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"poor programming" was a quote from the article. Also, it wasn't clear from the article itself what game was being talked about. After clicking around the sit

by Ogre 15y ago

"poor programming" was a quote from the article. Also, it wasn't clear from the article itself what game was being talked about. After clicking around the site, I realized this was about a "private server" for Ragnarok Online. In other words, a reverse engineered fan-made server. Though there appears to be an actual company behind it, just not Ragnarok Online's actual developer, I'm not quite clear on whether there's a business here. Either way, I was thinking of this in a completely different context. Indeed writing it properly isn't free, that's part of why people pay money to play these games! But in this case, people are perhaps not paying any money. I wonder if the official Ragnarok Online servers have this issue?

jerf 15y ago
"Though there appears to be an actual company behind it, just not Ragnarok Online's actual developer, I'm not quite clear on whether there's a business here." Thinking about costs and benefits isn't just for businesses, it's for every programmer. Things like opportunity costs are always present, even when money isn't.
- Ogre 15y ago
  My point was more that the benefits in this case are likely not as great as I had originally thought, not that individuals or amateurs shouldn't think about it. Same thing you're saying really.
Shenglong 15y ago
Yes, they do have the issue - and a lot more issues. eAthena never rewrote the client - just the server code. Some of the eA guys (ultramage is -amazing-) are very smart.
- Ogre 15y ago
  I guess that would follow. If the client is set up to receive invisible players and not display them, then the original architecture must have been the same. Do you have any evidence or experience to back up the "just about every game" comment? I still find that hard to believe. This is coming from having written code to "do it properly".
  - Shenglong 15y ago
    I meant this type of hack tends to exist in every game that incorporates invisibility - not that it's all done the same way. Sorry for the misunderstanding. I would imagine that the proper way of programming invisibility, is that no packets should be sent, until the server confirms the player can actually see invisible characters. As I understand it, too many of these checks would limit efficiency, though.

by Ogre 15y ago

jerf 15y ago

"Though there appears to be an actual company behind it, just not Ragnarok Online's actual developer, I'm not quite clear on whether there's a business here." Thinking about costs and benefits isn't just for businesses, it's for every programmer. Things like opportunity costs are always present, even when money isn't.

Ogre 15y ago
My point was more that the benefits in this case are likely not as great as I had originally thought, not that individuals or amateurs shouldn't think about it. Same thing you're saying really.

Shenglong 15y ago

Yes, they do have the issue - and a lot more issues. eAthena never rewrote the client - just the server code. Some of the eA guys (ultramage is -amazing-) are very smart.

Ogre 15y ago
I guess that would follow. If the client is set up to receive invisible players and not display them, then the original architecture must have been the same. Do you have any evidence or experience to back up the "just about every game" comment? I still find that hard to believe. This is coming from having written code to "do it properly".
- Shenglong 15y ago
  I meant this type of hack tends to exist in every game that incorporates invisibility - not that it's all done the same way. Sorry for the misunderstanding. I would imagine that the proper way of programming invisibility, is that no packets should be sent, until the server confirms the player can actually see invisible characters. As I understand it, too many of these checks would limit efficiency, though.