Blizzard banned/suspended Starcraft 2 single player cheaters lulz

[Golgatha]

You break the EULA, you go download the cracked version for SP. Tough shit Blizzard.

Fixed.

 

[Golgatha]

Couldn't Blizzard just revoke all the achievements for cheaters instead of rendering their game inoperable? I really can't believe all the defenders in here, this is pretty poor behavior on Blizzard's part.

Yeah, just set their achievement score permanently to zero, but don't ban them from playing the game. Just a tad bit heavy handed response IMO.

 

[Golgatha]

Why are people complaining, everyone signed the EULA before playing this game. If you had problems with Blizzard doing whatever they want in their game, you shouldn't even buy it.

I do not recall signing any contracts and have no method to get a refund if I disagree with the shrink wrapped EULA. Blizzard and all software companies can pretty much suck it IMO when it comes to what I decided to do with my property (provided I'm not ruining anyone else's experience with the software of course).

 

[Martimus]

If the game isn't fun enough for me to try to finish it normally, but the storyline is good and I want to see how the story goes, I usually cheat just to find out the story. If this is one of those games, (where the game just isn't that fun, but the storyline is interesting) then I would probably do the same. To get banned from playing the game for that is pretty stupid, but now that I know that, I won't buy the game unless it is really cheap.

 

[skace]

This isn't cheaters, it's hackers. Big difference. Cheater makes it sound like you used built-in cheats like up,up,down,down,left,right,left,right,a,b,b,a,select,start. A hacker is someone who brings in outside 3rd party programs to break the functionality of the program. An exploiter is someone who abuses an obviously intentional flaw in a game for their own advantage. Use each term accurately.

I never support hackers in a competitive game, even if they are just hacking the SP. You have to be retarded to not realize what kind of thin ice you are treading.

tl;dr - be stupid, get banned, good fucking riddance.

 

[PingSpike]

I don't see how anyone could be legitimately upset at Blizzard over this.

There are cheat codes built into the game that disable the ability to earn achievements when legally cheating using these cheat codes intended to be used for fun.

What Blizzard is doing is banning people who are using 3rd party cheats/hacks to help them illegally cheat to earn achievements.

Sure, its just single player so one could argue that its lame to ban a cheater for single player, but ITS FUCKING SINGLE PLAYER, its even more lame to cheat in single player than it is to ban someone for it.

Who gives a shit about some one's single player or their achievements? Banning people for it is retarded. Cheating to get achievements is lame, but mostly because achievements themselves are lame. Its a fucking game, who cares how other people play it single player? Are we going to have rules about how one can jerk off now too?

 

[Ryland]

I personally think this is very heavy handed of Blizzard to ban people for doing something in single player since it realistically has no major effect on anybody but the player and thus they should be able to do whatever they want in single player.

Others have stated that it is in the EULA. Is the EULA visible before opening the games box or only visible when installing, at which time it is too late to return it?

 

[Dumac]

Who gives a shit about some one's single player or their achievements? Banning people for it is retarded. Cheating to get achievements is lame, but mostly because achievements themselves are lame. Its a fucking game, who cares how other people play it single player? Are we going to have rules about how one can jerk off now too?

If you use these hacks in AI skirmish, what is stopping you from using them against real opponents?

Morality?

I don't think Blizzard wants to be on that.

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

You break the EULA, you get what you deserve. Tough shit.

exactly. their terms, you clicked 'agree', you violate, they ban.
very simple. funny that the cheaters think they have a leg to stand on.
"question its legality", lol.

 

[PingSpike]

If you use these hacks in AI skirmish, what is stopping you from using them against real opponents?

Morality?

I don't think Blizzard wants to be on that.

Oh, I get it. Hacking in single player is a gateway drug that we have to stamp out to stop it from happening multiplayer. Well, this ought to take care of the problem completely, my mistake.

 

[zagood]

Interesting side note to consider...

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/new...heaters-a-Time-Out-Opens-Can-of-Worms-UPDATED

"But the Cheat Happens website also has a financial interest in the matter, as it sells subscriptions that allow access to the trainers that got its user suspended. The site may appear to be on the side of the little guy, and it's quite possible that that is at least part of its motivation, but when examining the response, it can't be ignored that Blizzard's actions are a threat to Cheat Happens' business."

 

[Gonad the Barbarian]

exactly. their terms, you clicked 'agree', you violate, they ban.
very simple. funny that the cheaters think they have a leg to stand on.
"question its legality", lol.

Actually, not being able to agree to the EULA until after purchasing the product and rendering it to a non-returnable state (opened) is a very valid legal claim. I hope all this Blizzard defense is just fanboy worship or dumb kids ranting. God help us if you're adults spouting this shit.

 

[simonizor]

The reasoning behind this is extremely simple: The cheats allow you to get achievement points and new character pictures without doing the actual work. Blizzard has always been strongly against 3rd party programs. This really isn't surprising at all.

 

[evident]

quit being whining noobs. cheating in games is lame, period. let alone in a glorious magical blizzard game

 

[DrunkenSano]

Actually, not being able to agree to the EULA until after purchasing the product and rendering it to a non-returnable state (opened) is a very valid legal claim. I hope all this Blizzard defense is just fanboy worship or dumb kids ranting. God help us if you're adults spouting this shit.

The game's Terms of Use is actually available for everyone to read without having to purchase the game first, so trying to hide behind ignorance won't save hackers.

 

[eLiu]

you can load someone else's saved game and be able to play it? Doesn't the whole account thing get in the way?

I've never tried, but anecdotally this works. Your reaction was my initial reaction, but apparently there's nothing that ties your saves to your account. This was all in relation to the "Raid Night" achievement, where some people didn't get the achievement so instead of redoing it, they loaded a save file (that someone posted in that thread). Others were just lazy & loaded the save from the get go.

 

[BladeVenom]

Others have stated that it is in the EULA. Is the EULA visible before opening the games box or only visible when installing, at which time it is too late to return it?

Exactly. They don't want you to see the EULA to after you buy the game. That's never sounded ethical to me. Could you imagine in any other purchase not getting to see the contract before you buy? Software vendors have less ethics than the stereotypical used car salesman.

The legality of a EULA is also questionable. It's certainly not valid if the user is under 18 years of age.

 

[Gonad the Barbarian]

The game's Terms of Use is actually available for everyone to read without having to purchase the game first, so trying to hide behind ignorance won't save hackers.

You got a link? I can find the TOS for battle.net, but not specifically SC2. Reserving the right to terminate a battle.net account isn't necessarily the same as reserving the right to render the software completely unusable. Plus there is the issue of minors and whether they can even legally agree to a EULA.

It just strikes me as really retarded so many consumers cheer on the erosion of consumer rights.

 

[Schfifty Five]

I do not recall signing any contracts and have no method to get a refund if I disagree with the shrink wrapped EULA. Blizzard and all software companies can pretty much suck it IMO when it comes to what I decided to do with my property (provided I'm not ruining anyone else's experience with the software of course).

The physical box/dvd disc, etc are your property, but the game code itself is not. You're only purchasing the right to use/access that game code while following their TOS/policy.

 

[DrunkenSano]

You got a link? I can find the TOS for battle.net, but not specifically SC2. Reserving the right to terminate a battle.net account isn't necessarily the same as reserving the right to render the software completely unusable. Plus there is the issue of minors and whether they can even legally agree to a EULA.

It just strikes me as really retarded so many consumers cheer on the erosion of consumer rights.

Battle.net is the same as SC2 since it is a requirement to run SC2. You can't play Starcraft 2 without being connected to the internet to authenticate to battle.net. At work right now so I can't check Blizzard's website, since it's blocked.

 

[Lonbjerg]

Uh, no, they're not right. They can ban cheaters from Bnet, and they should. But since you have to log into Bnet to even play SP, banning you effectively renders the game unplayable and worthless. I must have missed the part where Blizzard can dictate how I play a single player game.

You don't own the game, you have licensed the game, read up on copyright.

 

[artemicion]

Wow. Talk about rage based on misconceptions and rhetoric.

This is not "Blizzard Bans Single Player Cheaters." Sure it sounds all absurd and tyrannical if you try to view the situation from that sort of flawed perspective. Then you can open the whole can of "why is Blizzard being so protective of the integrity of achievements" blah blah blah. But sorry, this isn't the story.

This is "Blizzard Bans Players Who Use Third Party Applications." Blizzard does not care if you're using it just for single player or if you're using it for multiplayer. This is probably because Blizzard can't be bothered to invest in the effort that would be required to develop a third party sniffing tool that can distinguish these sorts of things. Rightfully so, because any tool that attempted to do that would probably compromise its effectiveness because the multiplayer cheaters could probably exploit it. So yes, it's a wide net that catches people who only cheat in single player. And yes, I don't care about single player cheaters and their achievements. However, I don't care about their bans because Blizzard's policy is rational.

I love how DRM somehow snuck into this conversation. Talk about DRM haters grasping at straws to rage about DRM for every slight indignity that DRM causes. Does DRM suck? Yes. Does it suck a lot? I don't know. Why don't YOU find out by starting your own @%#(& game company, developing games that do not have DRM, and seeing if a no-DRM policy gives you a leg up over the competition in a free market economy.

 

[smackababy]

I haven't used this trainer, but I believe someone said it also works in multiplayer? Obviously, this is reason to ban. And Blizzard can ban you from their service for any reason they see fit.

As far as the EULA, if you decline it and seek a refund, you can call Blizzard and give them the CD key. They will give you refund unless the key has already been used.

 

[Beev]

I do not agree with outright banning single player cheaters who use third party programs to do so.

I do not think Activision had anything to do with this.

I don't cheat so I don't care, though.

 

[DrunkenSano]

I prefer them allocate their time making the game better and making the expansions come out faster than wasting time making their cheat detection more refined to let people hack the single player content but not multiplayer content.