Private Servers Private server discussions

[Yai64 0]

The thing about MMORPG private servers, are that there are too many of them.Ask yourself:"?Is it worth creating a private server to attract player when there are already thousands out there?""Is it worth creating a private server and getting sued?""Is it worth it to use up RAM and Internet to host one?""Is it worth it to get hacked?""Is it worth it competing against other servers knowing that they are much better than you?"Is it worth it in the end?I say, it is.When you're creating a private server of your own, have a think about these things.And be careful out there.P.S: If you have decided to make a MapleStory private server and are having problems, feel free to PM me. Sorry, I only do MS Private Servers.

Edited September 17, 2008 by Yai64 (see edit history)

[DeM0nFiRe 0]

Nice, so you are condoning things that are illegal, and advertising that you personally take place in them. Here's a crazy thought, why don't you make your own game and host servers for your own game. Considering you are in the Game Development Lab and this topic has nothing to do with Game Development, you might as well do something related to game development.How about I make this topic about game development myself? You know how long it takes to make a game like the ones you are pirating? You know how much effort goes into making a game like that?Why don't I had some questions to your list of consideration:"Is it worth undermining the work of the people who put many years into making this game?""Is it worth causing the prices of video games to rise to compensate for my pirating this game?""Is it worth causing companies to impose very strict usage terms on their games because I am pirating this game?"Why don't you think about somebody else for a change, and just play the game legally.

[Yai64 0]

illegal is more fun than legal

[DeM0nFiRe 0]

What pisses me off the most is not the fact that it is illegal, it is the fact that you are hurting gamers and game developers by pulling this crap. You only give a crap about yourself and no one else.You'd better not ever complain about game development companies making their terms of use more strict, because it is your own fault.

[travstatesmen 0]

Yai64, you may like to have a look at the Terms of Service for MapleStory. These are the terms that you agreed to when you created your first account in their game. In particular, one of the points under section 2.2 Code of Conduct....

 

While using the Service, you agree not to:

Host, provide matchmaking services for, or emulate or redirect the communications protocols used by us (or our designees) as part of the Service, including, without limitation, by protocol emulation, tunneling, reverse engineering, modifying the Software or using a utility program to host the Software;

I have never seen MapleStory before, but I gather that it is similar in technical functionality to World of Warcraft, who have a similar restriction in their TOS (see section 4A of the WoW Terms of Use Agreement). Private Servers are prolific for WoW these days, and as with MapleStory they are illegal according to the TOS which you have to agree to before creating an account in their game system.

 

Researching for this reply to your post has been quite an eye-opener, as there are many good intentioned people out there on the Interwebz who have been giving legal advice to people like you, telling you that it is perfectly legal to do what you are doing. Nobody seems to be questioning the credentials of the people giving such legal advice! Do not be fooled! The rules for such things are generally already stipulated, as in the example above, on the main website of the gaming company. You don't need a legal opinion. You have already agreed, by creating an account on their server, that you will abide by their rules and will not create a private server. Case closed.

Edited September 19, 2008 by travstatesmen (see edit history)

[Yai64 0]

What pisses me off the most is not the fact that it is illegal, it is the fact that you are hurting gamers and game developers by pulling this crap. You only give a crap about yourself and no one else.
You'd better not ever complain about game development companies making their terms of use more strict, because it is your own fault.

It isn't hurting players...

And I do not give a crap only about myself, i give a crap about the community.

Plus I did not start this private server revolution. It was a fellow member of the public.

[travstatesmen 0]

What amuses me about this, and I have seen this happening a lot as I study cyberpsychology, is how people such as Yai64 start playing an online game, enjoy it, get involved in the community of fellow gamers, discuss the game outside of the borders of the game's official site (such as on a forum, fan site, or via instant chat) and then suddenly they think that they have a proprietary interest in the game, almost as if they have rights over the game.

 

This is something that comes from Web2.0 technology, user participation, user contribution, user-generated content. For instance, taking another popular Web2.0 site as an example, there are many people who regularly contribute videos to YouTube who seem to think that they own the site! User-generated content doesn't mean that you have ownership of the site! You may have rights over whatever you personally contribute, but the owners of the site still are the owners of the site. The same goes for this situation with Private Servers. The gaming community seem to think that because they spend all their life playing these games, they somehow have rights over the software and can do whatever they like with it. Reverse engineering, creating patches, custom UI's, and other violations of the TOS are commonplace, and then they think that if everybody else is doing it then it must be okay! What?! Do the rules not apply if you can get enough people to break them with you?

 

Sorry, I agree with DeM0nFiRe on this.

[DeM0nFiRe 0]

Thank you for the support on this one, travstatesmen. You are actually being more lenient with your argument than you should be. In actuality many TOS say that you give them a lot of your rights over any content you post.Yai64, you are hurting players by forcing game companies to up their security and up their prices for games.

[minimcmonkey 0]

I really think it is bad that people make private servers.Many people, spend lots of time, making these games, and that is their job, its their income, and by making a private server of thier game, you are steeling their money.Its just like, at the end of the month, going and taking someones pay cheque for a job someone else has done, it really is no beter than steeling.

[x3NoMercy 0]

I can tell u all that Jacky is 1 of the good Owner i ever met before. He puts a lot of effort in making a MS Server. He ask for our opinion and treat us so well. Although my country is far away from him, but i hope someday i will meet him. Jacky keep up your good work, all of us will support you !!!

[DeM0nFiRe 0]

What he does is illegal and is the bane of Gamer-Corporation relations. What he does should not be condoned. This just justifies all of the security measurements companies take that make it hard for us to play games.

[Yai64 0]

I can tell u all that Jacky is 1 of the good Owner i ever met before. He puts a lot of effort in making a MS Server. He ask for our opinion and treat us so well. Although my country is far away from him, but i hope someday i will meet him. Jacky keep up your good work, all of us will support you !!!

Thank you Bryan.

As you can see people, at least someone supports private servers.
They are not as bad as you think.

And we do not steal money.
We did not ask for players to join. They came to us themselves.

It is not stealing.

[Yai64 0]

Private servers are more developed than the original game.They allow us to hack (My server only) and have all these wonderful things that the original will never-ever (lots of ever's)... Have.For example.MapleGlobal will never have 10000x EXP, Drop or Meso rates.Never accept active players to become GM's.Never host daily events.Never have a job advancer.Never have boss warpers.Never have custom shops for the fellow players.Never have an ordinary person speak their thoughts on how to develop the game more.Never have custom clients.These 'Never's' have made the original game suck.Then private servers come and solve these problems.

[DeM0nFiRe 0]

If you don't like the rules of a game, I have an idea for you:

DON'T PLAY IT!

It IS stealing. It is the very frigging definition of stealing. You are taking a program you did not write and using graphics you did not make and using them in a way you do not have permission to do.If you think all of the games around suck then stop being lazy and make your own freaking game. If you insist that you can do better, do better with your own game. Stop stealing the hard work of others. It is people like you that make it impossible to create a society that can actually work together. Every time someone puts in some hard work, you come in and undermine it all.

[travstatesmen 0]

I think perhaps you are expecting a bit much there, DeM0nFiRe. Most people who make and run Private Servers are those with a little bit of knowledge, but not enough knowledge. That is why they think that they are very clever when they can pirate a game and turn it into something else, to give it more power, to make it do things that it was not originally intended to do. They don't have the ability or the skills to create something unique, they only have the ability to copy and tweak something that is already made. Most of them couldn't write a single line of code in C#.NET or even in C so I do not know why they think that their pirating abilities make them worthy to post in threads about Game Development when what they do is not Game Development at all, but is more like Game Devolvement.

Edited September 27, 2008 by travstatesmen (see edit history)