This is what happens when Private Servers become too popular

Gameloading

http://l2extreme.com/ 

Its about time something was done about those things.

brian72282

Actually, the reason that one got shut down is 2 pronged.

1. They were running using official server files that were stolen from the server during the C1 beta.

2. The asshats were CHARGING for access to their server.  I can't remember how much they were charging but I believe it was roughly the cost of buying L2 from a store.

If they stuck with emulation software and didn't charge people (by only accepting donations), they'd be open still.

Gameloading

yeah, those reasons are correct, but it was because it became to popular they got noticed by NCsoft/FBI.

KageShikamar

Hmm...

They weren't charging anyone...

and

Almost every Private Server uses CX Official Files...

brian72282

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Originally posted by Gameloading
yeah, those reasons are correct, but it was because it became to popular they got noticed by NCsoft/FBI.

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Read the FBI message closely.  You'll see the ESA actually is authorized to use that logo and warning.

It's not because they became too popular, it's because they flaunted it and the fact that they charged, that they got nailed.

Also, only about 1/2 of all private servers for L2 use leaked code.  The other half use L2J, which is a java emulation of the L2 server code that was/is backwards engineered.

If you're gonna run a private server that attracts thousands of players, you can't charge people to make an account.  It's just going to land you in a pound-you-in-the-butt federal prison.

Anageth

Am I the only one who gets an error from that link?

CleffyII

lol, don't the emulator programers know it would be far less work to make your own game engine then to backwards program another game engine.  L2 servers not only are stealing from NCsoft, but also Epic Games.  Many of those emulator programers just splice the code that epic brings in for the graphics drawers, thats just 1 point where they fall through.

Rattrap

I shortly tried l2extreme. Few months ago...

No , they didnt charge anything. And they had pretty completely working version of L2 , complete with many players and everything.

Anyway no wonder they closed it. It was starting to be more popular than the L2 itself.

But really, who in their right minds want to play on private servers?!

MMO is all about -> persistance,comunity and service

You can not have any of this on private servers

They are some lame man game trial at best

M1sf1t

It just speaks volumes on how much L2's legit server grindage sucks. As some one else pointed out this private server's downfall was that it provided a much better experince to players then the actual official game.

Jimmy_Scythe

Being a long time software pirate, I've always had one small question about these private servers that no one seems to be willing to answer...

You spent all that time making the emulator, why not go the rest of the way and make a custom client? Chinese and Korean companies do this all the time. Try playing Lineage 2 an then playing Silk Road and tell me that they aren't the same dame game. Threre are plenty of affordable 3D engines out there, as well as tools for making  your own content. Hell, there are even packs of stock 3D models and textures that you can get either free or damn close to.

Yeah, that sounds like a lot of work. But is it really that much more work than running an private server? Most UO servers run completely custom maps. Export the models from the game, reskin them and make a new world map. With a solid team you could finish in 3 weeks flat. I know, I've seen custom servers go up that fast.

Look at it this way, with a custom client and an emulator it'll be quite a bit harder for anyone to yell piracy or claim that you're violating an EULA.

Just a thought....

Gorukha

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Originally posted by Gameloading
http://l2extreme.com/  Its about time something was done about those things.

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    Why ? 

paulscott

AHHHHHHHH.  Now i'm being tracked.

The site works fine for me angeth.  I'm also in firm belief that private servers shouldn't be allowed without explicit permission of the devs AND the current team that is running the game.

brian72282

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Originally posted by Jimmy_Scythe
Being a long time software pirate, I've always had one small question about these private servers that no one seems to be willing to answer...

You spent all that time making the emulator, why not go the rest of the way and make a custom client? Chinese and Korean companies do this all the time. Try playing Lineage 2 an then playing Silk Road and tell me that they aren't the same dame game. Threre are plenty of affordable 3D engines out there, as well as tools for making  your own content. Hell, there are even packs of stock 3D models and textures that you can get either free or damn close to.

Yeah, that sounds like a lot of work. But is it really that much more work than running an private server? Most UO servers run completely custom maps. Export the models from the game, reskin them and make a new world map. With a solid team you could finish in 3 weeks flat. I know, I've seen custom servers go up that fast.

Look at it this way, with a custom client and an emulator it'll be quite a bit harder for anyone to yell piracy or claim that you're violating an EULA.

Just a thought....

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The reason why they don't do a custom client is for two seperate reasons.

The first reason is the sheer amount of time it takes to make a client from scratch.  Most major MMOs take what, 4-5 years to make from pre-production to release?  Most people don't have the time or resources to do this, so they backwards engineer the server code since it's much easier and faster.

The other reason is that people often open private servers to IMPROVE (in their eyes) the original game.  Look at Lineage 2 for example.  The level grind on there is on a ridiculous curve and by the time you reach level 20 it takes weeks to get a level.  Once you approach the 60's it then takes months to get a level.  So, people make their own servers of lineage 2 with accelerated experience rates, as well as drop rates to better tailor the experience for what they want.

Personally, I don't see why companies don't do this: offer the BASE server code free of charge to everyone to run their own servers.  Now wait a minute before you start crying foul.  My thought is that by offering the bare basest source code (no expansions, free upgrades, etc), to those who buy the game client would still help them make more money since the client is selling.  Now people could still pay the monthly fee to play on their servers or they could go play on someone else servers for free.  If these other servers want updates and such, or if they want to charge a fee to their players they'd then have to pay a licensing fee to the original company for the rights to the updates and for charging a fee.  Radical, yes, but I think it'd be a way to bring the game to more and more people.

karlz0r

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Originally posted by Gameloading

Its about time something was done about those things.

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Very nice. I wish things like that would happen more often with the private server hosters..

Anageth

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Originally posted by paulscott
AHHHHHHHH.  Now i'm being tracked.

The site works fine for me angeth.  I'm also in firm belief that private servers shouldn't be allowed without explicit permission of the devs AND the current team that is running the game.

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Mmm, seems I can see it now.

I kinda agree with you there, they should have aimed for a UO-OSI kind of relationship. EA is fully aware that the free servers exist, but they aim to do two things through them:

1. Steal ideas from them. I'm sure everyone who has played UO knows of the plant system. Guess what, it was written by a member of the public.
2. They hope that when players of free shards get bored, they'll subscribe to the official servers.

I guess L2Extreme should have expected this to happen. Poor guys are probably going to spend a while in jail.

tubelight

if only more games took the step and took extreme action against private servers, not all servers but atleast the big ones. for example, Ragnarok Online has quite a lot of private servers, so does MU Online.....

M1sf1t

Most private servers are a direct result of grindage inspired gameplay and bored players looking for a new breath of fresh air. Maybe dev's should take notice as to why these servers are so succesful and adjust their tactics so as to draw those players back into the fold.

Faur

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Originally posted by M1sf1t
Most private servers are a direct result of grindage inspired gameplay and bored players looking for a new breath of fresh air. Maybe dev's should take notice as to why these servers are so succesful and adjust their tactics so as to draw those players back into the fold.

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I was always under the impression that private servers mostly attracted people who didn't have a CC.

Classicstar

I play l2 on private becouse its bot free and its 1x server and its with no lag and many players and 99%works like official i dont feel guilty at all im just waiting for darkfall and there no good pvp mmo out there so l2 private best choice with bot exploit hacks free server:)

 

Classicstar

L2 1x is not that hard i dont see problem.

And there are hundreds of l2 servers around world more then 500000 playing private so plenty of choice.

PTED

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Originally posted by Faur

Originally posted by M1sf1t
Most private servers are a direct result of grindage inspired gameplay and bored players looking for a new breath of fresh air. Maybe dev's should take notice as to why these servers are so succesful and adjust their tactics so as to draw those players back into the fold.

I was always under the impression that private servers mostly attracted people who didn't have a CC.

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Alot of people who dont have a credit card also dont have enough of a brain to find private servers.

MagicStar

If someone was to get cought hosting a private server of a commercial mmo, then I would expect a 404 not found error however. It's sort of strange to see a site saying that it siezed by the FBI but mabie it's common mabir it's not.

Jimmy_Scythe

PTED wrote:

Alot of people who dont have a credit card also dont have enough of a brain to find private servers.

This is one of the dumbest things I've heard on this board in a long time. A somewhat impressive feat considering how many stupid things get said on this board.

A lot of people don't have credit cards on principle alone. I was raised to believe that (with minor purchases), if you don't have the money right now, you don't need it. Houses and cars are another matter, of course. Both of my parents have never owned a credit card simply because you give up quite a bit of freedom when you get one.

I have a debit card, but that's all money that I already have. I DO NOT own, or even plan to own, a credit card.

Back on the subject... A custom client wouldn't be as big of an issue with something like BlitzBASIC where all you would have to do is plug in the models and textures. File converting the original Meshes would be a pain, reskinning would take a lot of time and making a whole new map would probably be equally time consuming, but you would'n't be building the whole thing from scratch. With about 10 people you could finish in 3 to 6 months.

trying to stop private servers is a practice in futility. The people using these servers wouldn't be paying for the game even if they couldn't pirate it. Ragnarok online is a good game, but not worth $15 a month. Maybe a one time payment of $30, but definitely not 15 per month.

If these companies really wanted to stop piracy, they would stop making games that are focused on grind that tend prompt private servers with 2X, 5X, or even 10 and 20X rates. Going back to $10 a month wouldn't hurt. There are more MMOs out now, a little pricing competition is order.

Jackcolt

FBI uses all caps... damn noobs

Unknown

This wasn't the only private server that got shut down, there were about 10 others. L2 ******** also is shut down and that was probably the only worthwhile private server ever made. My theory is that the server was never siezed by the fbi and this is all an elaborate hoax so the owner of l2 extreme could run with donation money.

logangregor

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Originally posted by brian72282

Originally posted by Gameloading
yeah, those reasons are correct, but it was because it became to popular they got noticed by NCsoft/FBI.

Read the FBI message closely.  You'll see the ESA actually is authorized to use that logo and warning.

It's not because they became too popular, it's because they flaunted it and the fact that they charged, that they got nailed.

Also, only about 1/2 of all private servers for L2 use leaked code.  The other half use L2J, which is a java emulation of the L2 server code that was/is backwards engineered.

If you're gonna run a private server that attracts thousands of players, you can't charge people to make an account.  It's just going to land you in a pound-you-in-the-butt federal prison.

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How can I say this nicely....I couldnt give a shit what reason the FBI "used".

I played on those servers for about a week, friend of mine convinced me to play, I hated l2 and quit....but it didnt cost me a thing

As in they didnt charge

as in they didnt charge

THEY DIDNT CHARGE $$

Just because the law comes after you doesnt mean that you are automatically guilty.