what is a "virtual machine"? (To DBG)

Casually browsing the FAQ for the Phingal server, while unable to log in anywhere due to current DDOS attacks, I noticed the following:

Doing any of the following on ANY server may result in action being taken against your Daybreak Account:

Unattended Gameplay: Any method that lets a character take actions while you’re not at your keyboard.
Playing on virtual machines.
Any attempt to circumvent the /pickzone timer.

Does anyone know what they mean by "Playing on virtual machines"?

I understand "Unattended game play". ISBoxer is careful to avoid implementing anything that would directly support this.

I have never used /pickzone, so I don't care about that.

But the virtual machine line kinda worries me.

I would have casually called what ISBoxer is doing to be roughly a matter of spawning a virtual machine to run each instance, but I thought they generally accepted ISBoxer itself as ok to use.

Do they not want me to play EQ from my Windows XP virtual machine on my Windows 9 system? Why would they care?

Or on a windows virtual machine running on a Mac? Again, why?

Or is this phrase a reference to something else entirely?

Anyone know?

[bob]

I'm going to guess that they mean using software that either provides an abstraction layer such that you can either run a separate Operating System (system level virtualisation) that is independent of the host, or that you provide a process level environment (application level virtualisation).

System level environments include things like:

• Virtual PC/Server
• VMware (most flavours)
• Parallels
• Virtualbox

Process level environments include things like:

• JAVA
• .NET CLR
• Andriod Runtime

IMO, InnerSpace does not qualify for either, although it is closest to a Process level environment.

At least in the case of playing on Parallels on your Mac, you have an excuse as to why, so that may be permitted anyway. Of course, best to get that in writing if that is your scenario.

Ok, you told me what a virtual machine should mean. But I still cannot imagine why they care? What sense of a "virtual machine" could matter to them? There is nothing inherent in the idea that gives any advantage, unfair or not, to normal gameplay. It is just a way of getting their software to run on hardware or with operating systems that they do not support directly.

Of course on their new "one game session per physical box" server, some variety of VM's might be part of a plan to circumvent that rule. But they specifically said that this applies to all servers, and multiple sessions on a single machine are quite normal and allowed on those servers.

I suppose I will have to ask them. But past experience with lack of response leaves me unhopeful that it will help.

[lax]

But the virtual machine line kinda worries me.

I would have casually called what ISBoxer is doing to be roughly a matter of spawning a virtual machine to run each instance, but I thought they generally accepted ISBoxer itself as ok to use.

Application-level virtualization is done by Inner Space, sure. You can also do nearly the same thing (different features mind you) by right clicking EverQuest, select Properties, click the Compatibility tab, and start ticking options there. I don't think this is at all related.

It is just a way of getting their software to run on hardware or with operating systems that they do not support directly.

Sorry, no, this is incorrect. A VM is not Joe Shmoe's "just a way of getting it to run" and this is CLEARLY not what they are aiming to prevent.

Do they not want me to play EQ from my Windows XP virtual machine on my Windows 9 system?

I would pay real money to see your "Windows 9" system.

I would advise that unless you're running a bot farm or such where your VMs matter that much to you, this is all pretty irrelevant. I seriously doubt they are going to use the rule against some guy who doesn't want to install Windows because his 600MHz Pentium running Slackware Linux "plays EQ1 under Wine just fine". They want to stop the guy who is generating many VM instances in attempt to circumvent other limitations they have in place, bot farms who may use VMs in attempt to separate their accounts, and so on.

Lol... Windows 9 was a typo or maybe a mental glitch. I run windows 7 Pro still. Haven't upgraded to 8 or 10, and certainly not to the mythical 9.

I did not really think they would care about most of the cases where I might use some sort of virtualization.

But I am still not sure what prompted them to put in that line... what they were thinking of. If they had said "running EQ on virtual machines to circumvent our rules and restrictions" I would not have even blinked.

However they did not say this. They said that running on a virtual machine was actionable, without further qualification. And that made me hesitate.

I guess I'll go back to not worrying about it.