Game Breaking Addons

Kryptorchid

As others have said, most of the problems you still have with the API are easily still available via websites, so IMO it's a moot point. People who want that type of info will find it; however, there is one thing I do want to touch on:

ragamerb16_ESO wrote: »

- Map Location Additions. Like nodes, skyshards, etc.... This work by creating a high precission coordinate system. This is the prerequisite needed for automated navigation (ie bots). This information in game basically removes the needs to invest into some Skillpoints. Create Serverside checks to allow ONLY players that have invested skillpoints into node visibility to access "extended" information (And rework this "visibility" to offer variety for ppl dedicated to gathering... And establish limits on how much info a given set of Skillpoins yield). This is a very important decission as the "rate of gathering" have a lot of impact on the Economy of a game... And anything that eases the creation of Bots needs to be removed from any game ASAP, IMO.

All I can say is, "this is what happens when you make your resource gathering 'system' consist of finding static resource node locations."

This whole thing could have easily been designed from the ground up to have dynamic resource densities on a tile-by-tile basis that re-appropriate their resources on a daily/weekly/monthly basis. That would virtually eliminate the usefulness of said addon, and also be a much more fun system for the player! But, I must get off my soapbox now.

Cherryblossom

In the interest of realism, if I was a gatherer I would keep a map of where I would find resources I need! Currently the addon most are using gives you a vague idea of where a node may be. While I hate the idea of BOTs using this data, we have to rely on Zenimax's ability to remove them as they will come with or without this data...

With regards to Zenimax using your handle in game I see no issue, the username has never been part of any system security, the security of your account resides in your Password. Zenimax have also added the the security of one time code if you login from a different IP. So Currently there is a twofold security system being used, your username is not part of this and never is with regards to security.

jmido8

The first 2 are completely pointless to try and "ban" from the game simply because the resources with all this information can easily be found on the web regardless. I use those addons, but before I used them, I had my second screen setup showing alchemy recipes & skyshard locations.

Wreaken

Pretty sure you cant farm Public Dungeon bosses because they only spawn when the person who hasn't completed the dungeon enters the room where the boss is triggered to spawn.

Might be a very select few that don't follow this trend, but they all should be like this.

R0M2K

I agree that the mats addon and the ingame skills to detect nodes are mutualy exclusive.

Either ban the mods or rework those skills to a different effect.

ragamerb16_ESO

With regards to Zenimax using your handle in game I see no issue, the username has never been part of any system security, the security of your account resides in your Password.

Erm... Have you heard of something called Linux? If you want references about security... That's the "meassure bar" you should use... Login EVERYWHERE were security matters always come in 2 elements, the 1st select which information the second is compared against... If you don't know if 1 exists, doesn't matter how good you are at breaking 2... You will never have the chance.

It's not a coincidence that ANY respectable public communication system ALWAYS keep everything involved into authentication hidden from 3rd party inspection, username, password and registered mail, included.

ragamerb16_ESO

This whole thing could have easily been designed from the ground up to have dynamic resource densities on a tile-by-tile basis that re-appropriate their resources on a daily/weekly/monthly basis. That would virtually eliminate the usefulness of said addon, and also be a much more fun system for the player! But, I must get off my soapbox now.

Yeap... There are plenty of already working recipes that actually manage to make gathering an interesting activity worth specializing in, were bots have no chance at taking advantage over a player (Most give ALL players the automation Bots usually provide on games like this one, while turning focus into creating interesting minigames to find the material. EvE, Perpetuum or more recently Firefal, are the ones that come fast to my mind)...

The situation is even more painful... Because progressing into some crafts is entertaining as non-combat activity... But without carefull balance of gathering vs crafting, using those crafts to create/maintain an Economy will be impossible...

...But that's a subject for another discussion, I'm afraid.

Sedlina

ragamerb16_ESO wrote: »

- Map Location Additions. Like nodes, skyshards, etc.... This work by creating a high precission coordinate system. This is the prerequisite needed for automated navigation (ie bots). This information in game basically removes the needs to invest into some Skillpoints. Create Serverside checks to allow ONLY players that have invested skillpoints into node visibility to access "extended" information (And rework this "visibility" to offer variety for ppl dedicated to gathering... And establish limits on how much info a given set of Skillpoins yield). This is a very important decission as the "rate of gathering" have a lot of impact on the Economy of a game... And anything that eases the creation of Bots needs to be removed from any game ASAP, IMO.

To make a summation: It gives players with this addon a huge advantage over players without the addon. Therefore this is no question. It's a matter of fact that is has to disappear.

We will see resistance to this plea. Mostly from people who prefer to have addons to handle everything for them.

I for my part don't want to be forced to use this addon to stay competitive with other people who farm crafting materials. And before you quote me on this statement to stultify it. If you know where a crafting node is because you run a database addon. Or even worse you downloaded someone elses database so you know about locations despite the fact that you've never been there. Then you have an advantage over me. So you can turn straigh towards the direction of the next ore/silk/wood spawn while I have to rely on my eyes, memory and the field of view of my current location.

that is unacceptable

Mara_Jade

ragamerb16_ESO wrote: »

Suppose that you want to look for a specific material fast... What would you need to ellaborate an optimal route that visited each potential node on your "patrol" area?... As a human beign, could you compete with an optimized route like this?... It's already happening, you just need to pay attention...

I REALLY have to disagree with this point. I have the said map add-on and love it. Why because I am an avid crafter and it assists me to find materials I want but yet I had to discover them myself first for the marker to be there. Yes the information had to be available in the programming for it to be marked in the first place which may allow for bots to utilize that. But there is no way to remove that unless ZOS makes it so nodes are completely random and never ever show up in the same place twice, which could lead to a whole larger problem.

Even without the map add-on if you where an intelligent person who pays attention to where you found a group of items that interested you, you could totally plan an optimized route. I currently have a route in Bal Foyen that I can follow for about an hour and collect about 100 enchanting runes, 100 iron ore, lots of wood, and lots of alchemy items. AND I AM NOT A BOT nor am I alone in running this little route but maybe a bit more diligent about it. I could do this same route with or without the map add-on, I had a small route that I ran during the beta without the map add-on.

So to your:

As a human beign, could you compete with an optimized route like this?

The answer is a resounding YES!

zmidponkneb18_ESO

Sedlina wrote: »

To make a summation: It gives players with this addon a huge advantage over players without the addon. Therefore this is no question. It's a matter of fact that is has to disappear.

We will see resistance to this plea. Mostly from people who prefer to have addons to handle everything for them.

I for my part don't want to be forced to use this addon to stay competitive with other people who farm crafting materials. And before you quote me on this statement to stultify it. If you know where a crafting node is because you run a database addon. Or even worse you downloaded someone elses database so you know about locations despite the fact that you've never been there. Then you have an advantage over me. So you can turn straigh towards the direction of the next ore/silk/wood spawn while I have to rely on my eyes, memory and the field of view of my current location.

that is unacceptable

So, to make a summation of your summation, anything that gives someone a 'huge advantage' over someone that doesn't use it is 'unacceptable' and should be banned.

So you advocate ZOS taking offline any webpage, including third-party ones, that displays a map of...well, actually, anything at all, as this gives a 'huge advantage' to the people who use said map to gather and collect those things?

You also advocate someone drawing their own map being a bannable offense?

If the answer to either of those two questions is 'no', then you're applying different standards to this particular way of gathering and using this information simply because it's being done in-game via a mod, instead of on an external website, or to go very low-tech, someone sitting there with a pen and a bit of paper. So ask yourself why that is.

If the answer to both of those questions is 'yes', then, frankly, you're a loon.

invizo

ragamerb16_ESO wrote: »

After reviewing the API, I think ESO Devs still need to deactivate some more features. Before going in, I just want to point how I define a "Game Breaking" addon... In reality it's very simple, when the pressence of a given modification disables a basic gameplay mechanic... Following this simple definition here go my suggestions:

- Map Location Additions. Like nodes, skyshards, etc.... This work by creating a high precission coordinate system. This is the prerequisite needed for automated navigation (ie bots). This information in game basically removes the needs to invest into some Skillpoints. Create Serverside checks to allow ONLY players that have invested skillpoints into node visibility to access "extended" information (And rework this "visibility" to offer variety for ppl dedicated to gathering... And establish limits on how much info a given set of Skillpoins yield). This is a very important decission as the "rate of gathering" have a lot of impact on the Economy of a game... And anything that eases the creation of Bots needs to be removed from any game ASAP, IMO.

- Dynamic Recipes. Alchemy discovery gameplay is atm disabled completely by another in game database addon... Devs should decide if they want to keep this aspect of gameplay or simply put all properties of plants visible.

- Player Handler Visibility. This is not strictly game-breaking but a concern about security... Due to the poor decission of Zenimax to make publicly visible part of your login information (The account handler) coupled with how easy for an addon is to gather massive ammounts of player handlers, this will have an impact in the frequency of security related events. This is better handled by doing what any company concerned about the security of their custommers would do, which is having a username for login independent of the public handler any1 else sees but... As I think it's already too late for that, maybe controlling how addons access player handlers could help at diminishing this effect (It's hard to do... Because handlers are visible at very different points into the API, and the info is required for basic features to work, like invites, chat & guild functionality).

tldr, just leave please. Finding skyshards and tresure chests... pft, dont waste the devs time on what is already easily obtainable with a google search

ragamerb16_ESO

Why because I am an avid crafter and it assists me to find materials I want but yet I had to discover them myself first for the marker to be there

You really need the addon?... The rules of were each type of node appear are simple, IMO, and after a few exploration rounds I already memorized most of the spots (Not in the sense of absolute coordinate... But were I need to look for them)... It has been like this on ANY MMO with some serious initial intention of supporting crafting gameplay. IMO all this addons are mayoritarily just for ppl that really doesn't care about gathering/crafting, that's why they need them, because they want to get the benefits without paying attention and thus have difficulties at memorizing the rules of how a given incarnation of the gathering system works... It's basic human nature, it's hard to memorize/learn things you don't pay attention to.

It's called "instant gratification" I think... And this "way to think" extends to most aspects of Gameplay (See the infamous PvP exploits, for example)... In time, as a Dev, you really waste your time creating this kind of detailed patterns the interested players like to practice and learn and, instead, you just toss random nodes left and right... Making, this time, the addon a must for real... That's how you see your prefered gameplay destroyed because the differences doesn't matter because the way a given addition works eliminate such differences... Maybe I'm a bit generic here, but it's basically the evolution on different aspects of gameplay "assisted" by disruptive addons... And I'm not speaking here just only about Gathering/Crafting... You have plenty of examples all around on lots of MMOs... You just need to pay attention to how a mechanic were done before and after massive acceptance of popular Addons, and you will ALWAYS find a good group of ppl that liked how it worked before.

Switching subjects, do you really think that Bot networks actually create the information, and keep it up to date themselves? Why they would loose time like that? Players that are sending accurate data 24/7 thanks to installing 3rd party software that sends mapping data gathered by this "addon" are doing the job for them... Or do you think all the "player help" external Databases sites are "caritative organizations"?

Yes the information had to be available in the programming for it to be marked in the first place which may allow for bots to utilize that. But there is no way to remove that unless ZOS makes it so nodes are completely random and never ever show up in the same place twice, which could lead to a whole larger problem.

Mmm, I think you need to see more MMOs around and how they solve this problem... Even on a node system the only thing you need to do is reducing the interaction distance and instead of spawning the node into a fixed possition you do it in a circle/sphere of radius of at least 5 times the interaction radius (You would, ofc, have to add a geometry check phase serverside so the node could always be reachable) That way a Bot would spent considerable time trying to test were the node is... While a player, obviously, would just go for it (And here, is where the SP on Keen Eye, would work... Specially if the "glow" also happened through obstacles). This is, again, not something that I just pulled from thin air... It's how a node system is designed so a fast moving bot don't know were the node is with precission on other MMOs that really care about crafters & economy.

The real joke is that ESO almost nailed it on another related aspect... But they failed to extrapolate it to all the system. Check, for example, the NPC sellers... If you were a Bot... How would you evaluate the fact that some Vendor NPC possitions aren't fixed? It's frustating seeing how the solution is in front of their eyes... And it's not generalized.

The answer is a resounding YES!

Are you sure? If you really want to "test yourself", I challenge you to create an ebonheart toon and come to Bal Foyen, specially try to gather south of Dhalmora, around the Shrine...

...I would like to see your opinions on what you see there. I suppose that other factions may also have spots like this... Doesn't require too much experience to see why it happens there and then extrapolate to find other spots... You can even use the "addon" to forsee other zones like the one I know 1st-hand.

EDIT: But seeing how the Bot threads are poping left and right... It's already too late to be discussing this, the damage is already done and the escalation has happened already (A speed like this could only be achieved if most of the "parts" needed for it were assembled, created and tested during the Beta)... Another example of how naive ESO Devs are regarding MMO Communities, again they have underestimated the real use players do of some features... Their API Cap was too late and too soft on the Beta (Among other things) and the time it took for the escalation to happen was just the tweaks needed for the Bot network to adapt to live environments.

Bob

Sure bots cant farm without addons API or esohead database.... LOL!

BlackTinuviel

Bob wrote: »

Sure bots cant farm without addons API or esohead database.... LOL!

Exactly, this is the biggest point.

1. This information is easily avaiable online, and zenimax CAN'T stop it
2. Even if this information was not in an addon, it wouldn't even slow down, in any capacity, bot programmers.

zmidponkneb18_ESO

ragamerb16_ESO wrote: »

You really need the addon?... The rules of were each type of node appear are simple, IMO, and after a few exploration rounds I already memorized most of the spots (Not in the sense of absolute coordinate... But were I need to look for them)... It has been like this on ANY MMO with some serious initial intention of supporting crafting gameplay. IMO all this addons are mayoritarily just for ppl that really doesn't care about gathering/crafting, that's why they need them, because they want to get the benefits without paying attention and thus have difficulties at memorizing the rules of how a given incarnation of the gathering system works... It's basic human nature, it's hard to memorize/learn things you don't pay attention to.

Frankly, it seems that you want it to be the only way people can get where harvesting nodes are is by memorising their rough location, because that's the way you do it. Sorry, I prefer a different method.

It's called "instant gratification" I think

No, it's called doing exactly what you're doing in a different way.

And this "way to think" extends to most aspects of Gameplay (See the infamous PvP exploits, for example)... In time, as a Dev, you really waste your time creating this kind of detailed patterns the interested players like to practice and learn and, instead, you just toss random nodes left and right... Making, this time, the addon a must for real...

So, again, because YOU like to learn these 'intricate patterns', others aren't allowed to simply note down the locations of the nodes and/or share these maps with each other, but, instead, MUST learn these 'intricate patterns' because you do.

That's how you see your prefered gameplay destroyed because the differences doesn't matter because the way a given addition works eliminate such differences... Maybe I'm a bit generic here, but it's basically the evolution on different aspects of gameplay "assisted" by disruptive addons... And I'm not speaking here just only about Gathering/Crafting... You have plenty of examples all around on lots of MMOs... You just need to pay attention to how a mechanic were done before and after massive acceptance of popular Addons, and you will ALWAYS find a good group of ppl that liked how it worked before.

Yes, but you can say that about any change done to the game, in any way, for any reason, apart from maybe a change that fixes a game-stopping bug, and nothing else. You can also usually find a good group of people who like the change - usually including many of the developers, or else the change simply wouldn't get made.

Switching subjects, do you really think that Bot networks actually create the information, and keep it up to date themselves?

They possibly would, if needed.

Why they would loose time like that?

So their bots, you know, actually work.

Players that are sending accurate data 24/7 thanks to installing 3rd party software that sends mapping data gathered by this "addon" are doing the job for them... Or do you think all the "player help" external Databases sites are "caritative organizations"?

Sorry, you seem to be saying that either all third-party database sites should be banned because that information might help bot makers, or that they should be banned because they ARE bot makers. Either way, that is quite ludicrous.

Mmm, I think you need to see more MMOs around and how they solve this problem... Even on a node system the only thing you need to do is reducing the interaction distance and instead of spawning the node into a fixed possition you do it in a circle/sphere of radius of at least 5 times the interaction radius (You would, ofc, have to add a geometry check phase serverside so the node could always be reachable) That way a Bot would spent considerable time trying to test were the node is... While a player, obviously, would just go for it (And here, is where the SP on Keen Eye, would work... Specially if the "glow" also happened through obstacles). This is, again, not something that I just pulled from thin air... It's how a node system is designed so a fast moving bot don't know were the node is with precission on other MMOs that really care about crafters & economy.

The real joke is that ESO almost nailed it on another related aspect... But they failed to extrapolate it to all the system. Check, for example, the NPC sellers... If you were a Bot... How would you evaluate the fact that some Vendor NPC possitions aren't fixed?

You seem to think it's totally impossible to do this. You don't seem to realise that bots are complete third-party programs, and are perfectly capable of this kind of dynamic detection (as an example, investigate how the now-defunct WoWGlider worked).

The answer is a resounding YES!

Are you sure? If you really want to "test yourself", I challenge you to create an ebonheart toon and come to Bal Foyen, specially try to gather south of Dhalmora, around the Shrine...

...I would like to see your opinions on what you see there. I suppose that other factions may also have spots like this... Doesn't require too much experience to see why it happens there and then extrapolate to find other spots... You can even use the "addon" to forsee other zones like the one I know 1st-hand.

Well, I have gathered in that location myself, with no problems. Didn't even see anyone that I could definitely say was a bot. Your point?

EDIT: But seeing how the Bot threads are poping left and right... It's already too late to be discussing this, the damage is already done and the escalation has happened already (A speed like this could only be achieved if most of the "parts" needed for it were assembled, created and tested during the Beta)

So would this be before or after the mod that you were implying was absolutely essential for bot-making came into existence?

Another example of how naive ESO Devs are regarding MMO Communities, again they have underestimated the real use players do of some features... Their API Cap was too late and too soft on the Beta (Among other things) and the time it took for the escalation to happen was just the tweaks needed for the Bot network to adapt to live environments.

Which you have still yet to explain how this adaptation requires a mapping mod, rather than any of the other ways of mapping nodes.

ragamerb16_ESO

This:

You don't seem to realise that bots are complete third-party programs, and are perfectly capable of this kind of dynamic detection (as an example, investigate how the now-defunct WoWGlider worked).

And this:

Well, I have gathered in that location myself, with no problems. Didn't even see anyone that I could definitely say was a bot. Your point?

Already tell me which side of the conflict you are in... So nothing else to discuss with you.


For the rest of ppl concerned about this... Keep on opening threads and reporting Bots & addons, it's the only tool we have for now, check here:

http://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/discussion/74536/taking-action-against-cheaters-in-eso

I hope that bans are just the 1st step... They need a lot of work to do still.

zmidponkneb18_ESO

ragamerb16_ESO wrote: »

This:

You don't seem to realise that bots are complete third-party programs, and are perfectly capable of this kind of dynamic detection (as an example, investigate how the now-defunct WoWGlider worked).

And this:

Well, I have gathered in that location myself, with no problems. Didn't even see anyone that I could definitely say was a bot. Your point?

Already tell me which side of the conflict you are in... So nothing else to discuss with you.

I pointed out that bots are perfectly capable of doing things you seem to think they aren't capable of doing, and that I tried your challenge and it utterly failed to make the point you thought it does. You seem to be implying that because this is the case, I either use or create bots, or, at the very least, like them. If that is what you were trying to imply, you really are a ridiculous person.

Sandhya

tallenn wrote: »

I agree on the third point, but it has really nothing to do with addons. ZOS needs to have a 2 username system, but one is public that everyone can see, and the other is private, which you use to login with. Every computer login is a 2 part security system: username and password. If you give up your username (which none of us has any choice not to), you give up half of your login information. That makes it MUCH easier to hack, than if the would be hacker has to start with nothing. Say what you want, but giving away the username does make it easier for hackers to succeed.

This is not entirely true. Hacks like this go by the big numbers and they go by the most common denominators. Getting your hands on account details (that is: login names, not passwords) is remarkably easy and can be done in a variety of ways. The past years have been riddled with messages where databases of companies were cracked, and not the smallest either: Sony (PSN), Blizzard / Bnet, and lots more. Shielding the 'real' user ID in game really isn't going to do much, contrary to popular belief. If they won't get it ingame, they will get it in another way. Not in the least because it is public information. Your password is personal. Your login is NEVER personal. It is publicly available, it is used to identify you, even on this forum. It is therefore an important, if not vital tool to players, much more than it is to hackers and should not be obscured or omitted.

The best account authorization you can have is two-factor. It is watertight because you link a personal item (like a phone), to a piece of information only you know (password), and both are required at any time logins happen from an untrusted location. This requires nothing in terms of obscuring usernames and keeps functionality intact for players, which is the aim of the service.

ragamerb16_ESO

The past years have been riddled with messages where databases of companies were cracked, and not the smallest either: Sony (PSN), Blizzard / Bnet, and lots more.

Precissely because of this, and this are just the the companies that had to make public this events because they have no other choice, it's because spreading credentials between 3rd parties is just a way to obscure the process so a given user that has suffered a hack can't blame a single entity. All the credentials needed for accessing a service are spread between a given number of "owners"... Making very easy to blame each other. They advertise this 3rd party mechanism as secure, while what they are doing is allowing 3rd party companies to get involved into the authentication process... How do you think most this Companies "security breaches" happen? Have you ever thought the ammount of 3rd party peers a given way to authenticate expose your data to? 100% Security is an illusion... But that doesn't mean you have to accept lacking the max ammount of tools to make intrusions as hard as possible.

Not in the least because it is public information. Your password is personal. Your login is NEVER personal. It is publicly available, it is used to identify you, even on this forum. It is therefore an important, if not vital tool to players, much more than it is to hackers and should not be obscured or omitted.

This is a good example... You used your login as Forum username?... When I created my beta account I got the option to not use it and kept the default assigned. In fact if it weren't the case, you wouldn't be seeing me posting because I refuse to participate in forums as this (On AoC, for example, they made a similar mistake on their forums... And until their Custommer Service didn't manually change my Forum user to something different, I didn't post a thing... A few months later, they offered publicly this option to all their users).


Doesn't matter how you want to put it... Hacking credentials is progressively harder the more elements you need to know about them...

...And there is no operative reasson to use the same handler as your login, they are used in different contexts by completely different subsystems... In fact, if you inspect Savedvariable directory and check how the default UI stores Usernames internally (On ZO_Ingame.lua, look for example for "Recentinteracions" array) you see how what they really use is a plain number (User ID) which is what most multiuser systems translate into whatever login credentials they require to validate a given user.

Assigning an user selected string to an internal ID is trivial, it's done by them on other parts of their service (This forums for example) and is standard practice everywhere.

d.a.ilovacanrb18_ESO

tallenn wrote: »

I agree on the third point, but it has really nothing to do with addons. ZOS needs to have a 2 username system, but one is public that everyone can see, and the other is private, which you use to login with. Every computer login is a 2 part security system: username and password. If you give up your username (which none of us has any choice not to), you give up half of your login information. That makes it MUCH easier to hack, than if the would be hacker has to start with nothing. Say what you want, but giving away the username does make it easier for hackers to succeed.

I would like to inform you that using a username and password is not a 2 part security system, in fact, having a user name password, and a dozen security questions is still no more then a single security system, it only has 1 factor which mean that i only need to satisfy 1 request and gain access. The only way to counter this is to implement a 2 factor auth, which would include either email authorization ( which they have) or mobile text for verification code, in essence the 1st factor being something you know( password, username, security question) and the second being something you have( email, mobile or anything else you posses that may identify and authenticate you).

most companies still use a single factor auth as its cheaper, then 2 factor auth, and although 2 factors makes it more secure it isnt 100% secure, even 3 factor auth isnt secure ( the 3rd factor is something you are, think bio metrics like fingerprint, voice, dna ) it just harder to breach and given the the just now made public heartbleed any online activity with a single factor is compromised where ESO at least directly isnt

indirectly it may be depending on how you setup your email security
personally 2 factor with username/password and email for eso
and 2 factor for email with username/password and mobile verification

even that can be breached, scenario where your mobile is stolen would compromise the entire security.

so to conclude security is nothing more then making it harder to be compromised and less "we cant be hacked", I can say this as its my profession, but trying to say something like you have and use terms that you yourself do not understand has gave me a decent laugh.

as for everything else in this thread from what i've read, its all rubbish, if you dislike add ons dont use them, it doesnt make it game breaking to use such an add on, you have players that play games just to craft and support a faction, some play it just to pvp, some play it just to pve, some just to socialized staying at level1-10 for months, some like more roleplay. Everyone has their play style, everyone is different, if you would complain about gamebreaking how about the mechanic where with an addon i know % of hp on myself and group members so that when i heal it gets bonus effects where by default its just a guess, because you dont like ti doesnt make it gamebreaking, as Kemono already stated, wants mats turn off grass, lower gfx quality and you see better, general info about alchemy or enchants are on wiki since beta so even without add ons i guess removing the ability to modify gfx whould fix it, oh wait we got that, its called console.

and to conclude :

TLDR
- security isnt the issue regardless of the handler, 2 factor authentication is in place
- there is no security, lose your phone -> information compromised
- all the other posts are rubish, either everything is game breaking so strip the game naked (no add ons at all) or nothing is game breaking

sorry for spelling mistakes, for those who want to read nonsense go ahead

Jade1986

I agree with everything you said OP. I have ongoing tickets as well with customer service about this exact thing.

Frail_Old_Man

Player handle visibility is so far my biggest annoyance with the game.

Fozee

This has literally nothing to do with botting, I don't know why that's part of the topic. There are no bots that pull map information, they're more likely to read the memory and scan for items like skyshards or chests.

The information about the location of skyshards will, as others have said, always be available on the internet. Nothing changes by having that info show up on the in-game map. Nothing. If you don't want to use that AddOn then don't, but you can't force other players to play hide-and-seek with skyshards and potion recipes if they don't want to.

Bob

laced wrote: »

I agree with everything you said OP. I have ongoing tickets as well with customer service about this exact thing.

i lol'd. They have enough work already.

DragonMother

Drakent wrote: »

Actually addon can hack your PC, Addon's are 3rd party program that can have secondary program call a registry key virus wich will aloud them to get acces to your account and i speak from experience.

I play wow for 1 year and never was hack, did not know about addons until a year after playing the game b/c a friend told me about them and how to get them in a side call curse.com

A week after getting all my addon my account was hack and found a registry key virus. 6 months later all the addons had to be updated b/c wont work with the new patch so i updated them and again a week later i got hack and found a registry key virus again.

Allow me to explain you a thing.

Addon's with .exe files in them are automatically bad news. Installers like Minion and Curse are especially good with keeping an eye on files like that, however sometimes one slips by their security checks in the uploads they obtain. Now a days Curse disallowed .exe uploads completely, only .jar files and basic LUA/HTLM addon zip folders are allowed to be uploaded there. ESOUI is the same way, same threat, and same security processing.

My advice to anyone that uses addon's. NEVER click on an .exe file from an addon you obtained. Scan it first, with both antivirus and malware protection before you even think to click it, if anything comes up wrong with it, delete it and "scrub" scan the computer. But just from experiences on wow and their addon community, any addon with an exe file is not worth using.

I am going to add this to stay on topic.

I use the minimap mod to help me better find the shards, and remember locations for certain materials. I do not bot, nor do I believe that map use is botting by any means. I prefer the minimap to the compass because the compass can be highly inaccurate while the minimap can be right on the dot. It helps me with better navigation for questing, and most pve content that I do on a daily basis. Does this make it wrong? No, the nodes recorded are nodes I found on my own, and the shards are merely markers from ESOhead. If we want to be strict about "information" mods, take down ZAM's gaming information network. I'm sure they would love to hear your input here.

Bob

Drakent wrote: »

Actually addon can hack your PC, Addon's are 3rd party program that can have secondary program call a registry key virus wich will aloud them to get acces to your account and i speak from experience.

Lua addons is a tiny or huge scripts, not the programs.
Dude, learn to google or learn to troll.

LilBudyWizerub17_ESO

I'm sorry, but you're just pulling stuff out of thin air. Look at the Alchemist addon in the inventory lua file in the Alchemist subdirectory. They hardcoded a list of all the reagents and their effects. So you might as well be asking them to disable browsers on the client PC so they so they look it up on the internet. Neither Alchemist nor HarvestMap are pulling data out of some database provided through the API. Gathering is just like fishing and mushroom hunting, no one tells you where. Maybe you can download a database for HarvestMap, but if you can it's going to be damn sparse because no one is going to upload the data to start with. If not for that little detail I would use an online map since I run multiple monitors. As it is it's just the nodes I have already gathered. I don't use it while gathering, I use a little utility name iebeyeball. I look around me and gather what I see. I use harvest map to see where I've gathered, where I haven't and remind me where's a particularly good place for gathering whatever. SkyShards also is a downloaded database of the location of all the skyshards and just uses the acheivements for skyshards to hide those you already gathered.

Alchemist could be better. It could support discovery. I could just keep track of what herb combinations you've tried and what known traits you have tried against an unknown trait. If there's 30 herbs then there 30*29 combinations of two and 30*29*28 combinations of three. That's a bit much to remember. It's a bit less since order doesn't matter, but it's still a lot. That's what these are, memory aids. I play with my wife. I don't gather shards when she's not with me so I can be sure she got all of them. So what you're actually complaining about is memory aids. Well, golly, just disable the players PC so they can use notepad either.

Really, you're free to post what you please, but it's rather irresponsible to be posting about something you know nothing about. You have no idea just how many addons you would break with your suggestions. No saved variables so they can't import a database. Hehe, virtually no addons, not any with any settings. No interaction information, i.e. gathering, mean no librarian recording all the books you "read" so you can actually read them later. No position, no map pin mods to plan routes or mark scenic overlooks. You're really just suggesting they not support addons.

You're wrong about your account name being some great security vulnerability. Your password is what keeps your account secure. Using the same account name and your e-mail and the same password as your e-mail is a very stupid idea. That's a bad, bad habit to get into. That's because many sites are not secure and they store your passwords unencrypted. They hack the site, get your e-mail and password for the site, but, looky, the same password works for your e-mail. There's lists out there with millions of e-mail ids and passwords stolen from some very big sites. Most of those password work with those e-mails. Now they can reset your game password and respond to the e-mail send you when they do. Or, they can skip that step and just try your pass word with the e-mail. Let's see someone@gmail.com with password 1234, let's see if we can sign on to someone with password 1234 on TESO. If you only do one thing to protect yourself on the internet make it the only place you ever use the password for your e-mail is for the e-mail account. That why they have to compromise either your pc, transport or the e-mail provider.

Lovely

I don't use addons for skyshards and alchemy. But I have a site bookmarked and look at the skyshard location and I have already written down all ingredients from alchemy in a notebook so I don't mess up. I guess it takes slightly longer for me.

Bob

Lovely wrote: »

I don't use addons for skyshards and alchemy. But I have a site bookmarked and look at the skyshard location and I have already written down all ingredients from alchemy in a notebook so I don't mess up. I guess it takes slightly longer for me.

Cheater!!! How dare you!

Cherryblossom

ragamerb16_ESO wrote: »

With regards to Zenimax using your handle in game I see no issue, the username has never been part of any system security, the security of your account resides in your Password.

Erm... Have you heard of something called Linux? If you want references about security... That's the "meassure bar" you should use... Login EVERYWHERE were security matters always come in 2 elements, the 1st select which information the second is compared against... If you don't know if 1 exists, doesn't matter how good you are at breaking 2... You will never have the chance.

It's not a coincidence that ANY respectable public communication system ALWAYS keep everything involved into authentication hidden from 3rd party inspection, username, password and registered mail, included.

Linux, yes I've heard about it! Linux is generally considered a more secure operating system due to needing to assign Root privileges. Not sure how this relates to your post!
Username is not ever part of the security procedure as this is the easiest part to ascertain within company, Security comes from the password and in the case of ESO also from the unknown IP protocol sending an email to the user account with a one time code.