2142 & Spyware

Post by **Hammer** » Wed Oct 18, 2006 7:12 pm

Though it was announced in August that Battlefield 2142 would feature in-game advertising , when the game appeared on shelves yesterday there were reactions to the references to this in the EULA, some calling the included technology "spyware." This was seemingly first stirred up by a Shacknews comment, with a subsequent comment succeeding somewhat (typos from re-typing it are corrected here) in reproducing the troubling aspects of the agreement, which advises against installing the game onto any computer attaching to the internet if you find the following problematic:

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE</div><div class='quotemain'>When you use the Software while connected to the Internet, the Advertising Technology may record your IP address and other anonymous information ("Advertising Data"). The Advertising Data is temporarily used by IGA to enable the presentation and measurement of in-game advertisements and other in-game objects which are uploaded temporarily to your personal computer or game console and changed during online game play. The Advertising Technology does not collect any personally identifiable information about you, and EA will not provide IGA with any of your personally identifiable information. The servers used by the Advertising Technology may, from time to time, be located outside your country of residence.</div>

There was speculation that this would result in ads being served based on user's cookies, and other sneaky stuff, but EA's response to Joystiq clarifies what sort of information is being collected:

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE</div><div class='quotemain'>The advertising program in Battlefield 2142 does not access any files which are not directly related to the game. It does not capture personal data such as cookies, account login detail, or surfing history.

BF 2142 delivers ads by region. The advertising system uses a player's IP address to determine the region of the player, assisting to serve the appropriate ads by region and language. For instance, a player in Paris might be presented with ads in French. The information collected will not be repurposed for other uses.

Battlefield 2142 also tracks "impression data" related to in-game advertisements: location of a billboard in the game, brand advertised, duration of advertisement impression, etc. This information is used to help advertisers qualify the reach of a given advertisement.</div>

H signed off and back to AAO "Hooah"

Post by **Dangerous Bob** » Wed Oct 18, 2006 10:25 pm

advertising in game?

blimey, you can't get away from it can you...
Is this one reason why they making it reasonably cheap?

would be a plus point if ingame billboards were helping to keep the cost of the game down, but I doubt it.

Post by **Nellyboy** » Wed Oct 18, 2006 10:46 pm

I wouldnt mind if the billboards were full of naked women, I would even pay extra

Post by **Claw** » Wed Oct 18, 2006 11:45 pm

And I thought I was the drama queen around here, LOL.

Another copy 'n' paste crisis in the Battlefield forum... and good ol' EA's evil schemes foiled with a double whammy of CTRL-C, CTRL-V...

There is absolutely nothing new about in-game advertising... woe betide the day these people turn their telly's on... or eventually progress to surfing the 'net...

Like I said earlier, there will be those who will either love it or hate it... play the demo for a really cut-down taste of the game... AAO'rs dislike the game so much they can't stop reading and talking about it.

Post by **Stocky** » Thu Oct 19, 2006 3:18 am

The only thing I can see, is a post about how EA are going to 'collect information & upload this to thier servers in order to provide information on which billboards/advertisement caught you're eye' which imo is akin to 'Spyware' whichever flavour you choose to put on it, and this is wrong!

I can't see anything in the OP about BF2142's gameplay, so why you have had to post the 'love/hate' comment is quite bizarre.

EA have taken enough of my money for the BF series, 4 of which were great & BF2 which started off great with a few bugs, then progressed into unplayable with the release of each patch. I WILL NOT be buying BF2142 because EA have reskinned BF2 & are thinking of the $ rather than the people who are actually giving them thier $, let's call it a point of principle.

I am now an 'AAO'r' & would be BF2'r/POE'r(should they ever fix my issues) until such time as another game is released which is somewhat original, with decent gameplay & can play with other's, with few or no issues. So until Quake Wars is released it's

for me.

Hooah!!

Post by **Hammer** » Thu Oct 19, 2006 5:25 am

Stocky wrote: The only thing I can see, is a post about how EA are going to 'collect information & upload this to thier servers in order to provide information on which billboards/advertisement caught you're eye' which imo is akin to 'Spyware' whichever flavour you choose to put on it, and this is wrong!

I can't see anything in the OP about BF2142's gameplay, so why you have had to post the 'love/hate' comment is quite bizarre.

EA have taken enough of my money for the BF series, 4 of which were great & BF2 which started off great with a few bugs, then progressed into unplayable with the release of each patch. I WILL NOT be buying BF2142 because EA have reskinned BF2 & are thinking of the $ rather than the people who are actually giving them thier $, let's call it a point of principle.

I am now an 'AAO'r' & would be BF2'r/POE'r(should they ever fix my issues) until such time as another game is released which is somewhat original, with decent gameplay & can play with other's, with few or no issues. So until Quake Wars is released it's for me.

Hooah!!

Another one see's the light

Post by **Claw** » Thu Oct 19, 2006 6:43 pm

Stocky wrote: The only thing I can see, is a post about how EA are going to 'collect information & upload this to thier servers in order to provide information on which billboards/advertisement caught you're eye' which imo is akin to 'Spyware' whichever flavour you choose to put on it, and this is wrong!

I can't see anything in the OP about BF2142's gameplay, so why you have had to post the 'love/hate' comment is quite bizarre.

EA have taken enough of my money for the BF series, 4 of which were great & BF2 which started off great with a few bugs, then progressed into unplayable with the release of each patch. I WILL NOT be buying BF2142 because EA have reskinned BF2 & are thinking of the $ rather than the people who are actually giving them thier $, let's call it a point of principle.

I am now an 'AAO'r' & would be BF2'r/POE'r(should they ever fix my issues) until such time as another game is released which is somewhat original, with decent gameplay & can play with other's, with few or no issues. So until Quake Wars is released it's for me.

Hooah!!

There is nothing malicious about what they are doing, but I can appreciate why some may not be happy about it - when I get the game I probably won't be taking a blind bit of notice of the adverts tbh. I'll just be enjoying a good old bit of gaming. It is in this context that the love/hate thing comes in - what's the game like?...

I don't have any issues with BF2 at all, but I've never played POE. If you want to, let us know what issues you're having and we might be able to suggest a solution.

I'd disagree that BF2142 is just a reskin, as in my opinion it has a different ethos to it and allows you to play in a different way to how you would in BF2, even considering the diversity of that game.

Enjoy AAO, and there isn't any reason not to as it still has its moments. You'll see me on their occasionally too - believe it.