That time Gabe Newell hacked my computer

[thestalkinghead]

 

Gabe Newell and J J Abrams once hacked my computer and recorded me playing HL2 and then used my gameplay as examples to talk about storytelling in games, i know that sounds insane, but i distinctly remember doing exactly what happened in that video, because it had been a while since i had played HL2 and i was intentionally playing it in a way that breaks the narrative and just making my own fun, i had completed HL2 multiple times before but not since there had been achievements and stat tracking in steam.

 

I can't prove that is what happened, but what do you guys think about the ethics of game developers secretly watching their customers playing their games? 

[Roderick]

You are part of the ARG O_O

[JonCole]

The (one word) + Stalking (one word) + Head (one word) = 3 words, HL3 confirmed.

[mikemariano]

I had this same sensation when watching this interview with Dishonored producers Harvey Smith and Raphael Colantonio.  Colantonio described a quest in his previous game Arx Fatalis.

 

The player wants a key or something from a troll, which the troll will give you if you find an item for him.

 

Raf described how, immediately after receiving the quest, testers would save, slaughter the troll, and take the key from his body.

 

Then they would immediately reload their saved game and do as the troll requested.

 

This is exactly what I did when I played Arx Fatalis.  I didn't want to be evil, but I wanted to know if it was possible for me to be evil!

 

So, yeah, developers know many of the ways we players "break" the game.

[tegan]

I remember when Kayin released I Wanna Be The Guy Gaiden, he told a bunch of us internet pals in IRC that there were secret features he hadn't advertised. A few weeks later, he posted a link to the twitch.tv channel of some kid playing the game and showed exactly what he meant. Turns out he added a feature where he could invade people's games and do things like turn on super hard mode, send them one-way text messages, or randomly spawn objects (including a gaint cartoon airplane that was nearly impossible to dodge and, naturally, caused instant death). It was amazing.

[thestalkinghead]

but isn't it unethical to watch people play the game without permission? it's like spying, and the fact is that even if you watch someone play a game you won't understand why they are doing the things they do, all you can do is put your own interpretation on what they are doing, and that interpretation is going to be biased to your own thoughts, i didn't play the game that way the first time i played it, i usually don't intentionally try and break the illusion of actually being in the game the first time i play, it is just because i had played it multiple times including multiple garry's mod playthroughs that i was messing around, ignoring the dialogue and throwing things at the characters

[Lu]

"What?" the clackity-clack of keys had stopped. Gabe's fingertips resting atop the keys, he looked over the edge of his glasses at the intern who so rudely interrupted him with unwanted inquiries. The intern repeated: "Isn't it unethical to watch people play the game without permission?" There was a moment of  tense silence. Then, the man let out a deep laugh, but there was no warmth to it. "Oh, this... This is just a little network test thing, of course it'd go without saying that that would be highly unethical and would never happen. I'm just testing a spectator mode with Doug, 's all." he said, quite unethically. Before the intern could speak again, he returned his gaze to the monitor, and raised a hand in a dismissing motion. "This needs my full attention, I need you to leave." Confusion and doubt played across the boy's face, but he did as he was told. After all, who was he but just an intern? Once the boy had left the room, Gabe briefly looked over his shoulder to see if he had well and truly left. Then, he reached for the phone and dialed Doug's extension number who picked up instantly. "Doug, the new intern knows too much..." Doug gave a knowing grunt and Gabe continued "Let's... add another knife to my collection." He smiled as he said those last words. A fiendish and unethical smile. "Will do, sir", Doug replied.

 

The LCD monitor screen tinted the entire room in a cold blue hue, the clackity-clack of keys continued as a small line of text at the top of the screen read in bright red letters "Secret spectator mode: Enabled. Now viewing player: thestalkinghead." Again, that awful smile. "Yes, this will do. This will do quite well." He hit a button and the screen read... http://inception.davepedu.com/'>RECORDING.

[tegan]

 

 

(also: pretty sure there's something about it in the T&C if it really was recording you)

[thestalkinghead]

i never read the terms and conditions so i never actually agree to them, i plead psychological coercion  

[TychoCelchuuu]

That's not what coercion is.

[thestalkinghead]

making something so long, complicated and boring that it isn't worth reading and if you don't agree you don't get to play is coercion your honor  

[TychoCelchuuu]

That's not what coercion is.

[Nappi]

co·er·cion  [koh-ur-shuhn]

noun

1. the act of coercing; use of force or intimidation to obtain compliance.

2. force or the power to use force in gaining compliance, as by a government or police force.

3. making something so long, complicated and boring that it isn't worth reading and if you don't agree you don't get to play.

 

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/coercion

[thestalkinghead]

see

 

 

Edit: also i am annoyed because even though they didn't show that part, i was totally looking at Alyx Vance's ass, and i feel like people would judge me

[TychoCelchuuu]

So, I mean, I'm not sure if you're joking or not, but Gabe Newell didn't hack your computer. Everyone has done that in Half-Life 2. I did that in Half-Life 2.

[Gormongous]

Okay everybody, who put their money down on fifteen posts before someone invoked Poe's Law?

[Nachimir]

but isn't it unethical to watch people play the game without permission? it's like spying, and the fact is that even if you watch someone play a game you won't understand why they are doing the things they do, all you can do is put your own interpretation on what they are doing, and that interpretation is going to be biased to your own thoughts

 

Soon, they'll KNOW HOW YOU THINK.

[osmosisch]

I prefer Cole's law.

It's tasty.

[syntheticgerbil]

So it appears Gabe Newell needed to trengthen internal development studios and this is why you experienced the need for more trength through surveillance.

 

Lu is right. While the intern might not have minded some new IPs, he might have appreciated another Half Life Episode. It did after all give us all the trength to keep enjoying rail shooters.

[thestalkinghead]

So, I mean, I'm not sure if you're joking or not, but Gabe Newell didn't hack your computer. Everyone has done that in Half-Life 2. I did that in Half-Life 2.

i did exactly that not long before this presentation, i could go through second by second and tell you exactly why i did the things i did, this is the kind of thing i remember exactly

[osmosisch]

Wait, this isn't a joke thread?

[Jake]

Serious brigade

[tegan]

it was actually cheaper for Gabe Newell to remotely hack into a random person's computer and hope that they did the exact things that he needed for his presentation than it was to get an intern to play twenty minutes of Half Life

[thestalkinghead]

the voices only let be be serious when i wear the tin foil hat, but seriously, i don't want to prove people are being unethical, but i wanted to talk about the ethics of things like developers spying on its customers, it's a bit like that Bitcoin scandal, where is the line that developers shouldn't cross when tracking what people do while playing their game?

[TychoCelchuuu]

Nobody spies on you playing games. Would it be ethical for them to spy on you playing without your knowledge? Only as ethical as it would be for a neighbor to watch you playing through the window without your knowledge. How ethical is that? I don't know, but it's not a game-specific issue. It's exactly as ethical as your neighbor watching you watch a movie or cook dinner or clean your windows without your knowledge.