TCP/IP options

[Sarlecc]

When talking about microtransactions have you considered the legal implications of it? Suddenly you have to keep highly sensitive information highly secure... Who then becomes responsible if that data becomes compromised?

As for direct-linking Steam chat I have not looked at their API so I wouldn't be able to tell you how easy/hard it would be to implement. However with what I have been working on, an in game chat would be fairly easy to program in comparison to displaying other players on the same map. This is because chat is something that I wouldn't have to go in and change the default code to do.

 

[BubbleMatrix82]

So by your suggestion, what IS possible in MV that is TCP/IP related that is not implemented?

 

[Sarlecc]

From easiest to hardest:
1. High Scores
2. Chat (depending on how many features you like can become a little bit harder to implement)
3. More Developer options (such as mass testing skills for further balance)
4. Player Accounts / Cloud Saving

There might be some more that don't require significant code changes but these are the ones I can list off the top of my head.

 

[BubbleMatrix82]

What about content patching, uploading variable values and having other players download them, and analytics? Any chance they could be implemented easily?

 

[Sarlecc]

Content patching is actually a lot easier then you might think with this. Because everything would be on a server fixing say a bug in a plugin is as easy as uploading a new version of that plugin. There are still the particular issues with uploading a new plugin and having possible save incompatibles though. Uploading variable values and having others download them. Not quite certain to what you are referring to here.
Analytics you mean like how many times people/monsters have used XYZ skill or how many people went to ABC map? That would fall under Developer options.

 

[TakeHomeTheCup]

In the case of content patching, doesn't that depend on how the game is packaged?

 

[Sarlecc]

Feel free to PM me if you would like more information. But in the case of my system you would basically do one of two things:
1. shutdown server, upload the new file and restart server.
2. shutdown server, re-upload the game and restart server.

 

[RetroBoy]

"When talking about microtransactions have you considered the legal implications of it? Suddenly you have to keep highly sensitive information highly secure... Who then becomes responsible if that data becomes compromised?"

Well, for a starter I am not actually planning on doing this. lol

That said, if someone was I would ASSUME they would be responsible and I assume they would go to the proper lengths or face legal recourse. The inability to produce these kinds of games on the engine for this reason is still a market (albeit a seedy one) that is going untapped. And given MV was advertised as mobile compatible and the nature of Micro-Transactions on mobile games its something you would think would be possible.

 

[Sarlecc]

Well, for a starter I am not actually planning on doing this. lol

I got that from your last post . It wasn't really directed at anyone just in case.

That said, if someone was I would ASSUME they would be responsible and I assume they would go to the proper lengths or face legal recourse.

That is a lot of assumptions right there. See here is where I see a few problem scenarios. Lets say a game developer setups their microtransactions down to how the help files tell them to do it. Then some hacker hacks it due to a flaw in the system. Who becomes responsible the guy who set it up or the guy who designed it. Either way having it get hacked would draw a tremendous amount of negative publicity to both the game developer and the product its self.

Now lets say the system was developed flawlessly but a game developer set it up incorrectly or ignores the help entirely. Some hacker hacks it once again you get the negative publicity. Even if it wasn't the products fault.

The way I see it microtransactions is a very risky addition.

 

[RetroBoy]

I don't think so man. A simple legal disclaimer. "I am not responsible, blah blah blah" would be enough to cover this. "Use at your own risk" blah blah blah. Then its all on the guy doing this. I am just thinking from a "market" perspective I couldnt make a game like (struggling to remember) Zenowhatever Ah, I cant remember the damn things name. It has some sequels. Its a mobile game kind of like link to the past with a dude who looks a bit like cloud and he runs around and you kill little monsters -- but you can use microtransactions. I know its a popular game nad it looks kind of RPG Maker-ish.

It "seems" to me that making "that" kind of game and having microtransactions would be extremely profitable (if seedy) for a dev team. Release your game for $0.99 on android and live of the micros. So, anyone looking to do that (and I imagine there are more than you imagine, especially in the foreign market) are not going to buy MV, they will buy another DEV kit.

 

[BubbleMatrix82]

Well, it sounds like TCP/IP functionality isn't a feasible option as an editor update but a plugin for serious designers who are willing to buy a SSL cert, lease a web server, register a domain name, and anything else that was needed should have access to these resources. It's very hard to build a community around a game without social integration.

 

[Soulnet]

I don't think so man. A simple legal disclaimer. "I am not responsible, blah blah blah" would be enough to cover this. "Use at your own risk" blah blah blah.

Wrong. You can't throw away or override rights in a disclaimer.

It's like I ask you to sign a document that says i'm allowed to stab you, you sign it and I stab you. Legally I can't do that even with your signed document (it's dramatic but it shows the point).

Vice versa you can't put in fine print, if the game doesn't work too bad. There are laws that can't be removed with a disclaimer.

 

[RetroBoy]

Wrong. You can't throw away or override rights in a disclaimer.

It's like I ask you to sign a document that says i'm allowed to stab you, you sign it and I stab you. Legally I can't do that even with your signed document (it's dramatic but it shows the point).

Vice versa you can't put in fine print, if the game doesn't work too bad. There are laws that can't be removed with a disclaimer.

I might not know American law but I know for fact that if you have a medical professional present overseeing things it is in fact legal for me to stab you, fight you, do anything short of killing you. There is a Personal Injury Waver, you just fill it out, sign it, and have a medic on hand and you're cake.

Now, if you've got some kind of verification that a disclaimer would not abolish your responsibility I'd love to see it. If it didn't cost me by the hour I'd call my lawyer and ask but I am pretty sure you cannot be held responsible for how something you create is used if it is not in violation of the law.

The fault would have to lay with the developer utilizing it, not the programmer. There might be certain criteria that must have to be met before you could market something legally but again, that would fall on the Dev Team and not the person who made the plugin in the first place, especially if it was freeware and they were not associated with the project.

 

[Soulnet]

Personal injury is if something goes wrong where it's not expected to go wrong. Like a stuntman. All effort is taken to ensure it goes safely but if it goes wrong you've agreed to the risk. If the accident was caused by negligence or the fact the stunt went ahead knowing it was likely to fail then there are issues.

You cannot simply allow someone to break the law cause you said they can. You don't have that right to say someone else can break the law cause you said it's ok.

As another example If I asked xyz to make a bomb and xyz got me to sign a disclaimer saying I won't use the bomb to blow up people or property.

 

[RetroBoy]

"You cannot simply allow someone to break the law cause you said they can. You don't have that right to say someone else can break the law cause you said it's ok."

Dude, yes you can. Its called a Personal Injury Waver. They cannot kill you or maim you (removal of appendages, etc.). You can't legally let someone kill you, but short of that anything is fine.

Following the moon logic you're using right now if Ford builds a car and then some lunatic uses it to run people over, Ford is accountable. That isn't how it works.

And yeah, I have a good mate in the Fire Fighters and I know for a fact we can blow up stuff on our property if we file for it because we've done it. Its not as easy as signing a piece of paper, it has to be authenticated by a judge but so long as you use the explosive for its intended purpose it is perfectly legal.

 

[Soulnet]

You Americans have funny laws then. I'm not American and my game is subject to Australian Laws.

 

[RetroBoy]

I am an Australian. I live in New South Wales.

 

[Soulnet]

New South Wales...

I'm a Victorian. No wonder we keep arguing!

 

[RetroBoy]

That actually makes an astounding amount of sense.

 

[Andar]

[mod]Please keep the discussion on topic[/mod]

As said several times above, there are valid reasons not to add any more online or multiplayer support to the engine as a default.

If that is really vital for you, you have two perfectly viable option:
1) write (or have written) a plugin that adds that support (which will also tell you how difficult that is to implement)
2) go to a different engine that supports online gaming, there are more than a few (which of course have other limitation compared to the RMs)

Fact is, you can't get everything in every way - there are technical limitations that require any engine to choose between options.
The RPG-Makers made a choice of not going toward multiplayer/online in order to improve other aspects of the engine like the plugin use.

It would be extremely stupid of Degica/Kadokawa to change that decision, because they would have to pay for massive changes in the programming and alienate a good part of its user base just to go into competition with other engine that are already there for online gaming (and starting that competition at the bottom line because the other engines have more experience there) instead of keeping the program at the top of all programs in the gaming segment it currently is at.