Hacking? (and some random unrelated rant)

[Immovable One]

I dunno if this has been discussed (and I'd appreciate it if any of you guys post a link to the thread), but since the our game data is saved on the cart, does this mean that there will be hacker issues ala PSODC?

If there is no such issue, or if PSZ's system DOES WORK, it had me thinking "then why does PSZ got no monthly fee and dedicated server while games like PSO and PSU do?".

This then leads me to....

*random rant begin*

....me having thoughts that the online PS game don't really fit the monthly subscription system at all. Despite the numerous rares to collect, levels to grind, and characters to customize, I think the online PS games are far too short.... or rather "minimalist" (hopefully you get the idea - like how it's more like an arcade multiplayer beat-em-up with customizable player characters as opposed to a being true huge MMORPG like WOW) to make it worth the 8.99 monthly fee. I was thinking that a pay-per addon/extra/expansion (e.g. pay $5 for a particular Holiday costume set) seems to fit these games more. Oh well - not like these rants get noticed anyway....

*random rant end*

Whatever - main topic is the hacking concern.

[deso123]

well if the game is serverside where the company holds your player data and the game is really good like psobb then im willing to pay to play even if it isn't a multiplayer game based in a massive world. the servers are still doing just as much work creating the online environment that the players are playing in. Well maybe a little less because the enemies are on the player's machine and you simply send the kills to their server... But still it's a good game I'd be willing to pay for and I now realize I took sega for granted because 3rd party servers suck hard with all the ban happy 18 year olds running it.

PS0 is already hacked to bits. There is hacking on the DS.

[Tycho]

Ofcourse cheating on the DS is easy.

As for the games being 'worth it', you have to understand this from the company's perspective. Obviously companies will spend the minimum amount of effort (= money) that'll get them their subscriptions, hence the minimalism.
Why is PS0 free while the rest isn't? Because people wouldn't be willing to pay for online play. The game is freaking small (also, there's still Wifi dongles to mimic wireless play).
Why doesn't PSU get the same amount of effort from developers as WoW is getting? Because WoW had a main audience that was a LOT bigger from the start -- an English audience. This makes sense, because to be successful you need to understand your audience (note that the Blizzard staff does play WoW... while former Nintendo president Hiroshi Yamauchi never touched a game in his life, hence the company took a turn for the better once he quit).
Also, a huge part of the PSU licenses currently are just 360 licenses that people forgot to cancel. Go figure why Sega would rather have their dev team make new games, and why they'd spend the few bucks to outsource development for a new DS title (cheapest platform) for an old franchise that'd sell anyway.

[Nowhere]

@Immovable One

I was curious about the hacking too. Aside from seeing a bunch of threads on other sites about people backing up their saves to dupe items (mostly PDs... which are more than plentiful enough as it is IMO.) Also, I looked through a cheat file from a site I won't link to... there are some really devastating AR cheats... move speed hacks, experience multipliers and various unlocks seem to be the nastiest.

IOW, online is going to be completely ruined. I seriously considering not playing with anyone I don't know personally, and then only if they agree to do the same.

About online fees... I'd pay for PSO or PSZ online services if it meant a total absence of cheating. I wouldn't mind a more "massive" experience, though. The thing is Sega has no option but to charge for online for the PC/XBox/Playstation services or they won't make their money back. Nintendo's free online services work a bit differently and they invest in it as a value-added aspect to their systems and games. (I'd die laughing if the Wii sees a PSZero game... although I'd love to see it.)

[Zarode]

Considering people are playing on flashcarts, and flashcarts have access to cheats. And there is the Action Replay...

[Zael Kain]

well you can't throw items on the ground, so don't got to worry about dupes. I was thinking the same thing, if its like PSO, will it be like PSO and its hacking ? but then again, i prefer to play with the same people i know and trust, this is where FC come in handy haha

[Nowhere]

Sadly, it's easier to dupe.

And yeah, I find it ironic that the FCs we loathe are helping to mitigate the problem.