vrcanaries Chapter 223 Blizzard's Announcement
Chapter 223 Blizzard's Announcement
Friday, January 12th.
Blizzard Entertainment's official website published a lengthy announcement titled: "A Letter to StarCraft Players - An Explanation of the Game Environment and Future Plans."
The announcement first acknowledged the seriousness of the cheating problem, apologized to players, and stated that over five thousand cheating accounts had been banned. It then announced the "Safe Playing Environment Plan":
1. In collaboration with Star Technology, we launched the "Star Shield" USB security device.
2. Players using Star Shield will enter a brand new "Pure Battle Server", which uses hardware-level anti-cheat protection.
3. The StarShield device will be sold through the "StarCraft Gaming Platform". The first batch will be the "StarCraft Digital Collector's Edition", which includes a USB flash drive, a digital copy of the game, and virtual rewards, priced at $64.99 ($15 more expensive than the regular version).
4. Existing Battle.net servers will continue to be maintained, but players seeking a fair environment are advised to migrate to clean servers.
5. The Starry Sky Games Platform will be launched on January 5, 1998, and Star Shield devices will begin shipping today.
The announcement caused another uproar on the forum.
[Is this another money-grabbing scheme?] Shouldn't the anti-cheat measures be in place? Why are players being forced to pay for USB drives?
[Support] Finally, a solution! I'll pay $15 for some peace and quiet!
[Question] Can this USB drive really prevent cheating? Or is it just a scam?
[Wait and see] Wait and see, and buy it if it really works.
[Technical Analysis Post: What's the deal with Star Shield USB drive and Starry Sky gaming platform?]
The poster is a well-known tech-oriented ID, "CodeGeek".
The post is quite long and is divided into several parts:
1. Star Shield USB Flash Drive: Essentially a USB hardware dongle. Commonly used in professional software (such as CAD and accounting software) to prevent piracy. Its application in game anti-cheat is quite unique. Advantages: The key doesn't leave the computer's memory, making it impossible for cheat software to directly read or tamper with. Disadvantages: The hardware has costs, it can be lost or break, and it occupies a USB port.
2. StarCraft Gaming Platform: The integrated platform for downloads, updates, and matchmaking mentioned in Blizzard's announcement. This thing has big ambitions. If StarCraft is just the first, and other games are integrated later, it will become a game distribution and operation channel. Its direct challenge targets? Microsoft's Windows platform and the potential future game store.
3. My opinion: The solution is technically feasible, and it's difficult for cheat programs to breach the hardware on a large scale in the short term. However, there are two issues: first, user experience (requiring a USB drive to be plugged in every time you play), and second, long-term reliability (will the encryption algorithm be cracked? Will the USB drive be counterfeited?). Additionally, dividing players into two servers based on "willingness to spend money" might fragment the community.
Most of the replies below discussed technical details, with less arguing.
13th Floor: "Now I understand. It's like adding a physical lock to the game."
14th floor: "It's really annoying to have USB ports occupied. I use two ports for my mouse and keyboard."
Post #29: "Why do you think Blizzard doesn't develop it themselves and instead collaborates with StarCraft?"
Floor 30: Replying to Floor 29: "It's probably because StarCraft has readily available hardware production and encryption technology, and Blizzard doesn't have time to develop it themselves. Besides, StarCraft was the first platform launched for StarCraft, so cooperation is normal."
The argument lasted all day.
John Carter also saw the announcement. He uninstalled the game last week but had been keeping an eye on the forums.
Seeing the words "clean server," he was somewhat tempted.
But $64.99... isn't cheap; the regular version is only $49.99.
He checked his bank account balance and found he could still afford it.
But he hesitated because: what if the USB drive doesn't work? What if the cheat developer cracks it again?
Someone posted on the forum: "The Star System is already a niche system, and now they're even making it into dedicated hardware. Are they trying to divide players into different classes?"
Another person replied, "It's better than all of them being cheaters. I'd rather spend $15 to try it out."
John closed the forum and opened the Starry Sky Technology website. The website had already launched a preview page for the "Starry Sky Games Platform." The page was simple, with a dark blue background and a countdown in the middle: 16 days until the platform's launch.
At the bottom of the page is a rendering of the StarShield USB drive, which is black and has the Star logo on it.
John looked at it for a few minutes, then clicked on the booking page.
A $10 deposit was required for the reservation. He filled out the information and paid with his credit card.
An order confirmation email will be sent to your inbox. Subject: "Thank you for pre-ordering the StarCraft Digital Collector's Edition."
John closed the webpage and leaned back in his chair.
He thought, hopefully this time it will work.
Monday, October 12.
Jim Olson placed a new report on Ballmer's desk.
The report cover is titled: "Preliminary Analysis and Impact Prediction of Xingchen Technology's 'Star Shield' Anti-Cheat Solution".
Ballmer reviewed the report. It contained a summary of technical analysis, a compilation of market feedback, and recommendations for possible responses from Microsoft.
"Hardware-based anti-cheat measures," Bauer muttered a sentence from the report, "increase the physical barrier and cost of cheating, which may be effective in the short term. But in the long run, the hardware may be cracked or copied."
"Yes," Jim said, "but cracking takes time. And each USB drive has a unique key, so cracking one won't allow you to copy it to other USB drives. Large-scale cracking would be very costly."
"What about our chance?"
Jim turned to the last page of the report:
Recommendation 1: Accelerate the development of anti-cheat technology for games on the Windows platform and provide it free of charge to partner game developers to create a comparison.
Recommendation 2: Evaluate the possibility of launching an official Microsoft digital game distribution platform, integrating Windows Update and game services.
Recommendation 3: Continue to observe the actual effects of StarShield, and do not rule out the possibility of adopting a similar hardware solution in the future—but cost control is necessary.
Ballmer closed the report: "Gaming platforms...we've discussed it before, and the time may be ripe."
"Does it need to be approved as a project?"
"Please make a preliminary plan first. Budget, timeline, team. Give it to me next week."
"clear."
Ballmer stood up and walked to the window: "Jim, do you think they can succeed with this USB drive project?"
"It will win back some core players in the short term," Jim said, "but casual players may not be willing to spend more money. Ultimately, the game's popularity may still suffer, but it won't die out completely."
"That's enough," Ballmer said. "Our goal isn't to completely destroy StarCraft, but to stop it from becoming the rocket that propels the StarCraft system. And it seems that the rocket has slowed down."
Jim nodded.
"Keep an eye on it," Ballmer said, "especially their gaming platform, which could be an even bigger threat."
After Jim left the office, Ballmer reopened the report and looked at a screenshot of the Starry Night gaming platform on one of the pages.
The screenshot was rudimentary, but the dark blue interface reminded him of the classic color scheme of Windows.
He picked up the phone and dialed the marketing department: "Make arrangements. I need to hear a briefing next week on Microsoft's future digital entertainment strategy. It should cover games, music, and video."