AI 版的星海爭霸二將直接透過歐洲區的 Battle.net 匿名與人類對戰

前幾天 Blizzard 公佈的消息,DeepMind 的星海爭霸二 AI (AlphaStar) 將會透過 Blizzard 的 Battle.net 歐洲區伺服器跟人類對戰:「DeepMind Research on Ladder」。

Experimental versions of DeepMind’s StarCraft II agent, AlphaStar, will soon play a small number of games on the competitive ladder in Europe as part of ongoing research into AI.

預設是不會對到的,需要選擇參與:

If you would like the chance to help DeepMind with its research by matching against AlphaStar, you can opt in by clicking the “opt-in” button on the in-game popup window. You can alter your opt-in selection at any time by using the “DeepMind opt-in” button on the 1v1 Versus menu.

但你仍然不會知道對手是人還是 AI,而且如同一般對戰情況,這會影響到你的戰績:

For scientific test purposes, DeepMind will be benchmarking AlphaStar’s performance by playing anonymously during a series of blind trial matches. This means the StarCraft community will not know which matches AlphaStar is playing, to help ensure that all games are played under the same conditions. AlphaStar plays with built-in restrictions that the DeepMind team has defined in consultation with pro players. A win or a loss against AlphaStar will affect your MMR as normal.

okay,這樣大概知道為什麼只開放歐洲區了...

加州從今年七月開始,禁止 AI 偽裝成人類 (前幾天也有一些新聞在報導):「A California law now means chatbots have to disclose they’re not human」,對應的法條在「Bill Text - SB-1001 Bots: disclosure」這邊可以看到:

17941. (a) It shall be unlawful for any person to use a bot to communicate or interact with another person in California online, with the intent to mislead the other person about its artificial identity for the purpose of knowingly deceiving the person about the content of the communication in order to incentivize a purchase or sale of goods or services in a commercial transaction or to influence a vote in an election. A person using a bot shall not be liable under this section if the person discloses that it is a bot.

(b) The disclosure required by this section shall be clear, conspicuous, and reasonably designed to inform persons with whom the bot communicates or interacts that it is a bot.

而加州是 Blizzard Entertainment 的總部...

法條上面對「online platform」有設計排除條款,不過如果只算星海二的人數,有可能不到這個豁免限制... 所以得避開而改用歐洲區來測試?

(c) “Online platform” means any public-facing Internet Web site, Web application, or digital application, including a social network or publication, that has 10,000,000 or more unique monthly United States visitors or users for a majority of months during the preceding 12 months.

(c) This chapter does not impose a duty on service providers of online platforms, including, but not limited to, Web hosting and Internet service providers.

美國軍方應該是超級關注這個議題,相較於 AlphaGo 或是 AlphaZero 是資訊完全透明的遊戲,這次要踏入非對稱資訊的遊戲。

如果在這個領域上有成果的話,可以預期未來的戰爭 (yeah 實體戰爭) 會開始大量採用 AI 了...

新版 Battle.net launcher 更新造成 Wine 不能跑...

Linux 上玩 Diablo III 常見的解法是使用 Wine 執行,但在這次更新後就掛了,狀況是在輸入完帳號密碼後就 crash:「Battle.net launcher update on Wine/Linux - Forums - Diablo III」。

不過有人居然找出 workaround 了 (這 workaround 怎麼找出來的啊):

But, there's a workaround to have a launcher : disable dbghelp library (wine configuration, libraries, type dbghelp, add, -> disable).

據說是將 dbghelp 設定停用後就可以跑了。另外也有人提供直接執行的方法:(當然,路徑要改成自己安裝 Diablo III 的目錄)

/mnt/lvm/Playonlinux/DiabloIII/drive_c/Program\ Files/Diablo\ III/Diablo\ III.exe -launch -uid diablo3_frfr

不過我為了找問題,把整個 Wine 以及 Diablo III 都砍掉了,所以是回到安裝新軟體的階段... 但發現安裝時也會遇到同樣的 crash 問題,而使用第一個方式關掉 dbghelp 後就可以安裝了,不知道可以前進到哪一步...

過陣子 Wine 應該會放出新版,畢竟 Blizzard 家的遊戲可是重要項目...

Diablo III 將移除拍賣場 (包含了現金交易市場以及遊戲金幣交易市場)...

英文版的公告內容:「Diablo® III Auction House Update」,以及中文版的公告內容:「《暗黑破壞神®III》拍賣場最新消息」。

重點文字有兩段,第一段是說明未來的遊戲金幣交易以及現金交易將被移除:

With that in mind, we want to let everyone know that we've decided to remove the gold and real-money auction house system from Diablo III.

因此,我們想讓大家知道,我們已決定移除《暗黑破壞神III》的金幣拍賣場和現金拍賣場系統。

第二段的重點是中止的時間點:

Please note that the shutdown will occur on March 18, 2014. We will keep everyone informed as we work through this process.

請注意,拍賣場系統將會在2014年3月18日關閉。一旦有最新消息,我們將會另行通知大家。