by Moorgard on 2001-07-18
Hello everyone.As you know, the EverQuest User Agreement and Software License specifically states that "you may not use any third party software to modify the Software to change Game play." To do so may result in the termination of the license agreement and your EverQuest account.
In addition, some of these programs are actually designed to capture your personal information and steal your EverQuest password. You are entirely responsible for the consequences of downloading or using these programs. Sony Online and/or Verant are not responsible for any captured or stolen personal information or passwords and there is nothing we can do after the fact to keep that person from looting or deleting your account.
Alan
This Absor infobit comes hot on the heels of an unusual post made by John Smedley on the HackersQuest message boards, as reported on Lum the Mad. In the post, Smedley threatens a crackdown on people running any kind of third party software that allows you to do things with the EQ client that Verant didn't intend for you to do.
One example is DxWindows, a program that enables you to run EverQuest in a window. It doesn't let you to cheat, but it still violates the solemn oath you take each time you boot up the game. Still, if you read the story on Lum's site, you have to admit that the case for running EQ in a window is a good one. In any case, using this hack is against the rules.
Farther down the ladder is the infamous ShowEQ, a program that sniffs packets as they are sent to you by Verant's servers and allows you access to all kinds of hidden information on mobs and zones--even providing you with a map that shows you where every spawn, visible or invisible, is located. This software is so obviously illegal that it's almost silly to mention it, but since Smed is reminding you, we are, too.
Finally, in the realm of completely immoral hacks, there is some program out there that modifies the EQ client itself, giving you the ability to run across zones instantly and other evil things. If you use this, you suck, and you deserve every bad thing that happens to you.
Why the crackdown all of a sudden? A better question might be, what took them so long? EverQuest is Sony's intellectual property, and if you want to maintain a copyright you have to vigorously defend it.
With Luclin on the horizon--as well as packs of somewhat promising EQ clones--Verant has picked today to draw its line in the sand.
"This far--no farther!"