Civ VI patch - Red Shell removed and cross-platform PC/Mac added

[Gedemon]

Why did it take almost two years to find out about Red Shell? I wish that had been mentioned in the first reviews. Would definitely have prevented me from buying the game.

No more day one Firaxis purchases for me.

3 points:
- it was added in February 2018 (part of the patch just before R&F)
- its purpose wasn't to collect personal information
- many games and applications use that kind of tools, at least with redshell we knew what it did and how it did it.

And question for those who care about this kind of things:
- what will replace it in all the games that have removed it?

 

[bbufa]

any bug fix not included in patch notes?

 

[lindsay40k]

Oh hey, x-format mp on the game I’ve been playing with my best friend for like two years by her screen sharing from her PC and us playing a co-op game

Just need to wait for the early adopter canaries to stop dying of disconnection and OOS, and a second expansion and complete edition to come out, and I might just get it myself

 

[leandrombraz]

Why did it take almost two years to find out about Red Shell? I wish that had been mentioned in the first reviews. Would definitely have prevented me from buying the game.

No more day one Firaxis purchases for me.

https://blog.redshell.io/gamesight-track-levels-up-and-becomes-red-shell-187c28f00b7c

Redshell wasn't even a thing when Civ VI launched, it was released in May 31, 2017 (Civ VI was launched in November 2016). As Gedemon already informed, it was added to Civ VI in February. Even if Red Shell was a thing back then, it's not like reviewers do a careful search on game files to see if they find something players wouldn't like. It's only showing up in user reviews now because people started review bombing the game.
What probably happened is that the tool started to get really popular among devs this year. As more games adopted it, it got more and more likely that a player would stumble over it into it finally happened, which naturally turn into an alarmist thread in a forum somewhere, people start looking for it in other games, a list is formed and the witch hunt begins.

 

[Gehennas]

3 points:
- it was added in February 2018 (part of the patch just before R&F)
- its purpose wasn't to collect personal information
- many games and applications use that kind of tools, at least with redshell we knew what it did and how it did it.

And question for those who care about this kind of things:
- what will replace it in all the games that have removed it?

Well, I am actually disappointed that they did not care about looking into detailed player stats until February. And now I am just sad that Firaxis had to remove the most reliable way to make game better because of the internet hysteria.

 

[TheMeInTeam]

Well, I am actually disappointed that they did not care about looking into detailed player stats until February. And now I am just sad that Firaxis had to remove the most reliable way to make game better because of the internet hysteria.

The most reliable way to make the game better would be to bring the controls up to standards good games managed two decades ago, rather than hiding rules and introducing hours of extra input time into the game because they don't care about it.

In the possibility space of all ways the game might be altered, very few alternatives are similarly strictly better.

Every patch update I see will be a consistent disappointment to at least some degree, given the active disregard for end user experience.

 

[Eagle Pursuit]

Aspyr said on Steam that the Linux version will be done in a few weeks.

 

[tekjunkie28]

What is the issue with people being all worried that Red Shell is spyware? If you think windows isnt spyware you are sorely mistaken. Besides I want companies to know which games I play. I want Firaxis to to know that I play their....

 

[God of Kings]

Windows 10 is no doubt spyware.

Open the Start Menu and you will know.

Cortana also collects everything typed and spoken as well.

Yes, Red Shell is spyware too.

The only difference is that Microsoft is transparent about it and Red Shell isn't.

 

[CivLuvah]

....That's it?

 

[Kwami]

Good. Let's keep spyware out of games.

 

[Philasimes]

Me personally, I am relieved that Firaxis has decided to remove Red Shell from the game. I actually uninstalled it for the mean time. My problem with it was not necessarily that they were trying to collect the data, but how intransparent they were with it. It should have been an opt-in programm to help out the devs with marketing, not an opt-out.

 

[Morningcalm]

How is the cross-platform multiplayer? Is it any good?

 

[Slip de Garcon]

I don't know enough about the Red Shell story, but I assume EU GDPR legislation forced their hand to a degree.

 

[x2Madda]

I know Red Shell will dominate this thread due to how controvsial it is but just to be clear, it was not about tracking what games you play or making games better as some users mistakenly believe. It was about tracking how effective advertisments were in making people buy certain games (specifially the developers games).
This is no different from cookies in what it claims to be doing and the keyword is "claims".
If you were unhappy having your info collected you could contact Red Shell and opt out, however the company claims to not collect any user identifable information so how is it possible to opt out? Oh it does collect info that can identify you but don't worry dear user, you can opt out. Assuming you even knew you were using Red Shell in the first place. As has been pointed out, Red Shell was not even a thing when Civ6 launched yet the usual misinformed defense squads were quick to blame end users for not reading the EULA despite the fact Red Shell is not mentioned even once in there.

While in reality I believe Red Shell really was just interested in helping developers and advertisers, it was found to be collecting way too much none essential information and the facts that you could opt out (which would be impossible if you were truly anonymous), that is was collecting unrelated information from users such as installed fonts, that you can either install it as its own .exe or embedded it within your own software (making it almost undetectable) , developers remaining very tight lipped if they have included red shell; I could go on but frankly the point is that everyone likes making money but some methods are deemed more acceptable than others.

Red Shell itself in my opinion needs to be more transparent as to reduce paranoia but at the same time we live in a world where things can be patched in and out of games very easily. Just because Red Shell is gone for now doesn't mean it won't be patched right back in again in the future when the controversy has died down.

As for the EU GDPR, I have zero confidence in it. Red Shell is a US company so how is the EU going to bring Red Shell to court for breaking EU law? I think the review bombing on an already mediocre rated game did more to twist 2k's arm frankly.

 

[The googles do nothing]

How is the cross-platform multiplayer? Is it any good?

It's worked fine for me on a mac book. The only new issue i've seen is the text when loading into a game gets garbled.

 

[Trav'ling Canuck]

Red Shell itself in my opinion needs to be more transparent as to reduce paranoia but at the same time we live in a world where things can be patched in and out of games very easily. Just because Red Shell is gone for now doesn't mean it won't be patched right back in again in the future when the controversy has died down.

No. Firaxis needs to be more transparent. They're the ones who added the Red Shell software to their game without explaining why, then removed it still without explaining why they put it in in the first place, as if that makes everything okay.

It's not paranoia to expect companies to provide clear and transparent communication to their customers about what data they collect, and especially to provide clear and transparent communication when they change the process and nature of the data they collect after they've taken their customers' money.