What is SE trying to hide here?

[Feba]

Re: What is SE trying to hide here?

it is possible SE is gauging plugin popularity. For example, if they found out a portion of the playerbase that would be too large for them to ban is using TP party, they could incorporate it into the GUI. SE has DEFINITELY been taking steps to see what the playerbase is modding and incorporate it. Status icons, talk chime, talks of windowing...

What i'd like to see, personally, would be a full graphics overhaul. Unfortunately, SE seems like they're not interested in spending much cash on FFXI anymore, which is really a shame. Imagine what FFXI could look like in directX10... EVE-Online is doing this, although they don't have as many models to alter, and their areas are somewhat bland compared to FFXI. Heck, even consider what it would be like if FFXI looked as good as Half Life 2. It's not like there's a lack of people to do this, SE could easily hire graphic designers, or hell, even take the people that make some of the better looking .dat mods. Plenty of companies draw from their playerbase for employees, SE just wants to sell more games than work on this one it seems. Same as how they're happy to keep working on TAU stuff, but unwilling to go back and update things like dynamis and limbus to be instanced like assault.

[Lunaryn]

Re: What is SE trying to hide here?

For what it's worth, based on the threads about this I decided to take a look with the free version of Process Guard, here's the alerts from launching POL Viewer:

19:06:51 [EXECUTION] "c:\program files\playonline\squareenix\playonlineviewer\pol.exe" was allowed to run
[EXECUTION] Started by "c:\winnt\explorer.exe" [932]
[EXECUTION] Commandline - [ "c:\program files\playonline\squareenix\playonlineviewer\pol.exe" ]
19:06:55 [EXECUTION] "c:\program files\playonline\squareenix\playonlineviewer\util\startpol.exe" was allowed to run
[EXECUTION] Started by "c:\program files\playonline\squareenix\playonlineviewer\pol.exe" [1504]
[EXECUTION] Commandline - [ "c:\program files\playonline\squareenix\playonlineviewer\util\startpol.exe" /init ]
19:06:57 [READ] c:\program files\playonline\squareenix\playonlineviewer\pol.exe [1504] was blocked from reading c:\winnt\system32\lsass.exe [236]
19:06:57 [READ] c:\program files\playonline\squareenix\playonlineviewer\pol.exe [1504] was blocked from reading c:\program files\processguard\dcsuserprot.exe [516]
19:06:57 [READ] c:\program files\playonline\squareenix\playonlineviewer\pol.exe [1504] was blocked from reading c:\winnt\explorer.exe [932]
19:06:57 [READ] c:\program files\playonline\squareenix\playonlineviewer\pol.exe [1504] was blocked from reading c:\program files\java\jre1.5.0_11\bin\jusched.exe [1072]
19:06:57 [READ] c:\program files\playonline\squareenix\playonlineviewer\pol.exe [1504] was blocked from reading c:\program files\bittorrent\bittorrent.exe [1024]
19:06:57 [READ] c:\program files\playonline\squareenix\playonlineviewer\pol.exe [1504] was blocked from reading c:\program files\openoffice.org 2.1\program\soffice.exe [1140]
19:06:57 [READ] c:\program files\playonline\squareenix\playonlineviewer\pol.exe [1504] was blocked from reading c:\program files\openoffice.org 2.1\program\soffice.bin [1216]

And that's just the processes I bothered to protect from reading for this test run; presumably it's going through the whole list. This doesn't tell us what it's trying to read or why, but it is making the attempt to read something.

[Raydeus]

Re: What is SE trying to hide here?

What i'd like to see, personally, would be a full graphics overhaul. Unfortunately, SE seems like they're not interested in spending much cash on FFXI anymore, which is really a shame. Imagine what FFXI could look like in directX10... EVE-Online is doing this, although they don't have as many models to alter, and their areas are somewhat bland compared to FFXI. Heck, even consider what it would be like if FFXI looked as good as Half Life 2.

Soooo not worth it, remaking 100% of the game's models is way too much, not only it isn't cost effective but also would take too much time and XI isn't so popular that it would justify the expenses.

However one thing they could easily do (I've said this at least 10 times already ) is upgrading the emulation engine so it would take advantage of newer GPUs, which would relieve the CPU from the unnecesary work overload the dated coding puts it through.

Bigger drawing distance, Antialiasing, better texture handling, with a more efficient use of system resources not only would make XI look way better (while avoiding remaking models) but it would also make it possible for not so powerful computers to run the game with ease.

Things like frame rate drops when you are by the AH or Besieged could be solved that way. And it would also help connection lag on less powerful rigs since the CPU does have to process the connection data too, and if your CPU is running at 100% then the connection can suffer too.

Or at least that' my opinion on the subject.

[Caspian]

Re: What is SE trying to hide here?

So, even if SE is lieing about a program in POL thats scanning your harddrive, according to Lunaryn it only seems to be scanning your FFXI folder. So basically don't be a retard and put windower in your ffxi folder and you should be good.

Again, I put roughly a .5% chance they actually take an action against people using windower. Its way too much of the game's population.

[Telera]

Re: What is SE trying to hide here?

was blocked from reading c:\winnt\explorer.exe [932]

...that extension isn't the POL folder. And neither are the rest. The scan is originating from the POL folder, and going all over the place.

[Jei]

Re: What is SE trying to hide here?

hmmm I can't really see connection between those 2 quests.

1 is saying POL doesn't try to steal your information on your system
2 is saying.... we have no problem with. So if you have problem with connection, it's you, not us. Yes, you.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: What is SE trying to hide here?

So, even if SE is lieing about a program in POL thats scanning your harddrive, according to Lunaryn it only seems to be scanning your FFXI folder. So basically don't be a retard and put windower in your ffxi folder and you should be good.

That's pretty much the gist from everything I've gathered, and I've said before that SE is only looking out for their own program, WTH else could the care to be looking at when they already have all your other vital info already?

Your mithra pr0n?

[Neomage]

Re: What is SE trying to hide here?

I don't have a problem, I get on fine. But some zones kick me off for w.e reason and some peopel I talk to(LS mates for example) who logged off in those zones can't log on those characters(but they can log on others), so I doubt that is a local problem...

well I didn't mean to be accusitory, but is seems odd to me that all of a sudden pop.exe starts scanning your whole computer, and it does go all over the place, nbot just PoL's folder.

[Wind Adept]

Re: What is SE trying to hide here?

Hey guys, did you hear? Players have been going into comas while playing the game! S-E is trying to cover it up, but there are rumors that involve a mage with a really weird monster as a pet!

[Akashimo]

Re: What is SE trying to hide here?

Hey guys, did you hear? Players have been going into comas while playing the game! S-E is trying to cover it up, but there are rumors that involves a mage with a really weird monster as a pet!

Trying to /poke at .HACK//SIGN?

[ItazuraNhomango]

Re: What is SE trying to hide here?

Lunaryn,
Is there a more detailed version of the log? (I'm too chicken to install Process Guard myself, since it seems to be some sort of kernal patch. ^_^; )

I'd like to know what it means exactly by "Read"...

[Feba]

Re: What is SE trying to hide here?

But some zones kick me off for w.e reason and some peopel I talk to(LS mates for example) who logged off in those zones can't log on those characters(but they can log on others), so I doubt that is a local problem...

I hate to sound like an ass, but that sounds almost *exactly* like area .dat corruption.

[Eohmer]

Re: What is SE trying to hide here?

I hate to sound like an ass, but that sounds almost *exactly* like area .dat corruption.

I'd like to think so, but this all started happening after this last update, with TOO many people in a wide area of zones.

[Feba]

Re: What is SE trying to hide here?

It could be a problem with the update.


Another though I had, if it is .dat corruption, it could just be a missing .dat for some monster in the area. I believe SE changed it awhile ago so that if monster .dats were removed, you were booted (to combat people removing Darter .dats in Aery)

[Eohmer]

Re: What is SE trying to hide here?

It could be a problem with the update.


Another though I had, if it is .dat corruption, it could just be a missing .dat for some monster in the area. I believe SE changed it awhile ago so that if monster .dats were removed, you were booted (to combat people removing Darter .dats in Aery)

What I want to know if... what do all zones have in common...

If it IS a missing DAT, maybe it's one that's in all the zones where people keep getting DCed.