Closed Personal use private servers. Botting cause.

WloHu

I've just got an idea to make private server just for training boss mechanics. I'm not sure if this is possible but being able to reset entry limit and tune in character' stats to change difficulty is more efficient than doing that online. Especially when I play Reboot from EU where slight lag occurs.

While researching web I found this discussion: http://forums.maplestory.nexon.net/discussion/10306/how-do-i-make-the-latest-private-server . Main topic aside the last post from moderator @Neospector struck me:
- How "private servers [...] are the equivalent of hacking"? I won't have a problem if that is regulated by separate paragraph but making it equivalent of hacking is far-fetched IMO.
- This "censored speech" attitude, which some commenters bring in, isn't right as all kinds of free speech denial.

Tweaking the game, for private server case, on one side gives you more knowledge about game mechanics and also game vulnerabilities. I get that but you can't avoid duality in life.
There is utility for game developers in giving easy-to-install, offline, test server with game client for testing purposes (for both users and hired manulal testers) but again it allows offline packet analyzing.

Which part of installing private server for personal use is against signed agreements?

Author also mentioned botting. The lack of player in front of PC is not the real cause of the problem, IMO the issue is that allowing botting can go too far. To go from "I just need 1b more for DMT" to "farm all day long" requires only small realization and not shutting down your PC/script.
The question is: "Why you make your games so grindy and repeatable?". In such case regular players start to consider botting because they want to avoid repeated boring chores just to enjoy higher level content that game has to offer. Especially it doesn't make sense in non-subscription games and I understand that MapleStory is kind of semi-subscription so it makes sense to stretch the grinding.

AKradian

It's nice that you'd like to practice boss mechanics, but Nexon doesn't want you to.
That is why they keep releasing new bosses with limited entries per day/week, and part of why they added the half hour wait between entries for those bosses that can be retried.

There is no utility for game developers in giving out their server to hackers to study at leisure.
They have internal testing environments and their own testers, and if necessary they invite hand-picked players to test content on Nexon's own test servers, where Nexon can record everything that happens for future reference.

According to the Terms of Use https://www.nexon.com/main/en/legal/tou/ that you signed, you will not engage in:

Terms of Use wrote:

• Reverse engineering, deriving source code, modifying, decompiling, disassembling the Services or any portion thereof, or otherwise determining or attempting to determine any source code, algorithms, methods or techniques used or embodied in the Services.
• Intercepting, emulating, or redirecting the communication protocols used by Nexon or its designees in any way, including without limitation through protocol emulation, tunneling, packet sniffing, modifying or adding components to software, use of a data mining utility program to intercept, collect, read or mine information generated by the Services, or in any way utilize a technique now known or hereafter developed that would allow for or otherwise make available unauthorized access or use of the Services.

This means that doing anything to make the client communicate with anything other than the official Nexon servers, is against the terms of use.
And of course all the means necessary to create a private server, starting with sniffing out the protocol the client uses to communicate with the server, are also against the ToU.

As for your "the game is too grindy" excuse for botting - nothing justifies breaking the rules.
Would you pick up a soccer ball in your hands and claim that disallowing the use of hands makes the game too difficult or tedious?
Would you justify hiding cards up your sleeve at poker because "I really need to win this pot"?
Play the game by the rules or don't play it at all. It's that simple.

Finally, the "freedom of speech" argument.
Freedom of Speech applies to the government only. They are not allowed to silence certain ideas.
On private property, however, the owner of the property can decide who can say what or when. Or are you implying libraries and concert halls are infringing on your rights when they require that you keep quiet?
These are Nexon's own forums and they are perfectly within their rights to decide what may or may not be discussed here.

And with that, since ToU-breaking is not allowed to be discussed here, I have to lock this thread.