The Hacker Project - a free online game

- the virii activation that is not finished and taking up bandwidth can now be killed by an attacker via remote access.
- if the vir is Revelation, the above will not work, Rev activation can only be killed by the gateway that started the process.

- Best software prices now also take into account file size in price. Price is increased by 1000 HPD / Gb.

Thanks a lot Emi!

Good job, thats all the problems people were complaining about! (Well, ingame problems. :19:)

Wow, nice update, SirEmi :)

I just assume faith havent been modified. And I would also like to bring up that Ebolla calculated rev to be unstoppable at .8

Warning to anyone who gets Rev that far: Get ready to be pwned. Seriously.

Wanna start Rev? OK go ahead. But keep it fair OK? Don't abuse the flaws, not these kind of flaws in the game.

And thanks Ebolla for figuring that out! Good to see you're still with us in these dark times  :7:

It was when Ebolla (and HJ?) researched the super rev he came up with those numbers. Im sorry to let your hope down but I havent seen him active in a long time.

If memory server me correctly at the end of Round 1 Emi said he was going to adjusting Install/Disinfect times in regards to Rev and Faith.....I don't know if he did anything with that but he stated he would but there would be only one way to find out.

If this is directed to me and if I understand you right and you're saying that it should be tested, then I'll answer you:

Test all you want, but don't target anyone with that Rev  :7:

The only thing I'd like this round is a fair war between the Faith people and the Rev people. Perhaps we all will become Rev / Faith people and there will be no war. Fine. Perhaps just 3 guys killing eachother's server with that Rev. Fine.

But lets not make the same mistakes and research Rev too far.

I hereby swear that I will never research Rev!  :bodyguard:

What are you talking about? I see him on all the time, like right now hes on.... :confused2:

I mean in the community. Im not playing so there is no possibility I could have seen him.

Not directed at you in any way...just stating fact that if Emi changed the specific's of Faith/Rev we won't know til it's tested. I have no intention of doing anything with Rev at this time...but it does add a nice boost to power ranking!! :)

good idea!




Edited by Donn. Reason: Advertisements.

Well, I just researched Rev for two reasons:

a) gives nice points
b) I've proven that Rev can still be bought via Software dealer. It just took over .5 version to see it. Now anybody can have it for a small price ... and I saw somewhere that would not be possible anymore?

From this point until further notice (let's say until someone else research it higher) I will not research it anymore nor will I install it. From now on I only work on perfecting that Faith AV that I have :)
Satisfied, everybody?

lpJ.

I thought we were told that you would not be able to purchase Revelations, either. Wrong. We must've all just THOUGHT Emi posted that, because any posting (That I can find) has been removed  :12:

And this update does absolutely NOTHING for Revelations. Anyone with just a few days worth (Less with hard work) of work can start a Revelation activation.

And yet people wonder why the game is dying.

I don't think it is going to happen because everyone is too scared to use rev.... :14:

/yawn Did somebody mention me?

I am still around trolling but with the release of Moria and the fact I have a founder lifetime account I have been playing there mostly.  Some send me PM's in game now and then to which I do respond.  But honestly there is really a serious drop in the average IQ on these forums so I try not to post to often.  After all who wants to hear something from the 5lut?  I know I don't.  If I could put her on ignore on the forums I would in a heart beat.

However I am interested in testing rev.  Who knows I may restart SGP and make it Pro-Rev for a few rounds.  I don't really know at this point though.

If there is any interest in starting SGP back up again go send me a PM on the SGP forums.

Satica members.  You guys are an extended family due in large to HJ.  As such IF I start up SGP again you guys will stay off limits unless you attack us first.  Of course the roster will be hidden so that will make things interesting.

Anyways back to LoTRo I go.   hrmm  I gotta change skills in Eve to come to think of it.

Oh and to be on topic.  The price change isn't enough IMO Titam.  I really hope you increase it exponentially sort of like how you did with the research.  Base at .5 and have the price per point increase at roughly the same rate as research provides diminishing returns.
Other than that looks cool.

So you can remote kill a virii install that is not yet complete?  So like at any point, or while the timer is still counting down, or while it says "complete" and has not yet had the install finish?

I think at anytime so long as it was started by the localhost (meaning the person who owns the server started the install on themselves)

When rev or faith is being installed/run by localhost NO PERSON except the one starting the process can stop it. But Im not sure about what happens if a remotehost tries to install/run the file.

I think only the person who started it could stop rev, even if it was started on another server.

152,184 HPD for 2.1 File share??? C'mon, do you know how much time and resources went in researching that?

I still think that the owner of the file should get the money that you pay software dealer. There would be much more researching done!

lpJ.

Wow this could be an excellent idea.. After ofcourse upgrading the price like Ebolla suggested..

It seems more fair but on the other hand.. The software dealer is actually a hacker who makes a copy of your software and tries to earn a few hpd by selling it. The whole idea of the software dealer would then have to be changed..

Ok. If that is so, then i would like to request a new feature: a chance to sell software i researched. If software dealer can sell it after "stealing it", why not me?

lpJ.

Or sell it to the software dealer and get a royalty on it.

I dunno, sounds too much like the music industry, but another game I toyed with briefly allows for the sale of software which one has developed, even allows you to set the price. Right now, however, how could anyone compete with the prices at the Software Dealer without taking a hit? Then again, one might have to rely on bulk sales in this way to make a profit.

Development costs 100k. Sale prices is 20k. Only five sales to break even and any more than that is pure profit. Meanwhile you undercut the Software Dealer who sells it at cost or whatever. You'd have to expose your IP address like you would for others to use your Public FTP, but one could take sales away from the Software Dealer this way.

Drawbacks could include having to actually download the purchased software, using BW on both sides while the Software Dealer offers instant transfer.

Not that is the thing that bothers me too. Sure, it is good - for someone who want's to just use the work of others. But in every other case you have to crack the server and wait till the file is downloaded. And that takes days even with good bw.

But with software dealer : presto - you have a file in a minute! Cheap, fast, annoys me to the point I don't see why I would research for others. If I trade my research with other at least usually i get something in return, but with dealer - i feel ripped off and there is no protection against him. At least give as some software protection against dealer's hacking :)

lpJ.

I'm afraid I've got to agree with you, Jager.

This method could replace the software dealer, if you think about it. Or maybe have the dealer only sell up to v0.5 as had been suggested and leave it to the players to develop software beyond that and offer it for sale. Basically, the dealer's an independent software developer who offers a limited array of products while we the players, as independent contractors and groups of hackers could develop and market our own software either software which we have stolen from the megacorps or researched ourselves in order to make a return on our investment and make research really worth doing again.

At the moment research requires a lot of patience and a lot of hardware. Precious AP is required to complete the many research rounds.

At the moment it is also quite easy for top players to hack eachother. High breakers are available on the secret servers and the protections that are considered to be the best in HP at the moment, are easy to break if you have decent hardware.

The combination of these two factors, result in players not being motivated to do research.

If you would however, make the players able to gain profit from their research. A lot would focus their gameplay on research again, instead of just waiting for the other guy to finish his research and then just take it.

The problem is: who will be able to buy these softwares? Since most of you desire that the prices are increased.

I also don't think it's realistic that Hackers would really sell their softwares to the competition. You don't need to sell your softwares to friends since you can just trade with them (not give HPD though..)

Another point: by making it able to gain profit from your research, you will give the top players another chance to get even better and it will help in making it very hard for new players to ever come close to the top players again.

My arguments aren't really solid probably.. I'm studying in the meanwhile so..  :laugh:

But you get my point. Instead of only looking to the benefits and from the side of the one who researches, try to think about the people that are not on that side.

The only good reaction to this problem is: increase the prices of the softwares above V.5 (or limit the software dealer by removing the possibility of buying softwares above V.5)

I wouldn't sell my very best software :) But I would sell a bit lower version and I believe lower ranking players would still benefit from it. Perhaps they wouldn't be able to break me, but they would be able to access secret servers?

lpJ.

How is a hacker selling software unrealistic?

You seem to be upholding an idealized vision of a hacker. A "true" hacker would not only work constantly to liberate every piece of software/data possible, but make it openly available. Hackers hack because they can. A lot of modern hackers also work for companies, breaking into systems in order to demonstrate flaws and doing so for a bounty. On the other hand we have a legion of hackers working for the FBI's National Computer Crime Squad (I'm sure other nations have similar institutions) and there are many who were scooped up by development companies as high-end coders and testers. Profit motive is very much becoming a reality of being a hacker in modern times.

In this game, we work every day to increase our stock of active virii. These virii do what? They generate cash. Hacker Project hackers are technological mercenaries and thieves, not heroic liberators of information. Sale of developed and stolen software is just one more money making endeavor.

It may seem cynical, but think about it from that perspective and it makes sense. Why not fund high end research by selling off copies of software you no longer use to the noobs? Trade with your friends and make repositories for you group members, but sell the low end stuff to the masses. The revenue goes to buy new hardware and conduct more research. Motive for research restored and gap between high end and newbs closed a bit. There's also more publicly known IPs and this will certainly attract assaults. More assaults means more PvP and more motive to research better protects and generate money through sale of software, completion of missions, and installing virii. More motive, more activity, more PvP, more fun, right?

Jager's got a point. Few would really sell their top stuff. Gotta keep oneself safe if one's IP is publicly known.

Conversely, the only people who would feel secure enough to open such storefronts would probably be the high end players who would then take in the majority of the revenue from such sales. There is also a danger of BW locking through all the downloads being conducted at any given time.

The only counter to the BW locking I can come up with is a BW seizing program which gradually forces BW to be available for an attacking system to use to upload malicious software to the target or download files. Gotta hack the attacker to stop the processes.

Also, the price increase is to the built-in Software Dealer, and the player software sales, as I understood it, were using player set prices. One could just as easily set the sale price to $0. Undercutting the Software Dealer in this way should lessen its importance.

Hopefully this clears things up at least for what I'm trying to say. It's all just rough thoughts so I'm not married to any of these ideas.

I haven't got the time right now to respond to every part of text you've written so excuse me for the short post!

http://www.certiguide.com/secplus/cg_sp_02HackervsCracker.htm

As you can see here hackers are in fact heroic liberators of information or as Emi calls them: information seekers.

I try to be a hacker and not a cracker, meaning that I try to not damage the other person's server I'm exploring.

If I want a file and I am not friendly towards him, I will indeed stop a download / upload and get that file.

That file gives me the possibility to get even more information while doing less effort.

Putting Virii on Secret Servers shouldn't be considered as only a bad thing.. In the eyes of the factions, yes! But in the eyes of the community? No! Why? They have the chance to do missions that pay well and don't take too long.

Bla bla bla  :laugh: