Lets talk about the "C" word for a moment....

ma$$a$$terma$$a$$ter Join Date: 2012-11-01 Member: 165651Members
So I've play a few games, had some great times and I love the game. I've come across a few players I have questioned as far as their "abilities" and "skills" but mostly chalked it up to the fact that I know this has been in beta awhile and many people have been playing it much longer then the few days it has been released, however my opinion changed last night. I have to think, with the sheer accuracy and overall "awareness" this one player had, for example being able to snap between targets, that things were a little "too good" to be true....

So lets talk about it , Cheaters......


I personally, for my peace of mind, would like to see Valve Anti-cheat enabled. I want to know, if caught, they risk their entire account being banned from all VAC secure servers...

Has anyone else come across someone they felt was beyond just good?
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Comments

  • BicsumBicsum Join Date: 2012-02-27 Member: 147596Members, Reinforced - Gold
    I personally haven't encountered any cheater yet. Just people with insane aiming skills.
  • ma$$a$$terma$$a$$ter Join Date: 2012-11-01 Member: 165651Members
    edited November 2012
    <!--quoteo(post=2008551:date=Nov 3 2012, 04:52 PM:name=Bicsum)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Bicsum @ Nov 3 2012, 04:52 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=2008551"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->I personally haven't encountered any cheater yet. Just people with insane aiming skills.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->


    And its quite possible that was the case with the guy, but it was just un-real.. you couldn't fart in half the map withing him knowing where and he didn't miss a shot. I would feel more comfortable with VAC on...
  • sad. Clownsad. Clown Join Date: 2012-02-25 Member: 147407Members
    This kind of topic crops up a lot in all game discussions and has been discussed thoroughly on these forums. There is a search bar in the top right of the forums where you can find many threads and many discussions about cheating and the devs plans for VAC or their own consistency checking.

    Also, keep in mind, this game has been in closed beta for 2 years, iirc. A lot of players know this game inside and out. What you see as "cheating" probably is just a player with much more experience and skill than you have. The more you play the game the more you'll get to know its workings and one day you'll be accused of cheating yourself, when in fact, you'll just be more experienced.
  • LofungLofung Join Date: 2004-08-21 Member: 30757Members
    aiming in ns2 is extreme easy. so do playing fades. a 30-0 fade is definitely doable. if they die 2 minute, they epic fail. my clanmate once does it on bad clan server with an annoymous id and 200 ping.

    the problem lies in your registration date.
  • MaximumSquidMaximumSquid Join Date: 2010-07-20 Member: 72593Members
    <u><b>ma$$a$$ter:</b></u>

    I know some top clans are being accused of botting / walling / etc. but I don't really care because I only play on public servers and the clans I'm referring to are never in them

    Bottom line on cheaters is that they are usually complete garbage once they stop using them so honestly if you aren't gaining something like a prize from a tournament it's really not in your interest to make yourself a worse player
  • Vladimir Van VodkaVladimir Van Vodka Sexy Beast Join Date: 2010-07-30 Member: 73364Members, Reinforced - Shadow
    There's a problem when someone whips the pistol out before even popping around a corner and shoots you across crossroads without a scan and in pitch darkness, hitting everytime.
  • RMJRMJ Join Date: 2012-08-09 Member: 155190Members
    One thing is certain, you will never have a esport game taken seriously, if there arent serious anti cheat counter measures.

    You cant just go on good faith and such.

    Its hard to judge if people are using wallhacks, because there are certain abilities that makes enemies viewable through walls like that skult spit thingy.
  • SwiftspearSwiftspear Custim tital Join Date: 2003-10-29 Member: 22097Members
    I don't believe there are any cheaters in NS2 yet. Cheating was never highly prevalent in NS1 either. Both NS1 and NS2 are games where skill is VERY VERY heavily rewarded, and inability is VERY VERY heavily punished. This is even more true right now when the majority of players are still bad. There's basically no reason to cheat right now.

    Of course there WERE cheaters in NS1. I played somewhere in the realm of 2000 hours of NS1. I participated for the better part of 5 years in the community. I spectated hundreds of players, and reviewed dozens of demo recordings during that time. There were 5 instances in which I believe I witnessed actual cheating, maybe one or two that could go either way... but the VAST majority of players that had either been accused by someone else, or I was suspicious of myself, were simply very good at the game.

    Good marines CAN snap around and kill a skulk attacking them from behind. Good marines CAN hear you coming through the wall. Good marines CAN check places where cloaked skulks constantly hide. I hear people reference those things as cheating, but they are not realistic problems. Additionally, there was never a hack in NS1 that worked well for aliens. The best any hack ever got was that it would take away the difficulty of swiping as a fade when close to marines... this was signifigant, but it still required you to be a spectacular fade in movement skill and knowing when to engage and retreat. There was never a hack that helped skulks significantly, nor was there hacks for gorges, lerks, or onos.

    In general, in NS it was the case that a good player was better at the game than a good cheater. There was the very rare case where a spectacularly skilled player was caught subtly cheating to be even better, but in the history of NS I believe this only happened about a dozen times community wide.

    Cheating is either incredibly easy to detect, or incredibly unlikely to be occurring. Spectacularly talented players don't need to cheat just a little bit, they already are incredibly talented. It's something that will be thrown around a lot because people get butthurt about getting killed, and egos get hurt when someone has the good fortune of being a bit lucky and being very skilled, and killing another player in an embarrassing way. But cheating isn't going to be a significant issue in NS2, and 95% of bans for cheating will be wrongful.
  • ma$$a$$terma$$a$$ter Join Date: 2012-11-01 Member: 165651Members
    <!--quoteo(post=2008561:date=Nov 3 2012, 04:58 PM:name=MaximumSquid)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (MaximumSquid @ Nov 3 2012, 04:58 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=2008561"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec--><u><b>ma$$a$$ter:</b></u>

    I know some top clans are being accused of botting / walling / etc. but I don't really care because I only play on public servers and the clans I'm referring to are never in them

    Bottom line on cheaters is that they are usually complete garbage once they stop using them so honestly if you aren't gaining something like a prize from a tournament it's really not in your interest to make yourself a worse player<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->


    I agree 100% with you, cheating in online gaming is really taking the fun out of half the game. For the most part your only walking around a map... the computer is playing the rest of the game for you...

    This is what saddens me...

    <!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Great game, would love to see it supported!

    would love and auto sub for a ns 2 cheat as well, GO HELIOS !

    Would subscribe for years if there would be an NS2 hack.

    I would also sub to this long term. Ns1 was amazing and this is also a great game.

    Currently the top seller on steam, selling about 500 copies an hour.

    Also it doesn't run any anti- cheat at the moment, although some admin said they might implement VAC in the future.

    Yeah this games selling really well and actually looks fun, might buy it and a hack if one is made...

    Used to play NS1 for years. Instant 10y subscribe imo.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->


    Various quotes from a known cheating website, WHY... DEAR GOD WHY can you only play a game if you can cheat your way to a win? What is wrong with you?
  • TemphageTemphage Join Date: 2009-10-28 Member: 69158Members
    edited November 2012
    Didn't some of the "top clans" for NS1 get busted for cheating which led to the whole competition scene falling apart?
  • Know painKnow pain Join Date: 2012-09-04 Member: 157674Members
    Those who remain silent after some bull ###### are legit.
    Those who have an excuse for everything have something to hide.
    Just waiting on first person spectate.
  • TemphageTemphage Join Date: 2009-10-28 Member: 69158Members
    <!--quoteo(post=2008594:date=Nov 3 2012, 09:21 PM:name=Know pain)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Know pain @ Nov 3 2012, 09:21 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=2008594"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Those who remain silent after some bull ###### are legit.
    Those who have an excuse for everything have something to hide.
    Just waiting on first person spectate.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
    Or they're foreigners and don't speak English. BF3 is clogged with cheaters, a disproportionate number of which are Russian because the game is so cheap they can afford to get banned.
  • ma$$a$$terma$$a$$ter Join Date: 2012-11-01 Member: 165651Members
    <!--quoteo(post=2008599:date=Nov 3 2012, 05:23 PM:name=Temphage)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Temphage @ Nov 3 2012, 05:23 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=2008599"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Or they're foreigners and don't speak English. BF3 is clogged with cheaters, a disproportionate number of which are Russian because the game is so cheap they can afford to get banned.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->


    lol very true
  • SwiftspearSwiftspear Custim tital Join Date: 2003-10-29 Member: 22097Members
    edited November 2012
    <!--quoteo(post=2008568:date=Nov 3 2012, 04:02 PM:name=RMJ)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (RMJ @ Nov 3 2012, 04:02 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=2008568"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->One thing is certain, you will never have a esport game taken seriously, if there arent serious anti cheat counter measures.

    You cant just go on good faith and such.

    Its hard to judge if people are using wallhacks, because there are certain abilities that makes enemies viewable through walls like that skult spit thingy.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
    I'd agree. However, in the end of the day there has never been a successful game that has eliminated the possibility of wall hacks (and aimbots for that matter) systemically. This is because in order to properly run latency prediction models the client must be aware of certain things regarding the opposing player's game state.

    The best that can be done, is in effect to try to detect illicit behavior as it's happening, usually by scanning for software accessing the memory locations of player coordinates and identifying weather it is valid or not. This requires third party installed software to be running in the background, and because the software is installed, it's possible to reverse engineer and spoof the results. Effectively any attempt to systematically eliminate cheating does 2 things, firstly it adds overhead to the players playing the game, and thus it quickly gets inappropriate for public servers, and secondly, it results in an endless black hat vs white hat coding battle that cannot really be won, it's just exchanging blows back and forth forcing the other side to do more work to address your latest adaption.

    The other side of the fence is knowing and understanding how cheats work, and visually inspecting game play of suspected cheaters to identify evidence of their cheats being used. This works well in the sense that a cheat that gives you a very large advantage (like an aimbot) is impossible to code in such a way that it's not very obvious while being observed, however, a good replay recording system is also required (assuming you can't just make the observers game corrupt their replay data... this was impossible in Half Life, but other engines had vulnerabilities where flaws could be injected into replay records... even StarCraft 2 has had problems with this). The problem is, if you are willing to keep the advantage you are gaining through cheating small enough, your cheats can becoming increasingly impossible to detect via inspection.

    Ultimately, what I'm saying is, "serious anti cheat counter measures" can mean a dozen different things, and usually relies as much on the community as the game development studio... and either way, the battle is never really won, damage is just minimized.
  • unkindunkind Join Date: 2012-02-04 Member: 143563Members
    beta players can easily go on a pub on marine and get 50-0 50-5, done it 5 times so far myself, they aren't cheating
  • Kouji_SanKouji_San Sr. Hινε Uρкεερεг - EUPT Deputy The Netherlands Join Date: 2003-05-13 Member: 16271Members, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue
    For a second there I thought this was going to be another accusation thread. However this is good stuff people. Keep it going and Swiftspear just hit the nail on the head with pinpoint accuracy :)
  • RuntehRunteh Join Date: 2010-06-26 Member: 72163Members, Reinforced - Shadow
    In a close nit community like this, I would be extremely disappointed if any clans were cheating. To be honest, they would probably be hounded out of the community with burning pitch forks, and that is scary enough.

    Some people just play too much, you just need to get over it and realise you have a life :P
  • cmc5788cmc5788 Join Date: 2009-10-06 Member: 68959Members
    There are plenty of livestreams of competitive players that you can watch. They're not cheating, they actually miss plenty. They're just really good.
  • azurescorchazurescorch Join Date: 2012-09-29 Member: 161030Members, Reinforced - Silver
    My friend got called an aim-botter today. It was quite hilarious.

    He did some research afterwards, checking the known hacking groups for ns2 hacks. You know what he found? Nothing. They're not developing for this game. One group claimed it was too busy with other games, another claimed NS2 looked "boring", a third said reverse engineering NS2's engine was too much work for them.

    At the moment I very much doubt there are hacks out there. There will be in the future though, especially if the game does well.
  • douchebagatrondouchebagatron Custom member title Join Date: 2003-12-20 Member: 24581Members, Constellation, Reinforced - Shadow
    As NS2 currently stands, there are no "anti-cheat" systems per se, but servers do have consistency checks. Since all the game is in Lua code, the only way to cheat is to modify the Lua scripts, which anyone can do. The problem is that doing so will prevent you from connecting to any server that has consistency checks on (which is pretty much all of them)

    That being said, no system is full-proof. As easy as it is to mod and change the game, it's a bit more difficult to do it and play on standard servers.

    Also worth being said, VAC, or any other anticheat, is not a silver bullet. it's only as good as the developers' implementation of it, and even then it still falls back to the fact that no system is full-proof. The best thing we can do is have an active community. If you're worried about cheaters (I've yet to see one) then play on a community server that has active admins on it.
  • ma$$a$$terma$$a$$ter Join Date: 2012-11-01 Member: 165651Members
    Swiftspear and 6john make great points. You are always at a constant battle against cheating groups. There is money to be made by writing the cheats and money to be lost by using the cheats. Where I see VAC differ from most other anti-cheating systems is this: Normally if your caught cheating your game is banned, you buy another copy and you move on. However on steam, if your account is flagged as a cheater, you will loose all of your games ability to play on VAC secure servers. Risking more then just your one game.. Yes you can argue you can create another steam account and use that, but for the casual player who may think about cheating, this will be a real deterrent..

    as stated, people are going to do what they are going to do if determined enough, and they will find a way to do it if the motivation is great enough...
  • ellnicellnic Join Date: 2010-07-19 Member: 72559Members, Reinforced - Shadow
    <!--quoteo(post=2008613:date=Nov 3 2012, 09:32 PM:name=unkind)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (unkind @ Nov 3 2012, 09:32 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=2008613"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->beta players can easily go on a pub on marine and get 50-0 50-5, done it 5 times so far myself, they aren't cheating<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

    Not so much that high but I am finding it easy to rack up a good KD as both teams with all the new players aswell.
  • MinstrelJCFMinstrelJCF Join Date: 2009-05-10 Member: 67379Members
    <!--quoteo(post=2008582:date=Nov 3 2012, 09:12 PM:name=Temphage)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Temphage @ Nov 3 2012, 09:12 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=2008582"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Didn't some of the "top clans" for NS1 get busted for cheating which led to the whole competition scene falling apart?<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

    Not that I recall, unless you are talking about EU.
  • Haplo_64Haplo_64 Join Date: 2012-04-03 Member: 149890Members
    <!--quoteo(post=2008603:date=Nov 4 2012, 07:55 AM:name=Swiftspear)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Swiftspear @ Nov 4 2012, 07:55 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=2008603"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->I'd agree. However, in the end of the day there has never been a successful game that has eliminated the possibility of wall hacks (and aimbots for that matter) systemically.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

    World of Tanks does it all server side. All you have at the client is a graphics engine, and keyboard inputs. No locations stored.
    I know this wouldn't work for NS2, due to the faster pace action. But I just wanted to point out that hacks in WoT are non existent.
  • ArkantiArkanti pub baddie Join Date: 2011-07-22 Member: 111781Members, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, Reinforced - Shadow
    The "C" word? Map? :P
  • PsympleJesterPsympleJester Join Date: 2008-04-06 Member: 64024Members
    Honestly, the thing we need most is FPerson spectator... :P
  • ellnicellnic Join Date: 2010-07-19 Member: 72559Members, Reinforced - Shadow
    <!--quoteo(post=2008952:date=Nov 4 2012, 01:34 AM:name=Arkanti)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Arkanti @ Nov 4 2012, 01:34 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=2008952"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->The "C" word? Map? :P<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

    Thats the 'M' word
  • fanaticfanatic This post has been edited. Join Date: 2003-07-23 Member: 18377Members, Constellation, Squad Five Blue
    <!--quoteo(post=2008582:date=Nov 3 2012, 10:12 PM:name=Temphage)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Temphage @ Nov 3 2012, 10:12 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=2008582"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Didn't some of the "top clans" for NS1 get busted for cheating which led to the whole competition scene falling apart?<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
    Never happened. Considering the low quality posts you've been spamming the forums with, I'm not surprised to see you post garbage like this though.
  • StarkwindStarkwind Join Date: 2011-07-26 Member: 112394Members
    Just wish there was a first person spectator... Half of these topics would go away... why has this not been added in?
  • SixtyWattManSixtyWattMan Join Date: 2004-09-05 Member: 31404Members
    I haven't seen any hackers. I've heard some accusations, all of which proved to be wrong.
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