Official statement of cheating on PBW.

[Fyron]

I agree with what Geoschmo just said.

The game owner that is being refered to probably felt this way, so that would be why he did what he did. Doing this has nothing to do with being self-serving. If he was only looking out for himself, he probably would have looked at the game files himself first, instead of contacting the admin.

[Kimball]

How do you go about proving someone is cheating?

I have heard of some sort "anti-cheat" method in the game. What is it? Does it work? Is that only good for simultaneous games? What about typical turn based games? What's to keep someone from modifying the data files on his computer so that when he attacks during his non-simultaneous-turn turn (does that make sense? his anti-proton beam I (which, of course the adversary doesn't have anymore) has 10,000 damage points etc...

I think the only solution is to play with someone you can honestly say you trust.

[Suicide Junkie]

ISTM that some sort of record of the game's data files are kept (encrypted) in the savegame file.

If your data files do not match, the game dosen't let you play your turn.
It does cause some trouble when you are trying to update the data files to fix bugs, or get a new patch of SE4; all the players have to make the change at the same time in order for it to work.

[Tenryu]

Originally posted by Hadrian Aventine:

There is no 100% way to block a cheaters besides finding them and pounding them into a pulp.

Well, I'll admit it is difficult, but I believe you can come pretty close. You need two pieces of software; a client which is graphics, communications and control interface, and a server that does everything and keeps all the data. You have to design the game this way from the outset. You have to assume the players will cheat at every opportunity.

You also have to have a clear idea just what real cheating is in a multiplayer enviornment, {the delibrate manipulation of game data or anothers computer, as opposed to taking advantage of oversites or aspects in the game design that can give a player an advantage if exploited. The former is probobly illegal, the latter, annoying, but none-the-less, can ruin a game.

That all said, "Pounding them into a {bloody} pulp" can be an excellent and rewarding pastime.


[ May 30, 2002, 13:05: Message edited by: Tenryu ]

[mac5732]

Its a shame that certain players must cheat in order to have fun. The idea of playing games against others is to have fun and enjoy yourself. If one must resort to cheating in order to prove he's the best, then that person should get out of gaming, for he's proven he's far from it. If you want to play for blood instead of just to have fun, then those are the type of games you need to find and not ruin the others for everyone else. Cheating doesn't solve or make one better then anyone else, it belittles the person and just shows that person can't hack an honest game win or lose and that he doesn't belong. I don't like cheats, but you must remember, there are honest mistakes, and you must determine whether it was an honest mistake or a knowing, purposely cheat in the game. I agree with Geo, if you suspect of cheating going on, contact the admin, let them look into and make the determination one way or the other, confrontation hurts everyone especially if it turns out it was not a cheat but an honest or misinterrupted action. This saves hurt feelings and lessons antimosity among the gamers. If found cheating, then the admin should take whatever action they seem fit up to and including posting the name of the cheater here in the forum IMHO.

Remember one thing, Don't over-react, check it out first before you open mouth and insert foot. Be sure of accusations, just suspicion without proof is not good enough to accuse and ruin someone's reputation, without hard proof it is not a good idea as it could cause untold repercussions that may not be warranted...

Leave it up to the Admin.... IMHO

just some ideas mac

[ May 30, 2002, 17:28: Message edited by: mac5732 ]