If you think that SSL is not a good fit for you right now for whatever reason, just go unencrypted until you know that you have a game that's actually worth protecting.
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I don't think that sending login data in the clear is a good idea at all, even temporarily. Even something basic like XOR encryption could be enough to stop a casual packet sniffer that isn't aware of this protocol.

I guess in my eyes some security is better than none.
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A little, yes. We must try our best with the resources we have, I think.

I'll keep learning about SSL and I wish my networking library incorporated it, but until I can figure something out with that I'll put some security in.
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Have you considered contacting the author of this library to see if they are willing to release the source under a favourable license? Or they might be willing just to give you the source, for free, under a closed license.

This would allow you to modify where the socket it created and allow the library to support SSL.