from reading the "features" in arc, i have not seen a single difference between Steam and Arc, except that steam has WAY more games available through it. The only reason i use steam, is because I can find most of the games i play in one place. I have looked at all the PWE games and I am not interested in them in the slightest, so I can see absolutely no point in installing Arc if all i want to play, and will ever play is STO.
if PWE is dead set on forcing Arc down our throats despite the fact that almost 95% of people in this forum dislike it(obviously they are), do yourself and your company a favor and make Arc an option so the players who enjoy PWE games can launch them from one place, and those that only play STO can stick with the regular launcher.
By making arc mandatory, all you will accomplish PWE, is lose over half the players, and potentially ruin STO. there are plenty of other games out there, and if arc becomes mandatory, i will spend my time on them instead of STO
They obviously want to risk losing players over marketing for other games they know they don't want to play.
Funny thing after yesterday where I posted I had a way of logging in without using arc even though it forced me to download it off the website now it won't patch properly unless I open arc which AVG has given multiple recommendations to stop loading arc due to how much its requiring of the system to load. Plus still getting this request to install a plugin with chrome.
Having drilled through all these pages of comments I am trying to wrap my head around why the only responses from the devs and Branflakes are to those that sing praises to ARC. It seems only logical that if you ask for feedback and you refuse to address questions that come from less than stellar reviews of ARC you create suspicion and distrust. Several posts have commented that when ARC was installed spyware programms sounded Red Alert! Perhaps what is needed is some transparency and an attempt at damage control. As Dennis miller said, "I don't know I could be wrong, this is just my opinion"!
What we are not getting with ARC is answers
1. What the hell does it actually do?
Based on the dancing anyone with answers has done around this question so far, the answer is "CLASSIFIED" and we'll never know.
(Most likely translation: They know that if they actually answered this question honestly, what few supporters they have would turn on them in a heartbeat.)
2. Will it's use become mandatory at some point in the future?
Is the Pope Catholic? Do bears excrete in the woods? Does PWE love money?
People are using ..., Origin because they are forced to.
That's why we get more of this ****! They don't like it, they don't want it, but they use it anyway and then they wonder why this **** gets more and more and more ...
Having drilled through all these pages of comments I am trying to wrap my head around why the only responses from the devs and Branflakes are to those that sing praises to ARC.
Hey Donbo,
We've been responding to a lot of feedback, bug reports, and suggestions, too. Of course, we can't respond to everything, but we try to.
We are committed to addressing any compatibility issues with anti-malware software, so please feel free to continue escalating those reports. We've already escalated a couple regarding Avira and Malwarebytes from this very thread.
For any reports of alerts from these programs, please let us know. The more information that can be provided, the better. The full report from the software, including what specific activity or behavior it identified as suspicious, can help us improve Arc to ensure that it is accurately analyzed as safe and secure.
Boring and amateurish. Looks like a WordPress template.
Remember, PW, we DONT like ARC.
Stop pushing your unnecessary platform onto us.
Yes, Steam rocks, but Origin is an abortion.
Do you REALLY want to be regarded in the same way as EA? really?
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dezstravusMember, Cryptic DevelopersPosts: 2Arc User
arcgames comes up as a blocked site by my employer... makes me not even want to visit it from home
Thanks for the report, Teluas. Do you have any data regarding what attribute or element of the site caused the employer's hardware/software to block it?
Since when, where and what time did our feedback become important to this company? We must eat what you bug us with in order to play a game...says all the little tribbles.
Thanks for the report, Teluas. Do you have any data regarding what attribute or element of the site caused the employer's hardware/software to block it?
unfortunately, no... when I get the "blocked" screen, it just says its not allowed, no explanation why. sorry!
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dezstravusMember, Cryptic DevelopersPosts: 2Arc User
I wouldn't be suprised if it comes with a load of rootkits, spyware, trojans and is hi-jacking your internet to make you part of a chinese bot net...
Well, actually "wouldn't be suprised" is the wrong term - I expect those things to be build in
Hey dgdolph,
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.
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dezstravusMember, Cryptic DevelopersPosts: 2Arc User
Well just for curiosities sake I installed ARC, to see for myself what it's all about.
Immediately Spybot - Search and Destroys Teatimer blocked 2 Browser Helper object installation attempts and an ArcPlugin showed up in my Firefox.
What in the hell would Firefox have to do with game functionality?
Needless to say, ARC is being removed, all traces purged and and a complete spyware and virus scan run.
Hey Maxvitor,
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.
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.
Your gamers do not want to use it. Apparently, you are not listening.
Hey dezs, since you seem to be on a question answering spree, I'm curious about the specifics of how they view Arc running with the steam client.
As it currently is the launcher is running the pushing of content updates to the game client, and I understand Arc is intended to replace that system, this being the reason to phase out the use of the current game clients. As it is both arc and steam open the current launcher in order to patch. Once Arc is implemented fully, will the steam client also fill the role that Arc will play? I.e. in order to patch or launch STO once the current launcher is phased out, will launching the game from steam launch arc, which will handle patches and such, and then you would have to launch STO itself from ARC, or will you use the steam architecture for patching, and launch the game directly from steam?
A question for you as well Deztravus. Did PWE ever ask it's playerbase at any point whether they wanted ARC in the first place, because I don't remember that forum post?
I appreciate the quick response. Now to address my personal question which may or may not shut me up on these threads....Why won't you consider making ARC optional? For people that play one game (like me) it should be optional, for those that play many games I can see the benefit of having a "one stop shop" point of entry". If ARC was optional there would be great celebrations, happiness and the masses would sing praises to Cryptic.
As long as STO runs without ARC, I will continue to play, when ARC becomes mandatory as a launcher I will use it to launch and immediately shut it down, I will not accept nor will I allow it to install any pluggins or apps in any other of my browsers, it's integration will be kept to an absolute minimum. If it is required to remain active It will be firewalled, blocked and isolated to game harddrive access, I have software that will allow me to do this and if that doesn't work then ARC and STO will be removed from my computer and I will move on.
One thing is certain, the looming threat of ARCs future forced inclusion in this game has dissuaded me from risking making any more financial investments, there is no point in spending money on a game that I could be leaving at any time.
I can only hope that CBS is keeping a wary eye on what these people are doing with this product, they are probably the only ones who can keep PW from turning this into a complete abomination.
Cryptic has my sympathy in this matter, I'm pretty sure this is not something they are willingly foisting on their userbase.
If something is not broken, don't fix it, if it is broken, don't leave it broken.
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!
I think a good portion of the playerbase, at least those who care enough to post in the forums about it, have already told you what its 'fuctionality' is.
A question for you as well Deztravus. Did PWE ever ask it's playerbase at any point whether they wanted ARC in the first place, because I don't remember that forum post?
THey did. the answer was i believe a resounding no.
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!
Yeah we don't want it and would like the old launcher to be put back up on the site to use instead of arc I am having the same problems as well as its showing the 2nd highest loading startup program that arc is exceeding 4x the amount of system resources to load which to me means its doing a lot more than what it says its doing. As well there is this request to trust an arcplugin on almost every website I visit which means its data mining.
So give us a way to not use arc because I certainly do not want it.
Install Arc and I stop playing like many others, Cryptic / Perfect World u could loose STO over this and a whole lot of money the suits at the top love which goes with the game. Question is are u willing to risk it by using Arc and not listening to the players and people who love the game.
Arc better become completely optional or my days in STO may be cut short, I already have my system memory bursting at the seams, and I also have many security concerns about this. Right now this is casting a dark shadow over my desire to continue playing as it is, don't make this mistake of forcing Arc upon us.
I think a good portion of the playerbase, at least those who care enough to post in the forums about it, have already told you what its 'fuctionality' is.
This is why there's such a fervor to "please tell us every detail of what your scanner said about ARC."
It's because of the unspoken conclusion: "...so that we can better disguise the spyware and rootkits to prevent them from being detected in the future, mandatory installation."
And frankly, there's only one answer I really want: "When is 'the date' that ARC becomes mandatory? I know it will, so cut to the chase and tell me on what date I should mark 'uninstall STO and move on' on my calendar."
I do not want a launcher that uses my own bandwidth as a torrent client. In my country we have limited bandwidth per month so that will put me off. I also do not want this Arc to spy on my computer content or my internet browsing behavior. I really do not want to be tracked and monitored for whatever reason.
Moreover, my ingame gfx settings are perfectly tuned for my hardware performance. If this Arc uses resources while playing, I will have to downgrade my settings and that is a big NO!
Of course the PWE brass doesn't care at all, as long as the money keeps coming in.
Tyr shall give me strength! For the glory of Tempus! I am the hands of Shar! Flames of Kossuth, protect me! Oghma, grant me knowledge! Lolth commands, and I obey!
i must admit before i saw this thread i thought arc was an optional thing? not a replacement for the current launcher. which has always worked fine.
now I've seen this thread I'm alarmed that arc obviously works in such a way that protection software don't like it one little bit.
so i have some questions just in case I've missed some obvious stuff.
will players no longer be able to use a star trek online launcher that isn't tied to arc?
if we use arc what are the benefits to me in sto? i wont be playing anything else by cryptic or pwe that much is certain. i play sto because I'm a star trek fan simples. so how can arc be good for a sto only player on a personal level?
will there be ways to disable all NON related sto/star trek ads and promotions?
will people still be able to use it through steam exactly how they currently do now or will that be altered?
why dose this programme do things protection seaware warns us against?
i must admit before i saw this thread i thought arc was an optional thing? not a replacement for the current launcher. which has always worked fine.
now I've seen this thread I'm alarmed that arc obviously works in such a way that protection software don't like it one little bit.
so i have some questions just in case I've missed some obvious stuff.
will players no longer be able to use a star trek online launcher that isn't tied to arc?
if we use arc what are the benefits to me in sto? i wont be playing anything else by cryptic or pwe that much is certain. i play sto because I'm a star trek fan simples. so how can arc be good for a sto only player on a personal level?
will there be ways to disable all NON related sto/star trek ads and promotions?
will people still be able to use it through steam exactly how they currently do now or will that be altered?
why dose this programme do things protection seaware warns us against?
-They will phase out the existing launcher and replace it with Arc as the primary means of distributing patches. It is unknown if you will still be able to play arc-free using steam or not.
-There are no known individual benefits for using arc over the current set-up. They are duplicating the functionality that one would have using the steam overlay, beyond that there are no benefits I know of.
-I highly doubt you can turn off any of the ads.
-They have not said clearly whether or not it will work by having steam mirror STO patches to keep the game up to date, or if steam will open arc instead of the launcher it currently opens, and then require you to launch the game from there.
-The spyware programs are probably warning against background processes/installs. I.e. it is installing things without telling you it is installing things, such as plugins for firefox etc.
will there be ways to disable all NON related sto/star trek ads and promotions?
My guess is no. They want to use it as an advertising platform to lure you into playing their other games as well.
There is also no need to keep Arc running once STO has launched, unless of course they will only allow Zen purchases through it. The use of bandwidth, resources and the spyware are my biggest concerns.
Tyr shall give me strength! For the glory of Tempus! I am the hands of Shar! Flames of Kossuth, protect me! Oghma, grant me knowledge! Lolth commands, and I obey!
will players no longer be able to use a star trek online launcher that isn't tied to arc?
At some indeterminate point in the future, yes. They've spent a lot of time insisting "It won't become mandatory at this stage in development" to calm the furor, but even the way they do that makes clear it's "Not going to become mandatory just yet but it eventually will" at best.
if we use arc what are the benefits to me in sto? i wont be playing anything else by cryptic or pwe that much is certain. i play sto because I'm a star trek fan simples. so how can arc be good for a sto only player on a personal level?
It's utterly useless at the level you're asking about. Its benefits are solely to PWE, and lie solely in their ability to shove all their other games in your face.
will there be ways to disable all NON related sto/star trek ads and promotions?
Dream on. This is in direct opposition to its entire reason for existence.
why dose this programme do things protection seaware warns us against?
Because they're still working on how to hide its real purpose from code intended specifically to detect such things. :cool:
Comments
if PWE is dead set on forcing Arc down our throats despite the fact that almost 95% of people in this forum dislike it(obviously they are), do yourself and your company a favor and make Arc an option so the players who enjoy PWE games can launch them from one place, and those that only play STO can stick with the regular launcher.
By making arc mandatory, all you will accomplish PWE, is lose over half the players, and potentially ruin STO. there are plenty of other games out there, and if arc becomes mandatory, i will spend my time on them instead of STO
Funny thing after yesterday where I posted I had a way of logging in without using arc even though it forced me to download it off the website now it won't patch properly unless I open arc which AVG has given multiple recommendations to stop loading arc due to how much its requiring of the system to load. Plus still getting this request to install a plugin with chrome.
I wouldn't be suprised if it comes with a load of rootkits, spyware, trojans and is hi-jacking your internet to make you part of a chinese bot net...
Well, actually "wouldn't be suprised" is the wrong term - I expect those things to be build in
Based on the dancing anyone with answers has done around this question so far, the answer is "CLASSIFIED" and we'll never know.
(Most likely translation: They know that if they actually answered this question honestly, what few supporters they have would turn on them in a heartbeat.)
Is the Pope Catholic? Do bears excrete in the woods? Does PWE love money?
That's why we get more of this ****! They don't like it, they don't want it, but they use it anyway and then they wonder why this **** gets more and more and more ...
Hey Donbo,
We've been responding to a lot of feedback, bug reports, and suggestions, too. Of course, we can't respond to everything, but we try to.
We are committed to addressing any compatibility issues with anti-malware software, so please feel free to continue escalating those reports. We've already escalated a couple regarding Avira and Malwarebytes from this very thread.
For any reports of alerts from these programs, please let us know. The more information that can be provided, the better. The full report from the software, including what specific activity or behavior it identified as suspicious, can help us improve Arc to ensure that it is accurately analyzed as safe and secure.
Remember, PW, we DONT like ARC.
Stop pushing your unnecessary platform onto us.
Yes, Steam rocks, but Origin is an abortion.
Do you REALLY want to be regarded in the same way as EA? really?
Thanks for the report, Teluas. Do you have any data regarding what attribute or element of the site caused the employer's hardware/software to block it?
unfortunately, no... when I get the "blocked" screen, it just says its not allowed, no explanation why. sorry!
Hey dgdolph,
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.
Hey Maxvitor,
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!
Your gamers do not want to use it. Apparently, you are not listening.
JustGaming4US - https://www.youtube.com/user/JustGaming4Us/
Twitter - https://twitter.com/Brent_Justice
Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/brentjustice
As it currently is the launcher is running the pushing of content updates to the game client, and I understand Arc is intended to replace that system, this being the reason to phase out the use of the current game clients. As it is both arc and steam open the current launcher in order to patch. Once Arc is implemented fully, will the steam client also fill the role that Arc will play? I.e. in order to patch or launch STO once the current launcher is phased out, will launching the game from steam launch arc, which will handle patches and such, and then you would have to launch STO itself from ARC, or will you use the steam architecture for patching, and launch the game directly from steam?
I appreciate the quick response. Now to address my personal question which may or may not shut me up on these threads....Why won't you consider making ARC optional? For people that play one game (like me) it should be optional, for those that play many games I can see the benefit of having a "one stop shop" point of entry". If ARC was optional there would be great celebrations, happiness and the masses would sing praises to Cryptic.
Don
One thing is certain, the looming threat of ARCs future forced inclusion in this game has dissuaded me from risking making any more financial investments, there is no point in spending money on a game that I could be leaving at any time.
I can only hope that CBS is keeping a wary eye on what these people are doing with this product, they are probably the only ones who can keep PW from turning this into a complete abomination.
Cryptic has my sympathy in this matter, I'm pretty sure this is not something they are willingly foisting on their userbase.
I think a good portion of the playerbase, at least those who care enough to post in the forums about it, have already told you what its 'fuctionality' is.
THey did. the answer was i believe a resounding no.
Yeah we don't want it and would like the old launcher to be put back up on the site to use instead of arc I am having the same problems as well as its showing the 2nd highest loading startup program that arc is exceeding 4x the amount of system resources to load which to me means its doing a lot more than what it says its doing. As well there is this request to trust an arcplugin on almost every website I visit which means its data mining.
So give us a way to not use arc because I certainly do not want it.
This is why there's such a fervor to "please tell us every detail of what your scanner said about ARC."
It's because of the unspoken conclusion: "...so that we can better disguise the spyware and rootkits to prevent them from being detected in the future, mandatory installation."
And frankly, there's only one answer I really want: "When is 'the date' that ARC becomes mandatory? I know it will, so cut to the chase and tell me on what date I should mark 'uninstall STO and move on' on my calendar."
Moreover, my ingame gfx settings are perfectly tuned for my hardware performance. If this Arc uses resources while playing, I will have to downgrade my settings and that is a big NO!
Of course the PWE brass doesn't care at all, as long as the money keeps coming in.
For the glory of Tempus!
I am the hands of Shar!
Flames of Kossuth, protect me!
Oghma, grant me knowledge!
Lolth commands, and I obey!
now I've seen this thread I'm alarmed that arc obviously works in such a way that protection software don't like it one little bit.
so i have some questions just in case I've missed some obvious stuff.
will players no longer be able to use a star trek online launcher that isn't tied to arc?
if we use arc what are the benefits to me in sto? i wont be playing anything else by cryptic or pwe that much is certain. i play sto because I'm a star trek fan simples. so how can arc be good for a sto only player on a personal level?
will there be ways to disable all NON related sto/star trek ads and promotions?
will people still be able to use it through steam exactly how they currently do now or will that be altered?
why dose this programme do things protection seaware warns us against?
-They will phase out the existing launcher and replace it with Arc as the primary means of distributing patches. It is unknown if you will still be able to play arc-free using steam or not.
-There are no known individual benefits for using arc over the current set-up. They are duplicating the functionality that one would have using the steam overlay, beyond that there are no benefits I know of.
-I highly doubt you can turn off any of the ads.
-They have not said clearly whether or not it will work by having steam mirror STO patches to keep the game up to date, or if steam will open arc instead of the launcher it currently opens, and then require you to launch the game from there.
-The spyware programs are probably warning against background processes/installs. I.e. it is installing things without telling you it is installing things, such as plugins for firefox etc.
There is also no need to keep Arc running once STO has launched, unless of course they will only allow Zen purchases through it. The use of bandwidth, resources and the spyware are my biggest concerns.
For the glory of Tempus!
I am the hands of Shar!
Flames of Kossuth, protect me!
Oghma, grant me knowledge!
Lolth commands, and I obey!
At some indeterminate point in the future, yes. They've spent a lot of time insisting "It won't become mandatory at this stage in development" to calm the furor, but even the way they do that makes clear it's "Not going to become mandatory just yet but it eventually will" at best.
It's utterly useless at the level you're asking about. Its benefits are solely to PWE, and lie solely in their ability to shove all their other games in your face.
Dream on. This is in direct opposition to its entire reason for existence.
Because they're still working on how to hide its real purpose from code intended specifically to detect such things. :cool: