Statement about antivirus programs flagging Skylords Reborn as unsafe

[Kubik]

9 hours ago, STM said:

Even if it said 0 after the update, it's a bad out-of-the-box experience for new users.

I guess you are not playing any game on steam, right? This is steam itself:

https://www.virustotal.com/gui/file/422bc4e4f5bdfe739670bdc6096bce2828eb98e7e62d3ca525199339bfd4494f
https://www.virustotal.com/gui/file/e7e706048790633368e5eb9f67e21e0194fc9b20d59f69fcb94ca01c492de449

[Majora]

While I understand players uneasiness regarding files being flagged as malicious/viruses/trojans, its almost impossible for a mod-project to pass all security checks. You will see the same in, for example, the Command & Conquer community, where the official servers have closed down, and you need external software to be able to play. These also trigger Anti Virus programs and Windows Security blocking/removing the necessary files. 

We try to get our files whitelisted where we can, but unfortunately there is only so much we can do. 

[Raikao]

You should add this to the installation guide for one thing as I just had the exact same problem and this has been an issue for a year. It kills your onboarding I don't know why you would not make it very clear to people that the installation will fail unless you prep a folder for it and exclude it from your AV/Windows Defender.

[Majora]

14 hours ago, Raikao said:

You should add this to the installation guide for one thing as I just had the exact same problem and this has been an issue for a year. It kills your onboarding I don't know why you would not make it very clear to people that the installation will fail unless you prep a folder for it and exclude it from your AV/Windows Defender.

Sorry to hear you were having problems. It is included in our latest video installer guide: 

 

It is also included in our FAQ on the download page: Common Technical Issues people face. 

The issue has become more widespread however, so we will make additional adjustments. 

[Johnnybonny]

Hi everybody. I played this game in my childhood, remembered it, and saw this project. I was very emotional, but seeing that the project is not even open source and with a lot of antivirus problems, I have to say I tried to install it, but the Windows Defender description being: "attackers can run programs on your device" is a no-go for me. I loved this game in my memories, but it's just not worth it to compromise my device with my hard-earned money. Please make the game open source before anything happens to these beautiful devs. Until then, I will just dream about the old days I played the game. Thanks for reading.

[This Is Halloween_2]

7 hours ago, Johnnybonny said:

Hi everybody. I played this game in my childhood, remembered it, and saw this project. I was very emotional, but seeing that the project is not even open source and with a lot of antivirus problems, I have to say I tried to install it, but the Windows Defender description being: "attackers can run programs on your device" is a no-go for me. I loved this game in my memories, but it's just not worth it to compromise my device with my hard-earned money. Please make the game open source before anything happens to these beautiful devs. Until then, I will just dream about the old days I played the game. Thanks for reading.

Let me guess, Windows defender identify pcre3.dll file as a problem right ?

What that file do is sent your login credentials to the skylord servers. Since the old servers no longer exist, the dev needed a way to send the credentials to the new servers.

Of course, a file that redirect login is 100% getting flagged by antivirus. But the data that is sent (skylord identifier & password) is something the server already has, so it's not like your sending to strangers.
 

You can also come & have a look at the discord if you are still unconvinced, to see if the whole things is legitimate. After all if hundreds + of people are still playing the game everyday, & you see no complain whatsoever on the forum or discord that the whole thing is a scam, you would be able to be more confident in the project.

For the open source part, it's a bit more complicated. EA has given it's agreement to the dev on the project, but with clear limits, and I'm not sure making the thing open source is part of it.

Furthermore there's another problem, EA has given its agreement, but not the source code. What we got is the compiled code of the game, that the dev has spent years to understand what it does. The only thing we could post for you to check is the compiled, machine readable only code of the game (in Assembly language 🥵).

[Johnnybonny]

1 hour ago, This Is Halloween_2 said:

Let me guess, Windows defender identify pcre3.dll file as a problem right ?

What that file do is sent your login credentials to the skylord servers. Since the old servers no longer exist, the dev needed a way to send the credentials to the new servers.

Of course, a file that redirect login is 100% getting flagged by antivirus. But the data that is sent (skylord identifier & password) is something the server already has, so it's not like your sending to strangers.
 

You can also come & have a look at the discord if you are still unconvinced, to see if the whole things is legitimate. After all if hundreds + of people are still playing the game everyday, & you see no complain whatsoever on the forum or discord that the whole thing is a scam, you would be able to be more confident in the project.

For the open source part, it's a bit more complicated. EA has given it's agreement to the dev on the project, but with clear limits, and I'm not sure making the thing open source is part of it.

Furthermore there's another problem, EA has given its agreement, but not the source code. What we got is the compiled code of the game, that the dev has spent years to understand what it does. The only thing we could post for you to check is the compiled, machine readable only code of the game (in Assembly language 🥵).

Can the game at least be on Steam so we can have peace of mind, or is that also not possible?

[Majora]

25 minutes ago, Johnnybonny said:

Can the game at least be on Steam so we can have peace of mind, or is that also not possible?

That is not possible, EA owns the franchise. 

I understand the concerns, but I hope the fact we have been here for about 4,5 years now (even more if counting closed development) should give some ease of mind. 

[Johnnybonny]

I installed the game today. Please update the video to let players know they need to create the game folder and add an exception for it in their antivirus software. When I launched the updater, it started downloading files, but I received an error message for one .pak file. However, relaunching the updater fixed the issue, and I was able to launch the game successfully. Everything is working fine now.

[This Is Halloween_2]

59 minutes ago, Johnnybonny said:

I installed the game today. Please update the video to let players know they need to create the game folder and add an exception for it in their antivirus software. When I launched the updater, it started downloading files, but I received an error message for one .pak file. However, relaunching the updater fixed the issue, and I was able to launch the game successfully. Everything is working fine now.

Then welcome back to Skylord !

[Majora]

2 hours ago, Johnnybonny said:

I installed the game today. Please update the video to let players know they need to create the game folder and add an exception for it in their antivirus software. When I launched the updater, it started downloading files, but I received an error message for one .pak file. However, relaunching the updater fixed the issue, and I was able to launch the game successfully. Everything is working fine now.

It is mentioned in the video, at around 1 minute.

[Johnnybonny]

1 hour ago, Majora said:

It is mentioned in the video, at around 1 minute.

You need to create a 'Games' folder and a 'Skylords Reborn' folder in Drive C, and then add an exception rule in Windows Defender before even starting the installer. Otherwise, Windows will quarantine the files. I believe that's where the problem lies. You could also deactivate the entire antivirus beforehand, I think that would work as well.

 

[alexmat]

Hello. I haven't been able to log in to the game for several days. When I try to log in, it says "connection failed." What could be the reason? The game is added to the firewall exceptions, and I don't have any other antivirus programs installed.

 

[Vultagx]

22 minutes ago, alexmat said:

Hello. I haven't been able to log in to the game for several days. When I try to log in, it says "connection failed." What could be the reason? The game is added to the firewall exceptions, and I don't have any other antivirus programs installed.

 

@alexmat this is because of the russian location. You´ll need to use a VPN to avoid the geo-blocking by russian gov