VOTE: Get rid of ARC and get our downloads back
Comments
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I just don't want that ARC comes in & removes the manual patch function. It is one of the best method to update the client without any issue at all specially during Big updates like Descent or Sirens of War etc. I'm only scared of that right now.....b:shocked[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
Dream a dream of a life so new, One brimming with potential,
Of starting again, leaving all behind, Only happiness is essential. b:victory
Thanks Silvy for the siggy, You are the best ! b:kiss0 -
In my mind freedom of individual choice is most important.
PWI does not seem to value the most important thing in life enough.
I know i am not forced to play PW, but some day i might be forced to use arc if i want to remain with my friends in PW.
To me this is a matter of principle and philosophy.
Why arc? It is technically NOT required and has technically nothing to do with running the game PW regarded as an LTI-system.
If one is interested in a particular game like PW one can never assume that said person will also be interested in another PWI title.
Just simple logic and reasoning like that of Plato and Aristotle.
I just do not see the problem, never change a running system without expecting backfire.
The said added community and social-media features also have nothing directly to do with the game as an LTI-System, make it optional for pete's sake...
Today one must be warned of heavy breaches in individual privacy and basic rights when hearing or reading the word social media, for me this raises a red flag.
Maybe im a little oldschool but i hate being traced and every step is documented.
Over all PWI decided to push arc on us, means they feel the gain is bigger than the loss, where that gain lies can only be speculated from our side.
Information is big buisiness just look at google and facebook.
We are not your peasants and you are not pontifex maximus! (sorry if i took it too far :P)
Feel free to disagree and make up your own opinion b:victory0 -
PLC - Harshlands wrote: »In my mind freedom of individual choice is most important.
PWI does not seem to value the most important thing in life enough.
I know i am not forced to play PW, but some day i might be forced to use arc if i want to remain with my friends in PW.
To me this is a matter of principle and philosophy.
Why arc? It is technically NOT required and has technically nothing to do with running the game PW regarded as an LTI-system.
If one is interested in a particular game like PW one can never assume that said person will also be interested in another PWI title.
Just simple logic and reasoning like that of Plato and Aristotle.
I just do not see the problem, never change a running system without expecting backfire.
The said added community and social-media features also have nothing directly to do with the game as an LTI-System, make it optional for pete's sake...
Today one must be warned of heavy breaches in individual privacy and basic rights when hearing or reading the word social media, for me this raises a red flag.
Maybe im a little oldschool but i hate being traced and every step is documented.
Over all PWI decided to push arc on us, means they feel the gain is bigger than the loss, where that gain lies can only be speculated from our side.
Information is big buisiness just look at google and facebook.
We are not your peasants and you are not pontifex maximus! (sorry if i took it too far :P)
Feel free to disagree and make up your own opinion b:victory
What if I told you the current launcher already keeps track of you? f:sneaky[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
I replied to the 7th topic on the 1st page of mystic forums, and got reported for necro. Plz save mystic forums.0 -
Burnout - Harshlands wrote: »What if I told you the current launcher already keeps track of you? f:sneaky
Right, but see keeping some track is qualitative not indifferent to keeping track of more or all steps (or being technically able to which often is the same thing).
So we are talking about a whole new and potentially deeper level here.
Just wanted to make clear that saying: "oh our freedom was abused in the past also" - does not make it right in the future.0 -
Burnout - Harshlands wrote: »What if I told you the current launcher already keeps track of you? f:sneakyI'm a guy, not a woman, that is all
"When you're on Team Bring it, every morning your feet hit the floor, the good lord says "good morning" and the devil says 'Oh **** they're up' " - Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson
Are you on Team Bring it?0 -
On a side note....
Has anyone looked at the octet data they use for the password encryption to see how hackable it is?
I poked at it a few times but didn't get any results. Haven't had a lot of time to dig further.[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]0 -
I would have to see it before i could tryMarine - Marshall - Raging Tides - Retired
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
DEMHEALSMAN - Dreamweaver
Yes, because people really need 900+ dex or 1000+ magic just for the lulz0 -
The reason I do not want to use Arc is because it caused my computer to crash. The IT guys went through my computer and showed me the program that caused the crash-- it was Arc. They advised me it was Arc's spyware. Seems my anti-spyware was blocking Arc's spyware and caused a impasse and locked up my computer. Please get rid of Arc, my anti-spyware will not let Arc run. Thank you.0
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Osacee - Raging Tide wrote: »The reason I do not want to use Arc is because it caused my computer to crash. The IT guys went through my computer and showed me the program that caused the crash-- it was Arc. They advised me it was Arc's spyware. Seems my anti-spyware was blocking Arc's spyware and caused a impasse and locked up my computer. Please get rid of Arc, my anti-spyware will not let Arc run. Thank you.[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]0
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Osacee - Raging Tide wrote: »The reason I do not want to use Arc is because it caused my computer to crash. The IT guys went through my computer and showed me the program that caused the crash-- it was Arc. They advised me it was Arc's spyware. Seems my anti-spyware was blocking Arc's spyware and caused a impasse and locked up my computer. Please get rid of Arc, my anti-spyware will not let Arc run. Thank you.
Add Arc to the list of exeptionsf:sweat0 -
Azura - Lost City wrote: »Add Arc to the list of exeptionsf:sweat
arc is either malware, which is causing problems and inconvenience.
or arc is horribly coded bloatware, which is causing problems and inconvenience.
or arc is horribly coded malware, which is causing problems and inconvenience.
in either case, adding arc to the exceptions list is not a solution, getting rid of arc is the desired solution for over 95% of the playerbase!0 -
Peccable - Raging Tide wrote: »arc is either malware, which is causing problems and inconvenience.
or arc is horribly coded bloatware, which is causing problems and inconvenience.
or arc is horribly coded malware, which is causing problems and inconvenience.
in either case, adding arc to the exceptions list is not a solution, getting rid of arc is the desired solution for over 95% of the playerbase!
Antivirus many times give false positives, they are not perfect.
If this program is such a big deal for your PC then use gamebooster. That program will stop unnecesary processes for gaming whenever you want.0 -
azura, i don't have this arc **** installed in the first place. and idk if telling people to install yet another program on their machines because arc (which is as needed as a hole in the head) is causing problems is the right approach. no matter if gambooster is good or bad. (besides i know how to tune my gigahertz on my own, so my hard disk pixels run fast enough on my wifi, ty! b:chuckle ). putting a suspicious thing (arc) on the exception list is like disabling your firewall entirely because some application has problems running with your firewall. it defeats the purpose of it!0
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Peccable - Raging Tide wrote: »azura, i don't have this arc **** installed in the first place.Peccable - Raging Tide wrote: »(besides i know how to tune my gigahertz on my own, so my hard disk pixels run fast enough on my wifi, ty! b:chuckle ).
Another thing, why are you trying to relate your "gigahertz" to your WiFi? If I think about Gigahertz, I think about PC's performance, which in this game would ralate to FPS. In the other hand, if you mention something WiFi, I will think about the delay of data beetween your machine and PW. They are not related. You can have a bad performance machine (low fps), but with a good connection (low ping) and vice versa.Peccable - Raging Tide wrote: »putting a suspicious thing (arc) on the exception list is like disabling your firewall entirely because some application has problems running with your firewall. it defeats the purpose of it!
How do you know if it has problem with your firewall, if you haven't intalled it? IJS
Disclaimer:
I'm not a defender of Arc, but I think people are really spoiled. Many haven't used it, and just join the "rebellious" bandwagon like sheep. I have it installed on a machine, and many friends have reintalled the game recently. I haven't have a problem, and my friends either. Why some people have troubles. I think you are doing something wrong, and need to fix your computers.
Another thing: this game, and no game will satisfy everything the gamers demand. Every developer company will make a game catering towards certain people. They are not going to worry about the ones who don't like the game, because it's impossible to please everyone anyway. Finally, every game company has their idea of how a game is supposed to be run, and they will stick to it even if they lose some people.0 -
I am against ARC because my computer WON'T RUN IT !!!
I already have attempted to work with the ticket system, and after turning off the firewall and Win Defender, Adding it to both exceptions -It still doesn't work. (Downloads - attempts to run (loads itself as a running process) and then, back to the desktop!!!)
I'm running an HP Pavilion AMD A-8 5500 with Radeon HD 3.2 Ghz Graphics, Win - 8 op sys. 64 bit (quad core)
I have already been locked out of Jade Empire and Forgotten World (attempting to get ARC working: I ended up corrupting and wiping the files - Now can't download them.) ((FW started out with a corrupted update, which was the cause of my attempting to load ARC in the first place))
Any help getting this dang thing I really don't want working so I can continue playing PWI at least (and yes, it won't be long before it is REQUIRED to dl PWI also)0 -
One other thing: when folks attempt to compare ARC and CORE ACCOUNT it is like comparing Apples and Oranges. Sure they are both Fruit (part of the PWE "Experience") However, the Core Account has always (to my knowledge) been able to be accessed from the Home page of all PWE games. It was not necessary to be playing any of the games at the time All that was necessary was to log in: as you do to post here, in order to access it (You really didn't need to be playing or have downloaded ANY PWE game in order to use it)
The difference is that ARC is also a Launcher, and an in game 'client' (Such as Facebook which will tell all your friends what game you are playing for their games) I personally don't care to have my FW "friends" come bother me when I'm playing PWI (some Harassers I don't even want to know I'm still playing any PWE games)- so I don't want a client that accesses both places. For this reason, I don't access pwi from Facebook either.!0 -
i am saying arc is bad because of several reasons. one of the reasons is the overwhelming rejection of this unnecessary piece of software. the reports of the problems caused by arc is another reason, and those overlap with my own experience. the pwi files have been adjusted for arc with the past updates, so i am getting malware-warnings even without having the actual arc installed! finally the unbelievable and somewhat comical display of incompetence of the pwi-staff we especially saw in the past weeks is yet another reason to be reluctant. how can a company that breaks their game every maintenance, has to set up 10 hour long emergency shut-shut downs, has to fall-back on roll-backs, manages to do the same mistakes after every single major patch, still has the same old bugs and epic design flaws after all those years, and has a horrible communication policy... how can anyone with some common sense assume that the unneeded, unwanted, pestering software 'arc' won't be a complete disaster?
i am glad that u got my pixel wifi joke, but i am sad that you didn't get the firewall example (it was not a report). let me try again. putting something suspicious (LIKE arc) on an exception list of a security software is LIKE using a condom, but deciding to remove it 1 minute prior climax. it defeats the purpose! b:surrender
disclaimer:
i'm not a defender of arc, but i think people really can expect from an unneeded, unwanted, pestering software that it at least meets some minimal quality standards. even if it is 'free'.0 -
lol i dont like this **** eider if i cant play the game whitout arc i simply quit b:chuckle good thing i have installed pwi from a loooong time ago b:victory0
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Ok, just an update on the inner working of Arc....
1. The Password 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
That is the password that I created for this test. I'd offer a reward for who figures it out, but I'm kinda cheap. Not to mention the fact that I could possibly get in trouble just for bringing this up.
2. Finding Installed Games
It seemed to find Neverwinter just fine, but not STO, FW, or PWI. Though admittedly, the last three aren't in the default folders it would put them into, whereas Neverwinter is.
First Method: I had previously theorized about moving/renaming the folder so that Arc would find it after the install, this did not work out at all. It still wanted to download/install the client.
So, I un-installed Arc, (which doesn't change any of the clients BTW), and tried again.
Second Method: This time I put PWI into it's respective folder that would normally exist after Arc installs it, and then installed Arc. No Joy. So it works for some games, but not all. I could test it on some other titles, but really don't feel like downloading them to figure out the install locations.
Oh, look, something's changed: Now, for the fun part. When I started all of this, Arc was using "PW_en" as the client folder. Now, I ran the installer from Arc on another PC a while back, and when and it puts it into "PW_en_3", so I start the whole thing over again armed with this new information....
Tried the first method again. First method: No joy. Second Method: No joy again.
Bad Pattern is Forming: Now based on the information I am armed with, we can definitely see a pattern. When I originally began this, it was when Arc was still fresh, and the had recently removed the other download methods. The first client version installed into "PWI_en". We are now on the third version of the client, and the more recent install that I had done on the other PC had the client in "PW_en_3", which I am assuming is because it was the third version of the main client download. (Just in case you weren't aware, the first version was "20130812" then 0905, and is currently 0926. I don't think these versions really have any relation on the client version, it appears that it is more likely related to when they were packaged.)
Now it kinda makes sense that the folders are increment based on the iteration of the client release. But when you look at it from a software/coding standpoint, it just creates a headache.
User has to un-install Arc for some reason, troubleshooting or otherwise. Once that same user re-installs Arc, if the client version of the main download has changed, Arc is now working with a different base folder for the clients, and rather than finding your client as it should, it will say you need to download it again.
Oh but wait, Arc is the exclusive. We don't have icons on our desktop anymore, everything is supposed to be run from Arc. So when we removed Arc, and now re-installing it, it states that we need to download the client again, the un-informed user may incorrectly assume that when they removed Arc, it removed their client files as well.
So now they're downloading the client again, and have just wasted 6+GB of hard drive space simply because Arc can't find what is already there.
SO, once again, Arc fails the idiot test.
3. The Manual Override
Nope, I'm not stopping there. There's one more way to try to work around this idiocy.
In the Arc folder there are three files. gameinfo.xml_0, gameinfo.xml_1, and gameinfo.xml_2
The first is EN, the second is DE, and the third is FR. So it's basically the configuration data for the clients in ARC and download information for the three different language sets.
In your user folder, there's another version of gameinfo.xml_0 (User folder being "C:\Users\<Your Account>\AppData\Roaming\Arc") Within this file, is the data for the client installations.
Here's the raw data for when Arc doesn't have a clue....<game type="0" name="PWI" id="3" status="1" downtool="-1" version="" eulaversion="" installdate="" downtime="" order="0" hide="0"> <addedtime year="2013" month="11" day="19" hour="20" minute="28" second="25" /> <lastplaytime year="0" month="0" day="0" hour="0" minute="0" second="0" /> <path installpath="" downloadpath="" clientpath="" clientcmd="" launcherpath="" launchercmd="" patcherpath="" patchercmd="" /> </game>
And here's what it looks like after you've downloaded/installed the client via Arc.<game type="0" name="PWI" id="3" status="5" downtool="-1" version="" eulaversion="0" installdate="2013-6-17" downtime="" order="0" hide="0"> <addedtime year="2013" month="6" day="16" hour="22" minute="54" second="7" /> <lastplaytime year="2013" month="6" day="20" hour="0" minute="5" second="53" /> <path installpath="C:\Program Files\Perfect World Entertainment\PWI_en_3\" downloadpath="C:\Program Files\Perfect World Entertainment\" clientpath="C:\Program Files\Perfect World Entertainment\PWI_en_3\element\elementclient.exe" clientcmd="" launcherpath="C:\Program Files\Perfect World Entertainment\PWI_en_3\launcher\launcher.exe" launchercmd="" patcherpath="C:\Program Files\Perfect World Entertainment\PWI_en_3\patcher\patcher.exe" patchercmd="" /> </game>
So, I figured what the hell. I completely shut down Arc, and manually inserted the client path data. (I left the rest of the fields blank.) And this is what it looked like.<game type="0" name="PWI" id="3" status="1" downtool="-1" version="" eulaversion="" installdate="" downtime="" order="0" hide="0"> <addedtime year="2013" month="11" day="19" hour="20" minute="28" second="25" /> <lastplaytime year="0" month="0" day="0" hour="0" minute="0" second="0" /> <path installpath="D:\Games\PWI_en_3\" downloadpath="D:\Games\" clientpath="D:\Games\PWI_en_3\element\elementclient.exe" clientcmd="" launcherpath="D:\Games\PWI_en_3\launcher\launcher.exe" launchercmd="" patcherpath="D:\Games\PWI_en_3\patcher\patcher.exe" patchercmd="" /> </game>
Please note that not only is it in a different sub-folder, but on a different hard drive as well. (When I test something, I test it completely.)
Now we start up Arc, and ..... wait foorrr itt....
Nope.
So what went wrong?
I didn't change the status. Notice how it's 5 in the installed version, but 1 in the not-installed version?
Yeah, lets try that again...
Yep, now it works. Shows it's installed, and launches perfectly.
Just for ****s and grins, here's what the code looks like after Arc updates it.<game type="0" name="PWI" id="3" status="5" downtool="-1" version="" eulaversion="" installdate="" downtime="" order="1" hide="0"> <addedtime year="2013" month="11" day="19" hour="20" minute="28" second="25" /> <lastplaytime year="2013" month="11" day="20" hour="2" minute="0" second="15" /> <path installpath="D:\Games\PWI_en_3\" downloadpath="D:\Games\" clientpath="D:\Games\PWI_en_3\element\elementclient.exe" clientcmd="" launcherpath="D:\Games\PWI_en_3\launcher\launcher.exe" launchercmd="" patcherpath="D:\Games\PWI_en_3\patcher\patcher.exe" patchercmd="" /> </game>
So from this I have learned that status code 1=Show in Arc to Install. Status Code 0 = Don't Show, and Status Code 5 = Installed. I could test the other numbers, but it's late here and I don't feel like tinkering with it anymore.
So with that, we'll conclude this session of digging into it's inner workings, and man I hope the dev's get smarter about the client folder issues.[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]0 -
ARC should be OPTIONAL
Many people (half of my faction mates and 6 of my friends included) get an absurd amount of extra lag from ARC on serious gaming computers
Most computer's can't run ARC because there are tons of coding errors that mess with the memory space
It works fine with Star Trek and Neverwinter, but please keep it to those. Don't break a game that still hasn't been fixed since the last update (still missing over 100 mobs/bosses/npcs)b:shocked[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]0 -
Anyway I did not notice a problem, even gatherings in places where lots of players and lots of action. I play with medium settings, but not the lowest.
* My computer is not new, purchased about five years ago, but the problem with ARC whatsoever. I do not know, maybe because fiber optic high speed internet.0 -
I LUV ARC dont remove itb:laugh0
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Arc really should be optional, I'm so glad I downloaded PWI installer before Arc came out. I prefer direct downloads.b:thanks[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]0
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I have this... it lags my system when I play so log out of it once your in game0
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I tried already ARC an it's cool and faster to patch compare to direct patching... so for me i'm happy for the performance of ARC and i'm excited for more works that may provide to PWI... keep up the good work ARC (more surprises) .f:victoryPoisonous Crew f:victory
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]0 -
LolaElv - Heavens Tear wrote: »I tried already ARC an it's cool and faster to patch compare to direct patching... so for me i'm happy for the performance of ARC and i'm excited for more works that may provide to PWI... keep up the good work ARC (more surprises) .f:victory
Arc doesn't change anything about how the client patches, aside from the fact that it might use some of the bandwidth you need for downloading the patch, which is not a good thing for some people.
Edit: Also, I have something to add to this information. I made an interesting discovery. Even though it appears that you can change your password via Arc without having to use the e-mail system, that is false. It pretends to change it, but doesn't actually and you still get the email that is required to actually change it.[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]0 -
i installed ARC and have no problems with it still o.o[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]lagunal8.deviantart.com
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SylenThunder - Sanctuary wrote: »1. It's not making it easier for hackers to log into your account. They would have better luck with a keylogger virus that attempting to extract the code from your system and then decrypting it.
Either way, the intrusion would be on you, and your lack of security, not Arc.
2. The fact that you are having more security risks, has absolutely nothing to do with Arc. The fact that your security issues are occurring on your PC with Arc are completely unrelated to Arc. Check your systems security and educate yourself a little bit.
3. Don't QQ at me that I'm supporting Arc and just calling you out. I'm the one that started this thread. I have a dislike for Arc. The difference is, I actually know what's going on with it and you're just making blatant assumptions.
I only have one problem with arc, i mean its a great idea it'd be like steam, but i'm having troubles, i installed arc today and went to open it i double clicked it and nothing happened no screen nothing if anyone can help please do i'm running windows 8.0 -
ARC crashes my internet so yes GET RID OF IT PLEASE. Don't ask how, I have no idea but whenever it updates my internet goes down almost instantly.0
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Chigenkaiona - Dreamweaver wrote: »ARC crashes my internet so yes GET RID OF IT PLEASE. Don't ask how, I have no idea but whenever it updates my internet goes down almost instantly.[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]0
This discussion has been closed.
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