An Important Announcement regarding Panda 3D
 

I do not want to make anyone feel bad or sad today, But i have some news...
In The Pirates of the Caribbean Online Game Rules/The Disney House Rules: It states/says that NO ONE IS TO HACK etc.
I posted this thread because i was just on Live Chat asking about how to view The Phase Files because someone told me they emailed or talked to Disney and said it was ok to view them. But i have been informed that if you modify or even view the phase files. Your account WILL possible be banned/or terminated. Disney informed me that IT IS NOT OK to view The Phase Files no matter what anyone says. I say this to all of you guys on here and to all who read this because IT is a WARNING. DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES VIEW THE PHASE FILES EVER OR AGAIN FOR THOSE THAT DID. If anyone has Panda 3D on your Computer please delete it. Please put everything back to Normal/ back to the way it was before you viewed them. Thank you. :)
-James O'martin :bookishfj7::piratewheelgo2::william:

Did you know that Panda3D was actually created by Disney? It's also open source.

Panda3D is perfectly legal and safe. You can download it for free to make your own video games.

By the way, viewing phase files(after copying them) would only be illegal if it was impossible for you to have panda without getting that illegally.

There's nothing in the pirates rules that say you can't copy their phase files and just view what's in them.

No seriously, how is viewing the phase files which is on OUR computer, a breach of the House Rules? And even funnier, how is POTCO gonna detect and ban you for viewing the phase files.

Of course I agree tho that modifying the phase files is against their House Rules, it may be considered cheating/hacking. Not sure how POTCO can detect such modification too.

I don't know. If you want to hear more about this i would suggest PMing me please. :) I can show you the chat, and if anyone has a problem i would go on Pirates Online Live Chat tomorrow and ask why its against the rules etc.

Even if they did say something, they aren't gonna do anything about it.

How many people have viewed the images? How many people have used the images? Heck, there are a lot of images from the phase files posted here on the forums, and NONE of the people who posted it have been banned.

I wouldn't worry about it.

edit: Straight from the Panda 3D site

I would tell them that on Live Chat, mate.

Doubting there is legal way for them to "detect" who extracts things from the files. To do so would be an invasion of privacy and an attempt to implement a form of malware on your computer. Panda 3D is a third-party (though it's made by the same company but 3rd party in this context) program that does not interact with the compiled game (especially since it's used when the game is not running). They're worried about people trying to "hack" the game and recompile it maybe? Hardly likely since Panda 3D cannot reverse engineer / decompile it back to the Python source code. Also I would assume the launcher checks the game files and validates them to their currently defined build (so it knows when it needs to patch the client). Most users here are using it to extract resources such as models, skins, and audio.

I think this is a case of an uninformed rep covering his stern.

Ok, so i talked to them again on Live Chat, and they said its hacking period. I then tried to explain to them how its a free program then they got annoyed at me. -_- Gosh.

Excuse me but Panda3D is available and open for everybody, and how would they detect that you're in them anyway? There's no way to do this legally, which would not be good for POTCO. They can NOT just see if somebody does this, it's an invasion of privacy and it is OUR computer.
Don't forget this is available to ALL of us, they might do this so we can't predict future updates.

I asked them how to view the phase files then one of their representatives pretty much got mad at me. If you guys have a problem with this, again i would go on Pirates of the Caribbean Online Live Chat and tell them how you feel about Panda 3D etc. :/

I agree with Sven. I don't see how they could know anyone looked at them if you copy them first.

However, the greatest risk of looking at them is that you may tamper with the Space/Time continuum!

James, I would just suggest, quit worrying about it. As many have said, it wouldn't be legal for them to search our computers to see if we use it, it also is said very clearly on the Panda 3D site, it is open to all.

The person or people you are speaking to more than likely don't know what they're talking about, if they did, they would realize they are incorrect.

Panda 3D site + many POF members > random guy on live chat

If there is really a problem, they will contact us, not the other way around. So far this has never happened, and legally, it won't.

They threatened to terminate or ban/suspend my account. That doesn't sound like someone who doesn't know what they're doing. :'( :( :/

No... that sounds like a Disney employee who is angry because they can't pressure you with breaking their rules.

As said before, if it was illegal, it would be put somewhere. I'm sure that if you were copying the phase files, to be used for another game, that might be a different story. But if its not affecting others, nor the game, and it isn't outlined in the House Rules that you can't view the Phase Files, its fine.

Doesn't POTCO run in a Panda3D graphics engine...saw that on the wiki once?...and why do they give us the phase files again?

As Sven said, i think it would just be best to ignore this. You aren't copying phase files, are you? Then you aren't posing a threat to them. I don't know who ye were talking to though.

If they ban your account, you should complain (on live chat or in an email). They CAN'T ban you for simply viewing the phase files using Panda 3D. As the others said, if you are using them for a completely different game, that is a whole other situation.

Again, just stop contacting live chat about this. They can't do anything to you about this, so its best just to go back to what you were doing. Would they have even contacted you about this had you not asked? The answer is no.


edit: Just adding, if they threatened to ban your account.. it's been around 24 hours, you've contacted them a lot, nothings happened. That there says enough.

Ok...

FIRST OFF! The live chat is for tech resons, not for just any random questions you have. THats why the must of got mad at you for, is because the live chat is only there to help you out with tech problems with pirates, not quuestions.

SECOND! The employ that talked to you was either

A: Mad at you for not useing it for tech resons and threatnd you ban your account because they were mad at you for useing live chat for questions, oooor

B: They have no clue what in the world the Phase Files even are, and thought it was a Hacking thing and thretend you because they thought it was a hacking device.

Well, thats just what I think. And Panda 3D is even ownd by Disney! And, they are letting the public use it, so they can't expect people not to use it. It's like telling a kid "Ok, i'm putting a jar of cookie's right infront of you, but you can't eat them >: D".

That is MEAN Mark!

Well, I went back and talked to another representative, and they said it was a Warning. Last Night after talking to the first guy who threatened to Terminate/Ban/Suspend my account.

James. There is a very old saying. Here it is:


In other words. STOP signing on to live chat! Do what you want to do. Disney doesn't use Punkbuster or any other program to check for hacking. And anyway, you aren't cheating, you aren't hacking you aren't doing anything wrong. Except that you are abusing the tech chat system. These guys aren't your buddies! You are in danger becoming "that guy" who calls 911 because he got a cold hamburger or his cat is looking at him funny.

You talk to them because you think it is the right thing to do. I admire that. But just like you don't want to call 911 for a non-emergency, you don't want to tie up a low-paid help-desk worker with silly, non-tech questions.

And I am here to say that the obsession with Phase Files is getting out of hand. What has ANYONE learned from them? Sure, it is very geek-chic to know your way around a system like Panda. But it is NO way NEAR as cool as some of us are making it out to be.

Very good point ex8404

Aye, I agree with you, Thanx. Technically I only went on there to send in feedback about future releases and about some stuff that we want to see in the game like some ideas on here etc. But I get your point.

Poor James. I feel sad for ye mate... Silly bullies they are!!!!

Word of advice: Stop invoking Live Chat and discussing/arguing the point with them.

It is like standing before a Judge and reciting the Word of the Law to him. All you're going to do is get them mad and they will do something you don't like.

If you keep pestering them until the properly "Define the Rules", it will become an issue with everyone when they announce that anyone messing with any files will get a ban. Then everyone will be mad at you for pushing them into the corner.

Just saying.

James, we all know how much you love POTCO. It's cool, really. Probably more than anyone else here. But Live Chat is for technical stuff only. In two+ years, I have used it exactly once.

Live Chat is a "help desk". That means it is being manned by low paid college students or tech school grads looking for their first big job. And while it may be (traditionally) low paid, it is a very important job with lots of pressure. Dealing with the public is hard.

But these guys are SO out of the loop that they have NO idea what is going to happen next in the game. And every time you ask them something, you remind them of it and force them to go off script. And if they say something that is even slightly incorrect they can lose their jobs.

Keep that in mind please. Leave the poor tech guys alone until you have a tech problem and just play the game. It has to be WAY more fun than Live Chat, right?

Fair Seas Mate.

A suggestion? If your only intention is to view the files - then just look at them... why are you involving Disney?

If your intention is to change the files - then you get what you get... but I wouldn't expect Disney to explain how you use P3D to look at their own files ('cause they are only thinking your going to hack them...)

In any case, the program is not the issue since legit users of P3D will have it installed possible along with POTCO and is not "breaking any rules". Using the product to modify POTCO's files would be the issue...

Just don't modify the files :)

I didnt say change the files- I said view the files. Thank goodness it was only a warning though... :'( :( :/