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A 'Bug/Loophole' in the terms of service that's about to be exploited (not sure where else to post

The Mäd Pätter·10/19/2016, 4:11:37 PM·5 votes·2,039 views

Good afternoon Riot Team,

I am here to let you know that there appears to be an oversight in your Terms of Service regarding third party hardware that uses information from the game to enhance gameplay. While I can totally understand why this oversight exists (because who would have thought the following product would ever be created), it seems that a ToS update would be required to prevent the use of the following tool which is currently in development:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1710261071/the-omniwear-arc-the-wearable-haptic-interface-for

This "Omniwear" would allow players (who are willing to pay a third party company for their product) an advantage in game over other players... which to me is the textbook definition of a third party tool. However currently, due to the wording of your ToS, this cheating tool does not actually violate your user agreement:

"Using any unauthorized third party programs, including mods, hacks, cheats, scripts, bots, trainers and automation programs that interact with the Software in any way, for any purpose, including any unauthorized third party programs that intercept, emulate, or redirect any communication between the Software and Riot Games and any unauthorized third party programs that collect information about the Game by reading areas of memory used by the Software to store information;"

The ToS only specifies -software- which interacts with your software. I can understand why this is... before this product, there weren't any forms of hardware that would facilitate this level of cheating, and thus having a hardware component to the ToS would simply be overcomplicated and pointless... but now there is a company positioning itself to offer your player-base a pay-to-win cheating tool, that uses this loophole/emission in the ToS.

I don't know if you are already aware of this tool, or whether or not you are prepared to condemn its use, but I figured I would bring this to your attention. Personally, I would view this tool no differently than a software plugin that caused the game to automatically ping your screen when it saw an enemy player on the minimap, which would be a blatant violation of the terms of service. This product violates the spirit of the ToS, I hope that you take the steps required so that it violates the letter of the ToS as well.

If you choose not to condemn this tool, that is also well within your rights... although I have to admit, I don't imagine your players would appreciate having to pay some random company a minimum of $99 USD to get a tool which other players may be using, so they can stay on the same competitive level. I know personally, I'd rather spend that money on skins or champs, but if not having this tool made me less effective in game versus my competition... I'd feel like I wouldn't have a choice but to buy their product. Considering that you have done so well in designing a game that doesn't make players feel like they -need- to spend money, that would seem a little backward.

Anyways, enough rambling. Looking forward to hearing what, if anything, you plan to do in combating this new generation of third-party cheating tools.

36 Comments

Flaherty10/19/2016, 4:21:41 PM2 votes

Making this against the TOS is kind of pointless because there's no way to even prevent people from using this or any way to tell that people are using it unless Riot asks the company to just not make it available for their game

Slythion10/19/2016, 4:24:15 PM2 votes

I mean, the product itself uses software that would be considered 3rd-party software (because...well...it is) so it would still be considered an illegal 3rd-party software. The frame/shell of the product (aka, the hardware) would be allowed so long as the software it uses isn't function...so basically you'd technically be allowed to wear it, just not use it.

Do you get what I mean?

My only concern is whether Riot has a system that can detect 3rd-party software from an external device that is being used, but I'd imagine they would because that stuff already does exist

The Mäd Pätter10/19/2016, 4:40:23 PM2 votes

{quoted}

I mean, the product itself uses software that would be considered 3rd-party software (because...well...it is) so it would still be considered an illegal 3rd-party software. The frame/shell of the product (aka, the hardware) would be allowed so long as the software it uses isn't function...so basically you'd technically be allowed to wear it, just not use it.

Do you get what I mean?

My only concern is whether Riot has a system that can detect 3rd-party software from an external device that is being used, but I'd imagine they would because that stuff already does exist

{quoted}

Making this against the TOS is kind of pointless because there's no way to even prevent people from using this or any way to tell that people are using it unless Riot asks the company to just not make it available for their game

[{quoted}](name=Zyra Suit Samus,realm=NA,application-id=LqLKtMpN,discussion-id=dH8iOjPp,comment-id=0002,timestamp=2016-10-19T16:19:59.479+0000)

Riot is also able to redefine the ToS as they see fit if a new problems arise. Granted, the fact that it uses your phone could make it harder to track... It's not like they're going to be able to trace this properly. It's kind of like an extra set of eyes I suppose and it would use the minimap. It is definitely cheating. It also technically has 3rd party software attached, it's just on your phone, unfortunately.

If they update the ToS then they could look at taking action against the developers of the tool.

For example: If they put in their ToS that you are not allowed to use League of Legends to develop or aid in the development of hardware/software without riot's express permission, then the company developing Omniwear would not be able to develop/maintain/patch the aspect of their product that reads the LoL minimap. Because they would have to accept the ToS to use the game and would have to use the game to be able to develop their cell-phone app that parses the LoL minimap data that it reads off the screen.

Obviously, I'm not a lawyer (I am; however, a software designer + programmer), and there may very well be an exploitable loophole with the example I came up with in 15 seconds. (i.e, the company could watch a stream and gather their data from that)... But the point I'm putting forward is that the ToS should not only target the people using the tool, but also the company developing it. If they can stop the Omniwear developers from including the LoL aspect of their product altogether, then it would really cut down on its use for cheating.

Breaku10/19/2016, 5:12:55 PM2 votes

I would like to see Riot comment on this product. I think it provides and unfair advantage for sure.

Dark0nB100d10/20/2016, 1:39:05 AM1 votes

OH holy crap. It's like scripting without the scripting......

Ýisus10/20/2016, 9:16:37 AM1 votes

Not sure if anyone has said this yet ... but ... for it to "watch" the radar it must be linking to some software ... the hardware does not have eyes. So in order to track all these things it certainly is using a software.

Maximum Morde10/19/2016, 4:13:53 PM1 votes

Can you at least explain why/how you think this tool violates the tos?

Unstoppable Monk10/20/2016, 1:58:19 PM1 votes

lol looks like a waste of money

probably a just money grab. do you really think something buzzing your nipples will make you a better player? XD

Sarutobi10/19/2016, 4:18:08 PM1 votes

I'm not quite sure about the tech you have listed,but I'm going to assume it's in it thinking stage and not even close to release. Riot shouldn't worrying too much.but when this gets released (or even a little before that) they can change the ToS. Just like how they keep it updated from time to time!

Sniper 010/19/2016, 4:19:59 PM1 votes

Riot is also able to redefine the ToS as they see fit if a new problems arise. Granted, the fact that it uses your phone could make it harder to track... It's not like they're going to be able to trace this properly. It's kind of like an extra set of eyes I suppose and it would use the minimap. It is definitely cheating. It also technically has 3rd party software attached, it's just on your phone, unfortunately.

tabmanlikebatman10/19/2016, 7:19:34 PM1 votes

Well, the thing is, this is really only worth it in a lower level of competition. I am 100% sure that a pro player would be annoyed by how slowly this thing detects threats. Also, the amount of information being passed to you is very little. It is giving direction and intensity. When it comes down to it, it is simply a tool that encourages a person to look at the minimap, because whenever you see an enemy on the minimap it is usually moving- and you can tell a lot more from that than this device can.

So, in conclusion, a bronze player would benefit greatly, because they would feel the vibration and just run for their turret/safety. Whereas a plat+ player would either find the vibration useless or it would force them to look at the minimap. Just knowing that an enemy has been spotted is useless in that level of play- especially because vision fades- it can not turn on and off in milliseconds. I doubt a bronze player could advance more than one subtier with this.

One example of when this thing is useless- the jungler is spotted crossing the mid lane- this event would probably be so far if you were in the top or bot lanes that this device wouldn't even trigger. And even if it did, the information it gives you is that you need to place wards or just cower behind turret. The first case is something which is integral to the game and encourages better play. while the second is something that won't reap you too many benefits (this game rewards risk quite heavily).

While it may be "cheating", it isn't very hard to do what this company has done with machine vision. I could code this within a few days worth of free time (without the vibration hardware aspect), but personally, I wouldn't find it worthwhile. I would more equate this to a peripheral. There are some really great keyboards and mice out there that could be said to increase your ergonomics and response time. There are bad keyboards that don't let you press more than a few keys at once. Also, like that youtuber MagiKarpUsedFly, you could literally use something like the razer nostromo (sp?) instead of a keyboard.