New Book on Exploiting and Breaking MMOs

[Kefkataran]

GameSetWatch (http://www.gamesetwatch.com) pointed out this one. Addison-Wesley Professional has announced a new book titled Exploitng Online Games: How to Break Multi-User Computer Games. What exactly is the book going to contain? From the full article (http://www.gamesetwatch.com/2006/08/addisonwesley_says_wow_hacking.php):


Apparently: "Readers learn how a program designed for one game, World of Warcraft, keeps watch of your game-play by scanning your computer for open processes and mails the information it collects back to its creator, Blizzard Entertainment. The authors demonstrate how to run a program named “The Governor” to keep watch of the watchers and know exactly what Blizzard Entertainment is doing on your computer."

So it's not clear to me, since I've seen the preview PDF and it mainly deals with finding out what World Of Warcraft is doing to your machine - by the title of this book, will the final version advocate actually 'breaking' MMOs, by creating exploits to cheat in various ways? If so, isn't that rather... unnecessary? Why would a book publisher advocate cheating or breaking multi-user games when it affects other users, too? Or is this all ethically justified because Blizzard is spying on us? Answers on a postcard, please!

[Varsity]

Isn't modern society lovely.

[Dag-Sabot]

Good day Guv'nor!

[CapnBob]

Having lost several friends to WoW addiction, I'm all for cheaters and assholes ruining the game at this point. I want my friends to have their lives back.

[Sion]

"We wanted to make this a book so that it would be become outdated within a few weeks after it goes on sale."

[gzsfrk]

Having lost several friends to WoW addiction, I'm all for cheaters and assholes ruining the game at this point. I want my friends to have their lives back.

Having been briefly addicted to WoW myself (around 4 months), I can't say that I completely disagree with this sentiment. But I don't think the proper method of achieving your desired end is through cheating and hacking the game.

The debate over the effect of games like WoW on people's lives is very similiar to the debate on state lotteries (and, to a lesser degree, the debate surrounding the legalization of narcotics). It's very tricky to argue regulation of services which illicit negative, self-destructive behavior when the behavior is strictly voluntary, and not in any way induced (though many WOULD argue that since both MMORPGs and organized gambling are intentionally crafted in such a way as to take advantage of certain common psychological weaknesses, there is some degree of inducement involved). However, similiar industries have been regulated (alcohol, tobacco) and even held liable in court in the past, while others (sex industry)--not so much. Thus, there's precedent for it to go either way with regards to some level of government intervention. (Man this post got off-topic.)

I don't know--it's a sticky problem. But I -do- know that I don't believe anarchy will or should be the answer.

[IagoTheHunted]

Your right about this becomeing instantly outdated. I mean it's not as if Blizzard programmers can't just read the book.

My 2cents on this is that the guys writing the book are dicks. As are any of the guys useing exploits in MMO's. Is it REALLY worth anybodys time to cheat and ruin this game for other players? nope. I'm 100% behind blizzard on the crack job they've been doing banning people to keep the game economy intact.

As for "addiction" which came up in an earlier post. please. c'mon. do we really need to be calling this an addiction?
a) addictions are either physical or at the least compulsive behavyor, I don't think this qualifys.
b) addictions are only bad if they get in the way of the rest of your life and prevent you from functioning normally. If you ARE playing the game to that extent than yeah you should back down and get a life, but there's no point in blaming WOW or any other game for peoples compulsive habits. Masturbating is a dangerous addiction if it's the only thing you do all day, but the solution isn't to blame masturbating and call it a dangerous addiction.

[Atorak]

I was pretty addicted to WoW myself, which probably lasted around 3-4 months before I decided to reclaim my life. But was it the first time something like that happened? Nope! I played Ultima Online for about 2 years, religiously. And then there was Diablo II which I played for about 6 months. Oh and there was also Morrowind. Um, yeah and Command & Conquer too.

Basically, I've been addicted to a LOT of games over my lifetime. Fortunately, the length of the addiction seems to be shortening with time! Now I have basically developed "Gaming ADD". :)

Nevertheless, I still have friends addicted to WoW, and it really is a shame. Sure, its just a game, and what people do with their free time is their own business. But, when it affects people interacting with others in the 'real' world, remembering what sunlight looks like, etc, it really is a problem. Sure, most people that play games would love to have the best items / armor / spells / highest level, but at what cost?

In reality, people are paying to attain 'virtual fame and fortune'. Which, quite frankly, might be as satisfying as true fame and fortune! So figure that one out...

[Manzy]

Considering it doesn't JUST concern WoW I would conclude that it will probably be a guide those who wish to break online games - not a tutorial.

[gzsfrk]

As for "addiction" which came up in an earlier post. please. c'mon. do we really need to be calling this an addiction?

Actually, it's perfectly reasonable to refer to compulsive MMORPG playing as an addiction. Why shouldn't it be called such?

a) addictions are either physical or at the least compulsive behavyor, I don't think this qualifys.

Why not? No one's saying that everyone who plays WoW is an addict; just that many (the specific number I've heard floated most recently is 40% of active players) do have an unhealthy obsession with the game that can lead to negative repercussions in various aspects of their lives.

b) addictions are only bad if they get in the way of the rest of your life and prevent you from functioning normally.

Again, having been someone who played the game regularly for up to 8 hours a night at the expense of spending much needed quality time with my wife (hurt my relationship), which also lead to me losing sleep (hurt my work) and getting much less physical activity than before (hurt my health), I can say that it most certainly did interfere with my life. It was my fault, and I accept the responsibility for it. But it did become an addiction in my life, regardless of where the blame lay.

If you ARE playing the game to that extent than yeah you should back down and get a life, but there's no point in blaming WOW or any other game for peoples compulsive habits.

UNLESS it can be shown that the game is deliberately crafted to be compulsive and to take advantage of psychological weaknesses. Of course, that would be next to impossible to prove; but the possibility for just such malfeasance on the part of an unscrupulous developer -does- exist and should at least be acknowledged.

[DeadPixel]

I agree with gzsfrk, MMO addiction is very real and will only become worse as better titles come out. I'm so glad MMOs were not around when I was in high school otherwise I'd probably never go out.

I've played 5 MMOs at this point and I easily say that after the initial escape they provide, they quickly turn into chores.

[Dag-Sabot]

As for "addiction" which came up in an earlier post. please. c'mon. do we really need to be calling this an addiction?
-The first step is to admit you have WOW addiction. [/intervention]

[gzsfrk]

I've played 5 MMOs at this point and I easily say that after the initial escape they provide, they quickly turn into chores.

Mom: "Timmy, did you take out the trash like I asked you to?"

Timmy: "Yes, Mom...."

Mom: "Clean your room?"

Timmy: "Yes, Mom..."

Mom: "Did you farm 10 Dark Iron Ore like your father said?"

Timmy: "Awww, MOM...."

[Nonentity]

Mom: "Timmy, did you take out the trash like I asked you to?"

Timmy: "Yes, Mom...."

Mom: "Clean your room?"

Timmy: "Yes, Mom..."

Mom: "Did you farm 10 Dark Iron Ore like your father said?"

Timmy: "Awww, MOM...."

Getting 10 Dark Iron Ore is easy - just grind some Ogres in Feralas for some cash, and then buy a 10 stack of the AH.

...

I mean, yeah, uh, I agree.

*shifty eyes*

[court12b]

UNLESS it can be shown that the game is deliberately crafted to be compulsive and to take advantage of psychological weaknesses. Of course, that would be next to impossible to prove; but the possibility for just such malfeasance on the part of an unscrupulous developer -does- exist and should at least be acknowledged.

actually, from what i understand about psychology, one of the most addictive mechanisms used to keep people's attention is a "Variable Ratio Reward Schedule" which means, killing the mob, MIGHT, at any time, give you the epic 2h sword you want.

same trick that slots use, play faster, cause you never know when yer gonna win.

[PacoTaco]

Calling something an addiction is a handy way of negating all responsibility of your actions in that area, eh? Sucking dick for crack, now that's an addiction. When was the last time you heard of somebody sucking dick for WoW subscription cards?

[IagoTheHunted]

Actually, it's perfectly reasonable to refer to compulsive MMORPG playing as an addiction. Why shouldn't it be called such?

No good reason, but purely speaking as a matter of opinion I think it weakens the word and puts the situation out of context. To say that heroin is an addiction and World of Warcraft is also an addiction means your casting a very wide net with that term.


Why not? No one's saying that everyone who plays WoW is an addict; just that many (the specific number I've heard floated most recently is 40% of active players) do have an unhealthy obsession with the game that can lead to negative repercussions in various aspects of their lives.

The fact that the numbers are as high as 40% signals to me that this is not serious enough to be taken seriously as an addiction. If 40% of people playing WOW were loseing their jobs, suffering malnutrition, DYING, unable to pry themselves away from their computers and unable to admit to the world that they had a problem beyond their control, then I'd have heard about it. That's not happening, this is just a very popular hobby people are spending a ton of time playing. Maybe 40% of those people are becomeing antisocial losers and neglecting other more productive pastimes. Big deal, that's a choice, like watching tv all day is a choice, or reading all day is a choice. Being lazy or singleminded isn't related to addiction.


Again, having been someone who played the game regularly for up to 8 hours a night at the expense of spending much needed quality time with my wife (hurt my relationship), which also lead to me losing sleep (hurt my work) and getting much less physical activity than before (hurt my health), I can say that it most certainly did interfere with my life. It was my fault, and I accept the responsibility for it. But it did become an addiction in my life, regardless of where the blame lay.

I think you and everyone else involved would like to liken this to an addiction to take some of blame off yourself for becomeing palefaced computer jockies. If you played fanatically for a while and then lost interest and stopped then YOU WEREN'T ADDICTED. You just made some bad choices because you got obsessed. I do that sometimes. We all do. Doesn't mean we're addicted. While I'm on the subject alchoholism isn't a desease either. Why must people make things sound overly important and critical to take the blame off themselves? I mean if we've really reached the point where video games are a serious concern in our culture than we need to wake the fuck up and look at a culture with REAL problems.


UNLESS it can be shown that the game is deliberately crafted to be compulsive and to take advantage of psychological weaknesses. Of course, that would be next to impossible to prove; but the possibility for just such malfeasance on the part of an unscrupulous developer -does- exist and should at least be acknowledged.

That's crap. The whole point of being a developer is to make games as fun as possible. If you want to nitpick it to death then "fun" releases endorphens and makes you want more "fun" so "fun" must be ADDICTIVE!!! OH NO!!! NOBODY HAVE FUN!!!
Anything in excess can become a problem, and anything even remotely enjoyable can lead to excess if you let it. Our obsession, Americans especially, with putting the blame on our environment instead of on ourselves is like the whineing of little children to their mommies. "It's not MY fault! I WANT it!!" Self control and good judgement are part of growing up. If you fall into excess it's YOUR fault.

[J Arcane]

On the actual topic of the thread, my friends and I kwere discussing the book last night, and the ultimate conclusion we came to is that basically all tihs is going to do is make Blizzard even more money.

The book will come out, and Blizzard will have every exploit in it fixed by the next patch, then turn around and ban everyone using them.

All the guys that get banned, will then just go buy a new copy of the game, and keep playing, probably find somewhere else to get mroe cheat tricks, get banned for those, and then buy yet another CD key, on and on, ad infinitum.

That's the way it works with the gold farmers. Blizzard doesn't really do anything besides banning them, which does no real good because all the gold farming companies keep massive stockpiles of game copies, so they can just activate new accounts to replace the ones that inevitably get banned.

And while Blizzard purports to care, they've yet to really implement any real solutions to these issues besides banning them, and I suspect all it comes down to is money.

So really, as fuckheaded as the book is, it's likely to be largely inconsequential in the long run.

[gzsfrk]

No good reason, but purely speaking as a matter of opinion I think it weakens the word and puts the situation out of context. To say that heroin is an addiction and World of Warcraft is also an addiction means your casting a very wide net with that term.

ad-dic-tion:
1. Compulsive physiological and psychological need for a habit-forming substance.
2. The condition of being habitually or compulsively occupied with or or involved in something.

The word itself, as defined, covers a broad range of meaning. Don't blame me for using the term appropriately. I don't think just because the word "addiction" fits something mild like obsessive gaming while simultaneously being the correct word for describing the cause of meth shivers waters down the meaning for either.

The fact that the numbers are as high as 40% signals to me that this is not serious enough to be taken seriously as an addiction. If 40% of people playing WOW were loseing their jobs, suffering malnutrition, DYING, unable to pry themselves away from their computers and unable to admit to the world that they had a problem beyond their control, then I'd have heard about it. That's not happening, this is just a very popular hobby people are spending a ton of time playing. Maybe 40% of those people are becomeing antisocial losers and neglecting other more productive pastimes. Big deal, that's a choice, like watching tv all day is a choice, or reading all day is a choice. Being lazy or singleminded isn't related to addiction.

This makes no sense at all; by your reasoning, since people's lives aren't immediately destroyed by tobacco as opposed to, say, heroin, it doesn't need to be taken seriously. Who decides how serious and in what way the negative effects on an addiction have to be before it's taken seriously? You? And thanks for pointing out the obvious--of COURSE playing MMOs (to excess or no) is a choice--just like getting drunk, doing rock, smoking pot, or cavorting with prostitutes.

Also, nobody suggested that laziness or singlemindedness had anything to do with anything; you just pulled that out of thin air.

I think you and everyone else involved would like to liken this to an addiction to take some of blame off yourself for becomeing palefaced computer jockies. If you played fanatically for a while and then lost interest and stopped then YOU WEREN'T ADDICTED. You just made some bad choices because you got obsessed. I do that sometimes. We all do. Doesn't mean we're addicted. While I'm on the subject alchoholism isn't a desease either. Why must people make things sound overly important and critical to take the blame off themselves? I mean if we've really reached the point where video games are a serious concern in our culture than we need to wake the fuck up and look at a culture with REAL problems.

If you bothered to read my post at all (which should have been easy enough, since you quoted it in your response), you would see that I accept full responsibility for becoming obsessed with the game. Besides, the presence of an addiction in no way lessens the responsibility and blame of the addictee.

As for whether or not it was an addiction, I'm certain that it absolutely was. I didn't just become disinterested in the game and decide to quit; my wife had to have a serious discussion with me about it, which served to wake me up to the negative impact my inability to play in moderation was having on our relationship. Thus, I quit. And you are correct--just because you are obsessed with something does NOT mean you're addicted; but it can be an indicator that you are. The absence of mutual inclusion does not, by definition, imply mutual exclusion.

And again, I don't believe this is a major problem in the context of other more serious world issues, particularly given the present struggles throughout the world. But does that preclude us from discussing the topic altogether?

That's crap. The whole point of being a developer is to make games as fun as possible. If you want to nitpick it to death then "fun" releases endorphens and makes you want more "fun" so "fun" must be ADDICTIVE!!! OH NO!!! NOBODY HAVE FUN!!!
Anything in excess can become a problem, and anything even remotely enjoyable can lead to excess if you let it. Our obsession, Americans especially, with putting the blame on our environment instead of on ourselves is like the whineing of little children to their mommies. "It's not MY fault! I WANT it!!"

One of the skills required to be an effective thinker is the ability to see things not only in black or white terms, but often times as a sliding scale. That then raises the question, to which position on the slider should the pointer be placed? Currently in US society, for example, alcohol and tobacco are largely legal, whereas other substances further "up the ladder", such as marijuana, methemphetamines, on up to cocaine are currently illegal. There's an ongoing debate as to what should be considered "over the line" and what should not be. That's why discussion like this is important--if nothing else, it allows us to remain the correct perception on problems like over-gaming when compared to more serious ones like narcotics addiction.

Self control and good judgement are part of growing up. If you fall into excess it's YOUR fault.

I agree 100%.

However, as in the case of a crack addicted teen, it's the teen's fault that they're addicted to crack, but I still believe we should go after the crack dealers.

(Don't go ballistic--I don't think Blizzard or any other MMO publisher is anywhere near the moral equivalent of a crack dealer. That would be a cruel insult to crack distributors everywhere. ;) )

[Manzy]

On the actual topic of the thread, my friends and I kwere discussing the book last night, and the ultimate conclusion we came to is that basically all tihs is going to do is make Blizzard even more money.

The book will come out, and Blizzard will have every exploit in it fixed by the next patch, then turn around and ban everyone using them.

All the guys that get banned, will then just go buy a new copy of the game, and keep playing, probably find somewhere else to get mroe cheat tricks, get banned for those, and then buy yet another CD key, on and on, ad infinitum.

That's the way it works with the gold farmers. Blizzard doesn't really do anything besides banning them, which does no real good because all the gold farming companies keep massive stockpiles of game copies, so they can just activate new accounts to replace the ones that inevitably get banned.

And while Blizzard purports to care, they've yet to really implement any real solutions to these issues besides banning them, and I suspect all it comes down to is money.

So really, as fuckheaded as the book is, it's likely to be largely inconsequential in the long run.


You see the problem here is that it isn't WoW-inclusive (Well, I'm assuming). They are probably telling the public shit Blizzard and other MMO devs already know.

From what little I could gather from this article, it's a MMO equivalent to a "How to Hack" book. Can you go out and buy one of those how to hack books and instantly be able to infiltrate the CIA's network? No.
I have a feeling it's going to be the same situation with this book. To everyone calling these guys assholes - Are the people that write the hacking guides assholes? If you say yes, well that's a completely different argument to get into in which I'm sure other members are well-versed in and will rip whatever rebuttal you would have to shreds. If not, well what 's the difference?

Note: This is all under the assumption that it IS, in fact, a "guide to breaking MMOS" and not a "Guide to hacking WOW LOL."

[IagoTheHunted]

Lotsa stuff I don't really disagree with

OK once the dictionary definitions come out it's time to consider this a debate in semantics and call it quits. Your right, the word addiction is vauge at best. Like I said it's just my opinion reguarding whether it should apply to lighter fare like gaming, which I think is pushing it. More than that I just dislike the implication that these things are beyond peoples control, or need to regulated mearly because they are addictive. I want to be treated as an adult making my own choices, not forced into healthy behavyor while we all go about our hopelessly boreing lives waiting for death (yes I'm a huge optomist, you can tell).

For the record I think alchohol is a higher level drug than marajuana, or at least more socially destructive, people don't smoke weed and beat their wives or kids.

Also if teens want to buy crack I'd put at least some blame on the parents, good parents can educate their kids to avoid that sort of behavyor. But if they still really want to I say let 'em, they'll learn. You can blame the dealer all you want but as they say, drugs really sell themselves. In amsterdam they legalized all those terrible risky habits and low and behold, people act the same way they do here, society didn't crumble, and the government isn't waisting money and resources putting users in jail. Turns out adults make their own choices after all.

[Qoz]

Drugs are a terrible thing to compare it to.
We cannot fight drug use effectively and the gaming addiction does not have the serious physical addiction.

It is easy to limit MMORPGS. They can't suddenly go illegal and still make money! So we can tweak the laws or make some of the profits go to centres trying to help these people- I'm all for it. Blizzard is making billions, while people throw away their lives. I'm not saying Blizzard is to blame legally - they have done nothing illegal. But these MMORPGS creators would benefit from developing some social conscience/moral (donate funds). If they don't they will get sued or controlled by laws in the future. They made laws to limit online gaming in China and Taiwan.

We just need the first generation of MMORPG players to reach adulthood and gain some influence. Then people will become aware and act.

[IagoTheHunted]

China is still under communist control, they censor the news and the internet, is that REALLY the standard you want to live by?

If people want to play these games they're going to play these games, it's not Blizzards fault if they "throw away their lives". And by what definition do you consider that throwing away your life anyway??? They aren't jumping off a bridge. They aren't killing themselves with drugs. They aren't even leeching off some other part of society. They're HAVING FUN WITH OTHER PEOPLE. The mere fact that people in this country have the OPTION to "throw away their lives" like that means we're doing very very well as a society, no other civilization in the history of earth ever gave people the option to "waist their lives" by having unproductive fun too much.

I'm all in favor of educating people about how to use their time productively and play games/watch tv/etc. in moderation. But trying to force them is the same loseing battle as "the war on drugs" which, last time I checked, is an unwinnable war on nothing in particular with no progress being made whatsoever.

[J Arcane]

Hey, uh, guys?

You know there's already a thread on MMO Addiction right?

[IagoTheHunted]

Yeah I know, just kinda' spilled into that topic and it's too late to move it now...