Gamespy Arcade
<div class="IPBDescription">Not just a Gamespy...</div> Well - it all started when I bought my new gaming rig. And not just two hours after hooking it up to the net was I bombarded by Viruses, Trojans and anxious hackers trying to comandeer my new gaming rig.
I kicked them all out using such tools as Mcafee, Norton, and Pest-Patrol.
I ran pest Patrol last as a "Cleanup-crew", and what it found surprised me. You know the trusted Gamespy comany? (Who run such things as Planet Half-Life?), well - this may be old news, but it sure shocked me.
Gamespy.
Spyware.
What do you think of them now?
I kicked them all out using such tools as Mcafee, Norton, and Pest-Patrol.
I ran pest Patrol last as a "Cleanup-crew", and what it found surprised me. You know the trusted Gamespy comany? (Who run such things as Planet Half-Life?), well - this may be old news, but it sure shocked me.
Gamespy.
Spyware.
What do you think of them now?
Comments
So what's Arcade spying on then?
BIG DIFFERENCE
Adware just has ads occuring while u run the software, wich happens if u run Gamespy as an not subsciber (wich most people do) and wich u have agreed to as u installed it!
So watch out, who u are accusing!
Seems like GameSpy has now become so big it's fallen victim to the "Microsoft Syndrome": Criticising it is fashionable.
now if you'll excuse me, I'll do what I really came into this thread for...
~huggles sid's red megaman avatar~
now if you'll excuse me, I'll do what I really came into this thread for...
~huggles sid's red megaman avatar~ <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif'><!--endemo-->
Yeah - I woke up this morning *Cough* 1 P.M. *cough* and was pretty tired - so... yeah, I may have confused Spyware with Adware... but still! ADWARE! Thats... worse!
..
Yeah.
-Sid
Seems like GameSpy has now become so big it's fallen victim to the "Microsoft Syndrome": Criticising it is fashionable. <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
0wned like a fugimubutt.
But either way, ya, its just adware. If you signed up for gamespyarcade complete or whatever, it wouldn't show up. ::shrug::
Ugly interface, but it gets the job done. I never really knew how to use it, I still supprizingly have it on my computer.
It got me into On-Line Gaming proper. And if you want the "add-less" version why didn't you go for Gamespy 3D?
tehe. hehe. haha. ahaha. aaahahahaha HAHAHHAHAHAHAHA
gamespy.. trusted.. oh man that's great. :P
The one of writing good reviews? Great fansites? Adding a little humour to their content?
Steam is actually Adware too. Notice the little ad in the bottom of the "Monitor" window? Yep, that makes it Adware. Just like your television, your radio and your newspaper.
Not in the UK!
We have the BBC!
Yeah - I woke up this morning *Cough* 1 P.M. *cough* and was pretty tired - so... yeah, I may have confused Spyware with Adware... but still! ADWARE! Thats... worse!
..
Yeah.
-Sid <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
How can it be worse? Spyware is clandestine data harvesting that you aren't supposed to know about. ADware is at least frank about it. I'd much prefer the latter to the former if I was forced to make a choice. Of course I'd much prefer none of it. I guess you don't mind about things as long as they don't bother you directly, is that it?
Could you back up your unfounded mud slinging with arguments of substantial value? You are not moving in circles of 100% anti-gamespy fanboys.... I think I counted at least 4 individuals around here who does not knee-jerk into mindless conformist "OMG GAMESPY SUX".
It got me into On-Line Gaming proper. And if you want the "add-less" version why didn't you go for Gamespy 3D? <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
Yeah, I owe a lot to Gamespy as well for introducing me to online gaming an easier way. I later picked up more specialized online programs such as ASE. While it rocks, it's also a tad complicated to figure out for starters, if you want to mess with filters. Overall, Gamespy Arcade is a free product, with adds. On top of that Gamespy does lots of reviews and writing about games. I can't really with conviction say that Gamespy (including Gamespy Arcade) sucks. Not unless I belong to the narrow minded but apparently huge crowd of people whose world consists entirely of things that utterly "SUCKS" and things that are completely "COOL".
When it was just banners I didn't mind but then they started with that redirection crud (click here to continue to planethalf-life) and the innane pop-ups that everyone loathes ><
I don't know about anyone else, but I don't hate them or anything; I just get irritated when I try to use it and have to click a few more times than are necessary just to get a file or read something -.-
The bottom line is that they are a big industry with lots of employees, technical equipment and other money-consuming stuff. Meaning that they need revenue somehow. Essentially, we are offered a choice: We pay them directly, or we pay them indirectly by suffering the ads. Nothing in life comes free. And the few seconds of my time that are wasted every day by skipping their ads are not worth a membership fee.
IGN has used the "click to banner" thing for a while now. Answer me: if regular banner ads doesn't make a buck, but pop-up's and "click to continue" ads do - what would YOU suggest gamespy did instead, to make your visit pay towards their bills, geminosity? apparently their ads aren't annoying for you to not care, since you gripe about them when you visit their site. Yet do not want to pay them a subscription fee to get rid of it. It smacks of inconsistency <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif'><!--endemo--> Complaining about free stuff is just acting spoiled.
About the only thing I do is check planethalf-life for the latest news on HL2, NS and Svencoop but they're all handled by other sites anyway.
I don't expect them to work for free but I don't find the quality of the things they produce worth either the effort of the ads nor the price of subscription. I put my money down where I feel it's worth it and for me, games news usually isn't... it's just something to read when you're bored and I'd quite happily go for a cycle instead if GS suddenly collapsed <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif'><!--endemo-->
If they want my cash they have to make it worthwhile; gamespot almost did but when I thought about it I came to the conclusion it was just short of it's value. I've quite happily forked out money for things like MMORPGs (Ragnarok comes to mind) so I'm not some frantic freeloader... I just make a point of only paying if I feel the price justifies the product =3
My suggestion would be just to make it more... worthwhile really. heck jolt hosts weebl and bob and that stuff's great. But it's free so that's not really a good example ^^;
well, you get the idea...
About the only thing I do is check planethalf-life for the latest news on HL2, NS and Svencoop but they're all handled by other sites anyway.
I don't expect them to work for free but I don't find the quality of the things they produce worth either the effort of the ads nor the price of subscription. I put my money down where I feel it's worth it and for me, games news usually isn't... it's just something to read when you're bored and I'd quite happily go for a cycle instead if GS suddenly collapsed <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif'><!--endemo-->
If they want my cash they have to make it worthwhile; gamespot almost did but when I thought about it I came to the conclusion it was just short of it's value. I've quite happily forked out money for things like MMORPGs (Ragnarok comes to mind) so I'm not some frantic freeloader... I just make a point of only paying if I feel the price justifies the product =3
My suggestion would be just to make it more... worthwhile really. heck jolt hosts weebl and bob and that stuff's great. But it's free so that's not really a good example ^^;
well, you get the idea... <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
I perfectly well know what you mean, and I'm playing Devil's advocate and messing about <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif'><!--endemo-->
I basically tried to say what you put clearly, but I put it in a much more convoluted and badly phrased way. Gamespy, Gamespot, IGN etc. all have subscriber option, but the difference betwen what they offer for free and what they offer for money is insignificant. That is their problem, they want to have their cake and eat it too. I find the idea "pay for no ads" a strange phenomenon. They would then be the first mass media ever to live without heavy subsidies from advertisement. I don't even think I'd want a mainstream magazine (on paper) without a few ads in them.
Thing is, lots of us use their sites for "hit-and-run" operations. I rarely go onto IGN, gamespot etc. just to waste time in general, I have very specific goals for my timewaste: find a preview or a review for some game, often games that I'm already informed about but want a "second opinion" of.
I don't pay for any subscription to news sites, because as long as they let me read them for free, but show ads, I can deal with it. I don't nag about it, why would I? They aren't like telemarketeers who invade on your privacy and disturb, they serve up ads when you voluntarily visit their sites. I can accept that. And should gamespy vanish tomorrow I'd probably not miss them <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif'><!--endemo-->
And of the two, Gamespy and gamespot, I actually feel Gamespy has a more justified presence in what work they have done for gaming in general. their server browser client, however bloated and clunky it has become, as well as their large network of fanboy sites. That's recommendable IMO, unlike Gamespot who's just another online magazine about games.
They act as a prelimary host for a lot of HL mods out there, they provide a free gamebrowser and they host all kinds of potentially useful files including demos of smaller games that will never see the market shelves but GS gives them a little boost by making them available anyway.
If you look at that then it's easy to see something nice about the much maligned Gamespy service; it felt like it was all about the gamers and the community... then the ads started. Rather than think why they were doing it a lot of people got outraged. I didn't really care when they put banner ads in; they're non-obtrusive. Then they started locking up fileplanet with waiting queues (which a lot of people will have you believe are actually mainly artificial and used as an incentive for you to buy their subscription service) and the pop-ups/in your face ads came up.
Sure they're trying to support themselves and we don't have to go to their site. Essentially it's up to them what they do because it's really their site. But not a lot of people saw it that way... for them it was an outright <b>Betrayal!!</b>
anyways, lots of roaring, reputation in tatters, yadda yadda yadda, you know what happened =3
buuuut i think we're both pretty much in agreement about it all anyways, I just felt like typing a small essay for some reason and the events and reasoning behind the public hate-figure felt like something good to do lol
The end <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif'><!--endemo-->
Word! I stopped playing CS at some point, and I think it was mainly due to the pottymouthed people I ran into. Prolly MPlayahs <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif'><!--endemo-->
I kicked them all out using such tools as Mcafee, Norton, and Pest-Patrol.
I ran pest Patrol last as a "Cleanup-crew", and what it found surprised me. You know the trusted Gamespy comany? (Who run such things as Planet Half-Life?), well - this may be old news, but it sure shocked me.
Gamespy.
Spyware.
What do you think of them now? <!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
OMG too funny! I'm kinda surprised GameSpy actually allowed another company to do that... either way, that post r0x0rs, ill think ill put it in my siggy
Not in the UK!
We have the BBC! <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
The BBC that you have to PAY FOR if you watch it or not? Just owning a TV or radio means you have to PAY the BBC for the right to watch their programmes. Now thats a dirty trick.
You probably all know I like GSA because it's free and does what it says on the tin. Easy to use, pretty interface(comparativley) fairly low on bugs, and if the adds bother you you can pay to get rid of them.
but many of you prefer ASE. Thats great, but all you people who scream the joys of ASE and have been using it for years:-
<span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'><span style='color:red'>PAY FOR IT !</span></span>
Yes that's right, your given the software as shareware to be paid for after you test it. So if you like it and use it often you are supposed to pay. It's done on trust by the good people who program it, so don't rip them off.
It is a bit stealth but frankly the BBC comes up with some of the best programming ever. Without the adds (Including adverts during Films one of my pet hates.)
The only 2 TV programs I recently enjoyed on TV (The ones that were able to turn me away from the PC and GC) were 24 and Spooks (MI5 in the USA because the Americans don't know what a "Spook" is)
Now thats TV programming I would pay to watch. Rather than watch adverts through.
This is also not mentioning the BBC News, The <b>World</b> service (Yes you everywhere else in the world can get that), BBC Radio and the amazing BBC website (Which you can also visit and allows you to listen to BBC radio wherever you are)
It may be a dirty track but you get good TV/Radio/News/Website from it. As opposed to not-so-good-tv/Radio/etc. And adverts, between the program credits. (I mean how much advertising do you have to put in?)