I am curious about SOE's policy (if any), regarding running the game client on Linux via wine (or similar). I understand that there would be no technical assistance. I am concerned about having my account banned. There does not appear to be any information about this in the terms of service or in the knowledge base. I apologize if this is not the correct place to ask. Thank you.
They have been banning most VMware. See Dexella's post in this thread. (https://forums.station.sony.com/eq2/index.php?threads/something-wrong-with-account.4602/#post-53163) (might be a few up from that.)
Thank you for that link. I was unaware that VMWare or virtualization software in general was prohibited. This seems like a very restrictive policy, there are many legitimate reasons for using virtual machines. Is the use of wine also prohibited?
IDK about wine. I haven't seen any thing talking about it directly but that doesn't mean it isn't there. It is just far too easy to get in the middle of the stream with virtualization technology The game was written before that stuff was in wide acceptance so it has nothing in the way of protections/checks etc I would imagine.
Of course you were unaware of SOE's stance on VMWare, I mean how would you know unless you had stumbled upon a thread in the forums about it. https://forums.station.sony.com/eq2...trying-to-fix-crashing-issue.5196/#post-52737 Here is another thread, in my post that I linked none of the documents have been updated to reflect the NEW (HIDDEN) CHANGE TO THE TOS, and no one from SOE even bothered to address these concerns. As to whether or not WINE is prohibited it is anyone's guess I'd say. Flip a coin, or go with your gut if you are wrong best case scenario is you get banned and after a week or so of back and forth you will probably get account reinstated. It is a pretty disgusting policy, but I guess as long as subs continue to get paid they are just going to continue to roll with it
That does not seem like it should be the (potential) customer's problem. Anyway, thank you for the information. It appears that I need to seek entertainment elsewhere.
Thank you for that link, it was very informative. I was unaware of any of this. The reason that I originally posted was because this account is very old, '99 or '00, I can't remember, and has nearly all of the EQ and EQ2 expansions, along with Vanguard, etc. I thought I was being paranoid, but in light of those threads I am glad that I asked. If this is indeed SOE's policy, then they have certainly lost me as a customer. I would also add that Windows 7 Pro included virtualization software (http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=3702).
To be clear, Linux is something we don't support. With that in mind, the others are correct about VM ware. As long as you're not launching the game through it, it should be fine.
Thank you for your response. To be absolutely clear about a couple of points: 1: VMWare is a company (http://www.vmware.com/company/), are you banning the use of all of their products, or any one in particular? 2: I do not expect any sort of technical support related to running EQ2 on Linux using wine. If I do so, however, will I face an account ban or any other negative consequences?
It appears that clarification will not be forthcoming. I apologize if I am overly cautious, but my account represents what I consider to be a significant investment of both time and money. I would prefer to not put it at risk due to ambiguity in policies. It would be much appreciated by myself, and apparently others, if the policies which are enforced by account bans are also posted in as unambiguous of a form as possible in a prominent location. While I may not agree with the reasoning behind a prohibition of the use of VMware Player, for example, I would at least know of the prohibition. There really are legitimate reasons for using virtual machines, for example; if I was unable to get the game to run to my satisfaction using wine... Thank you again for your response TSR-AlexS.
All use of VMware falls under the 'no cheating' clause in the ToS (The D. CONSENT TO MONITOR) clause talks about any 3rd party software that could enable cheating. /shrug good luck.
By that definition, Windows is 3rd party software that could enable cheating. This situation is ridiculous. It does not seem unreasonable to expect to know the details of a policy that one is expected to adhere to. SOE either wants my business or they don't, I would simply like to know which it is before the day that I can no longer log into my account.
Seriously? You are actually going to validate their stance here with that catch all clause? They don't even have the consideration or respect to the playerbase to put it in writing, officially in the ToS. It is a best an angle shoot (and a cop out) for them to just say well some people have used this for cheating so we are going to just start banning people out of the blue, with no announcement whatsoever, we didn't even learn about this until no telling how many people were banned, who in all likelihood had no idea what they were banned for. No more Mac players, they been squashed, of course with the rampant and abundant population in EQ2 no harm done in eradicating a segment of the playerbase completely. You do agree don't you, I mean you are always raving about how 'alive' Guk is with players.
Not really there is nothing native to windows that allows you to manipulate network streams, it would require the writing of something else on top of the OS to interfere with one of the network layers. VMware is always in the middle of the network layers with unknown abilities on the far side.
There is nothing native to VMWare that allows you to manipulate network streams. You don't even know what you are talking about, the only thing VMWare does is bridge the connection to the host or allow you to connect directly to the network isolating the host and the VM network using the same adapter. The network driver can be hooked in windows and the packets modified just as readily as they can in VMWare. You can also make an internet gateway from a myriad of preconfigured VM's that will allow you to do the same, if they want to ban cheaters that's great but they need to ban cheaters, not unwitting players and they need to use legit methods of detecting cheaters not just baseless assumptions because someone runs in a VM.
Dual boot an option for you? Try Wine at first and if that doesn't work give the old dual boot a chance. It's not like today's systems lack space for dual boot. It's a personal choice. You can either work with the Linux and SOE idiosyncrasies or you can whine about it )
It was certainly not my intention to whine about wine... it works fine. I was seeking a more definitive answer than "it should be fine" before buying $80 worth of expansions, a subscription, and risking everything else tied to my account. It appears that is too much to ask, so I suppose I will stop whining and go play something else.
With all this talk about VMware, you would think some genius at SOE thinks it's a "warez" product, not a legitimate product for professional *and* private use. While I do not currently use a VMWare product, I do use Oracle VM VirtualBox and Microsoft Virtual PC. Never while running EQ2....but I shouldn't even have to worry about it. SOE, get this through your thick skulls....virtualization products are very legitimate, and they are widely used for a variety of reasons. Just because they *can* be used in unethical ways, outright banning the use of these products is very short-sighted and draconic. Furthermore, it reflects very poorly on SOE's corporate image...and even if you do not give a darn about your customers, I know you do care about the corporate image!
