Please remove "Real World" ads from game -> Giants Devs

[speedbrake]

I don't see how ads for construction site security cams are immersive in a farm sim game. If they want to shove ads in my face they should give the game to me for free. But now that I paid for it, I don't want ads. There are enough ads everywhere else (youtube was mentioned, which makes sense as long as I don't pay for it). Websites run ads because that pays the server bills. Fine. But this game I paid for showing ads just feels wrong, and now Giants has decided to keep silent and not respond to my emails and closing support requests without replying.

[chedder_farms]

Would you like the car dealer to paint an ad on the side of your car before delivering it to you? How about your home seller sticking a billboard on your lawn.

They already do in most parts of the world. You end up with a sticker on the back window proudly proclaiming where you bought the car from and sometimes on the number plate holder too. I have always removed the stickers, since I didn't recall a sponsorship deal discussion with the sales person.

Are you for or against Giants serving up live ads in your game?

It's a good thing those dealerships don't serve live ads, using your data plan.
It's also a good thing you can remove the plate holder, and stickers.
Giants isn't giving the choice to opt out, and it can't be disabled for most players.

I find it ruins the feeling of the game for me. 1 minute into Elm Creek, and I notice a huge billboard right across the street. When I play, I like to get away from civilization, and the hustle and bustle. Having a huge eye-sore commercial right there in my face is not what I wanted to pay for.

[gordon861]

Would you like the car dealer to paint an ad on the side of your car before delivering it to you? How about your home seller sticking a billboard on your lawn.

They already do in most parts of the world. You end up with a sticker on the back window proudly proclaiming where you bought the car from and sometimes on the number plate holder too. I have always removed the stickers, since I didn't recall a sponsorship deal discussion with the sales person.

Some dealers even add metalized badges to the bodywork too. When I last bought a new car I added a clause to the paperwork telling them that no additional stickers/badges were to be added to the car other than those that were put on by the manufacturer or stipulated by law. I let them know that I would reject the car if it had any.

[player1s]

Would you like the car dealer to paint an ad on the side of your car before delivering it to you? How about your home seller sticking a billboard on your lawn.

They already do in most parts of the world. You end up with a sticker on the back window proudly proclaiming where you bought the car from and sometimes on the number plate holder too. I have always removed the stickers, since I didn't recall a sponsorship deal discussion with the sales person.

Some dealers even add metalized badges to the bodywork too. When I last bought a new car I added a clause to the paperwork telling them that no additional stickers/badges were to be added to the car other than those that were put on by the manufacturer or stipulated by law. I let them know that I would reject the car if it had any.

The last car I bought has floormats with the logo of the dealer.
A year later I took it to my regular garage for yearly checking and they swapped the license plate holder without my consent to one with their name on it (didnt charge it btw).
Neither of those bother me. Its not in my face and my current garage is amazing. Nothing like those horror-story garages that rip you off any way they can.

And if you sell a home here in the Netherlands they'll stick a sign in your yard saying "for sale" with their name and number on it. And if its sold they change it to a "sold sign".

[chedder_farms]

They already do in most parts of the world. You end up with a sticker on the back window proudly proclaiming where you bought the car from and sometimes on the number plate holder too. I have always removed the stickers, since I didn't recall a sponsorship deal discussion with the sales person.

Some dealers even add metalized badges to the bodywork too. When I last bought a new car I added a clause to the paperwork telling them that no additional stickers/badges were to be added to the car other than those that were put on by the manufacturer or stipulated by law. I let them know that I would reject the car if it had any.

The last car I bought has floormats with the logo of the dealer.
A year later I took it to my regular garage for yearly checking and they swapped the license plate holder without my consent to one with their name on it (didnt charge it btw).
Neither of those bother me. Its not in my face and my current garage is amazing. Nothing like those horror-story garages that rip you off any way they can.

And if you sell a home here in the Netherlands they'll stick a sign in your yard saying "for sale" with their name and number on it. And if its sold they change it to a "sold sign".

For Sale signs are understandable, as they're letting people know your house is for sale, or has been sold. You will benefit for having the sign there.
Your mechanic is another story. You think they're amazing, but they took the existing plate holder off your car without consent. Don't you wonder what else they do without your consent?

[IseOlen]

These adverts aren't connected to the typical ad networks, so your concern about crypto mining ads is beyond banal.

You're the only one mentioning ad networks. In no point I mentioned or meant anything about ad networks.
The fact is - functionality exists that (automatically on every game start) downloads a code from Giants server and that code is run on the players machine. Are you absolutely sure that code cannot be used for making calculations on players machine and sending some results back? Where does this confidence comes from? As FS series have rose in popularity - so has Giants servers become high value targets. More so with the functionality described above.
I've been in the IT industry for a while. My first virus was YankeeDoodle. And since then I've seen viruses in all kinds of forms (Kurnikova - used the mailing part for the solution I was creating at the time). I have no doubt the functionality can be used for both crypto mining (more likely by Giants themselves) or in worse case the servers are targeted by highly motivated and capable people for devastating results for the players.
I'm not saying this will happen or how likely it will happen but adding such functionality to the game that really didn't need it has opened up possibilities that didn't need to exist.

In case you have proof all this cannot happen, I'm all ears.

[Questionnaire]

These adverts aren't connected to the typical ad networks, so your concern about crypto mining ads is beyond banal.

You're the only one mentioning ad networks. In no point I mentioned or meant anything about ad networks.
The fact is - functionality exists that (automatically on every game start) downloads a code from Giants server and that code is run on the players machine. Are you absolutely sure that code cannot be used for making calculations on players machine and sending some results back? Where does this confidence comes from? As FS series have rose in popularity - so has Giants servers become high value targets. More so with the functionality described above.
I've been in the IT industry for a while. My first virus was YankeeDoodle. And since then I've seen viruses in all kinds of forms (Kurnikova - used the mailing part for the solution I was creating at the time). I have no doubt the functionality can be used for both crypto mining (more likely by Giants themselves) or in worse case the servers are targeted by highly motivated and capable people for devastating results for the players.
I'm not saying this will happen or how likely it will happen but adding such functionality to the game that really didn't need it has opened up possibilities that didn't need to exist.

In case you have proof all this cannot happen, I'm all ears.

Where do you get this "running code" from, all it does is go to a database of billboard textures that giants have and grab one based on your location. Giants are not going to make enough money from crypto mining on people's machines for it to be feasible. There is no and will be no crypto mining on your computer, and it's not running any foreign code. Please share what code you think the game is getting and running from outside your network because I highly doubt any of this is happening.

Edit: I have done tests loading up the game and all the networking the game does from startup to 5 mins into a singleplayer session is a tiny amount (about 100kb) when the game loads presumably to contact the "ad" server, although I have not gotten the ads ingame.

[IseOlen]

That "billboard texture" is a string, a string that can contain a code that after download will be run by known mechanism and as such can be created to do more than just show an advert in a sim game. "It doesn't exist now" doesn't mean it cannot exist. Phones have been bricked by SMS or a picture file. Having hidden code in a picture (billboard texture) that will be run by opening the picture is not unheard of.
As to the "tiny 100kb" - this was created within 4kb. More info here. The most sophisticated computer virus ever, Stuxnet, was about 0,5MB in size and was described at the time as "unusually large".

As I said, to me this is a security issue (and as such I've modified the hosts file). To somebody else it might be about immersion. To others it's not an issue at all. I'm not here to convince you into my POV. Peace!

[chedder_farms]

...

As I said, to me this is a security issue (and as such I've modified the hosts file). To somebody else it might be about immersion. To others it's not an issue at all. I'm not here to convince you into my POV. Peace!

This may be the problem. All the white knights might think anyone with criticism is trying to convince them to stop enjoying the game. They should stop flattering themselves.

[blue_painted]

That "billboard texture" is a string, a string that can contain a code that after download will be run by known mechanism and as such can be created to do more than just show an advert in a sim game. "It doesn't exist now" doesn't mean it cannot exist. Phones have been bricked by SMS or a picture file. Having hidden code in a picture (billboard texture) that will be run by opening the picture is not unheard of.
As to the "tiny 100kb" - this was created within 4kb. More info here. The most sophisticated computer virus ever, Stuxnet, was about 0,5MB in size and was described at the time as "unusually large".

As I said, to me this is a security issue (and as such I've modified the hosts file). To somebody else it might be about immersion. To others it's not an issue at all. I'm not here to convince you into my POV. Peace!

There are various ways to trigger an attack vector by using malformed JPEGs etc, but none of those are unique to the advertising hoardings: FS19 had the DLC adverts and then there's all the fetches for the in-game modhub -- any of those could be just as much a security risk.

[theSeb]

These adverts aren't connected to the typical ad networks, so your concern about crypto mining ads is beyond banal.

You're the only one mentioning ad networks.

snip a load of irrelevant text

I mentioned ad networks because the scaremongering scenario that you have been painting is possible with ad networks. What is happening here is technically very different. The "string of data" that you mention in this thread is simply an image in the case of FS22. It is not possible for one to simply change that and the game will "execute it". Attempting to rendering an image in a game engine is not the same thing as giving a vector to allow arbitrary executable code to be injected and executed. It would be nice to have a discussion on the implication of ads in this game without trying to spread FUD like you are doing, because it's not helpful to the discussion.

This has implications on the direction of the game. There is no security issue here.

That "billboard texture" is a string, a string that can contain a code that after download will be run by known mechanism and as such can be created to do more than just show an advert in a sim game. "It doesn't exist now" doesn't mean it cannot exist. Phones have been bricked by SMS or a picture file. Having hidden code in a picture (billboard texture) that will be run by opening the picture is not unheard of.
As to the "tiny 100kb" - this was created within 4kb. More info here. The most sophisticated computer virus ever, Stuxnet, was about 0,5MB in size and was described at the time as "unusually large".

As I said, to me this is a security issue (and as such I've modified the hosts file). To somebody else it might be about immersion. To others it's not an issue at all. I'm not here to convince you into my POV. Peace!

Please stop. The size of a script has nothing to do with the size of an image.

[player1s]

Your mechanic is another story. You think they're amazing, but they took the existing plate holder off your car without consent. Don't you wonder what else they do without your consent?

I live in a small enough town where anything beyond replacing that plate holder would ruin them so I am not worried.

[theSeb]

Would you like the car dealer to paint an ad on the side of your car before delivering it to you? How about your home seller sticking a billboard on your lawn.

They already do in most parts of the world. You end up with a sticker on the back window proudly proclaiming where you bought the car from and sometimes on the number plate holder too. I have always removed the stickers, since I didn't recall a sponsorship deal discussion with the sales person.

Are you for or against Giants serving up live ads in your game?

It's a good thing those dealerships don't serve live ads, using your data plan.
It's also a good thing you can remove the plate holder, and stickers.
Giants isn't giving the choice to opt out, and it can't be disabled for most players.

I find it ruins the feeling of the game for me. 1 minute into Elm Creek, and I notice a huge billboard right across the street. When I play, I like to get away from civilization, and the hustle and bustle. Having a huge eye-sore commercial right there in my face is not what I wanted to pay for.

I feel like it's not a great direction for the game and I can understand the immersion concerns, but more from a point of view of people getting adverts that are not appropriate for the location of the map. Adverts were already on the game in FS19's start menu for DLC, but putting them directly into the game itself seems like a bold, new move. When done right I think this sort of thing can make a game world feel more "realistic", but people seeing adverts for a Dutch building company on an American map ruins the immersion.

Having said all that, I feel like it's the least of this game's problems and I have little motivation to play it right now. I am not happy about how the adverts have been implemented, but I feel too apathetic about the entire game to use any energy on being outraged by the adverts.

[IseOlen]

There is no security issue here.

Borrowing from you - just declaring "no security issue" is banal.
While you may think the topic is about immersion only, it's not. Pity you don't see that.

[iwan073]

Apparently todays patch also “fixed” the advertisement bug on PS5. Cause now my game also shows real life companies on the billboards