Regarding Hackusations

I wrote this in a thread that has just been deleted, and didn't want to let it go to waste. This isn't a denial of the existence of hacks, or the fact that they have serious impacts on the game and SOE need to address this promptly. This is more about the guys who are now so wary of hacks that they can't even play the game without seeing every potentially dodgy thing, or supremely good player as a hacker.



A lot of you have probably seen the ease with which people can hack, and equated this to there being a lot of hackers. Unfortunately this issue gets expanded in your mind, and you think there are very many more than there actually are. In a rather popular recent FPS, I ran a server for a good few hundred hours on the game and probably saw maybe 10 hackers (that didn't get instabooted by the big Punk in the sky). In the course of 6 months though, our admin email received over 400 ban demands. A good portion were purely 'stats based', on some of the best-known players on the server. Some were lag. Almost half of these were for my clan members. None of them were hacking.

What you have to accept is that there are far more people who are infinitely better than you at anything you attempt than you'll ever come to imagine. It doesn't matter if you take up an obscure instrument no one's ever heard of. There's still 100 people better at it than you, and by the time you're almost as good as they were, they'll be 100 times better again. Just enjoy being mediocre; everyone else does too.

Also make no mistake, trying to guess if someone is using ESP etc is simply a no-mans-land of varying degrees of ignorance. The simple fact is one of the most important things that separates good players from bad players is knowing/feeling things. On the good old days of Ravenshield, I could feel with about 50% likelihood when someone would step through a door they had opened 5 seconds earlier. I'd start firing 1/10th of a second before they did and bam. Insta-kill and a free hackusation. Fight in a bio-lab enough, and you get this kinda sense too. I can already feel myself picking up on the 'rhythm' of players spawning when I'm flying around a base in an ESF. It's a bit Derren Brown, I know, but it's there for sure.





Here is what you have to tell yourself when playing:

I'm a great guitarist. I can tell you any chord right out to Cm6b9, and can play at ear most any Joe Satriani solo you want to find me. If I go on stage at a jam night, people will be impressed. But if I hear a guitar player doing something I can't do; playing faster, more accurately, with more imagination, the fact that I can't see him doesn't mean he's cheating. He's just better than me.

You're a great gamer. Maybe you maintain a 5:1 K/D ratio in this game, or your outfit ops have a 3:1 Success ratio. But if some guy kills you, and you can't work out where he was, how he did it, or how it happened so fast, the fact you can't see his screen doesn't mean he's cheating. He's just better than you. Maybe he does this 30 times in a row. He could be on 150:1. He's still not hacking. He's just better than you.

You'll KNOW when this isn't the case. I don't mean think. I don't mean have a gut feeling. I mean it's blindly ******* obvious.

'But what about guys sensible enough to use hacks sparingly? So it's not obvious?'

Psychologically speaking, these people don't exist. One or two of them perhaps, but the whole idea behind hacking is to ruin someones day. Making someone feel outclassed doesn't ruin their day. Making an area a no-go zone for an entire faction does. You'll have a far happier time of PC gaming if you simple accept that the one or two people that do use these things really don't impact on you in any meaningful way. You just lump them in with the players that are better than you. So what if only 50% of the guys who are better than you are actually legit players? This way you're happy and can enjoy your game; the other way, spamming the /report button, you aren't and you can't.

A hint of condescending with a splash of l2p. Subtle.

Well, it's not that hard when someone is killing people inside the spawn room (through a wall) over and over. Or a MAX moves at the speed of light at you, while half clipping through the floor. Or a LMG firing at you from really long range in a very long burst with pin point accuracy on every bullet. And I just remembered something, one time when me and some guys from my community were flying a Lib, we were shot down by a flying MAX. Not to mention the people running around, killing everyone they come across in an instant. It's not hard to spot the cheaters in this game.

A very well written post from OP.

It's a shame that so many people will jump to conclusions that X person is hacking. Yes there are moments where a person is blatant (such as the people who noclip into other faction spawn rooms and spawn kill) but a lot of the time for me it's been that my attacker outplayed me. I used to take these hackusations on games like Battlefield 3 as a compliment but now they are annoying. It only reveals the true nature of the player when they mention it whether it be a PM or an allchat message. With that being said, one of the biggest things that puts me off a lot of online games are the vocal minority; If someone is better than you, they must be hacking.

I don't think OP is saying everyone who jumps to hackusations needs to "learn to play". OP is suggesting the problem lies within the player's atitude; not his or her skill. Being critically aware of your strengths and weaknesses are a big step forward compared to what I've seen of the majority of the gaming community. I have so many friends who could be better but they hold themselves back by saying cliched lines such as "X is bs, there's no way he could do that in real life".

If you still think they are hacking regardless of legitimacy, type /report and submit a support ticket. Other options include picking a game which better caters to the experience you want (there are no hackers in singlesplayer) or taking a break.

Once the player base loses faith in the developers ability to control cheaters, then there is NO difference between a good player and a cheater. For one will assume the later regardless of the player.

Lord knows I can't be the only poor sod with a horrible ISP and Internet connection - when all of you are flying all over the place on my screen, I'm willing to bet that I must be flying around yours as well. Deep Packet Inspection throttling is awful, especially when it's broken and the ISP doesn't care (until people sue and the regulatory body forces it to be fixed or removed entirely *cough* Rogers *cough*). This game does weird stuff when packets get messed up.

I was accused of cheating when I killed a guy in my Reaver. He said it was completely silent, he forgot to realize that I was hovering and I have stealth.

When you get killed in spawn rooms, assume they are cheating LOL.

While there are many good players, I am of the opinion that there are quite a few cheaters too. Smart cheaters may never get caught unless they can detect the code they are using some way.

If you see stuff that is weird, out of place, does not make much sense then report it. That is what it is there for. If the guys was clean great. If not, then we have one less dirt ball to worry about.

The major concern I have it appears that many of these cheats are free or so I have been told.

I played COD4 or CS and was told the same bs, awwww nobody is hacking....When you get sniped after taking great time and energy to find a great spot and blasted right after you go huh? When you see what the cheats do then it all comes together. People that were really good were not, they were cheating.

There are some really good players too. I am not saying that. But people want to compete with the Jones' and will do lots of unsavory things for the might cert and BR100 fame.

I think the feel you're describing is a combination of knowing the game dynamics and good deductive skills.

As an above post says.

It's easy to spot cheats.

They teleport into places. Like telepsd rooms that they dont own.
Headshot constantly.
Kill too fast or at longer ranges with 100 percent accuracy.
Shoot fast moving high flying esfs with dumbfire missiles.

Instant turn round and kill multiple targets with headshots.

Il admit it wont be many cheating. But every day I log in I will see one definate cheat at least. Sure there ars others you think they are good. Too good?

But some are really clear. Plus there's one nc outfit on miller thats full of cheats.

Im certain some of the blatant cheats just come round and round time and timr again on new accounts.

Dude the cheaters are not even hiding that they are cheating in this game, its that bad!
they are running around at 10x speed, flying in the air, walking thru walls.
tell me how the hell i can do that whit skills?!

I've seen my share of hackers and I don't normally report unless its blatant because I for one don't wannah get legit players banned and waste SOE time observing legit players.

Plus every post someone makes saying. They aren't cheating they are just very good. Is either denying the problem or trying to cover it up.

Sure there are great players. But we're not in the same country as those with the obvious cheats.

OP needs to pull his head out of the sand (or wherever it is buried).

Alias your replies are ********.

Were not talking one offs were talking constant abilities. Oh connection issues meant he could teleport into areas he shouldn't consistently over a period of half an hour or more. ********.

Being headshot by a player oncd and I think ok he did well there. But then to attack the same guy ftom their side asthey engage another target. For them to just headshot both of us instantly. Thats not mouse sensitivity. Your reply is ********.

You might get one lucky ml7 hit on a scythe thats hovering. Ir direct flying. But to take out weaving dodging abing multiple scythes and wipe iut whole sq u adrons. Your reply is ********.

In fact the hack sites are full of post's where they tell the csrs that they have connection issues and get unbanned.

I know a connection issue and I know cheats.

Your pist smells awfully rank.

Your previous response is vague. calm down kid.

I wonder how many people in this thread are hackers...


Personally,I see 2-3 hackers every couple weeks.

Hell,I just TK'ed a speed hacker yesterday.

Not to mention the TR that warped into the VS warpgate spawn room today.

maybe this time I'll get 3 in one week and break a record.

Alias. Its called know thy enemy.

I wouldnt touch a cheat with the proverbial barge pole. But ive watched them since planetside.

Why?
Because it helps Identifying cheats. It helps knowing what they do. And sometimes they even use their in game sigs.

Anyway ill keep reporting whoever deserves it.

Condescending claptrap from an ostrich .