WGC... Does it make anyone else a bit nervous?

[xamdam]

Apparently with this latest update (at least I didn't notice it before) the WGC has somehow managed to allow itself to push notifications in my Windows 10 popup screen (bottom right of the taskbar). 

It never asked for this permission, I never would have given it... I did manage to turn it off in settings but the more this thing runs, the slower my computer feels. With each game patch my Malwarebytes goes nuts with "Trojan" alerts. Yeah, I know most are false flags. Still, I don't like the way this thing seems to worm its way through my system.

/tinfoil hat

[Skpstr]

Doesn't bother me, my gaming PC is only for gaming. If I have issues that software can't rectify, I just wipe and start over.

Having said that, I've not noticed any of my games running any slower.

[Laser_Beam]

It's an unproven fact that the Launcher also starts a bitcoin miner for WG 

[hexeris]

Never had an issue with it

[DDJohnston]

Better get yourself another package of tinfoil for a couple more layers on that hat...

 

[Bandi73]

59 minutes ago, Laser_Beam said:

It's an unproven fact that the Launcher also starts a bitcoin miner for WG 

I can't confirm nor deny....

[Shadow_Woof]

With how conspicuous the game in port using the CPU more than in a match is, I don’t believe WG is trying to do anything super shady with malware, because I think they would probably try to do a better job looking inconspicuous if they were.

[xamdam]

Man, I need to be more careful what I say around here! 

Putting my tinfoil hat back on! They're on to me! 

[ArtfulNothing_]

When push notifications popped up on my machine I couldn't find a dismiss or an X to get rid of it. I had to let it linger there until it decided I wasn't interested in clicking on it and went away. 

To add to the tinfoil conspiracy. Once upon a time, I played WoWP. I set WGC to never update yet every so often after a patch it tried to update at full throttle. I've since moved that game to another drive used for archiving purposes only. then I re-installed WGC so that it wasn't even showing WoWP in a tab at the top.  WGC should not have seen nor have any association with that drive. I certainly did not give any permission to do so at all. Yet it still will from time to time, after a patch, snoop around find it, add a tab to WGC and start to auto-update full throttle.  Malicious? voting is still out on that one. Intrusive? Heck yeah, it is!!  

[xamdam]

11 minutes ago, ArtfulNothing_ said:

When push notifications popped up on my machine I couldn't find a dismiss or an X to get rid of it. I had to let it linger there until it decided I wasn't interested in clicking on it and went away. 

To add to the tinfoil conspiracy. Once upon a time, I played WoWP. I set WGC to never update yet every so often after a patch it tried to update at full throttle. I've since moved that game to another drive used for archiving purposes only. then I re-installed WGC so that it wasn't even showing WoWP in a tab at the top.  WGC should not have seen nor have any association with that drive. I certainly did not give any permission to do so at all. Yet it still will from time to time, after a patch, snoop around find it, add a tab to WGC and start to auto-update full throttle.  Malicious? voting is still out on that one. Intrusive? Heck yeah, it is!!  

In the notification upper right corner there was a Windows 10 "gear icon". Clicking on that gave me the option to not allow notifications from the app. It will be interesting to see how long before it pops up again, lol.

I agree it's intrusive and... my spidey senses tell me there's some no-good buried in that code somewhere.

[rallybackmonkey]

I have never had any of these issues on Steam.

[xamdam]

Put it this way, I'm always nervous about software from Russia and China. Surely someone will call me xenophobic, but just too many bad experiences over the years...

[Rollingonit]

2 minutes ago, xamdam said:

Put it this way, I'm always nervous about software from Russia and China. Surely someone will call me xenophobic, but just too many bad experiences over the years...

Ive never really had any issue with any RU or CN developed software. As long as they are well known and it's been widely distributed. How they tend to run their business's though, Ive never been to keen on it. 

[AJTP89]

I'm not a fan of the popups either (and this isn't new, they enabled that a few months back, my guess is we all turned them off but now it's updated and reset so we're getting them again). But I don't think the the WGC is doing anything underhanded, at least no more than any other game launcher. The way I look at it is I have multiple massive game clients installed, visit their sites regularly, and they have a lot of my information including credit card. If they wanted to do shady things with my computer they'd just bury it in a game file somewhere, not a launcher that gives pop up notifications that it's always active. And they already have most of my information anyway, not much use in collecting it again.

In short, if you're paranoid about something WG's doing with the launcher you probably shouldn't have the game installed either

[xamdam]

18 minutes ago, AJTP89 said:

In short, if you're paranoid about something WG's doing with the launcher you probably shouldn't have the game installed either

All I can do is keep a close eye on my PayPal transactions. I've never outright given WG any card info. 

[xHeavy]

I run win 7 which is essentially the same as Win10 according to Redmond WA which is the HQ of all Microsoft products. My licensing etc is similar to the current win 10 stuff.

The computer I use is strictly a communicatons device and a gaming device. If there is anything going on in my tiny little life worth hacking or taking will come to nothing of value. Suppose someone did get full access what do they get? A bunch of games. And maybe a few banking things. All of which can be turned off in 5 minutes in person at the branch and two phone calls elsewhere I will essentially be frozen until I unlock myself with a third call. (Credit financial etc of which its one big fat zero anyway, I am strictly cash)

Whats left? Medical stuff. Mountains of it. You are welcome to it. Its all there on the net for free to anyone with a computer, no need to get into my boring machine for it.

Suppose it was attacked? It has been several times, 5 minutes removal of 6 SSD's, they are taken to the metal works induction and slagged, Brand new old stock SSD's put in and the computer is reimaged in a hour. Updated in less than a day back to where it was before the attack whatever it mgiht be. And what did they gain? Not very much. What is my life? Nothing. I am a old trucker who has a great deal of medical work going on towards the end of life. Maybe two years. Maybe a little more. I cannot be bothered to worry about some insidious acts of whatever nation or individual against my little tiny machine. There is nothing to get to. I am worth more dead than alive to certain persons and other Nations by probate.

So Attacks? Conspiracy? Killing programs gone rogue? HA. Spare me. I have provided my own tech support building and rebuilding computers these last 20 years or so and deliberately fail to keep up with the latest and greatest like smartphones. I know of one smartphone that has internet but there is nothing on that phone except three numbers. Two of which is public information. The third has no meaning as that person has passed away, so why do I keep that phone? Well it's a convient dead number to enter for online orders and get things bought and paid for. You need to have a valid number. And thats what it is. Just a number. It can do a little internet, it can connect fast enough to bypass a failed home internet which happens once a year when the ISP server burns out or a pole is cut by a drunkerd. Thats only temporary;.

The one thing the phone did do over the years is slowly collect voice mails until it failed at about 9000 voice mails from scammers and spam. None of whom know I am deaf and do not do voice calls at all. Roughly 300 hours worth of jibbering jabber spam calls. Messages that will get nowhere.

I am old enough to know a life before any computer or phone ever. I easily can go back to 1700's living in 10 minutes. It will be fine and has been. Most of the time I think its the technology that plays the people like puppets instead of the other way around.

[Viva_Palestine]

What is 'Windows" ?

[Sovereigndawg]

3 hours ago, xamdam said:

Apparently with this latest update (at least I didn't notice it before) the WGC has somehow managed to allow itself to push notifications in my Windows 10 popup screen (bottom right of the taskbar). 

It never asked for this permission, I never would have given it... I did manage to turn it off in settings but the more this thing runs, the slower my computer feels. With each game patch my Malwarebytes goes nuts with "Trojan" alerts. Yeah, I know most are false flags. Still, I don't like the way this thing seems to worm its way through my system.

/tinfoil hat

I turn it off after the game starts.

[xamdam]

2 minutes ago, Sovereigndawg said:

I turn it off after the game starts.

Probably not a bad idea. I think I'll start doing that as well.

 

[Sovereigndawg]

5 minutes ago, xamdam said:

Probably not a bad idea. I think I'll start doing that as well.

 

It uses lots of resources and heats up my graphics card by at least 5 degrees.

http://www.gputemp.com/

[Sovereigndawg]

7 minutes ago, xamdam said:

Probably not a bad idea. I think I'll start doing that as well.

 

It runs in the background in the hidden Icons section of your task bar if you don't turn that off in the settings.

[xamdam]

1 minute ago, Sovereigndawg said:

It runs in the background in the hidden Icons section of your task bar if you don't turn that off in the settings.

Gotcha, out of thumbs up so have a cookie instead. :)

[Sovereigndawg]

2 minutes ago, xamdam said:

Gotcha, out of thumbs up so have a cookie instead. :)

No worries, I do not crave recognition.

[DDJohnston]

If you set things correctly, you do not get notifications, and WGC does not launch itself w/o my intervention.  I simply have no issues with WGC.  It launches when I ask it to, and it goes away when I tell it to.  Did I have to get the settings right to accomplish this?  Yes.

Are these the default settings?  No.  Is WG the only company's whose launcher has similar default settings?  No.

As far as credit cards vs Paypal, you actually have better protections in US law from credit card companies than you do with Paypal, and I've never had a transaction problem with WG that wasn't simply because the transactions go through Cyprus, and my bank was making sure it was intended.  (I work for said bank, and there's never been any fiddling with card numbers or anything, either.)

Keep in mind, while I allow it to get the 'pre-updates', because of the other settings, it does NOT launch itself to get them.  It just grabs them if/when I open WGC and let it download them, or other updates.

It's not exactly rocket science.  Not sure why it's so troublesome for some people.

[xamdam]

10 minutes ago, Kesh_Lives said:

If you set things correctly, you do not get notifications, and WGC does not launch itself w/o my intervention.  I simply have no issues with WGC.  It launches when I ask it to, and it goes away when I tell it to.  Did I have to get the settings right to accomplish this?  Yes.

Are these the default settings?  No.  Is WG the only company's whose launcher has similar default settings?  No.

As far as credit cards vs Paypal, you actually have better protections in US law from credit card companies than you do with Paypal, and I've never had a transaction problem with WG that wasn't simply because the transactions go through Cyprus, and my bank was making sure it was intended.  (I work for said bank, and there's never been any fiddling with card numbers or anything, either.)

Keep in mind, while I allow it to get the 'pre-updates', because of the other settings, it does NOT launch itself to get them.  It just grabs them if/when I open WGC and let it download them, or other updates.

It's not exactly rocket science.  Not sure why it's so troublesome for some people.

I've had it set not to launch when I start the PC, same as 90% of my installed programs.

As for US law, I'm not in the US... Dealing with credit card companies where I am is notoriously difficult at the best of times, even worse if you're not a citizen...

Nothing in your screenshot above has anything to do with the notification I mentioned.

So, inject a little thought into your post maybe? It's not rocket science that some people may not be operating under the same conditions as you...