Zenimax Accidentally Integrates Ad Spyware, Removing It Monday - Elder Scrolls Online News

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Zenimax Accidentally Integrates Ad Spyware, Removing It Monday - Elder Scrolls Online News

It seems there were some crossed wires at Zenimax Online Studios, as the makers of Elder Scrolls Online accidentally flipped the switch on ad tracking software known as Redshell in a recent patch. It was apparently a tool they've been researching, but not one that was supposed to be on the live servers yet.

Read the full story here

Thupli

"Researching" by checking to see if it is able to be integrated into live and actually implementing it? How is that even close to research?!!

Xingbairong

Thupli said:

"Researching" by checking to see if it is able to be integrated into live and actually implementing it? How is that even close to research?!!

Yeah and checking if someone will notice as well...

I'm literally speechless that this happens few days after the new EU Privacy Law...

Arskaaa

well there goes customers trust.

Albatroes

Lol I don't know why but I can't stop laughing when I see 'accidentally' in the title (nothing wrong with the title btw). I'm just imagining someone behind the scenes going "oops...." But if they honestly did it 'accidentally' waiting till Monday is tasteless. Sure you might have to pay weekend pay or whatever but at least it'll look like a genuine accident then. Otherwise people are just going to think you're trying to see how much data you can collect for testing until then (which will be a lot since there's more traffic over the weekend).

Ginaz

"Accidentally" Sure it was.

DXSins

"The ONLY purpose this would be used for is to determine from which origin points our new players come from, so we can better plan where to place advertisements and other web content."

So why again is it part of the game client? Sounds more like a website service...

By the time players have reached entering the game client... they are well past the point of "determine from which origin points" they came from and purchased a new copy of the game. Spyware in the game client is a little late to find out where someone new brought the game.

Also does ESO now have client/in-game ads? Last time i played i dont remember ads... so that makes no sense to be either.

Hmm, how about an honest answer what this is used for...because what you say and where the spyware is being utilised dont add up.

JakeSim

lol not possible to accidentally do so.

Erinak1

Arskaaa said:

well there goes customers trust.

As far as mistakes go in the gaming world, this is a pretty minor one.

RemyVorender

LOL!

Renoaku

We don't need advertisements in the game from 3rd party services....

MagikarpsGhost

Renoaku said:

We don't need advertisements in the game from 3rd party services....

Don't think that's what they said it did, please read the entire story.

Solancer

My 2 cents, this just an excuse to data mine you and sell data to ads/HIV company or they are using it for themselves. Regardless, they say accident, but I say intentional. This is the sort of HOW far can shady companies can go, its more of a test than data mining at the end but selling it as an extra plus.

~ Next thing MMO companies want to access your webcam or you baby monitor, how far over reach can they go next ~

Phry

Accidentally patching something into a game? thats some amazing quality control they have going on. They should just admit they tried something that didn't work out or didn't fit in with the new guidelines, rather than say it was an accident, which is as ridiculous an excuse as the dog eating your homework.

Alpius

Solancer said:

My 2 cents, this just an excuse to data mine you and sell data to ads/HIV company or they are using it for themselves. Regardless, they say accident, but I say intentional. This is the sort of HOW far can shady companies can go, its more of a test than data mining at the end but selling it as an extra plus.

~ Next thing MMO companies want to access your webcam or you baby monitor, how far over reach can they go next ~

I thought the same thing when I first heard this. Just like EA with BF2, they just wanted to see how far they could push it. Getting kind of tired of this stuff.

TaishiFox

Well it seems I "accidentally" installed this piece of crap into my PC... actually I did, I clicked on ESO the other day but not intentional as I have it in my taskbar and I was playing Conan Exiles in Windowed mode where somehow my cursor ended up going beyond the damn window... Anyway, yeah, seems I managed to end up with this piece of crap on my PC, I do hope it's easily removed cus from the sounds of things I sure as hell don't want it!

shassell

"We will learn from our mistakes..." You never have done before. That's why you have a boring spy ware infested game.

LeFantome

https://forums.funcom.com/t/why-are-conan-exiles-sending-data-to-redshell/5043
Failcom did the same... - ----------------Hey all, Sorry for the concern regarding this. We actually intended to disable Red Shell, and we did - but one of the modules was still active, which lead to a crash. We’ll fully disable and remove Red Shell for now, but please understand that we may still continue using analytics services for Co…

Alomar

Having this in the game for an entire weekend is absurd. Yet, thinking of using it to begin with is atrocious.

Tiller

Data mining/ data analytics is big money these days, it really has nothing to do with the game or advertising on their end at all, it's about harvesting and selling your information.

Scot

It was like the time I had to tell them: "Sorry guys but I accidentally switched on a cheat bot for ESO I was researching, I will remove it after the weekend once I finish my...research."

Come on they have given a laughable explanation, I expect better from Zenimax.

Wizardry

Accidental...umm what the odds anyone thinks i believe that?
Well i guess it is possible for the code to code itself,they simply turned the power on and walla instant code.

rojoArcueid

could this be related to their decision to hire a new monetization designer? If so, then experimenting with ads(and user data collection for ad purpose) could mean a F2P version may be coming.

If so, i called it on the monetization designer thread.

Xingbairong

DMKano said:

The thing is - what % of players are they going to lose over this?

Hmm?

Probably less than 1% - so as much as we want to harp on this in forums - in reality those happy playing ESO aren't going to care about this at all.

Was this a shitty thing to do - yes without a doubt.

Still - the actual impact on players I think is going to be miniscule.

They might not lose current players, but potential future players can be off-put by this.

Manestream

Xingbairong said:

Thupli said:

"Researching" by checking to see if it is able to be integrated into live and actually implementing it? How is that even close to research?!!

Yeah and checking if someone will notice as well...



I'm literally speechless that this happens few days after the new EU Privacy Law...

Exactly, not long after the new EU law came into effect, and why just Mac/PC?
A bit of trust has gone with their mistake. After all we have to purchase the game and each DLC.
or become a monthly subscriber to get the dlc's for free.

slowz2secret

accidentally hahahahaha