PE Assistant

[Look]

"The Participant also agrees upon not using any Third Party software or equipment that influences the Entropia Universe in any way"

PE Ass does not influence EU in _any_ way. It does not _interact_ with the game engine for godness sake !
Looks like MA even did not bother to check what PE Ass is...

PE Ass functions allow:

- starting a web browser (on top of DirectX)
- WinAmp interaction
- starting an internal Calculator, Notes and Maps
- making screenshots

OK. Which one of the above "influences the Entropia Universe" ?
Seems MA has it's own interpretation of "influence" verb...

[Chainfire]

Oh dear, not that again! PEAss 'influences' PE in the same way as Fraps, TeamSpeak Overlay, Xfire, etc. Nothing more, nothing less.

[AkiranBlade]

Originally Posted by Chainfire

Oh dear, not that again! PEAss 'influences' PE in the same way as Fraps, TeamSpeak Overlay, Xfire, etc. Nothing more, nothing less.

That's not an influence.

It's like saying the Windows Task Manager influences every single application you have open, just because it's drawn on top of everything else.

I think somebody needs to figure out what influence means before making support replies like that.

[Paolo]

Look, AkiranBlade, Chainfire and everybody else who wishes to: feel free to use the same text I've used for Support Case #95040. I've posted in the Other category, btw.

P.

[Enum]

Thank you Chainy, PEAss is working great again!!

You rock dude!!

[SoReal]

Originally Posted by Look

"
Looks like MA even did not bother to check what PE Ass is...

bet they do know and I wouldnt mind having a bet that they use it themselves.

[Kyndig]

Originally Posted by Paolo

Look, AkiranBlade, Chainfire and everybody else who wishes to: feel free to use the same text I've used for Support Case #95040. I've posted in the Other category, btw.

P.

Massive, Massive response to this as you would expect to such a dedicated fanbase. PEAss is the most useful software tool I have EVER used. I have not managed to read all the responses so I apologise if I am repeating others. I fully agree with the fact that PEAss does NOT influence the Entropia software in ANY way. The person who replied to the support case simply cut off the sentence before the most relevant part and it is clearly an attempt to provide a poorly considered response and hope that you (and we by extension) let it slide. I don't think this is the correct interpretation of the EULA and I am sure we will see a retraction if we all keep pushing.

Thank you to Chanfire in the first place. Great work before and fast to help us now, I realise how valuable your time must be, so I really appreciate your efforts. Thanks also to Paolo who has tried to give everyone a base for their response.

See you in the wilds.

[Paolo]

Update to the previous Support Case #95040...
Long story short:

PEAss is not forbidden!

Originally Posted by MindArk Support, Support Case #95040, 14 nov 06

Hi,
We simply cannot comment on Third Party Programmes. We also cannot recommend using them. We have received reports on fake versions containing key loggers and spy ware. Even if the current version might be harmless, such software can easily be modified. We just want you to be aware of the risks with such programmes.

Regards,
Entropia Support

Since they left the case opened, here's my reply:

Originally Posted by Support Case #95040, 14 nov 06

Thanks for the answer! It sounds much better than the previous one.

I (and I'm sure the whole community for that matters) truely appreciate your efforts on communicating such threats to the users, and stating clearly (as you did with a Support News note about "Third Party software used to hack your login information!" on the 13th October 2006) that:
"[...] running Third Party software together with the Entropia Universe is not condoned by MindArk PE AB. Such software can contain key loggers and/or spyware and we cannot gaurantee the safety of your Entropia Universe account if you ignore this warning."
...is a right step forward into increasing your user's consciousness about the risks involved.

I for one will gladly take the risks involved with using PEAssistant (and every other Third Party software I'm using, all of which _DO_NOT_ influences the Entropia Universe in any way) regarding my own computer's and account's security.

The discussion about the usage of "not condoned", and about the difference between "Third Party software" and "Third Party software or equipment that influences the Entropia Universe in any way" has already been done on EntropiaForum, and I'll appreciate if you would stick to the correct terms and definitions set forth, without generating false alarms like the one quoted above.

Thanks for your assistance,
Paolo

UPDATE: Support case closed:

Originally Posted by MindArk Support, Support Case #95040, 15 nov 06

Hi,
Thanks for the update.

Regards,
Entropia Support

Guess there was nothing more to say, afterall...
P.

[Chainfire]

Originally Posted by Paolo

PEAss is not forbidden!

You make baby jesus smile there Paolo!

[Chainfire]

Uploaded a new patch, will hopefully fix PEAss again for the handful of people who did have it working before 8.7 but couldn't get it working again with the patch from two weeks ago.

Sidenote: the bug that makes everything further down the screen than PEAss go black is a DRIVER ISSUE. Nothing I can do about that. You could try getting a newer driver for your video card though, but the bug has been around for a while and AFAIK newer drivers have not corrected it. Edit: we're talking videocard drivers here, btw