So, any anti-aimbotting software on the horrizon??

What is the deal here??

Are we ever going to see any kind of blocking to this sort of game play?? Or would it simply be easier to give some form of Aimbot to everyone and level the playing field?? Banning people does nothing as they simply create a new character. You have to understand that these people do not get gratification from grinding certs or gaining better weapons. Simply put, they are not interested in achieving. They dont need to. They gain satisfaction from dominating others with ease then as a bonus look for some kind of rage from others to fuel their little egos. So the idea of banning people really is not the correct direction or mindset to combat these people and their thinking. Step back and ask yourselves something SOE, why do these people cheat?? What is their motivation?? The sooner you ask such questions the sooner you will come to the realization that banning is not the correct method of action.

SOE talks about "dealing" with cheaters and hackers. Then they go about announcing their presents and surveillance. The participants in this game my be cheating but are not illiterate. They can read your little warnings and simply log off. If they are not on when you are watching then how would you catch them?? The efforts are righteous just implemented in the wrong manner.

The fact that you (SOE) admitted there are cheaters present has inevitably created a lasting sense of doubt and mistrust among and toward fellow players in the PS2 community as a whole. Although the decision to announce such actions could be speculative in nature the fact that it has been done already does not cause a need to call the action stupid, the action has already been done. The fact that nothing has been fully put into place to combat such egregious accusations of cheating is truly the atrocity that has been committed on the side of you SOE. These are harsh words that need to be said. They need to be said simply because as a player, every time I am killed within your game the question arises; "was that other person cheating?" A valid question with the fact that cheating is known within your system. That is not a healthy environment created for fun and excitement. Furthermore, the ability to identify such negative actions is suspect as well for all who play. Its easy to point the finger, but to whom the finger is pointed toward might not be warranted toward. There are many skilled players, far more skilled then I could ever be. How to separate those with skill and those with cheating software is a questionable endeavor by the community as it should never have to be in the first place if the mistake was corrected hastily after it was soon discovered.

Here is an idea for your Road Map.................... Fix the cheating situation first and correctly to cast all doubt aside.

Knarfis

You're implying that no one knew they even existed before SOE admitted to it. That's nonsense. Paranoia was rampant long before SOE "admitted" to the existence of cheaters.

If you haven't noticed, the moderators on this forum constantly lock and delete threads accusing specific players of cheating. In game, players filing a /report are apparently also investigated. Anyone found abusing the system is hopefully reprimanded. If you're referring to accusations over /yell or /tell, there really isn't much they can do about that.

Please don't pretend this situation is unique to PlanetSide 2. Don't also pretend that it is 100% solvable.

And that's why people are encouraged to /report suspicious behavior and let the SOE staff investigate and take action as necessary.

Not stopping all aimbotters isn't a mistake. It's a very hard thing to do and your implication they were somehow either just too stupid/lazy to implement an anticheating system is ridiculous.

Starting a debate with sarcasm. Great way to make others take your opinion seriously.

Well duh, anyone with a brain can see that, and SOE does know this.

Okay, then what is the correct course of action? What do you do to make people not want to cheat anymore?

I was under the impression that SOE didn't tell people what their methods are. Also, it doesn't matter if they log off, SOE can go back in time in the files to see what people were doing.

They'd be stupid not to admit it. Every game has cheaters and hackers. To say otherwise would be ignorant.

How sure are you that nothing has been put in place? Do you have access to their files?

Again, every game has cheaters. This is not a SOE problem, it's everyone's problem. Using that point to attack SOE is not viable since it is not exclusive to SOE.

Which is why they investigate the person thoroughly before taking action. They don't punish people just because some one reported them.

The cheating problem will never be solved. Developers have been fighting it for years, and no one has solved it.

You mean all those anti-cheats that don't actually work?

Go check some of the largest aimbot makers (not the free ones mind you) sites and see just how well those anti-cheats like Punkbuster and VAC really work and if they are detected the makers have that fixed within a day or so.

Well Smedley said he was mad at hackers and all sort of rubish so if you can believe it here lies your hopes.

Considering that this engine/server lets you use noclip and speed hacks, I don't think something like an aimbot is going to be fixed anytime soon.

If I were SOE, I'd implement a patch that randomly (and infrequenly) boots players with a "detected anomaly" warning, and a massive "Now with cheater-crotch-punching technology!" splash screen to allay the fears of the "there's nothing automated (and hence useless half an hour after a new update)?!?!" crowd.

Then continue the current track of focusing on investigating and banning the obvious cheats.

It'll cut back on some of the noise from those who presume cheating happened, especially in situations where a superior (by skill or positioning) opponent killed them.

actually that's a point, if you can't get rid of aimbotting

well

give aimbotting to everyone

Otherwise people not cheating are at an unfair advantage.

By that awesome logic we should play poker with everyones cards facing up so noone is at a disadvantage from possible cheating. Genius.

As for the OP, you cannot stop cheating in these games. Noone has ever been able to do it. And you were either incredibly naive or incredibly stupid if you ever thought this game would be different.

I still don't see all these hackers everyone is talking about. Am I just that lucky, or do the majority of players quickly assume "OMG H4X" when random luck, or skill, happens?

There appear to be a large number of players presuming that the bulk of the population is running around with third-party software enhancing their performance, but only enough so as to be indistinguishable from a skilled player.

Personally, I feel if I cant tell whether it was cheating or skill, I assume I just got outplayed. But then again, I no longer possess a 16 year old male's ego.

nope, because a tiny amount of people cheat in poker.

Since aimbotting is so widespread, might as well liberalise it !

Huh, interesting. You must be a professional writer or a critic of writing to be able to tell sarcasm in text form. That is a real talent and if you do posses such talents you are wasting them here. Im curious, how do you know my intentions?? ESP?? Now that is a talent! Please stop reading this posts and help your fellow man with your great power.

And yet we see very little on their side of things. They know of it but does nothing to stop it. Here, let me ask you this, where is the deterrence from SOE??

Stupid questions but I will field it. Put in place the inability to cheat. Understand the cheat, know the cheat, put in place ways for the cheat not to work

Yes, Sony has thousands of people in cubicles poring over data from tens of thousands of players across nine free to play games. The scope of this problem and the solutions you have in your head are completely lost to you. Do you honestly believe this??

The problem still exists does no it? I dont know if there has anything put into place. Lets say it has, hows it working out for everyone??

Every game?? Using superlatives is not very becoming of you or the other person who said this. I play two other game, game that have no such thing as cheaters. (Iracing, World of Tanks) One of them is even a free to play game. The idea that cheating cant be stopped in a software environment is preposterous. If there is a will there is a way. But sticking ones head in the sand does not solve anything.

Why is this acceptable to you?? If your wife or girlfriend did the same thing, cheated on you, would you take the same attitude?? Would you bury your head in the sand??

With responses like this I often wonder of you and people of your mind set are more apart of the problem then the solution.

Knarfis

Seems like your question mark is stuck, it posts 2 when it should be 1.

And Smedley said they already have software that detects some stuff. Obviously though it isn't failproof, but I think they're pretty much working on it constantly.

If you honestly think that's the issue with hacking, then you are painfully wrong.

It's not JUST an issue of unfairness between different players, but also an issue of altering the gameplay experience in a way that was never intended by the game designers. Think if everyone had aimbots for just a moment. Dust off the old brain. Yes, I know your head suddenly hurts; that's what happens when you start using a muscle after leaving it idle for a long time! If everyone had aimbot everyone would turn corners and instantly headshot. If you see them first you win, no matter what, and vice versa. This does not sound like fun gameplay. I'm here to play a game that requires twitch, not just point and click. If I wanted that I'd play WoW.

Okay, fine. Consider we ALL were given aimbot. Know what hackers would do next? Use noclip (this means you can go through walls or into the ground, and fly around anywhere). Because, see, with everyone having aimbot it all boils down to who sees who first. So the hackers, wanting that advantage yet again, would get no clip. Now they see you first ALWAYS, and from inside walls so you can't even shoot back! Now even with your aimbot you're getting owned. Now you crank the old brain on: "I know how to solve it! Dur, give EVERYONE noclip!!".

So now everyone can go through walls and has aimbot. But EVERYONE is just hiding in walls waiting for someone to go out in the open to instantly die. So now the hackers figure out hacks to see through things so they can get the upper hand AGAIN.

Etc. and so forth. The conclusion, I hope you've realized by now (crazier things have happened!), is that hacking is all about having the upper hand. It's equivalent to an arms race, and at the end no one "wins" (see: Nuclear Bombs). The game would get so diluted by hacks that it would not take any skill to play, and no one would pay for it.

To OP: Hacking and anti-hacking is a constant battle. As soon as an anti-cheat program catches one program, the hackers create a new, and undetected, program. Then the anti-hack system catches this one, so the hackers make ANOTHER, etc.

It's like combating viruses, both sides are attempting to be one step ahead of the other. Regardless, people still get viruses. Also, see Smedley's post about banning 8k players. But I suspect, as I did when people said "just give us numbers of how many bans so we have some peace of mind", that you do not care about that number. Either it's not enough for you or you dont beleive it's a legit figure.

Me? I believe SOE is handling the hackers the best way they can, and also implementing new ways to catch cheaters.

I get your sentiment in this regard. And that is the crux of one of my statements. How do you know if one is cheating when cheating is known to happen??

Let me ask you this Asmotron, have you ever been killed and wonder; "how did that happen?" I am not attacking you here, I ask only for conversations sake.

LOL great post.

Here is the solution you where looking for, a big open room. No obstacles, no walls, nothing to hide behind or under. Just a big open room for everyone to spawn and spray. That sounds like fun!!! I mean why have an environment at all??

Knarfis

If we had wat starsiege had it'd make for a great anti aimbot system.

Notice the Line & Circle? You shoot @ the circle to land ur shots on moving targets.

If it's not obvious, does it even matter? If you need to think about it, chances are you're just looking to save your ego by trying to convince yourself that the other guy didn't really beat you fair and square.