Changes SOE is making in response to the hacker thread - 8,000 Banned since release.

Roy Awesome · 2013-02-26, 05:10 PM

Yet another cross post from reddit. The other thread fell into a mire of PS1 talk. http://redd.it/199qiu

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Here's a short list. I'll add more later.

1) Our GMs are going to be doing a lot more broadcasting when they are on servers to make sure people know they are there and dealing with the hackers.

2) We will be implementing and TESTING a "batphone" system for larger outfits to call and report large scale issues. Who's going to have that #? Not a ton of people. It will be people we trust and have gotten it right in the past. We'll expand it if this works.

3) In the very near future (the second I get the final report) we will be announcing banned numbers.

4) We are going to be working on increasing the quality of our reporting system in game and specifically to make sure the right reports float to the top. This is going to take a bit of time but it's being moved up the list immediately (we already had a task for this but we're moving it near the top).

Smed

ChipMHazard · 2013-02-26, 05:18 PM

Already been posted in the thread about said hackers, but I guess it does warrant its own thread for discussing

I'm not surprised about the first one, well actually I am as I wasn't aware that they had stopped with those.

Good to see them adding in something that has been requested and suggested, hopefully we won't be seeing outfits abusing this.

About time, not sure what meaning those numbers will have other than showing everyone that they have banned a lot of players. The reason I don't know if it will matter is because of how easy it is to make a new account and start playing again. In other words they aren't really banned from playing, just one of their accounts.

Now that is good news. I got tired of the report they had in place when I was playing, not sure if it's changed since. But it was cumbersome and easy to mess up if you're a hacker by just making the name hard to type. Glad to see that they are taking the feedback that they've been getting and actually doing something, or at least appear to be doing something.

Wahooo · 2013-02-26, 05:42 PM

My thoughts in TR red.

Originally Posted by Roy Awesome

1) Our GMs are going to be doing a lot more broadcasting when they are on servers to make sure people know they are there and dealing with the hackers. -I guess this is a good thing. It at the very least lets people know for certain they are around.

2) We will be implementing and TESTING a "batphone" system for larger outfits to call and report large scale issues. Who's going to have that #? Not a ton of people. It will be people we trust and have gotten it right in the past. We'll expand it if this works. -On one side I think this is pretty amazing and unprecedented. Abuse? It is just a report system, if you abuse it you are only hurting yourself, i'm sure those who cry wolf will become known quickly and their rights to the bat phone taken away.

3) In the very near future (the second I get the final report) we will be announcing banned numbers. -I would like to see the hard numbers. As I've said I haven't seen that many blatant hackers personally, but I do peruse some of the hacker forums to get a feel for what they are saying, and two things come of that. A LOT of hackers are being caught at early BR's while some keep going on subtly (according to them) without getting banned. I also believe this is as close to name and shame they will/should get as that just becomes a wall of fame rather than shame for those that are cheating.

4) We are going to be working on increasing the quality of our reporting system in game and specifically to make sure the right reports float to the top. This is going to take a bit of time but it's being moved up the list immediately (we already had a task for this but we're moving it near the top). -This makes me happy. The report functionality at release was to say the least limited. The last update has great improvements, any improvements to reporting the cheaters making it easier and more efficient is a HUGE bonus.

ChipMHazard · 2013-02-26, 05:46 PM

Well, you're right. It's not like they would actually ban someone solely because an outfit reports them, well hopefully not. And you're right said outfit would quickly lose said privilege.

Crator · 2013-02-26, 05:52 PM

Sucks they have to manually monitor people to figure out if they are using code hax though. Sounds like a lot of work tbh. There was a pretty good thread from a long time ago talking about the League of Legends Tribunal system (Here it is --> Trial by your peers?). Something in that direction might work, don't you think?

Maidere · 2013-02-26, 06:16 PM

^ This. Even when I know that some of the anticheats work exactly like maleware and scan your RAM, I will probably prefer something like this. Anyway, if they will add some software anticheat they will probably not tell us.

Hamma · 2013-02-26, 07:34 PM

The other thread is worthless now - transferring discussion to this one.

bpostal · 2013-02-26, 07:42 PM

Ah excellent. It's all about that there 'perception'.
That said, I think the amount of blatant hackers I've seen could be counted on one hand. With a finger left to pick my nose. They were really, really annoying but it hasn't been overwhelming.

Ghoest9 · 2013-02-26, 07:51 PM

The 'bat phone" thing reminds me of an old EVE controversy.

Im sure it seems like a good idea - but they are looking for trouble.

Hamma · 2013-02-26, 07:52 PM

Which EVE controversy? there are so many

SgtMAD · 2013-02-26, 07:53 PM

I had a "Bat Phone" in PS1,if shit was going crazy I could get a hold of a CSR almost immediately and get things/person dealt with quickly.

this was on Markov and i wasn't the only guy that could call for help,there were a bunch of ppl that could do it on different empires,I know PcP had a couple of CSR's playing in the damn outfit

it can't hurt in PS2,maybe it will show ppl that shit is being dealt with

WNxThentar · 2013-02-26, 08:04 PM

I only report people I know are either hacking, which amounts to speed hacks. Or people that are grieffing in the warp gate. Or are either hacking or abusing an obvious exploit like the repairing while in a vehicle glitch or they are invulnerable and should know after 10 minutes of being in combat that they are taking no damage and should relog to fix the glitch. Consequently when I've used this site's character look up and seen that none of the toons I've reported have logged in since the date I reported them. Normally I follow up a /report with a ticket too providing as much info as I can.

Personally I hope they start using some mechanism to identify actual computers the hackers/exploiters use and ban those from ever playing again.

Wahooo · 2013-02-26, 08:08 PM

Originally Posted by WNxThentar

Personally I hope they start using some mechanism to identify actual computers the hackers/exploiters use and ban those from ever playing again.

They do, but as with most everything there are ways around it, or ways to spoof it.
One of the reasons automated cheat prevention is hard. There are ways around it and can't be relied on, which means actual live humans have to do the work, so really why not just start with the people?

Baneblade · 2013-02-26, 08:26 PM

What ever happened to Punkbuster?

ChipMHazard · 2013-02-26, 08:33 PM

Originally Posted by Wahooo

They do, but as with most everything there are ways around it, or ways to spoof it.
One of the reasons automated cheat prevention is hard. There are ways around it and can't be relied on, which means actual live humans have to do the work, so really why not just start with the people?

Aye, I always say that nothing beats a good admin or in this case GM.

Originally Posted by Baneblade

What ever happened to Punkbuster?

Good question. What did happen to it? Did they give it a one way trip out to the remote desert with a shovel in the back?

I do wonder about those banned numbers. How many be actual individuals and how many just be repeat offenders... Yeah I know, doesn't really matter... Just when my mind is set on something....