Okay, despite my wait-and-see thing, I figured, what the hell, I'll check it out. I'm savvy enough that I can restore my old install should it muck things up on me (ah, the wonders of image software).
So... I'm actually impressed.
The EULA is, as usual, full of mealy-mouthed lawyerese, but, near as I can tell it's basically the same one CoH has been using all along, with bits updated to reflect NCSoft instead of Cryptic/Paragon Studios. There is disclosure about their ad-serving company (Double Fusion); however, that's been there since in-game advertising was introduced and I don't think anyone's seen problems yet.
There is no mention of, nor any evidence of, malware masquerading as useful bits, like browser enhancements or so on that are typically packaged with this deal. It doesn't appear to need administrator access to install, either, so long as you don't install it to a protected directory (I don't usually). It didn't require a reboot, which almost everything that rootkits your system will require, and I don't see any hidden nasties hiding in the registry waiting for my next restart. The options to disable background processes and to make it exit upon launch are clear and easily accessible, and when I check running processes after launching the game with it, it has indeed killed itself as promised.
Unlike Steam, it has not installed itself as a service (though to be fair, Steam warns that it will and you can disable that, too, if you like).
I see no evidence of port shenanigans -- it's not listening on any port that I can see when it's actually running, and as mentioned, it kills itself properly when you tell it to, so nothing there either. It patched CoH much faster than the old launcher did, but it takes longer to start up, so that might be a wash in the long run.
Color me guardedly impressed. I was not expecting this -- I'm a cynic, I was expecting Punch The Monkey-level hijinks.
--sofaspud
--"Listening to your kid is the audio equivalent of a Salvador Dali painting, Spud." --OpMegs
So... I'm actually impressed.
The EULA is, as usual, full of mealy-mouthed lawyerese, but, near as I can tell it's basically the same one CoH has been using all along, with bits updated to reflect NCSoft instead of Cryptic/Paragon Studios. There is disclosure about their ad-serving company (Double Fusion); however, that's been there since in-game advertising was introduced and I don't think anyone's seen problems yet.
There is no mention of, nor any evidence of, malware masquerading as useful bits, like browser enhancements or so on that are typically packaged with this deal. It doesn't appear to need administrator access to install, either, so long as you don't install it to a protected directory (I don't usually). It didn't require a reboot, which almost everything that rootkits your system will require, and I don't see any hidden nasties hiding in the registry waiting for my next restart. The options to disable background processes and to make it exit upon launch are clear and easily accessible, and when I check running processes after launching the game with it, it has indeed killed itself as promised.
Unlike Steam, it has not installed itself as a service (though to be fair, Steam warns that it will and you can disable that, too, if you like).
I see no evidence of port shenanigans -- it's not listening on any port that I can see when it's actually running, and as mentioned, it kills itself properly when you tell it to, so nothing there either. It patched CoH much faster than the old launcher did, but it takes longer to start up, so that might be a wash in the long run.
Color me guardedly impressed. I was not expecting this -- I'm a cynic, I was expecting Punch The Monkey-level hijinks.
--sofaspud
--"Listening to your kid is the audio equivalent of a Salvador Dali painting, Spud." --OpMegs