The Complete Arc Analasys
SylenThunder - Twilight Temple
Posts: 7,908
Well, almost complete. It's still partially a work in progress.
Rather than keeping the poll thread alive, (especially since PWE basically ignores our opinions even though they say they listen), and to make the collective data easier to find than being spread out accross a many-paged thread.
1. The Initial Look
Ok, well I finally did it. I downloaded ARC on my main computer.
"Why", you ask?
Because I was troubleshooting something else and decided to do an analysis on ARC.
I could have started a new thread for this, but I really don't want to promote the product just yet, this is mostly for information for you guys, who really don't feel comfortable with it.
On to the show...
OK, so I downloaded and installed Arc. Disabled BitDefender for the duration of this process, and I elected to install Arc into a directory I already have excluded. For this purpose, that directory is "D:\Games", the installer created the sub-directory "Arc". (C:\Games\Arc)
It immediately recognized Neverwinter as being installed. It did not find PWI, STO, or FW. I suppose it was because I had downloaded Arc from the PWI download page that it immediately started to download the client.
Now here's what's really interesting.
Arc claims to use a "CDN downloading service". I could find absolutely no information on this initially. Looking into the config files for Arc, it does have links embedded for the latest version of Pando Media Booster. It also has some other localization data in there that was completely incorrect on my system so who knows. Will have to analyze that more later. The download data for the client file appears to be hosted by Pando though...
Arc downloads the installers into a hidden folder in the root directory of the drive called "ArcTemp". (D:\ArcTemp)
The PWI download created two files called "PWI_EN_SILENCE_20131219.zip" and "PWI_EN_SILENCE_20131219.zip.icx"
Upon completing the download the .icx file dissapeared and it becan "installing" the game.
It extracted the files into a folder called "PWI_en" and that finished the install. (D:\Games\PWI_en) Arc then promptly deleted the installer.
The current download version is 729.
On a side note...
I followed the link and manually downloaded the client file. I then simply extracted it into a folder, and was amazed to discover that there wasn't even a need to install. I was able to create a shortcut and run the patcher straight from there. (I'm sure I might eventually get in trouble for mentioning this, but it's not like they appear to be paying any attention to this thread anyway.)
Now, to answer your account security question...
Your login information is stored in "C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Roaming\Arc\config.ini". It's written in the file in an encrypted hex code. I will need to spend some time working on it to see how hard it is to decrypt.
This folder also contains the data on your installed games.
The final test...
From Arc, I launched the client. Let it update, adjusted the graphic settings, and then pressed Start. It took a moment longer to get to the loading screen and it appeared that another window popped up in the background briefly. (Will be looking into that in more detail later.) The client loaded, I chose my server, and was immediately logged into the account I used for Arc. (I was also blasted in the ears by the theme music. They really need to add volume adjustment to the patcher window.)
Overall, it wasn't that bad. You should note that I took the correct precautionary measures with my security software before starting this task. If you don't, then your experience will not be nearly as good as mine was in the end.
This, in absolutely no way, means that I support ARC. It's a neat tool, but it has it's flaws. I'm still pretty pissed that it's so difficult to just get a straight download.
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.
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.
2. The Password Encryption
3. 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.
4. 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....
And here's what it looks like after you've downloaded/installed the client via Arc.
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.
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.
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.
Rather than keeping the poll thread alive, (especially since PWE basically ignores our opinions even though they say they listen), and to make the collective data easier to find than being spread out accross a many-paged thread.
1. The Initial Look
Ok, well I finally did it. I downloaded ARC on my main computer.
"Why", you ask?
Because I was troubleshooting something else and decided to do an analysis on ARC.
I could have started a new thread for this, but I really don't want to promote the product just yet, this is mostly for information for you guys, who really don't feel comfortable with it.
On to the show...
OK, so I downloaded and installed Arc. Disabled BitDefender for the duration of this process, and I elected to install Arc into a directory I already have excluded. For this purpose, that directory is "D:\Games", the installer created the sub-directory "Arc". (C:\Games\Arc)
It immediately recognized Neverwinter as being installed. It did not find PWI, STO, or FW. I suppose it was because I had downloaded Arc from the PWI download page that it immediately started to download the client.
Now here's what's really interesting.
Arc claims to use a "CDN downloading service". I could find absolutely no information on this initially. Looking into the config files for Arc, it does have links embedded for the latest version of Pando Media Booster. It also has some other localization data in there that was completely incorrect on my system so who knows. Will have to analyze that more later. The download data for the client file appears to be hosted by Pando though...
<installpack name="PWI_EN_SILENCE_20131219.zip" checksum="861A4C840763BB46199970FFC20D6024" httpurl="http://pcsd.perfectworld.com/PWI_EN_SILENCE_20131219.zip" url="http://com-cache.pandonetworks.com/soapservices/Package/package.pando?id=59F7FC37FE108F6BA7599CC13B82AA17B17CD012" akamaiurl="http://pcsd.perfectworld.com/PWI_EN_SILENCE_20131219.zip" size="6626" installsize="7260" bin="install.exe"/>
Arc downloads the installers into a hidden folder in the root directory of the drive called "ArcTemp". (D:\ArcTemp)
The PWI download created two files called "PWI_EN_SILENCE_20131219.zip" and "PWI_EN_SILENCE_20131219.zip.icx"
Upon completing the download the .icx file dissapeared and it becan "installing" the game.
It extracted the files into a folder called "PWI_en" and that finished the install. (D:\Games\PWI_en) Arc then promptly deleted the installer.
The current download version is 729.
On a side note...
I followed the link and manually downloaded the client file. I then simply extracted it into a folder, and was amazed to discover that there wasn't even a need to install. I was able to create a shortcut and run the patcher straight from there. (I'm sure I might eventually get in trouble for mentioning this, but it's not like they appear to be paying any attention to this thread anyway.)
Now, to answer your account security question...
Your login information is stored in "C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Roaming\Arc\config.ini". It's written in the file in an encrypted hex code. I will need to spend some time working on it to see how hard it is to decrypt.
This folder also contains the data on your installed games.
The final test...
From Arc, I launched the client. Let it update, adjusted the graphic settings, and then pressed Start. It took a moment longer to get to the loading screen and it appeared that another window popped up in the background briefly. (Will be looking into that in more detail later.) The client loaded, I chose my server, and was immediately logged into the account I used for Arc. (I was also blasted in the ears by the theme music. They really need to add volume adjustment to the patcher window.)
Overall, it wasn't that bad. You should note that I took the correct precautionary measures with my security software before starting this task. If you don't, then your experience will not be nearly as good as mine was in the end.
This, in absolutely no way, means that I support ARC. It's a neat tool, but it has it's flaws. I'm still pretty pissed that it's so difficult to just get a straight download.
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.
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.
2. The Password Encryption
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 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.
Salari - Raging Tide wrote: »looks like a digest, at that length it would be improbable for any general user to crack that in a feasible time period even if you gave out how many letters your password is.
After running that hash through several identifier programs and online services it is probably a **** up digest algorithm or one that has been altered. Only way to find out is to rce the arc exe to find out what routines it is using.
It very well could be the product of several routines put together and not just "one digest" of that length.
Another note, there are several patterns in that digest that makes me think its just some **** work and has a lot of weeknesses.
Another note#2. If this is actual encryption and not a digest(even homemade), that is even more reason not to use arc, reverse engineering that encryption is just a matter or disassembling the arc client and locating the routine. You don't even have to identity what type of encryption it is. All you do is yank out the routine that creates the "encrypted password" and just reverse the process. it does take time to do this and identify the routine.
This is a very simple example of doing this, but at the same time it depends if the routine uses outside param's (server side) or not.
...
its 512 bit
...
3. 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.
4. 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]
Post edited by SylenThunder - Twilight Temple on
0
Comments
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Ok, so it looks like I need to do some editing to it because the quotes with the Code in the screwed it up.
I'll also reserve this space for adding more information shortly as I am going to delve deeper into it this weekend.[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]0 -
Somehow I've managed to not download Arc yet, and I'll attempt to keep this up for as long as possible, but if I ever need to, this is the thread I'll use to ensure it goes smoothly.YOUTUBE CHANNEL:
youtube.com/user/csquaredcsquared
CLERIC PV GUIDE (complete):
pwi-forum.perfectworld.com/showthread.php?t=1531411
CLERIC PK GUIDE (Incomplete):
pwi-forum.perfectworld.com/showthread.php?p=180279310 -
Aeliah - Dreamweaver wrote: »Somehow I've managed to not download Arc yet, and I'll attempt to keep this up for as long as possible, but if I ever need to, this is the thread I'll use to ensure it goes smoothly.
This +1.
Thanks for the info, Sylen. It's appreciated.(Insert fancy image here)
0 -
Bookmarking this. I haven't downloaded ARC yet either (and I have no wish to), so when it's finally forced on us I'll be referring to this if I run into trouble. Thanks SylenThunder! f:cute[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
Retired PWI veteran. 06/26/2010-2014.0 -
Aeliah - Dreamweaver wrote: »Somehow I've managed to not download Arc yet, and I'll attempt to keep this up for as long as possible, but if I ever need to, this is the thread I'll use to ensure it goes smoothly.
This exactly.
Thanks a lot for posting this up.[SIGPIC]http://i.imgur.com/MtwcqjL.png[/SIGPIC]
★ Venomancer videos - tinyurl.com/k6ppkw4 ★ Desdi - Demon ♪ Wyvelin - Sage ★0 -
Looking over it, I need to edit some of the way it's written as a new thread instead of referring to the old one.
I'm going to work up a compilation thread for the tech support forum that has most of the data I just copy-paste into responses lately. I may not actually play PWI unless there's a need, but I still play other titles PWE has published, and it's just too damn hard to leave the community here, even though I've mostly left the game.
It's just sad that we're so mis-led by the people in charge of PWE, and it's so poorly mis-managed. Someone's got to keep up the fight for the users. (Why do I feel like I just stepped into Tron? =P)
In any case, some of the above data may be a bit skewed because of the way I install software on my system and I may have missed a bit or two in translation. I'm going to re-run through the data on a clean run with a single-drive system this weekend and see if I can get any deeper into the source of the code.[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]0 -
SylenThunder - Sanctuary wrote: »It's just sad that we're so mis-led by the people in charge of PWE, and it's so poorly mis-managed. Someone's got to keep up the fight for the users. (Why do I feel like I just stepped into Tron? =P)
Sylen for PWE upper management!(Insert fancy image here)0 -
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SylenThunder - Sanctuary wrote: »I have applied on numerous occasions, but was denied because I don't live in California and they apparently don't believe in telecommuting.
You'd might end up rage quitting anyway. lol.0 -
SylenThunder - Sanctuary wrote: »I have applied on numerous occasions, but was denied because I don't live in California and they apparently don't believe in telecommuting.
So in other words.... you were denied because they're idiots? b:cute(Insert fancy image here)0 -
Reverse engineering stuff can be pretty fun. I still don't touch Arc except when I downloaded a fresh client. I won't use it until it's forced.[sigpic][/sigpic]
PWI Calculators - aster.ohmydays.net/pw0 -
I have heard that the PWI client downloaded with ARC contains different sound files for skill effects than the old client. Could this be the reason why ARC isn't detecting PWI? The version it's downloading is different from the one you're using?[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 -
No, it's simply because the folder schema is completely different in regards to where Arc puts the client folders.Burnout - Harshlands wrote: »I have heard that the PWI client downloaded with ARC contains different sound files for skill effects than the old client. Could this be the reason why ARC isn't detecting PWI? The version it's downloading is different from the one you're using?
Even if you had installed the client with Arc previously, because of the way it's currently configured, if you had to re-install Arc at a later point, it could fail at detecting the version that you had previously installed with Arc.
It's a fault in the way the program is coded, and I'll delve into that more later.[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]0 -
i think im still confused as to what problems you guys are having with arc x,x[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]lagunal8.deviantart.com
★"New weekly quests! "Discover the bug in the patch""-Nihillae★"My father would beat me if he found out I was QQing over a virtual pony."-Neurosis★"You're amongst the biggest blobs of fail I've ever seen in my life."-Ninnuam★"A statistic said 3% people of the world get enjoyment primarily from making people upset, and you are trying to discriminate them"-ilystah★["How To Tank Rebirth Order Delta (86+)"-Stickygreen Barb (1)restat. you want full magic, Arcane armour build (2)when mobs come /faceroll on your keyboard and you will one shot all the mobs (3)rinse and repeat]★"I've been spammed with 3 poops for 2 hours."-ColdSteele★"If someone fights learning, I don't bother with them outside of amusement factor."-Telarith★"This thread is a joke right? Please say yes."-eatwithspoons★ "This is why you don't post your opinions on the internet, most of the replies you get will be from people who missed a hug or two sometime in their youth."-Alacol★"Sexy! A post with a Binomial Distribution."-Asterelle★"It's about time PW starts to separate out the noob Sins from the rest."-salvati0n★"Shoo troll >:O"-TheDan0 -
Deceptistar - Sanctuary wrote: »i think im still confused as to what problems you guys are having with arc x,x
The fact that we have to redownload the entire game through ARC even when we alrdy have pwi installed.[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 -
thats about 1-3 hrsBurnout - Harshlands wrote: »The fact that we have to redownload the entire game through ARC even when we alrdy have pwi installed.
thats it.............?[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]lagunal8.deviantart.com
★"New weekly quests! "Discover the bug in the patch""-Nihillae★"My father would beat me if he found out I was QQing over a virtual pony."-Neurosis★"You're amongst the biggest blobs of fail I've ever seen in my life."-Ninnuam★"A statistic said 3% people of the world get enjoyment primarily from making people upset, and you are trying to discriminate them"-ilystah★["How To Tank Rebirth Order Delta (86+)"-Stickygreen Barb (1)restat. you want full magic, Arcane armour build (2)when mobs come /faceroll on your keyboard and you will one shot all the mobs (3)rinse and repeat]★"I've been spammed with 3 poops for 2 hours."-ColdSteele★"If someone fights learning, I don't bother with them outside of amusement factor."-Telarith★"This thread is a joke right? Please say yes."-eatwithspoons★ "This is why you don't post your opinions on the internet, most of the replies you get will be from people who missed a hug or two sometime in their youth."-Alacol★"Sexy! A post with a Binomial Distribution."-Asterelle★"It's about time PW starts to separate out the noob Sins from the rest."-salvati0n★"Shoo troll >:O"-TheDan0 -
Asterelle - Sanctuary wrote: »Reverse engineering stuff can be pretty fun. I still don't touch Arc except when I downloaded a fresh client. I won't use it until it's forced.
Yes it is b:victory
SylenThunder -
Thanks for adding my comment. b:victoryMarine - Marshall - Raging Tides - Retired
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
DEMHEALSMAN - Dreamweaver
Yes, because people really need 900+ dex or 1000+ magic just for the lulz0 -
The information wouldn't have been complete without it.Salari - Raging Tide wrote: »Yes it is b:victory
SylenThunder -
Thanks for adding my comment. b:victory
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]0 -
Asterelle - Sanctuary wrote: »Reverse engineering stuff can be pretty fun. I still don't touch Arc except when I downloaded a fresh client. I won't use it until it's forced.
Ast I challenge you to crack that password
My guess is that it is "password"0 -
I haven't gotten into doing the analysis I had planned, but I did see that they've updated the main download. Links in the first post have been adjusted accordingly.
Also, no. It's not the word "password". I did make it a semi-complex password.[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]0 -
SylenThunder - Sanctuary wrote: »Also, no. It's not the word "password". I did make it a semi-complex password.
1337HaXxOrZpAsSwOrD?0 -
Well, an interesting development. They've added encryption to the config files so it's not all plaintext anymore with the latest version of the installer.
More to come.
Edit, It also looks like the default install location has switched back to PWI_en
Also, not sure why it's not using my character anymore, that's odd.0 -
sylenthunder wrote: »Well, an interesting development. They've added encryption to the config files so it's not all plaintext anymore with the latest version of the installer.
More to come.
Edit, It also looks like the default install location has switched back to PWI_en
Also, not sure why it's not using my character anymore, that's odd.
Ok, update on the config files. Looks like they are actually Zip compressed with a password, but I'm just making a guess after spending half an hour analyzing the files.
It wouldn't surprise me if that's partially a result of this thread. b:chuckle
In any case, modifying the program paths isn't something that we'll be able to do unless I manage to **** the file. Even then, I'm sure that they'll just change the password/method to foil my attempts again.
I've been trying to keep this on the nicer side of analysis, but it looks like I'm going to have to pull out some old cracking tools if I want to continue looking inside the code.
Also, just to add to the thread because it is Arc related....
To access your DQ points. (while they still exist)
http://pwi.perfectworld.com/dqrewards#/reward
To access the FaceBook Blessing page.
http://pwi.perfectworld.com/facebook#/reward
To work around the redirect to Arc on any PWE game websites. (As long as the pages still exist.)
1. Get Adblock Plus. (I personally use Chrome, I know it works on Firefox and Safari, not sure about IE.)
2. After it is installed, go to Options, and then click the Customization tab.
3. Click the Edit button under "Manually edit your filters".
4. Enter the following address. "*.perfectworld.com/templates/common/js/global_redirect.js"
Alternatively, you can just put "global_redirect.js" in, but I worry about what that might do to a non-PWE site with a valid redirect script.
5. Click the Save button.
6. Close the options.
7. Go to pwi.perfectworld.com/facebook and get your blessings.[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]0 -
People saying ''oh you might have to re-dl pwi, so what?'' clearly don't have to worry about their internet data usage. I use a pre-pay mobile broadband dongle, and so data usage for me is absolutely critical. A 7Gb one month usage allowance costs me about $40 in US terms, so you can imagine that I am going to be very unhappy indeed if I am forced to re-dl pwi.
As it happens, I have ARC, but not with pwi on it, my pc had a hissy fit a couple of years back, and though I managed to save my pwi files I lost STO, and when i could afford the data allowance to get it back, ARC was the only option (that I could use).
I don't have super-gaming pc, indeed, its specs would be described by most as pretty basic, but ARC does not seem to cause any issues with STO, which is a more gfx and internet bandwidth heavy game than pwi already, so I can't see it being a problem for most pwi players on that score, maybe some people on marginal spec systems, but I do agree it should be optional and not mandatory.
I didn't disable any of my av software to dl and install ARC, and had no problems.
On the ARC client ui once it loads, there is a button to add games, when clicked this gives a drop down with the options to browse all arc games or add existing games, this second option opens a windows explorer window (sorry lol), which I can navigate to the pwi folder, and I guess if I want to, add the client or launcher exe? idk... I haven't had the courage to try this yet in case it buggers up my pwi b:laugh
I'm not a software expert like you Sylen I'm more of a hardware guy, and I don't have the resources atm to experiment, so I wonder what your thoughts are on this, thought I'd ask you instead of pwe as I'd like an answer I can trust...I have Luke Skywalker on a wibble-wobble; your argument is invalid
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
Some people cause happiness wherever they go, others whenever they go.
Don't call me a care bear; I don't care whether you can bear me or not
Sparafucile: SweetieBot, pple is NOT a word
SweetieBot: Your face is not a word0 -
Burnout - Harshlands wrote: »The fact that we have to redownload the entire game through ARC even when we alrdy have pwi installed.
ehm we do? b:question
I downloaded Arc cause Idc a big load about all the fuss. Never have I had to re-download/install the game during that. Simple as: download new arc - redeemed the free keys - closed arc - opened elementclient - play on.0 -
Verenor - Morai wrote: »ehm we do? b:question
I downloaded Arc cause Idc a big load about all the fuss. Never have I had to re-download/install the game during that. Simple as: download new arc - redeemed the free keys - closed arc - opened elementclient - play on.
I think the plan in future is that you will have to play pwi through ARC, meaning you won't be able to connect to the servers unless the pwi client is running on the ARC platform. I may be wrong, but this is the impression I get. I too can redeem the codes the same way as you, but that is today, who knows what tomorrow will bring...
Tomorrow will bring pizza I hopeI have Luke Skywalker on a wibble-wobble; your argument is invalid
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
Some people cause happiness wherever they go, others whenever they go.
Don't call me a care bear; I don't care whether you can bear me or not
Sparafucile: SweetieBot, pple is NOT a word
SweetieBot: Your face is not a word0 -
Sparafucile - Harshlands wrote: »People saying ''oh you might have to re-dl pwi, so what?'' clearly don't have to worry about their internet data usage. I use a pre-pay mobile broadband dongle, and so data usage for me is absolutely critical. A 7Gb one month usage allowance costs me about $40 in US terms, so you can imagine that I am going to be very unhappy indeed if I am forced to re-dl pwi.
As it happens, I have ARC, but not with pwi on it, my pc had a hissy fit a couple of years back, and though I managed to save my pwi files I lost STO, and when i could afford the data allowance to get it back, ARC was the only option (that I could use).
I don't have super-gaming pc, indeed, its specs would be described by most as pretty basic, but ARC does not seem to cause any issues with STO, which is a more gfx and internet bandwidth heavy game than pwi already, so I can't see it being a problem for most pwi players on that score, maybe some people on marginal spec systems, but I do agree it should be optional and not mandatory.
I didn't disable any of my av software to dl and install ARC, and had no problems.
On the ARC client ui once it loads, there is a button to add games, when clicked this gives a drop down with the options to browse all arc games or add existing games, this second option opens a windows explorer window (sorry lol), which I can navigate to the pwi folder, and I guess if I want to, add the client or launcher exe? idk... I haven't had the courage to try this yet in case it buggers up my pwi b:laugh
I'm not a software expert like you Sylen I'm more of a hardware guy, and I don't have the resources atm to experiment, so I wonder what your thoughts are on this, thought I'd ask you instead of pwe as I'd like an answer I can trust...
yes, this is exactly why I started digging and provided the workaround for the config so that you wouldn't have to re-download the entire clients after switching to using Arc.Verenor - Morai wrote: »ehm we do? b:question
I downloaded Arc cause Idc a big load about all the fuss. Never have I had to re-download/install the game during that. Simple as: download new arc - redeemed the free keys - closed arc - opened elementclient - play on.
Unfortunately, they've screwed that up and I'm again working at a ****/workaround.
I hadn't seen the option to add a file location the other night when I was working on it, but I'll look into that tonight.[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]0 -
*bumps thread*
And gets +1 to my post count... b:avoidI have Luke Skywalker on a wibble-wobble; your argument is invalid
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
Some people cause happiness wherever they go, others whenever they go.
Don't call me a care bear; I don't care whether you can bear me or not
Sparafucile: SweetieBot, pple is NOT a word
SweetieBot: Your face is not a word0 -
I've heard rumors of PWE selling the arc platform to the highest bidder or something along those lines...can anyone confirm this?[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]0
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Ok, for adding a client manually, it can be done, and it works exactly the same way adding a non-Steam game to Steam does. Basically you can add the .exe file and it makes a shortcut to it in your library. But that's all it is, a shortcut. You can do the exact same thing on your desktop without ARC. Additionally, unlike Steam, you are unable to edit the properties to the shortcut. (At least, until I manage to **** the configuration files that is.)
That's all they are. Rumors.TZoner - Raging Tide wrote: »I've heard rumors of PWE selling the arc platform to the highest bidder or something along those lines...can anyone confirm this?
I did a bit of research on it after seeing your post, and I can not find anything that points to PWE selling the Arc platform off. The only information I could find on it were a few random posts of people claiming it was happening, or saying that they heard a rumor. I was unable to uncover any substantial data to indicate that there was even a discussion on it at the corporate level.[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]0
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