Response from EB

[1078f3ba]

Posted below is my dialogue with EB. Not sure if it really changes anything though. If a newer version of the widescreen fixer stumbles over any PB tripwires, I strongly suspect said widescreen fixer user is still going to catch a bouncing betty. Hopefully though EB will be a bit more lenient if that happens.

Dope, I am still going after Treyarch and IW. Once I get a response from them, I will drop a line.

I'm interested though; we got anybody around here that has been PB banned for using the fixer? If so, did you get reinstated?

DIALOGUE TRANSCRIPT:

MY INITIAL:
Gents/Ladies,

I am looking to upgrade my hardware soon, and was thinking of going with three screens and a Matrox Triple Head to Go which is capable of 5040x1050 (3x22in @ 1680x1050). My clan is an ardent supporter of the CoD series (10-78 clan), and even though surround support is not organic to the game, there is a kludge available by a guy who goes by the name of 'dopefish' over at the Widescreen Gaming site. IIRC, you have actually certified one of the versions of his "widescreen fixer" for Cod4, so he may be somewhat known to you.

My question is, would using his kludge get me banned? It is not a wall hack or aimbot, it simply helps the game scale and widens the FOV to stretch over the available screen real estate. And just FWIW, I am a nearly 40 year old former Marine who games for fun. I am getting the three screens for work, and figured that gaming on them would be a lot of fun, especially flight sims or auto racing.

What can you tell me?

Thanks very much for your time...
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
01/19/2009 19:45:59 - "Adam Dunahoe"

Note #2: What widescreen fixer are you looking at using?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
01/19/2009 21:25:03 - "Chris"

Note #3: Check this site out:

http://www.widescreengamingforum.com/wiki/index.php/Main_Page

And in particular this thread:

http://www.widescreengamingforum.com/node/7971#comment-157564

The gentleman with the name "dopefish" has numerous replies in it.

This is his site:

http://imk.cx/pc/widescreenfixer/

Please take a look around. As you can see, it is legit. This is a very bright young man who has taken it upon himself to come to the rescue of all those with multiple screens, but who live in mortal fear of being PB banned by you all. In the very first paragraph you can see that he has already talked to you (EB) on his own about this. Scroll about halfway down the page to the download section and every single version of his widescreen fixer is there, freeware available for download at any time, and every one of them with the disclaimer, "Use at your own risk".

What am I looking to do here is to not only get you all to look at what he is doing and bless it as safe to use on PB enabled servers, but to formalize a relationship between him, you, the publisher and the devs. This is a legit issue. I grant you that it is a relatively small one, given that the number of multi-monitor gamers out there is probably microscopic, but it is a legit issue nonetheless.

What can you all do to facilitate this process?

Thanks very, very much for your time. Keep up the good fight busting punks ;~) .

semper fi,
Chris
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
02/24/2009 17:04:45 - "Glenn Courington"
Note #6: I apologize for the delay in response. You should find that as long as you are using the most recent version of this software, you should be fine. There was a version quite some time ago that did trigger a violation (one that we found to be legitimate), but the developer reworked it with some guidance from us and it's been fine since.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I responded with an effusive 'thank you', and then asked again if you (dope) could submit new versions to them for verification. I strongly suspect that this request will go unanswered for some time, but at least they are talking to me....

[Mach1.9pants]

Keep up the good work, seems they may be on our side... sorta!

[1078f3ba]

This hit today:

02/24/2009 18:22:53 - "Chris"
Note #8: Apologies Glenn, but I just reread your response and it got me to thinking;

Is there any possible way, any way at all, that he could submit new versions to you for testing as he publishes them? I fully realize that this would represent a non-value added activity for you guys & I don't want to flog a dead horse here, but what I am looking for here is some sort of legitimacy. Hypothetically, if I were to start using it, and he came out with a newer version that stepped somewhere it shouldn't, I get an all-expenses paid one-way trip to Banned Land of the Exiles with No Hope of Return. Not the result I am looking for, heh.

Look, I know that you could tell me to "go pound sand, take your chances and stop bugging us", and it wouldn't necessarily be a wrong or rude response. I'm just hoping you won't.

We got some gamers out here that need your help. Any chance you could throw some our way?

I understand if the response is negative. Either way, keep busting punks!

s/f,
smythe
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
02/25/2009 09:05:13 - "Glenn Courington"
Note #9: That's completely up to him. If he is going to release a new version without testing it and it triggers a violation, that's going to have to be between you and him.

I'm sure that's not quite the response you were looking for, but the ball really is in his court. However, the last time there was an issue was well over a year ago, so I think he's doing a pretty good job of testing before he releases to the public.

Thanks for the kudos.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
02/25/2009 21:04:33 - "Chris"
Note #10: Roger that Glenn. Understood. Thanks again, really appreciate your time. See you in game...
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So, I suppose that leaves the door open at PB Dope. At least, that's the way it reads to me. You can submit your versions at your leisure. It's not exactly a "Thou art now blessed, verily. Go forth and multiply", but it's very, very close.

This work for you?

[1078f3ba]

Keep up the good work, seems they may be on our side... sorta!

Hey Mach, you using the Dell 2208wfp's? I pulled them off the list here as my monitor of choice and I was wondering how well they work. Was gonna marry them up with an Ergotron LX Triple Lift stand.

Thanks man...

[Mach1.9pants]

Nah mine are 24" Dells, so I don't know about the triple stand. I have set up my own stand made from 3 individual monitor arms.

[1078f3ba]

Don't know if you're in the market, but check this out...

http://www.ergonomicbusinesssolutions.com/product.asp?specific=641

Only reason I am going with the Ergotron vice that one linked (Ergotech) is because the Dell's will actually fit even though the Triple Lift is spec'd to max on 3 monitors at only 21" per monitor. I called Ergotron to confirm.

The linked one will fit 3 24"s...

Food for thought...

EDIT: Nice rig. Sorry I didn't mention in original post. Rude of me. Apologies.

EDIT 2: Jeez, I'm horrible at this, heh. Noticed your sig. I'm going with dual 285s. How well do your 280s push pixels on all that screen real estate? Thanks man...

[Mach1.9pants]

the 280's have no problem in any game at full res and highest settings apart from Crysis and GTA4...they are quite overclocked, so probably faster than stock 285s. SLI 285s will be great!

Quite happy with my knocked together stand, can't really justify spending a load just to look better....

[1078f3ba]

Outstanding. Was a bit worried about frames, and all the reviews I've read about 295's say that they get seriously vram/memory bottlenecked at the higher resolutions and quality settings.

I hear you on the stand. Goodonya. I would be more prone to use a setup like yours, but I have an executive style desk with no edges to use clamps. I must use a stand.

[Mach1.9pants]

the monitor arms I am using had either bolt into desk (which I used into the piece of wood I made) or clip to the edge (which I used with my 3x19" screens). They were cheap as chips as well...

[dopefish]

1078f3ba,
I'm going to send you a PM.

Thanks, I appreciate all the effort you're putting into this, and I think I might have a semi-explanation for the lack of responses I'm getting.

[1078f3ba]

1078f3ba,
I'm going to send you a PM.

Thanks, I appreciate all the effort you're putting into this, and I think I might have a semi-explanation for the lack of responses I'm getting.

Hey Dope. Roger that loud and clear. I have received, taken action upon, and responded to your PM.

More as I get it. :wink:

[skipclarke]

You can see my reviews of the GTX 295, and some Ergotron reviews. I have 3x Dell 2208 (the silver one) on a DS100 arm. It's about at it's limit, but it works.

http://www.widescreengamingforum.com/wiki/index.php/Category:Featured_Reviews

[1078f3ba]

Ibrin,

Thanks a lot man. Really appreciate that. Will definitely check it out.

semper fi,
f3ba

[1078f3ba]

You can see my reviews of the GTX 295, and some Ergotron reviews. I have 3x Dell 2208 (the silver one) on a DS100 arm. It's about at it's limit, but it works.

http://www.widescreengamingforum.com/wiki/index.php/Category:Featured_Reviews

Nice review. I see you came to the same conclusion that many other reviewers have: at high res' & settings, the 295 just doesn't pack enough vram.

On that note, check out these links. I am very seriously considering waiting on these...


http://guru3d.com/news/palit-puts-2gb-memory-on-gtx-285/

http://www.hardwarezone.com/news/view.php?id=12850&cid=6

I figure the extra vram should do wonders. It's getting to the point that gaming has to be on a 64 bit OS due to the memory limitations.

[skipclarke]

I saw the same info form our PC Games Hardware newsfeed in the left nav. I've contacted both Palit and Gainward to see if I can get sets of 1GB and 2GB GTX 285s. I'd like to do a full expose on single, SLI and 3x SLI with both 1GB and 2GB cards to see just "what is needed" for 2560x1600, 3840x1024 and 5040x1050.

[1078f3ba]

Good to go. I will be looking for it.

Both of the 2 gb cards better have 1 gb's worth of bandwidth, or it's a total waste. 2 gb's of vram with a 512 bus is probably the very definition of not so smart.

[Mach1.9pants]

I guarantee they have the same bandwidth of the normal card. These extra RAM cards are often a waste.

[1078f3ba]

Dope,

Looks like this is the best I can do. It's better than nothing, and at least they are still open to talking to you and helping you out:

Note that this next section of the dialogue happened only a few minutes ago and starts where the last one ends, meaning right after I posted your PM to me. Start at the bottom and read up (too lazy to rearrange)::

04/30/2009 11:31:44 - "Chris"
Note #15: Hey guys, thanks much for the response.

I think that's exactly what DJ is looking for, just someone to ask technical questions. Really appreciate this.

I will let him know that Stuart is available.

Take care,

s/f
smythe
04/30/2009 11:02:52 - "Glenn C"
Note #14: Sorry for just now getting back to you. We're not going to be doing any testing for him. If he wants to test on his own game server with PB, that's fine. But we're not going to take his current builds and run them through any tests to see if he's triggering on anything. If DJ has a specific question for Stuart, Stuart will be able to answer him.
03/23/2009 08:44:20 - "Chris"
Note #13: *bump*

Gents,

Please respond. Thanks for your time.

semper fi,
Chris
03/18/2009 07:59:58 - "Chris"
Note #12: Bump.

All that said Dope, I can't tell you how pleased I am with your little app. Man, CoD never looked so good! GOODONYA! Please respond in this thread Dope, or PM me so that I know that you've seen it, otherwise I am going to PM you.

Vista 64
3 x Dell 2208 WPF 5040x1050 @ 57Hz
3 x EVGA GTX285
Matrox DTH2Go
Nvidia driver 182.50 (tried a few others, including beta's, no joy; this is the only driver I have found that works)
Beta Powerdesk (only one that works)

[dopefish]

I saw it. ;)

I guess I can't blame them for not wanting to test it, but it's good to see that they aren't specifically blocking it or anything.