Filed under: MMO industry, Opinion, Massively Meta, The Daily Grind, Miscellaneous

Every time I boot up Lord of the Rings Online or Dungeons and Dragons Online, I'm reminded that somewhere on my computer lurks Pando Media Booster. Ostensibly, Pando helps Turbine's games and MMOs like them to download, install, and update game clients, but it also optimizes bandwidth loads and tracks other information presumably of use to the game companies themselves. I've deleted it and similar bundles from my PC multiple times, but some games just don't function well without it. Players have been known to suggest the whole system of third-party installers and downloaders and launchers is nothing more than bloatware, or worse, malware and spyware.

Am I alone in loathing MMO patchers that are really torrents I can't disable, launchers that lump the entirety of a company's games together, and third-party download whatever-ware that won't go away?

Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!

The Daily Grind: Do you loathe third-party downloaders? originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 17 Dec 2011 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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