Action RPG fans have been eagerly waiting for Hellgate: London, but when its demo arrived it stirred nothing but protests.
Hellgate: London fans have been particularly angry about the demo version of the game being plagued with what fans perceived as adware. According to a recent study, most gamers don't mind in-game advertising and believe that it can enhance gameplay if incorporated adequately.
But Hellgate: London fans say that the demo's advertisements are too privacy-invading and that putting ads in a demo is making players indirectly pay for the demo, which is â€"in essence- an ad for the game itself.
The demo's license agreement includes the following sections: "The Software incorporates technology of Massive Incorporated ("Massive") that enables in-game advertising, and the display of other similar in-game objects, which are uploaded temporarily to your personal computer or game console and replaced during online game play. As part of this process, Massive may collect your Internet protocol address and other basic anonymous information, and will use this information for the general purposes of transmitting and measuring in-game advertising. Massive does not store or use any of this information for the purpose of discovering your personal identity. For additional details regarding Massive's in-game advertising practices, and to understand your options with respect to in-game advertising and data collection, please see Massive's privacy policy. The trademarks and copyrighted material contained in all in-game advertising are the property of the respective owners. Portions of this product are (c) 2007 Massive Incorporated. All rights reserved."
"Consent to Use of Data. You agree that EA, its affiliates, and each Related Party may collect, use, store and transmit technical and related information that identifies your computer, including without limitation your Internet Protocol address, operating system, application software and peripheral hardware, that may be gathered periodically to facilitate the provision of software updates, dynamically served content, product support and other services to you, including online play. EA and/or the Related Parties may also use this information in the aggregate and, in a form which does not personally identify you, to improve our products and services and we may share that aggregate data with our third party service providers."