There was an update?
Don’t worry about it. Just join the rest of the people in this thread in ignoring it completely.
Redownload 11 GB of what? The Origin client certainly isn’t 11 GB.
Maybe you have started uninstalling games in your sleep and don’t realize they’re gone in the morning.
BF3, I suspect.
I am starting to believe the same issue is what is causing my random crashes.
i stopped giving my money to games companies that shit in my hat a long time ago, i’m quite at peace with that decision now. After a small(few months) period of feeling a minor form of cold-turkey(for the odd titles i ‘thought’ i really needed), i don’t feel i’m missing out on anything at all. It also allowed me to rediscover or even discover games made in the time when game companies didn’t hate you. I’m currently deep into Darklands(thanks GOG) with no end in sight. EA-Origin, whatever.
I have been wondering if anyone has been checking out what Origin and their BF3 server browser-plugin actually do. They might change their EULA, but who says they change the code behind the Origin system?
Somebody posted these screenshots in a now-locked and probably soon to be gone thread on the EA forums:
http://s1.directupload.net/file/d/2691/fglehhsj_jpg.htm
http://s7.directupload.net/file/d/2691/enxmldba_jpg.htm
Pretty damning, if real.
That first screenshot shows how Origin uploads files from the program he does his taxes with. (Steuer=taxes)
Well then the solution is easy. Don’t keep anything private or confidential on your gaming PC. Duh.
And how old are you?
I am guessing 15, because one day, when you get a bit older, you are gonna wake up and realise that you don’t want all your personal info, browsing habits, IP addresses and the colour of your underwear strewn all of the net, or in the hands of giant corporations - no matter how much their EULA says they won’t use it for ill gain. Guess what, by then, it’s gonna be too late.
This kind of crap is obnoxious and whether or not they bother to tell you they are doing it in an EULA, a violation of your privacy. They do not NEED this info in order to sell you the game, or for you to play it, so there is no reason they should FORCE you to agree to such bullshit terms. If you are happy to concede your personal rights, don’t berate your elders and betters who may be fighting to protect them.
Jerknose.
Well, BF3 arrived today. Guess I’ll have to send a mail to the vendor asking about the procedure to return it, if this data mining is really that bad.
Either that or wait if those functions are removed from origin. It’s just that the BF 3 threads (and the giant bomb stream I watched) looked so very fun.
I’m sure it’s real, the question is: is EA going out of their way to do this, or is it some lazy programmer being sloppy with os calls? Because it’s possible to do something like pass a directory to the OS on your way to your own directory, which triggers the OS to read everything in that directory as part of the call, on behalf of your EXE.
That being said, I’m on the side of “It’s probably EA being evil.”
One day, when you get a bit older, you’ll realize all that shit and more was already recorded and sold a decade ago, and the past ten years has mostly been about discovering the exact color of your cat and which hardwood floor style you like the best.
Are we sure about that? Is really uploading?
Maybe it’s just searching all the hard disk to know what software you have installed. So it’s only reading all the folders, ‘steuer’ included. I only see a lot of query directories and files. The equivalent of dir .?
A bit like this Steam Hardware & Software Survey
Except it’s not optional.
Here’s the thread. A couple of posters (who have programming experience) seem to conclude that it is reading the filenames and their various attributes, but not checking their contents.
White and Jarrah, thanks for asking.
Edit: BTW, that’s no excuse for letting it happen today, now we know about it, particularly when it is clearly stated in a EULA.
Probably both. I see the scene as a programmer coming up with this slipshod solution, or even proof of concept, and management saying “no, just leave it, that’s fine as-is.”
That’s an unlikely scenario, since unless you are running a process viewer, you pretty much won’t ever know that your calls are incorrect.
Now what we know about it?
I’m really surprised as to why people are up in arms now. All this has been basically known for months. Did everyone assume that EA had included that just for shits’n’ giggles?