Right out of the EULA for ARC "PWE does not warrant that the software wil be free of bugs, errors, viruses or other defects, transmit data in a secure manner or function properly."
The whole part about secure data transmition and virus free will keep me from useing this particular piece of software. If a company, in this day and age of mass data storage and use for marketing cant keep it safe, why would i consent to useing the software to begin with?
Download went smooth as silk, the use is another story.
When useing the ARC interface to launch/play the game,
1) My computer spins up and goes over 90% utilization on all 4 cores, only game/interface to do that except for when i was helping map the genome.
2) Crashes constantly, even crashes the Cryptic reporting tool, after the client crashes.
I have a deep aversion against Programs running in the background, especially if they are supposed to download things without my knowledge.
Can Cryptic guarantee that no harmful thing get on my Computer?
Can Crpytic guarantee that i don't get spied on, while running that program?
Can Cryptic guarantee me that my data doesn't get into the wrong hands?
Considering what we now know about Spying I think Cryptic can Guarantee that indeed you ARE being spied on. Rather or not this particular program itself is doing the spying is another matter though. (However... I suspect it does)
As for data going into the wrong hands... Well... In this case it will go into the PWE Marketing Department's hands first and foremost likely.
Having been using Arc since it's release in May. Recently had to reinstall STO due to my system stuffing up (NOT STO RELATED). Decided this time though to D/L and install via Arc. Took next to no time to D/L and install much much faster than doing it via the official site.
Only one issue has arisen though. Since the update to STO last week, shift tabbing to bring up the overlay while in game has stopped working properly, sometimes it works, then sometimes it doesn't.
Can Cryptic guarantee that no harmful thing get on my Computer?
Can Crpytic guarantee that i don't get spied on, while running that program?
Can Cryptic guarantee me that my data doesn't get into the wrong hands?
Harmful things only get on your computer if you allow then to do so.
We are being spied on 24/7 in various ways.
Your data only gets into the wrong hands if you allow it to do so.
YOU and you alone are responsible for your own personal information and you and you alone are responsible for the running of your computer system. If something were to go wrong with either your personal data or computer, you can not expect to find fault with anyone other than yourself. Harsh yes, but in today's world too much emphasis is put on find others to blame.
Download and installed ARC, lunch STO by it and get biggest lags ever. Almost every map need 2-3 minutes to load, couldn't run 10 meters without jumping back 3 meters. Shutdown ARC, start game directly by launcher lags gone.
Can Cryptic guarantee that no harmful thing get on my Computer?
Can Crpytic guarantee that i don't get spied on, while running that program?
Can Cryptic guarantee me that my data doesn't get into the wrong hands?
Harmful things only get on your computer if you allow then to do so.
We are being spied on 24/7 in various ways.
Your data only gets into the wrong hands if you allow it to do so.
YOU and you alone are responsible for your own personal information and you and you alone are responsible for the running of your computer system. If something were to go wrong with either your personal data or computer, you can not expect to find fault with anyone other than yourself. Harsh yes, but in today's world too much emphasis is put on find others to blame.
THATS exactly why i decide not to install Ace.
If Ace would be mandatory to play STO and that program would spy on me or some other thing, then it would be Crypitcs fault, not mine.
Your argumentation is like saying "lock your front door with a new lock, if someone breaks in it's your fault alone, but never the fault of the intruder or the manufacturer who forced you to install the new lock on your front door."
But that purely academic, i won't install Ace anyway.
If Cryptic forces me to do so in order to play STO, then i would rather quit.
"...'With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censured...the first thought forbidden...the first freedom denied--chains us all irrevocably.' ... The first time any man's freedom is trodden on, we're all damaged. I fear that today--"
- (TNG) Picard, quoting Judge Aaron Satie
Well, the install went smoothly. I hit launch, and it launched the old launcher, so as yet I see little use in this portion of the tool, but time will tell. Other than that, I haven't noticed any problems.
The Arc overlay is interesting, but I cannot use the actual internet as yet. This would be handy for multi-tasking, as one of the biggest things I have to minimize the game for is searching the wiki for information.
Will our previously earned Achievements credit once development is finished, or are these completely new?
The Chat tool, will this be different from the in-game chat already in place?
Well, biggest problem I've found is that I can no longer use my multimedia keys (my keyboard now forces the F keys), and the Music Player tool in-game does not work. This could be a deal breaker, guys......Not only does it keep me from using my volume/multimedia keys, it forces goofy commands that I don't use. Note, this doesn't happen when I start using the launcher, only when I start the game using Arc.
As a side note, I plan to be spending between $500 and $1000 on this game in the next 6 months, unless these problems are going to be standard issue, in which case I will continue to be F2P (if at all) with limited expenditure....
we already have the game, what is the point of even making arc, to compete with origin, or steam, or PSN?
here is my response to arc, IM NOT USING IT!!!!! if that means you are going to take my favorite game away from me because you want to strip our wallets of even more money than im not playing the game anymore, back to DC online.
I don't use, want or even like steam
I don't use, want or even like origin
I do like playstation network, and ive blown quite the $$ on it.
Arc team, you boys need to playtest the games you produce better before you come up with some ingenious counter to steam, which most of us playthis game to avoid. this will not make you more money or help your game in anyway, it will just TRIBBLE off more players because its yet another cryptic hoop your shoving up our can. just like the farm and grind system we have now to get gear.
THE GAME WAS MORE FUN BEFORE WE GOT STARBASES!!!!!!
I MEAN THESE ARE ALL ABOVE COMPLAINTS THAT I HAVE SEEN FOR A WHILE NOW.
cryptic pays no attention to them, hence they pay no attention to the players, in my mind we could all say we don't like arc and wont use it, does that mean they wont implement it? probably not. even Microsoft renigged on the xbox 1 firmware. cryptic listen to your player base, DONT CREATE ARC. IT WILL KILL YOU
what you really need in ARC is a dam server status indicator so your players cans see when and if a servers is down for that game like sto or neverwinter .... you have the games on the left and they say live or beta who not put a server status there also even if it's a little green/red dot with the word server next to it, like come on that would be one of the things if i was making Arc i would make sure was in it from the start
Arc installed easily, and it works fine for accessing STO and Neverwinter.
I understand why Prefect World would want to use Arc for all of their games. Arc makes them easy to check out, and Arc is here to remind us of what more there is to do in the PW gaming universe. I don't detect any bloatware aspect to this utility. I don't mind Arc, but I am not excited about it either. It does, however, seem logical for PW to implement this.
I installed Arc, it changes the default install directory for STO... which PO'd me as it then forces you to download STO again... it doesn't seem to be smart about that...
once downloaded it didn't have any obvious benefits that I could see, nor have an "strange comms" that I wasn't expecting coming of my PC...
no benefit for me, some hassle so I uninstalled it... you have the option to do so and leave the games behind...
So message to cryptic.. other than a UI replacement for my desktop (and I like my desktop/start screen), this has no benefit... getting the opportunity to win extra Zen is not a benefit I value very highly... in fact it causes me EXTRA mouse clicks between me starting my computer and starting sto...
1. no new browser is needed
2. no new commercials needed
3. WHY I NEED ADMIN RIGHTS TO START ONLY THE DL-Manager, please provide a version wihtout admin-access! --> security issue! and very stupid! steam can more with normal user-acess!
4. origin removed about 22% players... most of them play now call of duty... cause its still available on steam
5. most of us already got 2345 tools with friendlist, another one is brainless!
6. after counting ingame bugs only in sto im still aking me what will happen after i gave u admin-access...
7. so much more, but ...
we know u wwill remove sto from steam. so ill go also. im pissed off about this and so i wont invest more money in this game. so many games are available...
and no one will answer the question. will sto be removed from steam after arc beta has been finished?
I actually have a couple of games that require Steam, and I buy my games through the gamestop pc downloads app as well because then I get points for all my games that I purchase. However, for STO I have that through the good old exe launcher.
Steam can be hugely useful for some games, especially ones like Skyrim where there are huge amounts of mods and add-ons available because it makes installing them really seamless and easy to control them. My computer is more than capable of running steam and a game flawlessly at the same time so I don't have the resource draining issues that some do. Why is any of this important? The simple answer is because Steam is what all others are compared to.
Since the very introduction of Arc, I have been adamantly against it even so to the point of being warned about "trolling" about it. However, I still think it's important enough of an issue to continue lobbying against it's mandatory usage.
One of the largest issues with yet another launcher platform is account safety. Arc relies on the "Account Guard" to protect your game accounts and for those that have payment options saved, from intruders accessing and using your credit card. Account Guard is far from being a stable prevention piece of software. I was easily able to deauthorize my computer from Account Guard, then just as easily able to change my e-mail address and password, and then log into the game all without account guard hindering me in any way. I've also been able to do this through several other computers on which I have never accessed STO before that. With his permission and mutual curiosity a friend of mine who has never played STO at my house or even while connected to my network wanted me to test it with his account and see if I could access his account without him giving me any help or passwords. Just like with my own account I was easily able to change his email, password, and log into the game.
In it's defense Account Guard did send me an e-mail once (out of six plus attempts to bypass it) confirming that my email and password were changed successfully. Never received the one time code, etc that I was supposed to receive, and again on computers that I had never played STO on, and therefore ones that never had permission added on Account Guard.
What does any of this have to do with Arc? Account Guard is flawed, you shouldn't be able to change any account information including username, password, e-mail address or even access the game from a separate computer without having to first supply a change code supplied via Account Guard to your registered e-mail address, and then confirmation codes from both the registered e-mail address AND from a different code sent to the new e-mail address. When there is the potential to access payment options and to save a payment option there is no reason why there shouldn't be a two e-mail address requirement, most people have more than one e-mail address or if not, there are countless free options for creating more than one email address.
Again, Account Guard is the security for Arc, and if you can so easily access one game account, then just imagine the potential damage that could be caused from only having to enter one password to be able to access all PWE/Cryptic games a player has signed up for.
ARC
1) Fundamental Security protection flawed (Account Guard)
2) Uses Pando Media Booster (not even going to get into all the things wrong with that, just google it.)
3) Doesn't actually add any new features not already available
4) Doesn't provide added security
5) Only PWE/Cryptic games available
6) runs in background while playing games, therefore reduces resources for game on lower end computers.
7) Is not optional for new users
8) acts as a launcher for a launcher, therefore increases loading and login instead of decreases it.
I was having issues with server drop offs using my Starfleet character, so I decided to uninstall, and reinstall the launcher. After I uninstalled, however, my reinstall of the launcher ran into a roadblock. I discovered that I apparently needed this new Arc thing, which I had to install twice to get it to function, and then tried to install the launcher using this "new improved tool", such as it is. It has been two hours, and the launcher hasn't finished downloading. It reads STO 107MB Downloading, the bar graduallly advances to 100%, then starts over at 0%, and keeps repeating the procedure. I'm using Windows 7 64 bit. Not a fan
Arc is a pain that starts up at startup. It takes up more resources. It constantly complains if there isn't an internet connection available. It is complete worthless junk. I am currently looking for an alternative way to download sto, but if i must use arc to download sto, i will. then i will promptly uninstall arc or disable it.
Damn Arc! I proceed to launch the game and it stays minimized. I am done as I am not going to **** around to try and get STO to work. Devs get it together or you are going to lose a lot of players! Give us back a clean launch interface.
Qoute:
"And then we have the PandoMediaBooster issue, which was the one that was the cause of the most vehement hostility.
According to what they said, PMB is a constant torrent streamer which is inbuilt into Arc.
Unless you force terminate it in background processes, it keeps streaming data, which can cap out your data limit or exceed it, resulting in excessive download fees from your ISP. " :qoute
Brandon,
Please confirm if arc uses PandoMediaBooster and if it's a torrent streamer ?
I was thinking about giving Arc a try for myself, BUT ...
My ISP will charge me more for going over my data limit, I feel I/WE have a right to know if Arc includes this, for this very reason.
I have Steam, I use Steam when forced ... I will used Arc if forced and its a big if and I am getting tired of all the Steam wannabes, I am not going to flood my registry and my HDD with a bunch of useless launcher programs because Steam.
Amen!! Arc and Steam are just another NEEDLESS HOOP to jump through that provides no benefits what so ever. In other words using a gateway to get to a door is completely inefficient and a waste of space.
Can anyone else confirm that Arc tries to load on boot and that there is no way to turn that behavior off?
I was already considering using Steam or to load the launcher by alternative means, but this here would certainly push me to do it.
To be clear, I'm not so much concerned that I have to start Arc to start STO... I am very serious about software that loads itself when you boot Windows and doesn't A) make it clear that it does that, and doesn't give you a way to only start it on demand.
Is anyone having any issues uninstalling Arc if it comes to that?
My views may not represent those of Cryptic Studios or Perfect World Entertainment. You can file a "forums and website" support ticket here Link: How to PM - Twitter @STOMod_Bluegeek
It has the option to turn off load on boot. When Arc loads go to the top right corner and click Settings > General. Then uncheck the box that says "Run Arc when my computer starts". It also has a box if you want to disable the auto account login. I use Arc right now and it only starts up only when I want it to.
I have ARC installed, it works fine, recognized both STO and NW upon install, they are not on C drive but on D drive, but I dislike the idea of having to download the game all over again when I have a system crash.
Could you please leave us an option of torrent download for the games so that we could enjoy the game experience?
So far I haven't had any trouble with it. I play 4 games and the only trouble I've had so far is a known issue with the launcher for Neverwinter.
I've set it to not load at start up, and unlike some other programs I've had to use in the past, when you sign out, it closes and goes away, it doesn't stay in the background.
It has the option to turn off load on boot. When Arc loads go to the top right corner and click Settings > General. Then uncheck the box that says "Run Arc when my computer starts". It also has a box if you want to disable the auto account login. I use Arc right now and it only starts up only when I want it to.
So far I haven't had any trouble with it. I play 4 games and the only trouble I've had so far is a known issue with the launcher for Neverwinter.
I've set it to not load at start up, and unlike some other programs I've had to use in the past, when you sign out, it closes and goes away, it doesn't stay in the background.
Thanks, guys! Appreciate the info and the clarification!
My views may not represent those of Cryptic Studios or Perfect World Entertainment. You can file a "forums and website" support ticket here Link: How to PM - Twitter @STOMod_Bluegeek
I was thinking. This would be neat if when you load ARC it gave you the option to patch the game. As it it, it's a launcher to launch the launcher. You don't have to log in to the individual game, but you end up clicking "play" in ARC, and then "Engage" once the STO launcher is opened.
Comments
The whole part about secure data transmition and virus free will keep me from useing this particular piece of software. If a company, in this day and age of mass data storage and use for marketing cant keep it safe, why would i consent to useing the software to begin with?
When useing the ARC interface to launch/play the game,
1) My computer spins up and goes over 90% utilization on all 4 cores, only game/interface to do that except for when i was helping map the genome.
2) Crashes constantly, even crashes the Cryptic reporting tool, after the client crashes.
Wont be using this
Considering what we now know about Spying I think Cryptic can Guarantee that indeed you ARE being spied on. Rather or not this particular program itself is doing the spying is another matter though. (However... I suspect it does)
As for data going into the wrong hands... Well... In this case it will go into the PWE Marketing Department's hands first and foremost likely.
Only one issue has arisen though. Since the update to STO last week, shift tabbing to bring up the overlay while in game has stopped working properly, sometimes it works, then sometimes it doesn't.
Could this be addressed please.
Can Crpytic guarantee that i don't get spied on, while running that program?
Can Cryptic guarantee me that my data doesn't get into the wrong hands?
Harmful things only get on your computer if you allow then to do so.
We are being spied on 24/7 in various ways.
Your data only gets into the wrong hands if you allow it to do so.
YOU and you alone are responsible for your own personal information and you and you alone are responsible for the running of your computer system. If something were to go wrong with either your personal data or computer, you can not expect to find fault with anyone other than yourself. Harsh yes, but in today's world too much emphasis is put on find others to blame.
If Ace would be mandatory to play STO and that program would spy on me or some other thing, then it would be Crypitcs fault, not mine.
Your argumentation is like saying "lock your front door with a new lock, if someone breaks in it's your fault alone, but never the fault of the intruder or the manufacturer who forced you to install the new lock on your front door."
But that purely academic, i won't install Ace anyway.
If Cryptic forces me to do so in order to play STO, then i would rather quit.
Well, biggest problem I've found is that I can no longer use my multimedia keys (my keyboard now forces the F keys), and the Music Player tool in-game does not work. This could be a deal breaker, guys......Not only does it keep me from using my volume/multimedia keys, it forces goofy commands that I don't use. Note, this doesn't happen when I start using the launcher, only when I start the game using Arc.
As a side note, I plan to be spending between $500 and $1000 on this game in the next 6 months, unless these problems are going to be standard issue, in which case I will continue to be F2P (if at all) with limited expenditure....
we already have the game, what is the point of even making arc, to compete with origin, or steam, or PSN?
here is my response to arc, IM NOT USING IT!!!!! if that means you are going to take my favorite game away from me because you want to strip our wallets of even more money than im not playing the game anymore, back to DC online.
I don't use, want or even like steam
I don't use, want or even like origin
I do like playstation network, and ive blown quite the $$ on it.
Arc team, you boys need to playtest the games you produce better before you come up with some ingenious counter to steam, which most of us playthis game to avoid. this will not make you more money or help your game in anyway, it will just TRIBBLE off more players because its yet another cryptic hoop your shoving up our can. just like the farm and grind system we have now to get gear.
THE GAME WAS MORE FUN BEFORE WE GOT STARBASES!!!!!!
I MEAN THESE ARE ALL ABOVE COMPLAINTS THAT I HAVE SEEN FOR A WHILE NOW.
cryptic pays no attention to them, hence they pay no attention to the players, in my mind we could all say we don't like arc and wont use it, does that mean they wont implement it? probably not. even Microsoft renigged on the xbox 1 firmware. cryptic listen to your player base, DONT CREATE ARC. IT WILL KILL YOU
how do u make ur duty officer pictures or something like that?
EDIT: nevermind, i found the exe installer in my internet history, link is still active! YAY!
I understand why Prefect World would want to use Arc for all of their games. Arc makes them easy to check out, and Arc is here to remind us of what more there is to do in the PW gaming universe. I don't detect any bloatware aspect to this utility. I don't mind Arc, but I am not excited about it either. It does, however, seem logical for PW to implement this.
Member since December 2009
once downloaded it didn't have any obvious benefits that I could see, nor have an "strange comms" that I wasn't expecting coming of my PC...
no benefit for me, some hassle so I uninstalled it... you have the option to do so and leave the games behind...
So message to cryptic.. other than a UI replacement for my desktop (and I like my desktop/start screen), this has no benefit... getting the opportunity to win extra Zen is not a benefit I value very highly... in fact it causes me EXTRA mouse clicks between me starting my computer and starting sto...
1. no new browser is needed
2. no new commercials needed
3. WHY I NEED ADMIN RIGHTS TO START ONLY THE DL-Manager, please provide a version wihtout admin-access! --> security issue! and very stupid! steam can more with normal user-acess!
4. origin removed about 22% players... most of them play now call of duty... cause its still available on steam
5. most of us already got 2345 tools with friendlist, another one is brainless!
6. after counting ingame bugs only in sto im still aking me what will happen after i gave u admin-access...
7. so much more, but ...
we know u wwill remove sto from steam. so ill go also. im pissed off about this and so i wont invest more money in this game. so many games are available...
and no one will answer the question. will sto be removed from steam after arc beta has been finished?
Steam can be hugely useful for some games, especially ones like Skyrim where there are huge amounts of mods and add-ons available because it makes installing them really seamless and easy to control them. My computer is more than capable of running steam and a game flawlessly at the same time so I don't have the resource draining issues that some do. Why is any of this important? The simple answer is because Steam is what all others are compared to.
Since the very introduction of Arc, I have been adamantly against it even so to the point of being warned about "trolling" about it. However, I still think it's important enough of an issue to continue lobbying against it's mandatory usage.
One of the largest issues with yet another launcher platform is account safety. Arc relies on the "Account Guard" to protect your game accounts and for those that have payment options saved, from intruders accessing and using your credit card. Account Guard is far from being a stable prevention piece of software. I was easily able to deauthorize my computer from Account Guard, then just as easily able to change my e-mail address and password, and then log into the game all without account guard hindering me in any way. I've also been able to do this through several other computers on which I have never accessed STO before that. With his permission and mutual curiosity a friend of mine who has never played STO at my house or even while connected to my network wanted me to test it with his account and see if I could access his account without him giving me any help or passwords. Just like with my own account I was easily able to change his email, password, and log into the game.
In it's defense Account Guard did send me an e-mail once (out of six plus attempts to bypass it) confirming that my email and password were changed successfully. Never received the one time code, etc that I was supposed to receive, and again on computers that I had never played STO on, and therefore ones that never had permission added on Account Guard.
What does any of this have to do with Arc? Account Guard is flawed, you shouldn't be able to change any account information including username, password, e-mail address or even access the game from a separate computer without having to first supply a change code supplied via Account Guard to your registered e-mail address, and then confirmation codes from both the registered e-mail address AND from a different code sent to the new e-mail address. When there is the potential to access payment options and to save a payment option there is no reason why there shouldn't be a two e-mail address requirement, most people have more than one e-mail address or if not, there are countless free options for creating more than one email address.
Again, Account Guard is the security for Arc, and if you can so easily access one game account, then just imagine the potential damage that could be caused from only having to enter one password to be able to access all PWE/Cryptic games a player has signed up for.
ARC
1) Fundamental Security protection flawed (Account Guard)
2) Uses Pando Media Booster (not even going to get into all the things wrong with that, just google it.)
3) Doesn't actually add any new features not already available
4) Doesn't provide added security
5) Only PWE/Cryptic games available
6) runs in background while playing games, therefore reduces resources for game on lower end computers.
7) Is not optional for new users
8) acts as a launcher for a launcher, therefore increases loading and login instead of decreases it.
*snip*
Qoute:
"And then we have the PandoMediaBooster issue, which was the one that was the cause of the most vehement hostility.
According to what they said, PMB is a constant torrent streamer which is inbuilt into Arc.
Unless you force terminate it in background processes, it keeps streaming data, which can cap out your data limit or exceed it, resulting in excessive download fees from your ISP. " :qoute
Brandon,
Please confirm if arc uses PandoMediaBooster and if it's a torrent streamer ?
I was thinking about giving Arc a try for myself, BUT ...
My ISP will charge me more for going over my data limit, I feel I/WE have a right to know if Arc includes this, for this very reason.
Amen!! Arc and Steam are just another NEEDLESS HOOP to jump through that provides no benefits what so ever. In other words using a gateway to get to a door is completely inefficient and a waste of space.
Can anyone else confirm that Arc tries to load on boot and that there is no way to turn that behavior off?
I was already considering using Steam or to load the launcher by alternative means, but this here would certainly push me to do it.
To be clear, I'm not so much concerned that I have to start Arc to start STO... I am very serious about software that loads itself when you boot Windows and doesn't A) make it clear that it does that, and
Is anyone having any issues uninstalling Arc if it comes to that?
Link: How to PM - Twitter @STOMod_Bluegeek
Mine Trap Supporter
Could you please leave us an option of torrent download for the games so that we could enjoy the game experience?
I've set it to not load at start up, and unlike some other programs I've had to use in the past, when you sign out, it closes and goes away, it doesn't stay in the background.
Thanks, guys! Appreciate the info and the clarification!
Link: How to PM - Twitter @STOMod_Bluegeek