again: time for Carnegie Mellon to roll out the red carpet and welcome the crème de la crème of the robotics world into its halls. Since 2003 the school has been selecting the best of the best and inducting them into the Robot Hall of Fame. Past honorees have included everything from LEGO Mindstorms to the Terminator. This year's list of nominees is no less impressive, with celebrity bots Johnny 5 and WALL-E pitted against each other in the entertainment category, while NASA's Robonaut takes on the PR2 and BigDog under the banner of research bots. There will also be two other inductees awarded a spot in the hall in the consumer and education category and the industrial and service field. Best of all, for the first time ever, Carnegie Mellon is letting the public vote on the inductees. And, while PETMAN was snubbed yet again, he's not letting that get him down -- the Boston Dymanic's biped just keeps on struttin'. Hit up the source link to cast your vote before the September 30th deadline and check back on October 23rd to see who's granted a podium speech.
Nao humanoid climbs spiral staircase, breakfast in bed is around the corner (video)
Robots can clean your pool and pick up after your lavish dinner parties, but what use is Mr. Nao when you're ringing for a nightcap from the comfort of your second-floor bedroom? Okay, so we've seen the odd bot take a journey up some stairs, but how many cyborgs are prepared to scale flights that twist and turn? Researchers from the University of Freiburg's Humanoid Robots Laboratory have demonstrated a Nao humanoid capable of climbing spiral staircases, which, of course, are more challenging to scale than their non-curving counterparts. A laser range scanner on the top of the robot's head provides a global estimation of the bot's position, and the humanoid uses a 3D model of the staircase to match up with the images it captures on each step. This system lets it get a good enough grip on its geography to successfully detect stair edges and make it to the top with nary a trip. Take a look for yourself in the video below.
Robotic quadrotors' training now complete, proven with razzle-dazzle Cannes show (video)
We've watched our potential quad-mech overlords from KMel Robotics evolve from agile solo acrobats to worker bees to deft synchronized performers. It seemed only a matter of time before they would hunt down Sarah Connor en masse -- or take the show-biz world by storm. Fortunately for us, the tricky flyers chose to embrace their flamboyant side at a tour-de-force 16-quad lightshow in Cannes, where they opened the Saatchi & Saatchi New Directors' Showcase. The soaring automatons pulled all their past tricks out of the bag, flying precisely with mirrors to bounce lights from below, all timed to dramatic music --which they also had a hand in controlling. The sparkly treat awaits right after the break.
South Korea bans botting in online RPGs
The South Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism is announcing a new law next month that will make botting in online RPGs illegal. According to this governmental body's calculations, 60% of all in-game items traded for real currency were obtained by automated programs. The law will also ban the listing of items in arcade games as real property that can be exchanged for cash. The maximum penalty for breaking this law will be 5 million won (approximately $4,300) and five years in jail. It is interesting to note that while the announcement states that the law's purpose is to "halt all virtual item trades," only botting is being banned in online RPGs. So WoW players who buy and sell gold will not be breaking this new law (though they do break the TOS), unless they are using bots to farm. This distinction also means that the Diablo III Real-Money Auction House will not be made illegal by this law; thus, South Korea's previous decision about the RMAH has not been negated. Since the new law will not be announced until next month, some details may change. Regardless, the government sees botting and virtual item trades as barriers to a "healthy game culture," and it is willing to use legal means to eliminate the problem.
South Korea to make virtual item trade, bots illegal
Do you want to buy and sell virtual items? Do you live in South Korea? If you answered "yes" to both of those questions, you'd better get it out of your system prior to next month (or be prepared to do it illegally). A new law is being developed that will ban real money trading and block gold- and item-farming bots. The South Korean Ministry of Culture says that "the main purpose of games is for entertainment and [they] should be used for academic and other good purposes," according to a report at Eurogamer. This is bad news for gold farmers, RMT fans, and Blizzard, which has come under fire for Diablo III's real-money auction house over the past few weeks. The Ministry of Culture went on to say that RMT "contribute[s] to many problems in society, including teenage crime."
Open source mini sub appeals to our inner Steve Zissou
Quadrocopters haven't exactly opened the skies for DIY exploration so much as they have for acrobatic feats, but the OpenROV project is hoping to make the briny depths friendlier for aspiring explorers and educators alike. The open source rover, spearheaded by NASA engineer and researcher Eric Stackpole, sinks to depths of up to 300 feet (100 meters), runs on eight C-cell batteries for approximately 1.5 hours and can clip by at three feet (one meter) per second. Within the laser-cut acrylic frame, a sealed cylinder houses a BeagleBone, HD webcam and LED lights. This all weighs in at 5.5 pounds and is piloted using a web browser and video feed. The footage is then piped up to a laptop that tethers the vehicle to the shore. Pre-orders for OpenROV 2.3 kits will be taken through Kickstarter later this summer at $750 apiece, though there are plans to sell fully assembled units. For now, explorers can register their interest at the link below and impatient Jacques Cousteaus will be pleased to know that all files necessary to build version 2.2 are available to download now.
Google bots learning to read webpages like humans, one step closer to knowing everything
Google just launched its Knowledge Graph, a tool intended to deliver more accurate information by analyzing the way users search. Of course, with a desire to provide better search results comes a need for improved site-reading capabilities. JavaScript and AJAX have traditionally put a wrench in Google bots' journey through a webpage, but it looks like the search engine has developed some smarter specimens. While digging through Apache logs, a developer spotted evidence that bots now execute the JavaScript they encounter -- and rather than just mining for URLS, the crawlers seem to be mimicking how users click on objects to activate them. That means bots can dig deeper into the web, accessing databases and other content that wasn't previously indexable. Looks like Google is one step closer to success on its quest to know everything.
MakerBot printing out Robot Petting Zoo for Maker Faire
Sure, it's no $500 3D printer, but the folks at MakerBot always have plenty of fun stuff floating around their Brooklyn headquarters. Stuff like, you know, a Robot Petting Zoo. The company's prepping a slew of 3D printed 'bots for display at the upcoming Maker Faire in California. CNET's got shots of the robots, each of which have special functionality like old Button Bot pictured above -- not so great for petting, but he likely knows more tricks that your average sheep. More images at the source link below.
RuneScape: Seventh anniversary retrospective
Although RuneScape officially launched in 2001, today marks the seventh anniversary of the end of the RuneScape 2 beta. This was a complete gameplay and graphics overhaul that signaled the rebirth of the game, and it's a date well worth celebrating. The past year has been filled with massive content updates that added clan support, upgradeable clan citadels, a new website, and countless new quests. Player-made battlefields put game design in the hands of players, who have used the system to produce ton of content. Understandably, most people will likely remember this year for one thing: This was the year that RuneScape beat the bots. Following the momentous Bot Nuking Day, players logged in to find a distinctly emptier world but one filled with real people. RuneFest 2011 was a success, with presentations from the game's developers and a special focus on breaking the bots. This year also saw the interesting story that the Dutch Supreme Court ruling that stealing RuneScape items is the same as theft of real life goods. In this anniversary retrospective, I look back at some of RuneScape's top news stories and game additions of the year.
EVE Online nukes over a thousand botters from orbit
Look upon CCP's works, ye botters, and despair! EVE Online players recently noticed "by virtue of reading various shady forums" that the CCP team has suspended or banned a large number of botters. CCP Sreegs stopped by the official site today to respond to some of the community reactions to the mass bot-nuking. Many fans seem to believe that the bannings are a publicitity stunt to drum up interest in the upcoming Fanfest. CCP Sreegs responds that, of course, this isn't the case. He notes that during CCP's recent periods of turbulence, there was no team responsible for "handling the technology responsible for nuking botters," but now that there's a full team once more, "[CCP has] now thrown the switch again and turned on the catching bad guys machine." Other players are crying out that the current three-strike system is too soft-hearted. Sreegs respectfully disagrees, citing the fact that, of all players that go on to receive two strikes, only something like 3% go on to earn a third. But what's to stop these problem players from transferring their characters to a new account and carrying on as usual? Sreegs also announced that a new system is being put in place that will indefinitely revoke the character transfer privileges of any suspended players, no matter how many strikes they have against them. For the full story as well as a bit of insight as to how CCP deals with botters and cheaters, just click on through the link below.
