Lineage 2 Source LEAK !
From Lineage 2 Center:
Quote:
This is spreading around everywhere. The original source is SOHU.com, a Chinese website. I am posting this so Lineage 1 people can see because I know more Chinese Lineage 1 players are available to assist me in reading that page. Please, if you can translate that for me, please send it to me. Anyways, GameAbout, GameTime, and even Lineage 1 Playforum have stories on this already. They say the reporter for SOHU.com was given the information by the hackers he/she met. The source seems to be have been hacked. I would rather wait for someone who is Chinese to assist me than rely on umpteenth-hand information.
Here is my rough reading and translation of the article, since I can read Chinese:
Some evidence indicate that, NCsoft's Lineage II Chinese version, which will start in March, might encounter the bad news of its source code being leaked. This rumor has been circling in the gaming networks, but until now it has been hearsay with no evidence to back up the claim, since nobody has seen the source code.
However, reporters have obtained a leaked Lineage II partial debug code table from the hackers who cracked the code, and it has been confirmed by early analysis that it was the Lineage II Chinese version. South Korean NCsoft views this as an extremely serious issue, but they will investigate the technical details to reach a final conclusion. If indeed the reporters have obtained the Lineage II source code, they need to make sure what portion and which edition of the code. If it is not, they need to find out why the code was rumored to be Lineage II code.
According to those who provided the document, they have the source code of the MMORPG Lineage II, including all development documents, 3D modeling tools and development tools, with the total content surpassing 10GB. Concerining the origins of these codes, they have only revealed that they were obtained through hacking methods. They have also expressed that they can obtain Lineage II's development database. They hope to sell sell this original code, with the price around 1 million to 2 million (currency not named). They have simultaneously also disclosed that A3's private business has something to do with them (A3 is another Korean MMORPG). But, it is not understood why if they really have Lineage II's source code, they are setting their prices so low.
Analysts believe that if the leaked source was only partial code, then the effects would be much smaller, because the hackers would not be able to produce a full playable game. However, if actually they possess the full game source code, the effects would be incalculable. The competitors would effortlessly obtain game content, or even possibly induce improper behavior into the game. This would cause Lineage II's future to be crisis-ridden. Those with other ulterior motives could use the original source code to find loopholes and bugs in the game, and exploit them to compile cheats, or even harm the system's security. Last year, Half Life 2 suffered this same fate from its code leak.
The leaking of the original code would be detrimental to the company, and the financial losses would be big. But NCsoft has expressed that even if indeed the source code has been leaked, they will try to find solutions to stop the possible effects.
