2) We're currently looking at the resources it's using to see if we can find any potential issues.
At least give it an option to close itself after launching the game, no matter how few ressources it's using. Seriously why do you want it to keep running?
TOIVA, Toi Vaxx, Toia Vix, Toveg, T'vritha, To Vrax: Bring in the Allegiance class. Toi'Va, Ti'vath, Toivia, Ty'Vris, Tia Vex, Toi'Virth: Add Tier 6 KDF Carrier and Raider. Tae'Va, T'Vaya, To'Var, Tevra, T'Vira, To'Vrak: Give us Asylums for Romulans.
I've tried arc and I went in with an open mind, I liked the setup and the installing of games.... However every game I launch with it is much slower than just running them on their own. So I uninstalled it and went back to using the launcher, I know a lot of people are worried that using arc is somehow running in the background, people are worried that you are basically using spyware masquerading as a launcher, they worry that the company they put money and time into is now going all shady, it would be nice if a dev wrote an article allaying people's fears by categorically telling us in plain English with no spin that your not spying on our systems with this in any way. Till this happens a lot will still want it to be optional and the day it does become mandatory they will leave a lot of them very lucrative paying customers, please concider that.
Lol, so if a pwe boss say to a def , tell them we not spying on them you belief the def...
or do you think the def will look into arc to see if its spying ?? and if it does tell us and doesn't lissen to his boss ?
Lol, so if a pwe boss say to a def , tell them we not spying on them you belief the def...
or do you think the def will look into arc to see if its spying ?? and if it does tell us and doesn't lissen to his boss ?
All they will find out is that I play a lot of STO lol
It looks like no one wants ARC. The resource thing isn't an issue for me as I have a very high end machine, but I can understand why those with a less powerful rig may get upset over this.
I have to agree with everyone else that Arc does seem pointless. All the news I see on ARC was already available on the STO launcher. I cannot think of any reason for us to have or use ARC other that to satisfy PWE's need to have more software on our machines. It does seem funny that ARC keeps trying to send my data to you about my web browser and my machine build.
That's really none of your business.
I have taken steps to keep this from happening, but I can only estimate how many people are sending PWE data without even knowing it.
Until this question is answered, any other response offered will come across as hollow. Please stop dodging this issue. I have invested a lot of money in your games so the least PWE can do is be straight with me / us.
Yes, I am a life timer and I have purchased Zen in the past so for me this isn't an issue of "Oh, it's a free game, stop crying." I refuse to be pulled into that argument. I am glad that I have money to spend on games, but I and many others are not afraid to pull out and take our money elsewhere. Heck, I am sure you can check out my account and see how much money I've spent. It's not exactly pennies. If you don't want that money, keep pushing ARC. If you do, listen to us and do away with the secrets.
In the end, this is a business relationship and I refuse to do business with anyone who is not honest and forthcoming with me. I really do enjoy STO and the community. All this ARC situation is doing is stirring up trouble.
No, I am not who you think I am. I am someone different. I am instead a banana.
Thank you all for the warm welcomes, I really appreciate it. I know a lot of you have questions, so I'll see what I can answer.
1) A lot of you have expressed concerned with dual clients running and I wanted to let you know that we are aware of this, and will let you know when we get more updates regarding this. Arc is still in beta, so a lot of functionality is either not implemented yet, or is being worked on.
2) We're currently looking at the resources it's using to see if we can find any potential issues.
3) I've read a good amount of issues regarding the scroll bar in Arc. I've brought that up with the rest of the team, so we are also aware of that.
If I missed anything else, feel free to point it out. I'm constantly browsing the forums looking for any and all feedback I can. I understand all of your concerns and I do want you to know that I'm elevating all of your feedback to the right people. Once again, thank you all and I hope to hear from you soon!
One of my concerns was needing administrator privileges to run Arc. I don't want to log in as administrator just to play the game.
This is demonstrably untrue. It looks like a lot of people don't want ARC, but there have been pro-ARC posts in every ARC-related thread, and there have been people asking for integration into Core Connect (which evolved into ARC) since PWE's involvement was first announced.
It's clear lots of people don't want ARC, and it's possible they're a majority (I don't pretend to know), but it's absolutely also true that there are people who do want it.
Former moderator of these forums. Lifetime sub since before launch. Been here since before public betas. Foundry author of "Franklin Drake Must Die".
This is demonstrably untrue. It looks like a lot of people don't want ARC, but there have been pro-ARC posts in every ARC-related thread, and there have been people asking for integration into Core Connect (which evolved into ARC) since PWE's involvement was first announced.
It's clear lots of people don't want ARC, and it's possible they're a majority (I don't pretend to know), but it's absolutely also true that there are people who do want it.
That is why I said "it looks like...."
Then again, for all any of us know, those could be sock puppets. It is not unheard of for sock puppets to post things like fake reviews, posts, and other similar content to further an agenda.
No, I am not who you think I am. I am someone different. I am instead a banana.
Then again, for all any of us know, those could be sock puppets. It is not unheard of for sock puppets to post things like fake reviews, posts, and other similar content to further an agenda.
This could also be said for the people who don't want ARC as well.
Then again, for all any of us know, those could be sock puppets. It is not unheard of for sock puppets to post things like fake reviews, posts, and other similar content to further an agenda.
I think it's a bit much to propose that they've been operating accounts with active Raptr feeds of multiple games and hundreds of forum posts, just so that some day they could sock puppet for ARC. If you're going to engage in conspiracy theory, at least keep it plausible. :rolleyes:
Former moderator of these forums. Lifetime sub since before launch. Been here since before public betas. Foundry author of "Franklin Drake Must Die".
I think it's a bit much to propose that they've been operating accounts with active Raptr feeds of multiple games and hundreds of forum posts, just so that some day they could sock puppet for ARC. If you're going to engage in conspiracy theory, at least keep it plausible. :rolleyes:
Visit Amazon eBooks and tell me that again. Good Reads, which is now owned by Amazon, had several groups of admitted sock puppets that would either flaunt or troll an author's book or other works to either prop them up or destroy them. This is a well known issue in the world of publishing. Who says it cannot happen here?
I am talking about people with upwards of 20 accounts, all used for the sole purpose of trolling those they felt were unworthy of their praise or who didn't go along with their way of thinking. It has slowed some now that people are bringing lawsuits for libel against some of the individuals, but these things do happen.
No, I am not who you think I am. I am someone different. I am instead a banana.
Well, I'm not a "sock puppet", but personally I don't see what all the fuss is about :rolleyes: ...
Arc is like Nitrogen gas in the atmosphere, it doesn't help us really, but it doesn't harm us either ... It's there so just ignore it and move on.
Arc is PWE's launcher, and I've not doubt it's here to stay, so complaining about it won't change anything ...
As already mentioned (several times, on several threads) It's funny that Steam used to be the most evil thing the gaming industry ever created, and their are still a few "I hate Steam" threads and posts around the net, but most now accept it, and ... Move on!
I liked the new Beta version it was great, liked how they had the background that was cool, I don't understand why people hate ARC so much I love ARC its great
I liked the new Beta version it was great, liked how they had the background that was cool, I don't understand why people hate ARC so much I love ARC its great
1) A lot of people fear the unknown and there is a lot of unknowns surrounding Arc
2) It feels like something is being forced on us (not the first time if you've been here long enough to remember the forum merger)
3) It adds no functionality that is essential to the game
4) It takes away some functionality of the game like running multiple clients on the same machine
5) It adds an extra server that can and will go down that we must access to play the game
6) It uses more than the insignificant amount of resources that has been claimed be the Arc PR
Some of these points have workaround for now while we can still close Arc after launching the game through the task manager but if that is ever taken away every point becomes very valid and unavoidable.
Well I'm taking the plunge... I have the original installation running on my main PC, now I have posted many times that I'm unhappy with the introduction of ARC, but as I am planning on completely wiping and re-installing this 2nd PC I've decided to try ARC.
First of all the dl/installation was quick and easy, options for privacy used and no sign of any hidden 'features' so far.
I'm typing this on the arc browser while DL/installing STO, which is currently trying to update launcher...
Total time so far 28 mins!
STO now updating...
Arc.exe*32 = 80,064kb
ArcOSBrowser = 71,392kb
Star trek online*32 = 80,271kb (while updating)
I'll update this post when update is complete.
"A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects." — Lazarus Long --->Get the Forums Enhancement Extension!
Thank you all for the warm welcomes, I really appreciate it. I know a lot of you have questions, so I'll see what I can answer.
1) A lot of you have expressed concerned with dual clients running and I wanted to let you know that we are aware of this, and will let you know when we get more updates regarding this. Arc is still in beta, so a lot of functionality is either not implemented yet, or is being worked on.
2) We're currently looking at the resources it's using to see if we can find any potential issues.
3) I've read a good amount of issues regarding the scroll bar in Arc. I've brought that up with the rest of the team, so we are also aware of that.
If I missed anything else, feel free to point it out. I'm constantly browsing the forums looking for any and all feedback I can. I understand all of your concerns and I do want you to know that I'm elevating all of your feedback to the right people. Once again, thank you all and I hope to hear from you soon!
Highlighted the key statement. Pointing out that a majority do not even want this bloatware. You missed that when pointing out what you are seeing as far as feedback goes.
-Rule of Acquisition #113: Always have sex with the boss.
-I am one of the many victims from the hijacked Caspian Division.
I will not let the childish acts of a criminal ruin this game for me.
-The actions of Cryptic, on the other hand......
You understand and agree that the Software may monitor and communicate information from your computer, including without limitation information relating to hardware capacity and modifications.
So to me that reads you can grab any information from my PC if you want to, and its not limited. I don't give a hoot about my configuration of my machine, or if you know it. I do however object to you being able to record data on when or what I am doing at a given time, even when its not related to PWE. Because that's how that part of the EULA reads.
You tighten that part of the EULA up to restrict it to PWE software and I might well consider installing the software.
A thought occurs. When Arc is mandatory, and a Lifer refuses to the EULA, surely you are then breaking the agreement between the Lifer and the company? Namely the ability to access the game for its entire lifetime.
And As we know EULA's aren't worth spit in the EU.
The above is in no way a threat, just a little curiosity that popped into my mind.
Thank you all for the warm welcomes, I really appreciate it. I know a lot of you have questions, so I'll see what I can answer.
1) A lot of you have expressed concerned with dual clients running and I wanted to let you know that we are aware of this, and will let you know when we get more updates regarding this. Arc is still in beta, so a lot of functionality is either not implemented yet, or is being worked on.
2) We're currently looking at the resources it's using to see if we can find any potential issues.
3) I've read a good amount of issues regarding the scroll bar in Arc. I've brought that up with the rest of the team, so we are also aware of that.
If I missed anything else, feel free to point it out. I'm constantly browsing the forums looking for any and all feedback I can. I understand all of your concerns and I do want you to know that I'm elevating all of your feedback to the right people. Once again, thank you all and I hope to hear from you soon!
Ok, here's the number-one and number-two issues that I have seen with ARC:
1. Massive customer dislike. What are you going to do about the abject hatred that many members of the community have for ARC?
2. Spying. Why did ARC trip all of my spyware monitors, try to download my private browsing information, and generally behave as a sophisticated virus before I removed it from my computer? What are you going to do to address this issue?
And my personal biggest beef:
For those people who do not want to install the ARC client, will you insist on making ARC the only way to run STO and other Cryptic games? Because I can tell you first-hand that the ONLY thing stopping me from playing CO and Neverwinter is the mandatory ARC download, and I'll bet that there are many other people on these forums of the exact same opinion.
Noticed something the other day when using arc to log in for the khan outfit. After clicking play, it launched the original STO launcher and then launched the game from that. What is the point of Arc if it's going to use the original launcher? We can use the original launcher ourselves and the majority of us would prefer to do so.
-Rule of Acquisition #113: Always have sex with the boss.
-I am one of the many victims from the hijacked Caspian Division.
I will not let the childish acts of a criminal ruin this game for me.
-The actions of Cryptic, on the other hand......
Noticed something the other day when using arc to log in for the khan outfit. After clicking play, it launched the original STO launcher and then launched the game from that. What is the point of Arc if it's going to use the original launcher? We can use the original launcher ourselves and the majority of us would prefer to do so.
They have basically said this is temporary. When Arc fully rolls out, the STO launcher, and all launchers for PWE games, will be gone. Arc is going to become a single launcher for all the games.
A thought occurs. When Arc is mandatory, and a Lifer refuses to the EULA, surely you are then breaking the agreement between the Lifer and the company? Namely the ability to access the game for its entire lifetime.
And As we know EULA's aren't worth spit in the EU.
Sadly that's not the case in the US. EULA's are generally binding here (I think there have been an exception or two). As a lifer myself, I don't like it either.
Plus, I wouldn't be surprised if the EULA originally said something along the lines of "we reserve the right to change this agreement at our whim."
Sadly that's not the case in the US. EULA's are generally binding here (I think there have been an exception or two). As a lifer myself, I don't like it either.
Plus, I wouldn't be surprised if the EULA originally said something along the lines of "we reserve the right to change this agreement at our whim."
Try the Sales of goods act (Or your local equivalent there of), at least in the UK that applies to services as well.
As I said by EU law EULA aren't worth anything, and as the ARC EULA says its governed by EU law...
But that wasn't my main point, it was more idle curiosity. The main point is: If you' want to collate data be open about it, otherwise people will tell PWE to go away. As you've all but admitted in your EULA you'll be gathering data about anything and everything that happens on my machine, well, not going to happen.
Lets put it another way. Most MMO's die early, those that get past the first year or so normally have enough oomph to go for the long haul. Yet adding a program that will spy on your users is going to drive lots of customers away.
So I guess ARC has the following options:
1: Carry on as is, and potentially kill off the golden goose.
2: Change the Spyware parts of the program and the EULA, and be open about it. And watch Cryptics games continue to grow. Because having to down load something that is openly saying it will spy on you, well news of that will get round, and do you really want that PR disaster on your games.
Quick poll, that new Cryptic MMO that they've started working on, lets say its a Firefly MMO. Hands up all those would would DL the game if they knew they had to get ARC, and that it was going to gather data on them...
The other thing is, ignoring people with these questions, like has been happening isn't going to make them go away, if anything the silence is deafening, and makes you look even more guilty!
I'm not as a rule opposed to ARC, I am opposed to mysterious pieces of software which thinks it has a legal right to potentially spy on my computer use.
I don;t know why we are bothering to give anymore feedback as it is falling on deaths ears. Arc will be forced upon us and maybe Steam users can use STO without for a short team before they to are converted to Arc. Arc is a useless piece of spyware which has no use to he customer and will never be downloaded by me and if that means I don't play STO anymore well considering the mindless grind the game is slowly becoming I'm better off finding something else to play.
NO TO ARC
Vice Admiral Volmack ISS Thundermole
Brigadier General Jokag IKS Gorkan
Centurion Kares RRW Tomalak
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
I don;t know why we are bothering to give anymore feedback as it is falling on deaths ears. Arc will be forced upon us and maybe Steam users can use STO without for a short team before they to are converted to Arc. Arc is a useless piece of spyware which has no use to he customer and will never be downloaded by me and if that means I don't play STO anymore well considering the mindless grind the game is slowly becoming I'm better off finding something else to play.
Do we have any evidence to suggest that STO will be available to patch via Steam? If Steam patching is to be enabled then by all means continue, but one thing is certain I will not have Arc on my computer.
I have stopped purchasing anything from the Z-Store until I know what is happening with Arc as I could end up wasting my money. Think about that one, the mere threat of Arc has stopped me from purchasing from Cryptic.
Lol, so if a pwe boss say to a def , tell them we not spying on them you belief the def...
or do you think the def will look into arc to see if its spying ?? and if it does tell us and doesn't lissen to his boss ?
You're already running their software on your computer. If they need to spy on you, they could just put the "spy-code" in Startrek Online. It's not like you need to launch Arc on startup.
Resource Consumption? Have you really checked that it consumes a lot?I suppose some PCs can't afford to run a browser, mail client and a OneNote/Word/Excel parallel to STO, but I think many can do that without a hitch.
I don't think Arc is stricly speaking necessary and it's not really useful to me - I can use the old launchers just fine and I have a browser for visiting the STO and other game websites already. But the rest seems more tinfoil territory or simply false assumptions at work.
Star Trek Online Advancement: You start with lowbie gear, you end with Lobi gear.
I don't want or need it, since it provides no functionality that I don't already have in another form. It's like adding a standard Cloaking Device to a B'Rel Retrofit in addition to the Enhanced Battle Cloak; sure it's something added on, but what does it actually accomplish? The resources spent on its development could be better allocated to fixing the bugs we see in the game, even if you have "a core technology that means our designers can focus less on a game's nuts and bolts"...
Security and privacy are both concerns as well. You see that hyperlink above? You can follow those in Arc as well as in your standard browser... has Arc added the convenient little banner down there that displays the target, and do you have access to your various security plugins within the overlay's web browser? Do my privacy settings from my current web browser apply to the Arc web browser (not the Arc privacy settings, but the privacy settings that apply when visiting other sites)
copied this from another user. (above) read alot of posts and the devs are being very selective on answering, they clearly do not seem to want to see 98% do not want Arc. Cryptic, please just actully listen to what people are saying, What good is arc if people leave the game over it.
Sadly I will not get an answer, they are full blown on forcing Arc and will not accept that we do not want it, maybe someday, just maybe they may listen!
I caved in. Downloaded Arc for the Khan costume. IMMEDIATELY deleted it. STO is the only game I play. There was nothing on that software that remotely interested me. Social hub - useless - all my friends are IN STO. Info on other games - useless - assuming I want to play with Trolls and Elves because I play STO is incorrect, therefore I dont care about other games. Installing Arc so I can launch the SAME launcher? - suspect at best.
I'm hoping that they aren't counting hits for downloading it as any kind of success factor. Sooo many of my fleet mates downloaded and deleted it just for the costume.
If they do and post something about the number of downloads, they better be ready to report how many uninstalls were recorded since they have a survey at the end asking why it's being uninstalled. So that "we have no numbers" is BS.
Steam isn't an option. You can't launch the same game more than once, nor can you launch other steam games. Perhaps there are exceptions, but I've tried with other games and it doesn't work. I don't have my STO installed via Steam and don't intend to (unless Arc is forced).
EDIT: I just thought about it, and some games can be launched directly outside of Steam, even if they were installed by it. That would counter the issues I just mentioned. I still don't like the lack of install location customization, but I can deal with that if I have to use Steam.
.
You can tell Steam where to install. It's just not that easily found.
Thank you all for the warm welcomes, I really appreciate it. I know a lot of you have questions, so I'll see what I can answer.
1) A lot of you have expressed concerned with dual clients running and I wanted to let you know that we are aware of this, and will let you know when we get more updates regarding this. Arc is still in beta, so a lot of functionality is either not implemented yet, or is being worked on.
2) We're currently looking at the resources it's using to see if we can find any potential issues.
3) I've read a good amount of issues regarding the scroll bar in Arc. I've brought that up with the rest of the team, so we are also aware of that.
If I missed anything else, feel free to point it out. I'm constantly browsing the forums looking for any and all feedback I can. I understand all of your concerns and I do want you to know that I'm elevating all of your feedback to the right people. Once again, thank you all and I hope to hear from you soon!
Not a technical issue, per se, but I have to tell you that the arcgames.com News pages being shoe-horned into my Arc client drives me crazy.
It's too cluttered and too busy, and it's all crammed into a narrow area that the content wasn't designed to live in. If you have to use tiled content in there, at least make it all one vertical column.
If you can do something to fix this, I'd deeply appreciate it.
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 have a serious question here. Ignoring the fact that it's buggy as hell, if the arc software did in fact work, would there actually be a single benefit for us as players? Because as far as I can tell, even if it did work it'd still just be inconveniencing us so that they can advertise their other games.
Comments
At least give it an option to close itself after launching the game, no matter how few ressources it's using. Seriously why do you want it to keep running?
Toi'Va, Ti'vath, Toivia, Ty'Vris, Tia Vex, Toi'Virth: Add Tier 6 KDF Carrier and Raider.
Tae'Va, T'Vaya, To'Var, Tevra, T'Vira, To'Vrak: Give us Asylums for Romulans.
Don't make ARC mandatory! Keep it optional only!
Lol, so if a pwe boss say to a def , tell them we not spying on them you belief the def...
or do you think the def will look into arc to see if its spying ?? and if it does tell us and doesn't lissen to his boss ?
All they will find out is that I play a lot of STO
I have to agree with everyone else that Arc does seem pointless. All the news I see on ARC was already available on the STO launcher. I cannot think of any reason for us to have or use ARC other that to satisfy PWE's need to have more software on our machines. It does seem funny that ARC keeps trying to send my data to you about my web browser and my machine build.
That's really none of your business.
I have taken steps to keep this from happening, but I can only estimate how many people are sending PWE data without even knowing it.
Until this question is answered, any other response offered will come across as hollow. Please stop dodging this issue. I have invested a lot of money in your games so the least PWE can do is be straight with me / us.
Yes, I am a life timer and I have purchased Zen in the past so for me this isn't an issue of "Oh, it's a free game, stop crying." I refuse to be pulled into that argument. I am glad that I have money to spend on games, but I and many others are not afraid to pull out and take our money elsewhere. Heck, I am sure you can check out my account and see how much money I've spent. It's not exactly pennies. If you don't want that money, keep pushing ARC. If you do, listen to us and do away with the secrets.
In the end, this is a business relationship and I refuse to do business with anyone who is not honest and forthcoming with me. I really do enjoy STO and the community. All this ARC situation is doing is stirring up trouble.
One of my concerns was needing administrator privileges to run Arc. I don't want to log in as administrator just to play the game.
This is demonstrably untrue. It looks like a lot of people don't want ARC, but there have been pro-ARC posts in every ARC-related thread, and there have been people asking for integration into Core Connect (which evolved into ARC) since PWE's involvement was first announced.
It's clear lots of people don't want ARC, and it's possible they're a majority (I don't pretend to know), but it's absolutely also true that there are people who do want it.
That is why I said "it looks like...."
Then again, for all any of us know, those could be sock puppets. It is not unheard of for sock puppets to post things like fake reviews, posts, and other similar content to further an agenda.
This could also be said for the people who don't want ARC as well.
I think it's a bit much to propose that they've been operating accounts with active Raptr feeds of multiple games and hundreds of forum posts, just so that some day they could sock puppet for ARC. If you're going to engage in conspiracy theory, at least keep it plausible. :rolleyes:
Visit Amazon eBooks and tell me that again. Good Reads, which is now owned by Amazon, had several groups of admitted sock puppets that would either flaunt or troll an author's book or other works to either prop them up or destroy them. This is a well known issue in the world of publishing. Who says it cannot happen here?
I am talking about people with upwards of 20 accounts, all used for the sole purpose of trolling those they felt were unworthy of their praise or who didn't go along with their way of thinking. It has slowed some now that people are bringing lawsuits for libel against some of the individuals, but these things do happen.
Arc is like Nitrogen gas in the atmosphere, it doesn't help us really, but it doesn't harm us either ... It's there so just ignore it and move on.
Arc is PWE's launcher, and I've not doubt it's here to stay, so complaining about it won't change anything ...
As already mentioned (several times, on several threads) It's funny that Steam used to be the most evil thing the gaming industry ever created, and their are still a few "I hate Steam" threads and posts around the net, but most now accept it, and ... Move on!
1) A lot of people fear the unknown and there is a lot of unknowns surrounding Arc
2) It feels like something is being forced on us (not the first time if you've been here long enough to remember the forum merger)
3) It adds no functionality that is essential to the game
4) It takes away some functionality of the game like running multiple clients on the same machine
5) It adds an extra server that can and will go down that we must access to play the game
6) It uses more than the insignificant amount of resources that has been claimed be the Arc PR
Some of these points have workaround for now while we can still close Arc after launching the game through the task manager but if that is ever taken away every point becomes very valid and unavoidable.
First of all the dl/installation was quick and easy, options for privacy used and no sign of any hidden 'features' so far.
I'm typing this on the arc browser while DL/installing STO, which is currently trying to update launcher...
Total time so far 28 mins!
STO now updating...
Arc.exe*32 = 80,064kb
ArcOSBrowser = 71,392kb
Star trek online*32 = 80,271kb (while updating)
I'll update this post when update is complete.
Highlighted the key statement. Pointing out that a majority do not even want this bloatware. You missed that when pointing out what you are seeing as far as feedback goes.
-Rule of Acquisition #113: Always have sex with the boss.
-I am one of the many victims from the hijacked Caspian Division.
I will not let the childish acts of a criminal ruin this game for me.
-The actions of Cryptic, on the other hand......
Section 4(j) of the EULA reads:
So to me that reads you can grab any information from my PC if you want to, and its not limited. I don't give a hoot about my configuration of my machine, or if you know it. I do however object to you being able to record data on when or what I am doing at a given time, even when its not related to PWE. Because that's how that part of the EULA reads.
You tighten that part of the EULA up to restrict it to PWE software and I might well consider installing the software.
A thought occurs. When Arc is mandatory, and a Lifer refuses to the EULA, surely you are then breaking the agreement between the Lifer and the company? Namely the ability to access the game for its entire lifetime.
And As we know EULA's aren't worth spit in the EU.
The above is in no way a threat, just a little curiosity that popped into my mind.
Ok, here's the number-one and number-two issues that I have seen with ARC:
1. Massive customer dislike. What are you going to do about the abject hatred that many members of the community have for ARC?
2. Spying. Why did ARC trip all of my spyware monitors, try to download my private browsing information, and generally behave as a sophisticated virus before I removed it from my computer? What are you going to do to address this issue?
And my personal biggest beef:
For those people who do not want to install the ARC client, will you insist on making ARC the only way to run STO and other Cryptic games? Because I can tell you first-hand that the ONLY thing stopping me from playing CO and Neverwinter is the mandatory ARC download, and I'll bet that there are many other people on these forums of the exact same opinion.
-Rule of Acquisition #113: Always have sex with the boss.
-I am one of the many victims from the hijacked Caspian Division.
I will not let the childish acts of a criminal ruin this game for me.
-The actions of Cryptic, on the other hand......
They have basically said this is temporary. When Arc fully rolls out, the STO launcher, and all launchers for PWE games, will be gone. Arc is going to become a single launcher for all the games.
Sadly that's not the case in the US. EULA's are generally binding here (I think there have been an exception or two). As a lifer myself, I don't like it either.
Plus, I wouldn't be surprised if the EULA originally said something along the lines of "we reserve the right to change this agreement at our whim."
Try the Sales of goods act (Or your local equivalent there of), at least in the UK that applies to services as well.
As I said by EU law EULA aren't worth anything, and as the ARC EULA says its governed by EU law...
But that wasn't my main point, it was more idle curiosity. The main point is: If you' want to collate data be open about it, otherwise people will tell PWE to go away. As you've all but admitted in your EULA you'll be gathering data about anything and everything that happens on my machine, well, not going to happen.
Lets put it another way. Most MMO's die early, those that get past the first year or so normally have enough oomph to go for the long haul. Yet adding a program that will spy on your users is going to drive lots of customers away.
So I guess ARC has the following options:
1: Carry on as is, and potentially kill off the golden goose.
2: Change the Spyware parts of the program and the EULA, and be open about it. And watch Cryptics games continue to grow. Because having to down load something that is openly saying it will spy on you, well news of that will get round, and do you really want that PR disaster on your games.
Quick poll, that new Cryptic MMO that they've started working on, lets say its a Firefly MMO. Hands up all those would would DL the game if they knew they had to get ARC, and that it was going to gather data on them...
The other thing is, ignoring people with these questions, like has been happening isn't going to make them go away, if anything the silence is deafening, and makes you look even more guilty!
I'm not as a rule opposed to ARC, I am opposed to mysterious pieces of software which thinks it has a legal right to potentially spy on my computer use.
Vice Admiral Volmack ISS Thundermole
Brigadier General Jokag IKS Gorkan
Centurion Kares RRW Tomalak
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
Do we have any evidence to suggest that STO will be available to patch via Steam? If Steam patching is to be enabled then by all means continue, but one thing is certain I will not have Arc on my computer.
I have stopped purchasing anything from the Z-Store until I know what is happening with Arc as I could end up wasting my money. Think about that one, the mere threat of Arc has stopped me from purchasing from Cryptic.
You're already running their software on your computer. If they need to spy on you, they could just put the "spy-code" in Startrek Online. It's not like you need to launch Arc on startup.
Resource Consumption? Have you really checked that it consumes a lot?I suppose some PCs can't afford to run a browser, mail client and a OneNote/Word/Excel parallel to STO, but I think many can do that without a hitch.
I don't think Arc is stricly speaking necessary and it's not really useful to me - I can use the old launchers just fine and I have a browser for visiting the STO and other game websites already. But the rest seems more tinfoil territory or simply false assumptions at work.
Security and privacy are both concerns as well. You see that hyperlink above? You can follow those in Arc as well as in your standard browser... has Arc added the convenient little banner down there that displays the target, and do you have access to your various security plugins within the overlay's web browser? Do my privacy settings from my current web browser apply to the Arc web browser (not the Arc privacy settings, but the privacy settings that apply when visiting other sites)
copied this from another user. (above) read alot of posts and the devs are being very selective on answering, they clearly do not seem to want to see 98% do not want Arc. Cryptic, please just actully listen to what people are saying, What good is arc if people leave the game over it.
Sadly I will not get an answer, they are full blown on forcing Arc and will not accept that we do not want it, maybe someday, just maybe they may listen!
If they do and post something about the number of downloads, they better be ready to report how many uninstalls were recorded since they have a survey at the end asking why it's being uninstalled. So that "we have no numbers" is BS.
You can tell Steam where to install. It's just not that easily found.
Not a technical issue, per se, but I have to tell you that the arcgames.com News pages being shoe-horned into my Arc client drives me crazy.
It's too cluttered and too busy, and it's all crammed into a narrow area that the content wasn't designed to live in. If you have to use tiled content in there, at least make it all one vertical column.
If you can do something to fix this, I'd deeply appreciate it.
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