Internet Needs a Moderator (Halo 2 Leaked)

When the Internet protocols we use now were developed, it was envisioned that the Internet would be a place to exchange information and communicate with others around the world, in a "friendly" cooperative environment. Unfortunately, there are always going to be people that abuse the daylights out of anything they can, totally ruining it for others.

Two of the biggest game titles of the past year have been leaked. First it was Half Life 2, and now Halo 2. Rumor has it that even Doom 3 started leaking before it was released. Fortunately, Halo and Doom weren't nearly as devastating as the leak at Valve, but it still sucks none the less.

seattlepi.nwsource.com...

It seems very easy for someone to obtain (nearly) anonymous access to the Internet and post something as sensitive as this without the fear of getting caught. Same with the people who download this information.

Everyone knows email abuse is also out of control. The entire Internet email system is quickly becoming an unusable resource due to all the spam. The spammers are able to keep their practice going because they can avoid being tracked down. And by the time they do get tracked, they have moved elsewhere.

There needs to be some kind of positive identity tied to internet activity, so that garbage like spammers and pirates can be tracked down and held accountable. Maybe a whole new TCP type protocol with some sort of identity datagram that is tied to a globally unique and verified source. Who'd fund such an endeavour, though? And shame on Microsoft for trying to turn this whole jihad into a patent profit event!!

Ultimately, some bunghole will find a way to circumvent almost anything that can be put in place, so you have to ask why even expend the effort and resources to change it? Some people just suck. Always have, and always will.

[edit on 15-10-2004 by cabotage]

[edit on 15-10-2004 by cabotage]

It's the internets,,,,,,,,I mean INTERNET It's gonna happen.
BTW,,,This 'leaked' version is French

The game, a key title for MS' console in the run up to Christmas, is believed to have surfaced on Usenet and the web last night, possibly in the form of a localised French version, according to early reports. The download is said to weigh in at 3GB and lack support for Xbox Live multi-player gaming.

Source

no way....the internet should Never be moderated....you go ask the orignal creators what they envisioned it to be.....the Internet should be the one place in the world where there are no rules...only ettiquite

I agree, no way should the Internet be moderated at all.

I have absolutely no sympathy for either Valve or Microsoft in the matters discussed. Both know how desirable their titles are and should have security to stop such things happening.

In the case of Halo 2, someone from either MS, Bungie or an internal team (my money is on this one (translators, etc.) leaked the code, so they honestly have nobody to blame but themselves. All disks before final retail should be individually coded/security signed, so if leaks happen, it's very easy to trace where the leaker is.

In the case of Half-Life 2, Valve should have had better security on there development machines. I simply find it astounding that such a thing was possible in a major development house. I know of much smaller developers who could teach Valve a thing or two about security.

Valve also milked the situation imo, blaming the endless delays on the leak. The game was nowhere near finished when that leak happened, most people couldn't work out how to play the code properly, bad support for a lot of hardware. etc.

Doom 3, well that just plain sucked as a game anyway. Yes it was available early on the Internet, 95% of all games/DVD's/albums are. All these companies are still making huge profits. For instance 'Lord of the Rings' was probably the most pirated movie(s) ever, yet one of the biggest money makers of all time at the box office. Show me the link between that.

Originally posted by Azza
no way....the internet should Never be moderated....you go ask the orignal creators what they envisioned it to be.....the Internet should be the one place in the world where there are no rules...only ettiquite

i whole heartedly agree with u there Azza

I have absolutely no sympathy for either Valve or Microsoft in the matters discussed. Both know how desirable their titles are and should have security to stop such things happening.

Have to agree wholeheartedly here... it's their baby, they need to take care of it...

to have moderated internet? NO WAY! man! I don't need government controlling my cyber life too! screw that!

movie, game and music industries make, LOTS of money! but they are greedy and want more and more! if their game is good most of the people will buy them anyway! and if they suck, nobody will touch them anyway!

they are just blaming their sucking games or sucking movies not selling on internet! not on themselves for making a crappy film or game or music!

LOL my internet is moderated (i live on campus) you start raping their bandwidth and they see your IP...they wonder whats up. But, then again, there are some places you can get around on the interent coughirc without anyone being able to see what your doing. Thank you Mr. Bill Clinton.

Say no to internet moderators. Moderation of the interenet ends up in teh hands of some pyscho on the verge...not good.

I met Jason Jones of Bungee way back in a Macworld expo in San Fco., he has just released Pathways into Darkness ( I think 1993) he was very young enthusiast and he told me he was living like a prisiones ,almost no ffod, no money he put everything into games. I bought the game. 2 Yeras later I found him again and Marathon was out he was enjoying his success a lot and I was happy for him because I knew how much He and other suffered to get there.

I DID NOT KNOW he was going to be a HUGE game mogul ( I would have invested DARN!)

I dont like piracy or ripping off someones work, but closing th einternet or having moderators here is a mistake, Internet is the ultimate freedom ....

True, moderation would not be the best option. However, I do feel that the anonymity at present allows people to get away with far too much. The Internet is an amazing place, but there are too many people abusing their privileges and making it suck for the masses.

Not a big fan of internet moderation. An ddon't you dare look at my mp3 collection!

In regards to Halo2. I agree there should have been a better safeguard in place. unless ther is, and this was a connived attempt at Microsoft to uncover a suspected leak or affiliate leak source.

And long live the ATS Halo/Halo2 Clan! Resurrect it from the ashes and let's play!

Originally posted by Azza
no way....the internet should Never be moderated....you go ask the orignal creators what they envisioned it to be.....the Internet should be the one place in the world where there are no rules...only ettiquite

The orignal creators the Pentagon organization DARPA or ARPA as they were called back then. They might not have envisioned it to be a place in the world with no rules.

"In the Beginning, ARPA created the ARPANET.
And the ARPANET was without form and void.

And darkness was upon the deep.

And the spirit of ARPA moved upon the face of the network and ARPA said, 'Let there be a protocol,' and there was a protocol. And ARPA saw that it was good.

And ARPA said, 'Let there be more protocols,' and it was so. And ARPA saw that it was good.

And ARPA said, 'Let there be more networks,' and it was so."

-- Danny Cohen

www.computerhistory.org...

Originally posted by MrMister
Valve also milked the situation imo, blaming the endless delays on the leak. The game was nowhere near finished when that leak happened,

I agree 100%. Valve totally milked the whole thing. I think in a lot of ways they were glad it happened.

BTW, I'm in the gaming industry, so these leaks hit home. A lot of effort goes into the development of a large game, and it totally sucks to see all that effort being spread around uncontrolled. I also understand that they were all probably leaked from the inside, so they have no one to blame but themselves.

great news if i had x-box

common people how many of you are still paying $50-60 on sh*ty games???

its the future!!!

Originally posted by they see ALL
common people how many of you are still paying $50-60 on sh*ty games???

its the future!!!

What do you mean "it's the future"? (corrected for spelling) I sincerely hope you aren't implying that the preferred method to acquire such things is over a P2P connection! I really really hope I am misinterpreting what you meant.

no way do i want the internet moderated. it's free, we enjoy unprecedented amounts of freedom on here and i don't want that. If we start moderating the net, we'll be no better than china or iran

thanks,
drfunk

I suspect it was probably leaked by one of the poorly (or not at all) paid people translating or play-testing the game. I saw a video of the office and there were copies of the game everywhere, while the tour guide (one of the creators) laughed about how the play testers weren't paid anything and walked on to the next section. If they expect the game to be safe they need to assure that the people entrusted with it will be, and handing it out to people who are there just for the enjoyment of running into wall after wall looking for holes isn't smart at all.

Really though, at 3 gb and in french how far is this going to go? I'd guess not far.. and it can't be used on X-box live so I doubt it works in the other networks that people with chipped boxes use.

Originally posted by shbaz

Really though, at 3 gb and in french how far is this going to go? I'd guess not far.. and it can't be used on X-box live so I doubt it works in the other networks that people with chipped boxes use.

Thats a good point, Halo2 already has a insane amounts of pre-orders close to a million I think. This is a game people will dish out 50 bucks to get. Plus the fact that its not in English I dont think many people will go through the 3 gb download.

I dont think this will hurt sales of Halo 2

Halo 2 has to be one of the most hyped up, talked about, mass marketed games of all time closely followed by Doom3. As with claims made about the doom3 "unofficial" release, is it not possible this "accidental" release MAY have been done on purpose to:

A) Increase MORE publicity
B) Further the growing push for the abolishment of P2P networks & any form of anonymous file sharing?

Cos I mean, look at the amount of marketing that's been done for this game. The thousands of magazines that have interviewed the programmers, the hundreds of internet articles, the hundreds of posters, the constant "we're going to release this game in a month...(3weeks later) nah actually, you've going to have to wait another 6months now" etc etc..