For what it's worth...

[Jah]

The following is a copy of the PM I sent a player [ name removed ] who had posted a work around for the patcher; which sadly Tulga immediately pulled from from the forums. So, for what it's worth:

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The following is what I was going to post on your patcher work around, but it was removed from the forums before I finished typeing. Amazeing how they did that vs fixing a problem *laughs*. Obviously they don't agree with my sentiment on it vs the EULA. Anyhow:

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Though I personallyjust had to use chkdsk to fix my problem with the patcher, I would like to give[ name ]3 cheers [img]/Web//emoticons/emotion-22.gif[/img][img]/Web//emoticons/emotion-22.gif[/img][img]/Web//emoticons/emotion-22.gif[/img] for posting this universal work around. This is hardly the 1st time a patcher update has caused log in issues and sadly it probably won't be the last...

As to EULA I am sure it does violate it since [ depending on how one looks at it ] this is either modifying an HZ file or useing code from an HZ file to create a new file; both of which are technically copywright infringements. Even so Tulga should thank you and not whine about a minor technicality as it is their mistake that has forced the need for just such a work around. I know of one player that had been here since releasefor whom this was the 'final straw' and he cancelled his account. He was probably not the only one. Technical issues that prevent game play entirely are the most detremental kind to an on-line game. Haveing a simple workaround thateven the programming illiterate could get to work [ or so it seems though I haven't tested since I don't have a problem ] should be viewed as subscription saver and not an EULA violation. Once again 3 cheers..and thank you [ name ]. [img]/Web//emoticons/emotion-1.gif[/img]

[Hal`cyon Sskyler]

Ah, I can see why it was pulled. The method was in violation, and if people screwed up it'd probably cause more problems for the staff than them not being able to log in.

[Tryagain]

there are people who have written and coded their own login programs that can bypass the official login process. This IMO is a big problem and this ability has been in game since release. It is the folley of using a technology that is proven unsafe and unreliable. For if the login system was as it should be there would be NO WAY to bypass the patcher.

So I can see why they pulled that because bypassing the patcher can lead to security and exploitation issues in game. However they need to go away from this system they really do.

[Hal`cyon Sskyler]

I can't really see security issues arising from launching the game without the website. What people are doing is essentially just filling out a form with the info the game needs, just as the website does. The reason this method is innapropriate is because 1.) it can create more problems from users that do not understand what they're doing and 2.) create problems where users who do not use the patcher fail to download new updates and wonder why the game doesn't play correctly. The method no longer described was not something easy to do unless you understood what was being done, and required you show the responsibility to manage any problems that would arise from forgetting a patch one day. Tulga has enough support problems to worry about someone bugging support asking why their pubkey isn't right or why their batch file runs in notepad. They did the right thing by removing that topic.

Even with the patcher, it's still possible to hack in new resourceswithout any trouble.With a normal scan, the patcher doesn't even check your image, it just takes a peek atwhat the last scan reported andlaunches the game.To me this is still harmless, all important information and resources are stored and verified server-side, and there isn't a way to hack your character or spawn resource fields in the middle of nowhere as you still need to communicate with your shard to verify what's going on. If the game stored character assets locally or didn't check object version lists, things would be different.

As for security, the only vulnerability would be storing your password locally in an unencrypted form. Yes, that is dangerous, but even with the patcherif someone has access to your machine, and the player has their passwords cached in IE they can log your character in and take whatever they feel like. It should be common sense to practice some basic security measures, patcher or not.

Would I recommendeveryone violate the EULA and bypass Tulga's intented launching system? No. Does launching the game by the method no longer described when no other means were available harm anything as long as the user knows what he or she is doing and remembers to get updates? A run-on sentence, but I don't think so.