Gamings Darkest Hour

[The Illusive Man]

As some of you may know by now, there has been a constant war being fought on the internet, a war between the game developers and the hacking community...

Unfortunatley the game developers are fighting a losing battle as each time a new patch is put in place, the hacking community is one step ahead releasing the newest cheat being a shiny new aimbot, to a wallhack, to even a multihack where the only thing you need to do is log into a server and select a side and the computer does all the work.

The Hacking community, now gains profit through the misery of others offering hacks that bypass all the latest detection software and can be turned off at a keystroke when an admin drops by, for either a subscription or one time fee.

It seems many of the companies the majority of players hoped would put a stop to this viral destruction of there beloved games have no folded there hand and all but given up, Infinity Ward being the latest to give up on there pursuit of a "fair game for all" getting rid of the dedicated servers and handing over security to the notoriously easy to bypass VAC, there was also an annoucement that CoD:MWII may well be IW's last venture onto the PC market as they turn there sights to working on console exclusive products in the future.

However all is not well on the console front...The hacking community have now discovered ways to bypass the previously thought unpassable security of the XBox and the PS3, importing there latest hacks to the console, meaning noone is safe...not even our console playing cousins.

The issue seems to have now peeked to its fulcrum, seemingly impossible to police without dedicated servers and appointed admin, and VAC's system being so flawed that someone who has been banned one day could be playing again the very next, the number of players using hacks is now beginning to outweigh those that try to play honestly, with several matches of COD, L4D or TF series products seeing more than one hacker on any given server, be it casual (wallhack and no recoil) to outright ludicrous (multi-hack, aimbot and speedhack)

Now for us the gamer, what does this mean?

This can either mean, the end of the enjoyable multiplayer as the number of serious players decreases until they are all but extinct

Or...

The gaming industry gets there act together and try to push forward a law, its high time that these hacks were made illegal, especially now they have become a profitable organisation based on creating misery, damaging companies financially and from a reputation standpoint.

Anyone caught distributing such malcious programmes should have there assets seized, a hefty fine and a prison sentance, the company who's property the "hacks" were made to run under should reserve the right to file a lawsuit for damages and breach of copyright.

This may seem harsh, but to force these communities underground would be a step in the right direction, its becoming much too common and much too damaging to carry on in the manner it is.

Afterall, they are no better than those that Create Viruses or commit Piracy, except they are not doing it just to damage the businesses....there doing it to hurt YOU the player, and there profiting from your loss....every step of the way!

 

[Valkyrur]

You have identified only one side of things. Allow me to point out the other side.

It must be understood that hacks for players can sometimes improve the gaming experience of people- albeit at the displeasure of others. For some, having gamed legally for a long time, the game gets so boring that he'd rather do something he hasn't done before- hacking.

I say this by experience. While I haven't actually done this on a MMORPG, I have already done this on smaller scale games like DotA, with only 9 other players excluding me. The game may be interesting and exciting, but no matter what, as time gets by, one can't deny that he'll get bored of it- even just a little.

That said, it becomes more tempting to turn to hacks. Personally, I have little to no care for gaming companies. I do not think of the consequences of relying on hacks in this manner (Though I'm unwilling to pay for it.. But there would be some that are more than willing to).

I wouldn't deny that this should meet with some legal resistance, but I think this is going to be a challenging task to tackle.

 

[Abstract Debauchery]

The dumbest idea that IW ever had was getting rid of Dedicated Servers for the PC version of CoD:MWII. That didn't just "eliminate" the bad hackers, it also eliminated the good hackers and the modding community. Thanks to the hackers we now have Dedicated Servers where anyone can now set one up and play with their own custom rules, mods, and maps.

Keep in mind that no all hackers are out to destroy your game.

Sure, aimbots and wallhacks suck some major balls. However, not every hacker is going to attempt to use them.

The gaming industry gets there act together and try to push forward a law, its high time that these hacks were made illegal, especially now they have become a profitable organisation based on creating misery, damaging companies financially and from a reputation standpoint.

Most companies do that just fine themselves. Also, any moron with half a brain would simply pirate the hacks in question.

Anyone caught distributing such malcious programmes should have there assets seized, a hefty fine and a prison sentance,

A prison sentence for running a dedicated server? Running a hack? Shouldn't the humiliation of getting busted using a hack be enough? Most hacking communities frown upon noobs that are simply out to destroy the game. Also, most modders tend to get confused with said hackers, meaning they they would get caught in the crosshairs and get fined just for making custom maps.

the company who's property the "hacks" were made to run under should reserve the right to file a lawsuit for damages and breach of copyright.

In IW's case, they shouldn't have "banned" dedicated servers. That was a shock among the PC gaming community. Most of us felt like we were getting pennypitched. Most people don't see what the big deal is. However, being a PC gamer, I can tell you exactly what no dedicated servers mean for the average PC gamer.

Afterall, they are no better than those that Create Viruses

I would much rather someone grief me with a hack than destroy my computer with a virus.

commit Piracy[/quote[

I pirate games all the time. I can't afford the games, and I want to play them, so I'm going to pirate them. You may think I'm ruining the community, so be it. If you have the money to throw around, good for you, some of us aren't that lucky.

You make it sound like my pirating of a video game is a deliberate attempt to ruin the industry. If a game is good enough, I'll go out and pay for it. For example, I pirated Psychonauts, and it was a blast, and I enjoyed it. I bought a copy of it the next day. If a game isn't that great, I'll end up uninstalling it, or playing it to my hearts content. I'm not going to pay for a half assed game.

Also, there are some games that are rare and hard as hell to find. For example, Vampire: The Requiem Bloodlines is a fantastic game that I can't find. I found it in 5 minutes through a torrenting website and I got it and played it.

Keep in mind that gaming is a very expensive hobby. Most of us enjoy it, and some of us simply can't afford it. So if there is a cheaper alternative, I'm going to take it.

there doing it to hurt YOU the player, and there profiting from your loss....every step of the way!

They're not doing it for the primary purpose of hurting you. They're doing it for the primary purpose of showing everyone that they have mad skills without actually having to have the mad skills.

It's still not justifiable by any means. However, you make it sound like that hackers are out to get people, when in all reality, they're out for efame.

 

[The Illusive Man]

I see a lot of misunderstanding in what I wrote, and what I was truly aiming at...

There are two types of hackers, The Hacker and The Modder

The Hacker:

Tends to be looking for ways to cause as much damage or harrasment as possible

Could not care less about anyone else but themselves

Will do things Illegally just because they can

Has no respect for law order or anything.

The Modder:

Seeks ways to enhance systems or fix things usually for themselves or the good of a community

Usually part of an active community of modders that all work together, share ideas and are often actively involved with devs

Can do illegal stuff, but tends to prefer to keep things legit unless there hand is forced (IW with the dedicated servers)

Has plenty of respect.

Now the modders are the people gamers want to keep and have around, however the hackers are not what anyone wants as there selfish anarchistic ace-holes that would rather watch the internet burn than use there talents to better it.

The people that use the hacks and the people that write them however are again, different.

The people that write them, do so for profit not caring that its illegal as hell, nor the knock on effects that it causes, there just making money by breaking into someone elses code to give people an unfair advantage and getting paid for it.

The people that use them, 99% of the time are clueless slackjawed teenagers, or school dropouts that do it because they can, a large portion of them are blatant, ignorant and cry like hell when the banhammer catches up with them, they could have installed 16 different viruses with there precious hack, but they dont care they want to cheat and they want to do it now!

The point to all this:

IW and many companies because of The Hacker and those that utilise these hacks have more or less given up supporting the PC, giving us a bunch of hogwash followed by half-assed products allowing the cheaters to do whatever they want, when they want as there are no dedicated servers, no admin and pretty much no rules.

This knock-on effect has upset many, including the modding community whom many gamers including myself support wholeheartedly, they feel cheated and deserted by IW and the companies that are currently following suit and have decided to do things there way, by hacking up a dedicated server and making it public in order to get IW to listen.

Unfortunatley as long as the bad core of the hacking community and there slackjawed followers exist, I dont think IW will change there minds which could mean there very death of FPS'es at least on the PC gaming market.

Call it zealous if you will or at little selfish but when will it stop? They are now leaking into the console market and beginning to gain a foothold there, will they continue on until every other person is subjected to a witch-hunt caused by the fear of hackers, or multiplaying is ceased to be supported, much like diablo 2 and battlenet?

To say nothing should be done is foolish, to hope the companies will do it all alone is foolish, the gaming communities as a whole need to come together, as eventually....that one kid that was aimbotting that became 100 kids aimbotting, will become 1000, 10,000, and so on!

 

[GameGeeks]

I'm fine with hackers for things like DMV removal. I find the piracy PC companies are using to be ridiculous. PC games are becoming more like expensive rentals. If I buy a game I should be able to uninstall/reinstall as many times as I want. Not three times. Now mods, I'm all for. I play two games with a big modding community. The first is Neverwinter Nights which has the biggest modding community I've ever seen. The second is both of the Knights of the Old Republic games (they have one community). Both companies that own those games have embraced modding and because of that the community has flourished really well. And yeah, modding communities do tend to have standards and respect each others work.

Also, Tsuk, I think you mean Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines.

 

[Shu]

I'll just respond about the hacking part. As long as I've ever played game there have been cheaters. From Myg0t creating the lambert hacks in CS where they could either see through walls or just the plain ole head shot scripts. I've seen everything on PC games. Now if you were to play any Xbox games though, it is very hard to cheat on them, although if you play Gears of War you will know about the exploits in it.

I think cheating will never be eliminated so therefore I don't think it isn't Gamings Darkest Hour. It's always been there, its just up to the dedicated coders out there to actually create hacks for these games.

Now if you mean hacking cd keys and such.. then yes there is awfully alot of that going on lately.
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[blakstang98]

I'm in complete agreement that the hacker community is an awful thing for gaming and that it should be enforced in some way. But I think this is sort of like wanting to clean up crime, you can clean up a place nicely, but you'll always have a bad seed who's gonna commit the crime regardless. And I don't think the gaming community will ever become so clean. If someone makes a great program, another will come along and make a better one or one that can beat the program, like the ones who create viruses for computers and they manage to get through anti-virus programs and such.

I agree though, it makes playing games online a lot less fun when others cheat. I don't play internet games much, but it can really piss people off, even though it's just a game and has no bearing to life (unless you played for a living of course).

 

[aelat]

/sidepoint

Is anyone else of the opinion that hacking isn't that bad of an issue? Yes hacking is present, but I don't own any games which have been ruined by hacking. I've been playing CS since beta 3, so if there's a hack on CS I've probably seen it.

Fortunately there are literally thousands of servers, some of them actually moderated, and moderated servers don't have hacking problems. By moving away from a dedicated server model, IW is actually encouraging cheating on the PC platform by making it impossible to moderate. It's naive to think that cheating is the reason companies are moving away from the PC platform - it's all about profitability and controlling access to paid content, not hacking.

 

[Shu]

/sidepoint

Is anyone else of the opinion that hacking isn't that bad of an issue? Yes hacking is present, but I don't own any games which have been ruined by hacking. I've been playing CS since beta 3, so if there's a hack on CS I've probably seen it.

Fortunately there are literally thousands of servers, some of them actually moderated, and moderated servers don't have hacking problems. By moving away from a dedicated server model, IW is actually encouraging cheating on the PC platform by making it impossible to moderate. It's naive to think that cheating is the reason companies are moving away from the PC platform - it's all about profitability and controlling access to paid content, not hacking.

I think this is what I was getting at. If there is a hacker on a server, and you have been playing a server for quite some time, you have the ability probably to mod it yourself by this point, or be close friends with a mod. I regulated a CS server from BETA days to 1.3 days and the amount of cheaters we had IP ban was terrible, but hey.. we kept it from going sour. I mean you of course can't really control much of Ranked matches on an xbox. Like I hate xbox sometimes because if it isn't player matches you have people using the whole lag switch thing and also using glitches to their advantage.

I don't think Xbox believes in the use of dedicated servers and such like the PC because of the abundant use of cheating would be out of their hands and hacking their internal code would be easy to outsource. So now us gamers have to deal with it no matter what. So in my opinion hacking will always be prevalent..

Just move to the next server and keep your head down.