PWE Does not need arc to spy on the computer. Sto is already on the computer and it is controlled by PWE. The could just use sto to spy on us and we would never know because it already access the hdd and the network.
How many "no's" must you guys get before you listen?
NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO
NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO
Let me add my own there.
NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO catch breath NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO
And NO.
I will just stick with Steam, thank you very much. I really just don't see why PWE is trying to create its own Steam when its already there. And when it already has been stated that the Steam Launcher will keep working.
So for those who want to go around ARC with a big arc (see what I did there xD), keep your current launcher or go Steam. 100% ARC proof.
As for the others, I'll be putting some Mk XII Resilient Shield Arrays [ARC]x3 on the exchange soon. Should help you out.
Continue to develop Arc, sure. Just don't make it mandatory. It'll scare both new and old players away.
There is a lot of dead space up at the top. Can the cart/user icon/language line be integrated with the ribbon underneath it? Also, when the web page is narrow, it does integrate the games/social/new/etc items with the top cart/user icon/language line, but the download/what is arc icon disappears.
When less than about 1024 wide on a screen (which might happen if a player is running a DPS meter and a voice chat client at the same time), the News webthingie overlaps the Game Info.
The distinction between the Legacy Pack and the Starter Pack is a bit overdone - it isn't clear that you can purchase the Starter pack since there is no Add to Cart button, or a "Learn More" button for either, other than hovering over the name.
The link between the product pages and the subpages is very weak - it's only available through three small links on the right (game guide/news/forum) and is missing media and wiki (and is in a different order than the subpages show)
News:
Looks pretty good, no real complaints.
Guides:
Suggest adding a link here for the community-produced guest blogs. Perhaps a separate link for PvP guest blogs
Request players to submit special "How to play..." guides for Science, Tactical, and Engineering space and ground. Have a competition, let people vote on the best guide, give the best + runner's up some zen, incorporate the best guide + content from runner's up.
Gateway guide needs to include more information - How to disable public viewing, and how to lookup another player's information. Gateway should be a top-line item next to Guides IMO.
Media:
Would like to see the screenshots available here. Looks like these are just single pictures without size options. Will there be a separate Wallpapers group with multiple sizes available? Also, download window should include some sort of terms of use - is it OK to share on social media, use on a STO website, etc. I assume the Thumbs Up button is for supporting user-contributed media at some point in the future?
Wiki:
TYVM for putting the wiki at the top level, I think that will do a lot to help drive traffic to it.
Clearly, as evidenced by the general transparency of the project, and the plethora of official statements specifically addressing each concern in detail and explicitly promising, for the record, that non of these alarming things will ever be forced on us. :rolleyes:
It won't try to install always-on torrent/peer-to-peer file patching by that or any other name.
It won't sneak in plugins to monitor your browsing activity.
It won't surrepticiously scan all local drives for god knows what.
It certainly won't mine data to feed a marketing database somewhere.
And above all else, it will never be mandatory to have Arc installed and running in order to play STO.
Right? Right??
*edit* And of course, Steam will always be an option, and PW would never put the kibosh on that in favor of their clone. Those of you who use Steam as a workaround to this can depend on that option being around forever.
I think I prefer having the news posts front and center instead of general game info/system requirements. Have that stuff on a downloads page.
I'm also having a hard time believing those download stats. Are those for real? I find it very hard to believe that CO, a badly neglected game in maintenance mode, has more downloads than STO, a game that has active development including full on expansion packs. Maybe before LoR I could have bought it, but now? There's no way that's for real lol.
I think I prefer having the news posts front and center instead of general game info/system requirements. Have that stuff on a downloads page.
I'm also having a hard time believing those download stats. Are those for real? I find it very hard to believe that CO, a badly neglected game in maintenance mode, has more downloads than STO, a game that has active development including full on expansion packs. Maybe before LoR I could have bought it, but now? There's no way that's for real lol.
PWE statistics? Might as well scribble on some grid paper, it would be more trust worthy.
Since they are ignoring all the "Do Not Want" posts, let's switch our focus to;
"What Incentive Do We Have To Use Arc Over Steam?"
To clarify my point, for a brief time I played Scarlet Blade (micro-transaction fueled pay-to-win pvp game) that uses a launcher similar to what Arc is lining up to be. With SB's system, once every 24 hours you were able to open a free reward pack that gave out all manner of useful things like stacks of healing potions.
So, what incentive will we the playerbase have to use Arc over Steam?
Time is a funny thing; There is always too much of it. Except when you need it the most, then there is never enough.
I've escalated the question about the ArcPlugin dialogue to the developers. At this time I am not aware of its functionality but I will do the research and post the response in this thread.
Thanks!
If you're asking us to trust your software, please be able to explain exactly what it does. What information does it collect? Why does it collect it? What exactly does it do on our systems?
I think I prefer having the news posts front and center instead of general game info/system requirements. Have that stuff on a downloads page.
I'm also having a hard time believing those download stats. Are those for real? I find it very hard to believe that CO, a badly neglected game in maintenance mode, has more downloads than STO, a game that has active development including full on expansion packs. Maybe before LoR I could have bought it, but now? There's no way that's for real lol.
I think I have a possible explanation for the numbers. It's possible the arc system is only counting downloads from arc. Were as many people have the sto disc or an old exe file fore the old launcher, therefore the game is not downloaded through arc. This is just a theory.
It is our goal to create software that our gamers want to use
Well, it's great that you want to do that, and it's great that you're committed to us players, but...the majority view among players is that ARC is a fluffy distraction at BEST.
Honestly, it seems to me that your company is listening only to very specific complaints.
I appreciate your critical perspective. It is our goal to create software that our gamers want to use, so integrating any of the above would actually work against our vision. That being said, if you encounter anything in Arc that you feel falls into one of the above categories, we are committed to looking into the issue and addressing it promptly. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and valid concerns.
First of all, thx for replying!
People in this topic have proven that ARC is scanning all HardDisks for whatever + ARC is installing browser plugins without asking or even letting the user know.
I don't even need to look deeper into the programs source code, cuz the above mentioned already fits the definition of what malware is pretty well.
Anyway, just to get some thing rolling:
If you're gonna promise to all of us that ARC will forever be an 100% optional thing, then I will promise to put my security concerns aside and take a closer look at ARC and helping you to improve!
There are some thing I can already tell you as a constructive critique: There is no need for us to install ARC!
This isn't a flame or something, I just want to point out that ARC doesn't add anything relevant to STO players!
If you really want the players to want using ARC, you need to make it special. Right now, it's just another bad steam clone. Add something that makes it worth using it! Like:
- Doffing via ARC without having the need to start the game.
- Trading on the exchange without starting the game
- Build in PvP Leagues and Rankings
- Easy Demo sharing/viewing options via ARC
- Sharing ingame stats on profiles
- Additional STO Plugins you can turn on/off in ARC (like Advanced Combat Tracker)
- Fleet info on ARCs starting page
- etc etc
I guess you got the point. If you get rid of all those malware things inside ARC and add nice game related features (esp. for STO) you will even get me love ARC
But since I do not believe in that - just vaporize ARC as it is now.
Btw, all my postings in here might sound a bit harsh cuz I totaly feel pushed and abused, but let me end with something positive:
I have to thank you very much for making and constantly improving my favorite game! You guys did an amazing job over the last years - PLS PLS PLS don't force me to quit this game.
Clearly, as evidenced by the general transparency of the project, and the plethora of official statements specifically addressing each concern in detail and explicitly promising, for the record, that non of these alarming things will ever be forced on us. :rolleyes:
It won't try to install always-on torrent/peer-to-peer file patching by that or any other name.
It won't sneak in plugins to monitor your browsing activity.
It won't surrepticiously scan all local drives for god knows what.
It certainly won't mine data to feed a marketing database somewhere.
And above all else, it will never be mandatory to have Arc installed and running in order to play STO.
Right? Right??
*edit* And of course, Steam will always be an option, and PW would never put the kibosh on that in favor of their clone. Those of you who use Steam as a workaround to this can depend on that option being around forever.
They have stated that it does not have torrent capabilities in this thread. Every piece of software tries to sneak in some form of tool bar and plugin these days and most browsers allow you to disable plugins. In the last arc update they already said there is an option to opt out of data sharing. As far as how they make entry into their game an option or mandatory it is up to them. it is their software. The fact that they still allow for steam means it is not mandatory.
As far as transparency is concerned this game has never been open source. as far as statments are concerned they have made them. read them.
I appreciate those of you who have had a chance to check out the STO website side of Arc at http://games.arcgames.com/en/prod/star-trek-online. This is currently planned to become the new website for startrekonline.com in the not-too-distant, so you feedback is crucial.
Noel, Trevor and I are very interested in hearing concise and constructive feedback on the following sections of the site, as we have control over the content displayed there (but not the UI flow, see below regarding UI feedback as it's very important to us too!):
*Please also feel free to look at these pages in fullscreen mode, as well as on mobile devices and tablets.
Please let us know what you think about the displayed content (text, imagery, format, etc.). For example, it was pointed out that the Gateway was missing from the Guides section -- we'll be able to add this in soon as we control this displayed content.
Feel free to also leave your feedback about the UI and/or UI flow and we'll be happy to pass it along. For example, it was pointed out that some would like to see improvements to the way news is displayed -- this is feedback we can pass along for consideration.
Known issue:
There is no link to the Tribble character transfer page.
This will be added as a "guide" in the future.
Thanks again, and we look forward to your feedback.
Cheers,
Brandon =/\=
Game Product Page from your link: The LoR legacy pack shows an 'Add to cart' button. Below that it says "Downloadable contents for this game" with the LoR Starter Pack and a price but no add to cart button. At first I thought the missing button was because I already own the starter pack but the website shows that I'm not logged in. Also there is a grammatical error with the word "contents". The 'S' shouldn't be there. Personally I wouldn't consider the LoR legacy/starter packs to be DLC since there is nothing to download after purchasing. If that were the case, then everything you purchase in the c-store would be considered downloadable content. The Legacy/Starter packs can also be purchased in the C-store, but when buying them from the website there is nothing to download. It just unlocks it for your account and you claim it in the c-store just like everything else there.
Game Packs (example): The pages for the LoR starter pack and legacy pack are still not clear on the Liberated Borg Reman Bridge Officer. It doesn't indicate if it can be claimed only once per character or if it can be reclaimed at no charge if dismissed. The page for the Legacy Pack shows that for the reman duty officer mini-pack you can only claim it once per character.
I created a thread about this asking for clarification on the Lib Borg Reman boff from the starter pack and it was debated by the players a bit. http://sto-forum.perfectworld.com/showthread.php?t=800201 Post #5 is where I point out that in your own FAQ, Brandon, it seems to indicate that the boff can be reclaimed for free, along with the ships which is true for them.
I then realized that I had an empty character slot and tested it myself with a new romulan character. It turned out, despite what your FAQ indicates, that if I dismiss my borg reman boff from the starter pack I would have to pay 500 zen to buy the boff to replace it. I filed a bug report about it since I still wasn't sure http://sto-forum.perfectworld.com/showthread.php?t=835441 and still didn't get an official answer.
So can we please have the Liberated Borg Reman Boff listed in the LoR Legacy and Starter packs, both in the c-store and the website, finally have clarification on this matter? Seriously. How hard is it to be straight with us about it?
On this page, you'll find recurring updates and up-close looks at the new and revamped features coming your way in January 2012!
Part 26 was the last update on the F2P transition, which was posted January 4, 2012. This is misleading since the are no more recurring updates on the subject.
Since they are ignoring all the "Do Not Want" posts, let's switch our focus to;
"What Incentive Do We Have To Use Arc Over Steam?"
"If you want to keep playing, you will do this.[/i]"
It's coming. Mark my words. The sad part is, that if it drives away enough paying customers, they won't drop the Arc requirement. They'll kill STO entirely and blame "lack of interest."
If you're asking us to trust your software, please be able to explain exactly what it does. What information does it collect? Why does it collect it? What exactly does it do on our systems?
No doubt thats why all these plugins its asking me to trust... Based on its 4x the load of any other program I have I do not trust Cryptic or PWE for that matter. Heck you can't even trust them to do much for the Foundry or the KDF so why would you trust their plugins lol.
If Arc becomes mandatory, sad to say, my time in STO may be limited. I will never install Arc, I do not want it on my computer. If I have to install it to play, I will not play.
Cryptic, I implore you to listen to your userbase. If you do not, you are going to lose players.
For once the majority of the playerbase is on the same page with this issue.
We don't want it....
Cue the "forum users do not represent the majority of players" schtick.
Might be time to start clueing people in about this in Zone chat or something. They may be counting on people not noticing this being forced on them until it's too late...
Cue the "forum users do not represent the majority of players" schtick.
Might be time to start clueing people in about this in Zone chat or something. They may be counting on people not noticing this being forced on them until it's too late...
They don't represent the majority but usually if the majority of one thing is not in favor of such a thing the other majority will usually share the same sentiment
What PWE fails to realize is that star trek is the only thing that brought them all these people. So I think since I finally got guild wars 2 that will be my main game now if they don't put the old client back up to download on the website.
I know of no one wanting to install ARC in order to be able to play STO.
I must agree with thedoctorbluebox if ARC really becomes mandatory i and many others will not be able to continue to play STO.
"...'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
I think I have a possible explanation for the numbers. It's possible the arc system is only counting downloads from arc. Were as many people have the sto disc or an old exe file fore the old launcher, therefore the game is not downloaded through arc. This is just a theory.
That was my first thought as well. The only thing that makes me doubt that is how low on players CO is right now. It's really abysmal over there. During the last Mega Destroid Invasion Event, there were barely enough players to fill 7 instances of Millennium City. That's really bad for a brand new event in US prime time.
I just can't believe that over 2 million downloads of that game have occurred. Maybe under 100k I could believe, but 2 MILLION? There's just no way. No way at all considering how that game has been largely ignored for so long.
That was my first thought as well. The only thing that makes me doubt that is how low on players CO is right now. It's really abysmal over there. During the last Mega Destroid Invasion Event, there were barely enough players to fill 7 instances of Millennium City. That's really bad for a brand new event in US prime time.
I just can't believe that over 2 million downloads of that game have occurred. Maybe under 100k I could believe, but 2 MILLION? There's just no way. No way at all considering how that game has been largely ignored for so long.
I wouldn't be surprised if the numbers are simply false counters meant for marketing reasons. The games being pushed the hardest are the ones with the highest numbers. Thus, encouraging folks to download, because everyone else is doing it.
Blizzard did this a few years ago, with all their games. Where you can have easier access to all their games. And allow stuff to be bought, etc to their games. Even download expansions.
Many fussed over it, and they finally told you must do it. Or no longer play. During the month to swap over to get it. They was giving away items on the game to show you did it during that month.
It has pros and cons. But if the game makers decided it will happen. It will regardless, so either you adapt or move on.
USS Casinghead NCC 92047 launched 2350
Fleet Admiral Stowe - Dominion War Vet.
Comments
ARC is not the evil app you guys think it is.
Let me add my own there.
NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO catch breath NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO
And NO.
I will just stick with Steam, thank you very much. I really just don't see why PWE is trying to create its own Steam when its already there. And when it already has been stated that the Steam Launcher will keep working.
So for those who want to go around ARC with a big arc (see what I did there xD), keep your current launcher or go Steam. 100% ARC proof.
As for the others, I'll be putting some Mk XII Resilient Shield Arrays [ARC]x3 on the exchange soon. Should help you out.
Continue to develop Arc, sure. Just don't make it mandatory. It'll scare both new and old players away.
Join the Deltas today!
Game Product Page:
News:
Guides:
Media:
Wiki:
Other
Clearly, as evidenced by the general transparency of the project, and the plethora of official statements specifically addressing each concern in detail and explicitly promising, for the record, that non of these alarming things will ever be forced on us. :rolleyes:
It won't try to install always-on torrent/peer-to-peer file patching by that or any other name.
It won't sneak in plugins to monitor your browsing activity.
It won't surrepticiously scan all local drives for god knows what.
It certainly won't mine data to feed a marketing database somewhere.
And above all else, it will never be mandatory to have Arc installed and running in order to play STO.
Right? Right??
*edit* And of course, Steam will always be an option, and PW would never put the kibosh on that in favor of their clone. Those of you who use Steam as a workaround to this can depend on that option being around forever.
I'm also having a hard time believing those download stats. Are those for real? I find it very hard to believe that CO, a badly neglected game in maintenance mode, has more downloads than STO, a game that has active development including full on expansion packs. Maybe before LoR I could have bought it, but now? There's no way that's for real lol.
Mine Trap Supporter
That's how it is ain't it?
PWE statistics? Might as well scribble on some grid paper, it would be more trust worthy.
| Join Date: January 2009 | Computer | Fleet: Broken Wings |
"What Incentive Do We Have To Use Arc Over Steam?"
To clarify my point, for a brief time I played Scarlet Blade (micro-transaction fueled pay-to-win pvp game) that uses a launcher similar to what Arc is lining up to be. With SB's system, once every 24 hours you were able to open a free reward pack that gave out all manner of useful things like stacks of healing potions.
So, what incentive will we the playerbase have to use Arc over Steam?
I think I'm gonna just drop sto for good now that they have made arc mandatory for anyone needing to reinstall it that doesn't have the old client.
If you're asking us to trust your software, please be able to explain exactly what it does. What information does it collect? Why does it collect it? What exactly does it do on our systems?
I think I have a possible explanation for the numbers. It's possible the arc system is only counting downloads from arc. Were as many people have the sto disc or an old exe file fore the old launcher, therefore the game is not downloaded through arc. This is just a theory.
Well, it's great that you want to do that, and it's great that you're committed to us players, but...the majority view among players is that ARC is a fluffy distraction at BEST.
Honestly, it seems to me that your company is listening only to very specific complaints.
First of all, thx for replying!
People in this topic have proven that ARC is scanning all HardDisks for whatever + ARC is installing browser plugins without asking or even letting the user know.
I don't even need to look deeper into the programs source code, cuz the above mentioned already fits the definition of what malware is pretty well.
Anyway, just to get some thing rolling:
If you're gonna promise to all of us that ARC will forever be an 100% optional thing, then I will promise to put my security concerns aside and take a closer look at ARC and helping you to improve!
There are some thing I can already tell you as a constructive critique: There is no need for us to install ARC!
This isn't a flame or something, I just want to point out that ARC doesn't add anything relevant to STO players!
If you really want the players to want using ARC, you need to make it special. Right now, it's just another bad steam clone. Add something that makes it worth using it! Like:
- Doffing via ARC without having the need to start the game.
- Trading on the exchange without starting the game
- Build in PvP Leagues and Rankings
- Easy Demo sharing/viewing options via ARC
- Sharing ingame stats on profiles
- Additional STO Plugins you can turn on/off in ARC (like Advanced Combat Tracker)
- Fleet info on ARCs starting page
- etc etc
I guess you got the point. If you get rid of all those malware things inside ARC and add nice game related features (esp. for STO) you will even get me love ARC
But since I do not believe in that - just vaporize ARC as it is now.
Btw, all my postings in here might sound a bit harsh cuz I totaly feel pushed and abused, but let me end with something positive:
I have to thank you very much for making and constantly improving my favorite game! You guys did an amazing job over the last years - PLS PLS PLS don't force me to quit this game.
They have stated that it does not have torrent capabilities in this thread. Every piece of software tries to sneak in some form of tool bar and plugin these days and most browsers allow you to disable plugins. In the last arc update they already said there is an option to opt out of data sharing. As far as how they make entry into their game an option or mandatory it is up to them. it is their software. The fact that they still allow for steam means it is not mandatory.
As far as transparency is concerned this game has never been open source. as far as statments are concerned they have made them. read them.
Game Product Page from your link: The LoR legacy pack shows an 'Add to cart' button. Below that it says "Downloadable contents for this game" with the LoR Starter Pack and a price but no add to cart button. At first I thought the missing button was because I already own the starter pack but the website shows that I'm not logged in. Also there is a grammatical error with the word "contents". The 'S' shouldn't be there. Personally I wouldn't consider the LoR legacy/starter packs to be DLC since there is nothing to download after purchasing. If that were the case, then everything you purchase in the c-store would be considered downloadable content. The Legacy/Starter packs can also be purchased in the C-store, but when buying them from the website there is nothing to download. It just unlocks it for your account and you claim it in the c-store just like everything else there.
Game Packs (example): The pages for the LoR starter pack and legacy pack are still not clear on the Liberated Borg Reman Bridge Officer. It doesn't indicate if it can be claimed only once per character or if it can be reclaimed at no charge if dismissed. The page for the Legacy Pack shows that for the reman duty officer mini-pack you can only claim it once per character.
I created a thread about this asking for clarification on the Lib Borg Reman boff from the starter pack and it was debated by the players a bit. http://sto-forum.perfectworld.com/showthread.php?t=800201 Post #5 is where I point out that in your own FAQ, Brandon, it seems to indicate that the boff can be reclaimed for free, along with the ships which is true for them.
I then realized that I had an empty character slot and tested it myself with a new romulan character. It turned out, despite what your FAQ indicates, that if I dismiss my borg reman boff from the starter pack I would have to pay 500 zen to buy the boff to replace it. I filed a bug report about it since I still wasn't sure http://sto-forum.perfectworld.com/showthread.php?t=835441 and still didn't get an official answer.
So can we please have the Liberated Borg Reman Boff listed in the LoR Legacy and Starter packs, both in the c-store and the website, finally have clarification on this matter? Seriously. How hard is it to be straight with us about it?
News page - 'STO - F2P Blogs': This info is 2 years old now. Perhaps add red text indicating it is there for historical reasons. http://community.arcgames.com/en/news/star-trek-online/detail/3027023 Part 26 was the last update on the F2P transition, which was posted January 4, 2012. This is misleading since the are no more recurring updates on the subject.
"If you want to keep playing, you will do this.[/i]"
It's coming. Mark my words. The sad part is, that if it drives away enough paying customers, they won't drop the Arc requirement. They'll kill STO entirely and blame "lack of interest."
No doubt thats why all these plugins its asking me to trust... Based on its 4x the load of any other program I have I do not trust Cryptic or PWE for that matter. Heck you can't even trust them to do much for the Foundry or the KDF so why would you trust their plugins lol.
Why would it need to do this scan? You mean if I have my zip drive attached to my computer with all my work projects, this tool scans it?
Cryptic, I implore you to listen to your userbase. If you do not, you are going to lose players.
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For once the majority of the playerbase is on the same page with this issue.
We don't want it....
Cue the "forum users do not represent the majority of players" schtick.
Might be time to start clueing people in about this in Zone chat or something. They may be counting on people not noticing this being forced on them until it's too late...
They don't represent the majority but usually if the majority of one thing is not in favor of such a thing the other majority will usually share the same sentiment
What PWE fails to realize is that star trek is the only thing that brought them all these people. So I think since I finally got guild wars 2 that will be my main game now if they don't put the old client back up to download on the website.
I must agree with thedoctorbluebox if ARC really becomes mandatory i and many others will not be able to continue to play STO.
That was my first thought as well. The only thing that makes me doubt that is how low on players CO is right now. It's really abysmal over there. During the last Mega Destroid Invasion Event, there were barely enough players to fill 7 instances of Millennium City. That's really bad for a brand new event in US prime time.
I just can't believe that over 2 million downloads of that game have occurred. Maybe under 100k I could believe, but 2 MILLION? There's just no way. No way at all considering how that game has been largely ignored for so long.
Mine Trap Supporter
I wouldn't be surprised if the numbers are simply false counters meant for marketing reasons. The games being pushed the hardest are the ones with the highest numbers. Thus, encouraging folks to download, because everyone else is doing it.
Many fussed over it, and they finally told you must do it. Or no longer play. During the month to swap over to get it. They was giving away items on the game to show you did it during that month.
It has pros and cons. But if the game makers decided it will happen. It will regardless, so either you adapt or move on.
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