2142 a mod? New textures, new maps, new weapons, nothing of the old. Would you consider any game using a previously developed engine a mod? Is Call Of Duty a mod of Quake 3, since they use the same engine?
Perhaps a total conversion would be a more apt description. Desert combat for the original 1942, used new textures, maps, weapons, nothing of the old. It was free. It didn't even have ads.
So, it comes back to the illusion of choice. Has anyone seen the ads in game? I haven't gotten to see them yet.
The placeholders are EVERYWHERE. I imagine they are giving us an illusion for the first few weeks, so it don't seem too bad. You know, if you're gonna ass rape someone and have them like it, you've gotta ease it in.
As for Spyware, by the loose definition anything that mines data could be considered spyware. Hell, a web page that simply reads your cookies to see if you visited Amazon could be considered spyware, no?
Spyware is typically at your expense, for someone else's benefit. You might consder cookie scanning a form of it, I would. But that's rather innocuous, so its not a big deal.
While I do agree they should have just given you checkboxes, I believe they are more interested in reporting if their ads are working (e.g. display an ad for best buy, check to see if you visited bestbuy.com afterwards.) This couldn't be done without checking index.dat or cookies. It sounds as if it may be a pay per click deal. Agency places ad in game, you go there, they pay EA. Or they are doing this on a trial basis to see if it is worth the money.
The spyware isn't targeting ads. The ip log is only used to check your general region, it doesnt scan your cookies to find out what you like. I doubt it tracks whether you go to BB.com after seeing a BB ad.
What they are doing, precisely: Before they can figure out the proper rates for the ads, they need data on which ads are viewed most. The software is determining how long you stare at that placeholder without realizing it, even the angle at which you are viewing it. They are trying to figure out the best spots, which would undoubedtly be right in the middle of the biggest, most important points where players gather, or on a barren road, where there's nothing shooting at you to distract you from the billboard. More like Tv ratings than pay for click - the best spots (the middle flag would be like the superbowl) cost the most.
It's worth the money, if people buy the game, and accept nothing in value in return. If they spark an outrage, as they obviously have, the loss in primary sales may obliterate any profit from the ads.
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