BF2S Forums BF2142 shipping with spyware? (In-game Advertising)

I played through most if not all the maps and so far, I havn't seen a single bloody ad. Now I have been driving around and walking around with the Mech and still no Ads.

Maybe it was because I started the game right off but still, I just don't see any. I tried to look for some but found nothing.

Also people, sometimes we are in the big cities and you DO know that cities have ads on almost EVERY street. So one or 2 ads in BF2142 in some of the main cities and on some other maps in one place isn't gonna kill you.

Found these on other forums, they made me laugh.

1. So lets say a 14/15 year old installs 2142 on their PC, the dad spends all day looking at porn, so when the son goes to play BF in the evening, the in-game advertisements are all about low cost Viagra and Escort services?

2. "Dad you know you used my PC to "check your emails" "..

"Yes son.."

"Well.. erm... I'm playing BF2142 now. What's a butt plug?"


And a picture to finish......

One way to minimize the amount of cookies they scan is to load the game before you browse, that is, if you have firefox, and enable deleting your cookies after each time you shut it down. As I do believe the only way the spyware works is when the game is running.

Last edited by A.HACKER (2006-10-20 12:53:34)

Cctoide wrote:

I've talked with another person on IRC who's already played it (yes, the full version) and he says he hasn't seen a single ad either. What gives?

It would stand to reason that with all of the consumer backlash surrounding 2142's ad content, that they have temporarily disabled ad support for a short time while people calm down a bit.  Their first interest will be to sell as many copies as possible, which will maximize their product revenue as well as their demographic (which will in turn maximize their ad revenue).  The ads will come later, once they have established their targeted user base.

Just my opinion of course, but thats the way I see it.

ShotYourSix wrote:

Cctoide wrote:

I've talked with another person on IRC who's already played it (yes, the full version) and he says he hasn't seen a single ad either. What gives?

It would stand to reason that with all of the consumer backlash surrounding 2142's ad content, that they have temporarily disabled ad support for a short time while people calm down a bit.  Their first interest will be to sell as many copies as possible, which will maximize their product revenue as well as their demographic (which will in turn maximize their ad revenue).  The ads will come later, once they have established their targeted user base.

Just my opinion of course, but thats the way I see it.

nuff SAID.
+1

Spyware might be a bit of a stretch.  I think at most, what we are dealing with here is more accurately defined as adware.  As far as I'm concerned, spyware and adware are entirely different beasts (spyware being the troll under the bridge and adware being a pesky chihuahua who will not shut the fuck up). 

I hate the idea of "live" ads in games as much as anyone, but the time for widespread in-game advertising is nigh, and it's here to stay (no doubt about it when multiple millions of dollars are at stake...).  As gamers, our chances of putting a stop to in-game ad servers is less than zero, but we may still have enough influence with developers to at least let them know that we will not permit excessive intrusions into our lives and our privacy. 

As far as 2142 goes, I would say we got off lucky there.  It's the future games which decide to "jump on the advertising bandwagon" and then take it too far which I'm more concerned about.  For example, how about a game where they increase the re-spawn to 60 seconds during which you are watching a McDonald's ad?  What about a game that requires you to walk through a fully stocked Wal-mart and actually purchase your inventory?  I can see this getting way out of hand in the next few years. 

We may soon find ourselves looking back at 2142 and saying "why couldn't they have just left it like that? It wasn't THIS bad...."

Last edited by ShotYourSix (2006-10-23 17:11:51)

I've seen them, they're on billboards, the side of cargo containers and such.  I'll be playing in a bit and will try to take a screenshot to share. They seem pretty unintrusive right now, and doesn't seem to be for any recognizeable company name...  hmm I'll have to try get a shot so you know what I'm talking about.

Personally though I think this whole flap about spyware got a little out of hand.  With the warning card for EU people they put in the box though I can understand why it happened.  Too bad they couldn't have just stored the EU info on a EU server and skipped the whole ordeal.

Anyway, the game is pretty fun, it's really similar to BF2, but that's specifically why at least one of my friends bought it.  The titan mode is wicked fun and is a great improvement, the squad leader unlocks are cool, walkers are nifty, nitro in the jeep kicks ass, and level load times are down. Anyway, getting off topic.

My opinion on the ads in game are firstly, what's in it for me?  I hope the money does get put back into the game, and not to increase net income for those shareholder types.  I don't think I'll be too into it if no benefits come my way, I'll just feel used and jaded (but I'll give them some time to iron it out).  It has to take cpu, and my computer can use any help it can get, that's my greatest concern.

Anyway if they're not done badly they could add character to it, when I first saw them and realized what they were I actually found it kind of nifty.

Anyway, I'm gonna try find some and come back.

They havent started the ads.... yet!

article from Tweakguides.com

In-Game Advertising
20 October 2006

Recently there's been a lot of fuss over Battlefield 2142's in-game advertising software. I admit I, like several other sites, incorrectly stated initially that it monitors your general browsing habits, when in reality it only monitors your behavior while playing in-game. I apologize for any confusion, and the correct technical details for how this type of advertising technology works can be found here. Essentially while you're playing, information is collected about (among other things) which in-game ads are in your field of view, from how far away, for how long and from what angle.

OK, so what's the harm in that? This is no big deal, we have ads all around us already, right? It's not quite that simple. This issue is different, and has great bearing on the future of gaming in my opinion. To start with, advertising exists to be noticed. Advertisers don't pay large sums of money to have their ads just blend into the background. Using the data gathered above, advertisers will be able to see which ads gain the most attention, and focus on putting up more of them, in more prominent locations over time. There's no other reason for monitoring ad viewing behavior than to customize ads for 'maximum impact'. So if you're expecting ads to remain as innocuous out-of-sight novelties, think carefully about how pointless that would be for advertisers. The gaming experience relies greatly on immersion, and I oppose anything which can ruin that immersion, such as distracting ads.

However the most legitimate complaint that gamers should have about in-game advertising is that it currently gives us no benefit whatsoever. We put up with ads on TV and on websites for example because they are what makes TV and websites free to consumers. If we don't want annoying ads, we then pay a premium price for Cable TV, or buy DVDs, or subscribe to a website. But that's not how in-game advertising works. EA Games, which is pioneering this approach, expects us to pay full price for a game like BF2142, in return for the privilege of turning our machines into an ad server while gaming. They reap additional profits while we gain absolutely nothing. EA argues that this model will allow for 'additional support' for the game, yet aren't they the same company which already puts out multiple non-free expansion packs to supplement their revenue, take months to address concerns via delayed patches, and are now also charging gamers to activate cheats in games like Tiger Woods 2007? Doesn't our initial payment for a game already entitle us to proper support and functionality, as it has in the past for so many other great games?

I apologize for the long front-page article, as this is not what I normally like to post, but I honestly believe we're on a slippery slope with this new business model that is being forced upon us. Using their market dominance, and given the allure of extra revenue streams, it seems EA is having their cake and eating it too, at our expense. Think carefully before purchasing a game based on this sort of model - there are many games out there with far better gameplay, which can be purchased at a lower price, and receive much better support than these 'ad supported' titles.

Update: EA has not yet actually activated the ads in BF2142. This could be to ensure maximum sales during the critical initial release period, where negative word-of-mouth over the ads could harm sales. Note further that some maps in BF2142 have as many as 26 ad billboards/placeholders.

Block 'dem ads: http://forums.bf2s.com/viewtopic.php?id=50204

I got a good idea to not get killed when the ads are in. Lie right infront of them. Since no one wanna spend time looking at them you'll be perfectly fine infront of them. Lie there with either Support/Sniper kit and whore down those people. :3

I think I'll be doing that a lot more if I actually see some ads to start with.

Plus its not like they aren't charging you enough for the game in the first place, now they are also selling off your screen space to advertisers, just another reason why I wont be playing this truly fucked up game.

After all its my bandwidth that thewy are using, maybe if the game had been free because they had sold the advertsiing then it might be a different storey, but making me pay to see advertising is just an abuse of the system.

EA can go fuck emselves.

Don't like the ads? Check the link in my sig.

I saw those and then followed the instructions on the website in my sig. I've heard people say there are some Intel ads out there but I don't guess I'll ever see them.