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Battlefield 2142 Warning
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PostPosted: 17-Oct-2006 17:46    Post subject: Battlefield 2142 Warning Reply to topic Reply with quote

This issue having recently come to my attention, I feel like I should tell as many people as possible. The newly-released game, Battlefield 2142, contains EA Games' own spyware program. I know this because they tell you this in a note included in every boxed copy of the game. The program monitors "anonymous" information like your IP address, surfing habits (analyzing your stored cookies most likely), and other "computing habits", which are then sent off to ad companies for analysis and end up generating in-game advertisements.

The only way to stop companies like EA from pushing these kinds of boundaries is not to buy their products. I am asking all those who are considering purchasing Battlefield 2142 to reconsider.

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Because sometimes, there are many guards in the castle.


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Gunslinger Patch
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PostPosted: 17-Oct-2006 22:48    Post subject: RE: Battlefield 2142 Warning Reply to topic Reply with quote

Not a problem. I will not pay people to spy on me.

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Warhammer: 3025
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PostPosted: 17-Oct-2006 23:53    Post subject: RE: Battlefield 2142 Warning Reply to topic Reply with quote

Some new info. While the spyware isn't as insidious as I had originally thought, it's still spyware.

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Evil is like a bowl of oranges. Only one, instead, is an orange of DOOM. That orange has a fate to rule over the other oranges with an iron fist. That orange is me.

Because sometimes, there are many guards in the castle.


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Rarich
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PostPosted: 18-Oct-2006 17:25    Post subject: RE: Battlefield 2142 Warning Reply to topic Reply with quote

Spyware is spyware. They have no right to install it on your hrddrive that the company that built our house has a right to putting their logo all over the walls.

If I was considering, it would not buy it now.

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Warhammer: 3025
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PostPosted: 18-Oct-2006 19:31    Post subject: RE: Battlefield 2142 Warning Reply to topic Reply with quote

This is a press release from DICE, released earlier today.

Quote:
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



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Evil is like a bowl of oranges. Only one, instead, is an orange of DOOM. That orange has a fate to rule over the other oranges with an iron fist. That orange is me.

Because sometimes, there are many guards in the castle.


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SaberDance
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PostPosted: 18-Oct-2006 23:47    Post subject: RE: Battlefield 2142 Warning Reply to topic Reply with quote

So this is the second time this company has been nuked here (the first time was in relation to the Left Behind game).

Would it kill us all to read up on these companies before bad-mouthing them?

I know people are trying to be helpful, but making a decision based on rumors and less-than-helpful aphorisms is not the way to go.

I mean, I carry no water for this company, but as many gamers as I hear complain about dated-ness and lack of realism in their games, I'm surprised that when a company steps up to fill that gap in a commercially viable way everyone goes nuts.

Twice.

So far.

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PostPosted: 19-Oct-2006 00:37    Post subject: RE: Battlefield 2142 Warning Reply to topic Reply with quote

Quote:

On 2006-10-18 23:47, SaberDance wrote:
Would it kill us all to read up on these companies before bad-mouthing them?



Yes. Yes it would.

_________________
Evil is like a bowl of oranges. Only one, instead, is an orange of DOOM. That orange has a fate to rule over the other oranges with an iron fist. That orange is me.

Because sometimes, there are many guards in the castle.


Ya Rl'yeh!
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Gunslinger Patch
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PostPosted: 22-Oct-2006 04:42    Post subject: RE: Battlefield 2142 Warning Reply to topic Reply with quote

I don't pay game companies to make me watch commercials when I'm trying to play a game either.

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Rarich
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PostPosted: 23-Oct-2006 07:12    Post subject: RE: Battlefield 2142 Warning Reply to topic Reply with quote

I still skip it. Ads are pervasive enough, that I do not need that kind of "increased reality". Joke ads- Okay. real ones, I will skip the software.

Product placement in movies is bad enough, why live with it in games?

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Life is a sexually transmitted terminal disease.
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SaberDance
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PostPosted: 23-Oct-2006 13:16    Post subject: RE: Battlefield 2142 Warning Reply to topic Reply with quote

Unbelievable.

Does anyone actually care that much about advertisements? I mean, Hollywood has been making money off DVD sales for a while now, and they've been taking money for product placement since at least the 70s, and that doesn't count the old TV shows in the 40s and 50s that not only had product placement, but fictional-character endoresement (Ozzie and Harriet always used Eagle Brand Condensed Milk cause it was the best on the market, and they told you so all the time).

If you think the game would be fun, you like the product, and you want to play the game, I can think of few stupider reasons not to buy the game than because you don't want the the advertisements, which are already in the game.

And if, like me, you just don't think the game is worth the $50 to buy, then the presence of absence of ads shouldn't matter.
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Gunslinger Patch
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PostPosted: 24-Oct-2006 01:02    Post subject: RE: Battlefield 2142 Warning Reply to topic Reply with quote

I like there to be a few places in my life where I can go for a few hours without having to watch or hear commercials. If they get away with doing this to our games, what next. Will the next hardcover from a favorite author have a bunch of damned full page ads at the end of every chapter?

There is just plain enough advertising that I have to see or hear every damned day of my life. The world can live without having it on a computer game too.

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"Those who beat their guns into plows will plow for those with guns..." -Thomas Jefferson
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