Why wasn't Punkbuster released with UO?

**Adam** · 12th November 2007, 10:07 AM

I asked Tony Ray, founder of Punkbuster, why the integration with UO, was cancelled.

His reply is as follows.

Quote:

Hello Adam,

There were no technical issues or problems. PB was quickly and fully
integrated. As far as we know, it may still be on the table. However,
the decision to release with PB always rests with our clients and even
if we fully knew and understood the reason, I would not be at liberty to
share. I'm sorry I can't be more helpful to you.

-Tony

Shame..

Jeremy wrote to me to say it was due to Legal issues, apparently negotiations reached a deadlock.

**kingtony** · 12th November 2007, 10:51 AM

Thanks For The Update Adam

Merion · 13th November 2007, 04:26 AM

Well, that would be great step for UO to regain some credibility - on the other hand: cheater pay their monthly fee too, and as I do not know how many players/cheaters we are talking about - maybe EA can't afford to lose them all

Malachai · 13th November 2007, 06:34 AM

Well, how many decent, regular folks can they afford to lose? Especially those of us with multiple accounts.

**Tabbitha** · 13th November 2007, 07:26 AM

Good points and shame about the update

Gyvalor · 13th November 2007, 10:49 AM

Seems odd to me, I thought EA had other titles that used PB.

JCtheBuilder · 13th November 2007, 02:25 PM

This may be a little far fetched, but I think the Punkbuster cancellation has something to do with Kingdom Reborn.

One of the features of Kingdom Reborn was to be a more secure client to prevent cheating. This would also encourage people to make the switch "for the good of UO". But if Punkbuster is introduced, it makes the 2D client as secure as whatever Kingdom Reborn can do. It also has the lesser effect of showing that the old 2D client can still learn new tricks. Updating 2D in any way would be "counter productive" in trying to push KR. So players suffer while Darkscribe pushed his new client on everyone.

JCtheBuilder · 13th November 2007, 02:36 PM

Wow! Someone posted this old FYI message in the Stratics topic I started:

Quote:

After a lot of research and development, we’ve come to the conclusion that for now, it would be better for us to focus on internal fixes and security improvements instead of trying to install PunkBuster. The integration of PunkBuster into the Ultima Online client is being indefinitely postponed, until we can do justice to the marriage of the two products.

We enjoyed working with the team from Even Balance, and hope to do so in the future. We do have the same goals, after all: Ensuring fair play is one of our highest priorities.

Please know that we are working to make systems within the Kingdom Reborn client extremely tough on cheaters. We’ve made cheat prevention, and other in-game measures, a top (and ongoing) priority for our coding team.

So Tony says that it was quick and easy, but this FYI says it never happened and they could't do it justice. Then the FYI goes on to brag about Kingdom Reborn security.

http://www.uo.com/cgi-bin/newstools.pl?Article=9619

Malachai · 13th November 2007, 06:13 PM

Looks like we have our answer.

Anyone notice how Darkscribe kinda popped in out of nowhere, dropped KR on us then left?

Was he, to UO, supposed to be the equivalent of "Pimp my ride" to a beat-up old hatchback? If so, it didn't work...

**Adam** · 13th November 2007, 06:45 PM

I'm guessing they thought, that with UOKR approaching, they wouldn't need Punkbuster, because everyone would switch to the mega awesome UOKR client..............................

Seriously though, that's probably one of the reasons.
I wonder what the negotiations/legal issues were though.

12th November 2007, 10:51 AM	#2
kingtony How do you tell when you run out of invisible ink? Join Date: Jan 2007 Shard: alantic Posts: 2,663 Thanks: 0 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post	Re: Why wasn't Punkbuster released with UO? Thanks For The Update Adam __________________ For to win one hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the acme of skill. To subdue the enemy without fighting is the acme of skill.

13th November 2007, 04:26 AM	#3
Merion Join Date: Jun 2007 Shard: Drachenfels Posts: 311 Thanks: 15 Thanked 5 Times in 5 Posts	Re: Why wasn't Punkbuster released with UO? Well, that would be great step for UO to regain some credibility - on the other hand: cheater pay their monthly fee too, and as I do not know how many players/cheaters we are talking about - maybe EA can't afford to lose them all

13th November 2007, 06:34 AM	#4
Malachai Join Date: May 2007 Shard: Sonoma Posts: 51 Thanks: 1 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: Why wasn't Punkbuster released with UO? Well, how many decent, regular folks can they afford to lose? Especially those of us with multiple accounts.

13th November 2007, 07:26 AM	#5
Tabbitha Administrator Join Date: Mar 2006 Shard: Europa/Snowbourn Posts: 5,543 Blog Entries: 3 Thanks: 86 Thanked 76 Times in 34 Posts	Re: Why wasn't Punkbuster released with UO? Good points and shame about the update __________________

13th November 2007, 10:49 AM	#6
Gyvalor collecter of death robes Join Date: Nov 2006 Shard: Pacific & Lake Austin Posts: 278 Thanks: 0 Thanked 6 Times in 3 Posts	Re: Why wasn't Punkbuster released with UO? Seems odd to me, I thought EA had other titles that used PB. __________________

13th November 2007, 02:25 PM	#7
JCtheBuilder Join Date: May 2005 Shard: Atlantic Posts: 449 Thanks: 0 Thanked 27 Times in 14 Posts	Re: Why wasn't Punkbuster released with UO? This may be a little far fetched, but I think the Punkbuster cancellation has something to do with Kingdom Reborn. One of the features of Kingdom Reborn was to be a more secure client to prevent cheating. This would also encourage people to make the switch "for the good of UO". But if Punkbuster is introduced, it makes the 2D client as secure as whatever Kingdom Reborn can do. It also has the lesser effect of showing that the old 2D client can still learn new tricks. Updating 2D in any way would be "counter productive" in trying to push KR. So players suffer while Darkscribe pushed his new client on everyone. __________________ UOGuide -- The fastest growing encyclopedia for Ultima Online

13th November 2007, 06:13 PM	#9
Malachai Join Date: May 2007 Shard: Sonoma Posts: 51 Thanks: 1 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: Why wasn't Punkbuster released with UO? Looks like we have our answer. Anyone notice how Darkscribe kinda popped in out of nowhere, dropped KR on us then left? Was he, to UO, supposed to be the equivalent of "Pimp my ride" to a beat-up old hatchback? If so, it didn't work... Last edited by Malachai; 13th November 2007 at 06:15 PM.

13th November 2007, 06:45 PM	#10
Adam Lead Administrator Owner Join Date: Oct 1990 Posts: 5,273 Thanks: 36 Thanked 312 Times in 112 Posts	Re: Why wasn't Punkbuster released with UO? I'm guessing they thought, that with UOKR approaching, they wouldn't need Punkbuster, because everyone would switch to the mega awesome UOKR client.............................. Seriously though, that's probably one of the reasons. I wonder what the negotiations/legal issues were though. __________________ Get your own personal forum Like these ones - Personal forum listing Bored @ work? Play in our arcade! Useful Tips on how to use UOForums Open your own blog

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