[MUD-Dev2] [DESIGN] OnLive might make MMOs much easier

[Matt Cruikshank]

Dear Richard Boehme, we're kind of mixing terms here.

> I think in this case it's a typical server-client model, with the
> client not being trusted at all.

In an MMO, picture the Server as being a computer controlled by the
MMO company, and the Client is software installed on the end-user's
computer.

In the OnLive scenario, the Server is where the software is installed,
and the Client is simply a video display and input device - no game
logic, no game data, nothing.

So, what I'm saying is that if the MMO Client - the game data, the
game logic - can be installed on the OnLive Server, then it becomes
trusted.  It's physically inaccessible to the end-user, the end-user
can't inject any snooping between the MMO Client and the MMO Server,
so the MMO Server can send whatever information to the MMO Client that
it wants to, and the MMO Server can trust all of the information
coming out of the MMO Client.  (Other than making sure the user isn't
somehow typing a thousand keys a minute, or something.)

I believe that OnLive has *no incentive* to cheat the MMO developer.
They could lose the rights to EVERY game they want to run.  As long as
you're doing basic input validation on what the OnLive service tells
you the user is typing, I really don't see any way for the end-user to
cheat the system.

-Matt Cruikshank