Aion: Gameguard

[GrilledCheese28 (aka Aruth)]

So I just heard today that Aion uses Gameguard. I generally have no problems with anti-cheating methods in theory, but man this is one that does not always play nicely with other innocent programs running on one's PC. I hope it doesn't cause a problem for me, since I run:

VMWare
RealVNC
NetLimiter
SpeedFan
Media Player Classic
Sysinternals Suite (Process Explorer)

I don't really have any issue with shutting those things down while playing Aion, but according to that wiki, apparently just having some (like NetLimiter) installed can be an issue.

[Macaubre]

GameGuard is evil. When I ran one of the first close betas on my PC, it basically killed without asking much questions or prompting about it, a few programs off my system. Process Explorer was one of them. The ironic thing is that you'll still see botters and cheaters in game. GameGuard or not.

[GrilledCheese28 (aka Aruth)]

Holy crap its Mac

[Macaubre]

Aug 28, 2009 12:27:05 GMT -5 GrilledCheese28 (aka Aruth) said:

Holy crap its Mac

ssshhhh. You didn't see me here.

[Zeli]

www.guildsofserenity.com/forum/showthread.php?t=968

How to disable Gameguard in Aion

Some of you might be a little surprised that I'm blatently making a post with a title such as this, so allow me to explain a few things first. As many of you know, Gameguard is the software that runs alongside Aion to supposedly prevent in-game hacking. This is the purpose of the software, or so it says, however in my experience I can tell you a few things about this software that you may not know.

1. Gameguard is a Rootkit.
Gameguard (lovingly referred to as "Gayguard" by many) essentially operates as a "rootkit" on your computer. If you don't know what a rootkit is, then I suggest you give it a good hard Google...then after you recover...skip back to this post to read more. By installing a rootkit on your computer, you are essentially allowing the process to covertly maintain complete control over your computer.

2. It runs in the background after you close Aion.
Gameguard leaves behind processes that continue to run within your system, even after you stop playing Aion. Whether these processes are sending data to the creators in Korea, or watching your every move on the internet, we will never know. A rootkit is essentially free to do whatever it wants to.

3. You are often asked to disable all security software for it to run.
In order to run Gameguard without errors, you will often be told by people to disable your internet security, firewall, antivirus, or all of the above. Advice such as this can be found on the NCSoft Technical Support website, including telling people to unsintall their security software completely!

It's rather simple really: when a program needs you to disable your security or uninstall it in order to run properly, it doesn't take a genius to start asking why this is. Most antivirus programs report that Gameguard is a dangerous program and they do this for a reason. Having spent some time recently looking at exactly what this program does, I am not comfortable running it on my computer ever again.

4. Gameguard disables parts of your computer.
Gameguard disables certain functionality within your computer and hardware. It has been known to disable programs that monitor your systems internal operating temperature, so you will be unable to see whether your system is overheating. There have also been reports of Gameguard disabling the speedfan used to cool your CPU, leading to complete system meltdown. Furthermore, Gameguard disables certain keyboard and mouse functions (in particular the Logitech keyboard and Razer mouse), which leaves you rather stuck when you are used to certain mouse buttons or keyboard keys working (especially if you paid extra to enjoy them!).

5. Gameguard doesn't do anything to stop hacking.
From extensive testing during the beta's it has been confirmed that even with Gameguard running, you can use Macro Express while playing Aion. Macro Express is the number one macro/botting tool used by people and Gameguard doesn't do a single thing to try and stop it. Also, after doing some research on other games that use Gameguard, I have found a number of exploits written that actually require Gameguard to be present and running in order to run the exploit. This is no anti-hacking tool, if anything it is enabling hacking to be done more easily.

Make up your own mind:
I've posted a lot of personal opinion in the above comments, as well as a mixture of facts, however I would encourage you to make a decision for yourselves. If you have no problems using Aion with Gameguard, and you trust NCSoft with your computer system completely, then there is no reason to want to disable it with Aion and you should stop reading this post now.

However, if you are having extensive problems, experiencing ongoing Gameguard errors, having conflicts with your security software (which you would rather not uninstall just to run a game), or you just don't trust having a rootkit on your PC, then this post has the answer for you.

If you are wondering if disabling Gameguard is against NCSoft policy or whether they can tell you are doing it, read THIS POST for more details.

How to disable it:
There is a program that has been available to do this for the CN Aion client for quite some time. This program has now been updated by the creator to be compatible with Aion EU/NA versions. You can obtain a copy -->here. I have scanned this file and looked at the code. It's the real deal, all it does is tell Gameguard to get the hell off your computer.
Be sure to read the "readme.txt" file and you'll have no problems installing the files.

EDIT : and hiya Mac

[Dachartach]

Awesome. There's no excuse to have to put up with a rootkit, thanks for posting that link. I have no proof that having the Aion Beta client and gameguard are responsible for my machine's current fascination with "The Eternal Legend of BlueScreen." There's no proof to the contrary, either. Anyway, thanks!








some things are so pure in their purpose that they are above morality.

[Qhoren]

So, I used that thing you can download in the link, and it doesn't seem to really do anything.

Edit: I should also add that I've never really noticed it other than having it toss an error after I reinstalled the whole client. However, it's a common problem that does nothing more than open a browser. The game still launches, I've had no crashes as a result, and overall I never really notice it.

[Maeve]

www.aionsource.com/forum/betaboards-bug-reporting/22651-gameguard-error-codes-some-other-errors-their-known-fixes.html

Just in case.

[Winin]

Shaiya uses it too, and so far, no problems for me.