Blacklist of Cheaters/Hackers
 

Just an idea.. but what about starting a new sub about hackers and cheaters. Peoples could send the account names to eg Mattmeck or whoever else administrates it, together with a proof like a log file, picture or whatever and the account will be added to the list. Other server administrators will than be able to ban certain accounts/players that cause more harm than fun before they even log in at their servers.

We would need some controle over what usernames are posted, we wouldnt want someone who is just mad at someone else to give there name.

There must be proof, and every one will be reviewed, and if someone is a big enough problem we can always IP ban them too.


Most server owners dont realize they can IP ban people too, just disallow there IP from accesing the server box.

aza sounded like he volunteered to lead the review committee to me, Matt.
:)

I cant comment for the USA but here in Europe the vast majority of people are using dialup accounts with variable IPs. So there is no use in banning on an IP basis. Moreover a normal Player without Guide/GM rights on an Emu server cant see the underlying accout name of an char. Since the char itself is only managed on the Emu server it is played on nobody but an Guid/GM can complain effectively to the maintainers of the login server.

But be aware that a new account is created in little time and the cheater is back in business. Yes, he will loose his old toon but imho this is of little conseqence since he most likely got booted from the server he last played on(and which GM complained) anyway. In banning him he might be even motivated to prove that you cant stop him. At least that was my impression from my time managing an Action Quake2 Server way back.

I don't feel it's the project's place to get involved in affairs with any individual server. That used to happen a lot, and I never saw any good come out of it. All that came out of it were blemishes on the project and dev team's reputations.

Totally agree...

Hmm, I'll have to vote no on this one. Policing a server should be the server owner's responsibility and theirs alone. There is no real way to verify any evidence anyone could provide. Since a server owner could virtually create any evidence in the database, screen shots or log files (which really are just plain, un-encoded text files), it is too easy to fake. The only thing you can do ban them, delete their accounts and post it up in your own forums.

If someone really obnoxious shows up on KMRA or Zebuxoruk Mort and I just let each other know and we throw a ban on them on both servers. We've only ever had to do it once and only in extreme cases.

ya i think the serverOP should deal with all there own problems with there population...
and ya, thats a good idea to share known fools to other serverOPs like Mort and Jib did.
but ya... people on servers should be dealt by the owner or GMs of the server.. not EQEmu..

cuz what if someone wants to be a dick on one server and be good on another? ;p

EQEmu is not going to deal with them (unless its an extream situation) I am offering a section of the forum for the OP's to shair the info. There just needs to be some QC over whats posted.

After having to deal with an obnoxious twit just recently , I personally think an area for server Op's to give each other a heads up on not potential problem players , but actual problem players that are a recurring problem is a good idea. Granted , like Mattmeck said before , there will need to be some QC on whats posted. I know it's going to be a pita , but Ill say it anyway ... maybe if the section was limited to server op's it would cut down on the QC aspect , rather then having it in the general public. Just my random thoughts..

I was just thinking of what a maintenance nightmare this would be. The forum admins job would become unbearable... do you know how many servers come and go? While it would be great, I am not sure it's something they'd be interested in doing. Unless, somehow, it was tied to the account that sets up a server - but then, anyone could go setup a server, gain access, and see what the secret society is saying. :)

Lose:Lose scenario, I am afraid. Maybe someone offsite from eqemulator.net could host something like this? I could, but even I am not that interested in changing access every week.

Actually this would be easy for me since I could code a .NET FTP program with write access that would update the list whenever anyone ran the program with a notepad full of data. If you want something like this coded let me know.

Only server ops will have access to the program password to update it.

GeorgeS

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Good Idea....
Seeing anything like this actually working would be impossable to maintain
because of the abuse most of the players maintain thuout Servers.
Most anyone can boot up a shard and say there a servop.
I recommend they have a shard up at least 2 years to access the database
with Verified web site to boot.
I have always used disallow there IP from accesing the server box.
and it seems to work out good but they still hit my webserver untill I ban them there 2.

Hackers and cheaters? Making the game enjoyable or making it a nightmare? These are not necessarily related topics. Hackers are an essential part of the emulator. If it were not for hackers, the eqemu would not exist. Those who dig into the inner workings to find out what makes them tick and then incorporate those ideas into the emulator are a necessity.

It is possible, and I experienced it on live even, for someone who is neither a hacker nor a cheater to make the game unenjoyable for others, by hogging spawns, training, harrassing. All it takes is a selfish attitude and a login. This kind of behavior is irrespective of if a player is a hacker or cheater.

When you talk about should hackers and cheaters be banned, what exactly are you talking about and how do you identify it is taking place?

Interesting point. However, to not squabble over symantics, I am sure everyone who comprehends the language understands what the "nitty gritty" of this topic is all about - griefers, or people who find ways to exploit the system to an end that unbalances the overall "fairness" of the server.

But I'm certain you already knew that.

/rant on

Todays sociaty sees 2 diferent set of people.

Hackers = Those trying to make life worse for others, finding issues with code and exploiting them for there own gain, and to make things worse for others.

Crackers = People who find the faults in code to fix them or make others aware, those out to improve the lives of others.

We want hackers out and crackers in, and as stated above you already knew this and just posts to gt a rise outa people.

/rant off

I agree with 99% of that , but being a young server ( Jest has only been around for the past 6-7 months ) we have had our fair share of idiots. I think maybe 1 year may be sufficient , with a verified website.

Driz.

Rather see more effort in making the game better.

Ok, wasn't going for semantic argument. I am really not sure in which category you would put something like running macroquest to help operate a group of characters vs playing one character only. I've read posts eluding both ways on the site and hear tales of some using macroquest to field entire raids. I am not currently running macroquest but am working on getting it set up. I intend to use it on my personal server but was also looking at using it on peq server because I have a couple friends who play on it and we can't always get on at the same time.

So. Macroquest used as an aid to multitasking... ok? or bad hacker go away?

Depends on the individual server owner.

Curse those cheaters! They've made a mockery of us all!!! I say we strike back!!! Pillage the farms! Rape their Characters! and vote Richardo Presedent!


Edit: Just an idea, I haven't read the whole thread but... Why don't you guys create a 3rd party blacklist?...

For example..

Create a mysql driven website that holds a large compendium of banned players. Each server admin will have access (after proving ownership or however you would allow access) and everyone would pitch in bans (ONLY for cheaters, not for own personal reasons) and every 2 - 3 weeks you can update a large SQL file that people can source into their databases for banlist.

And pardon me for being late but I haven't played with eqemu in months.. Is there a command to ban IPs yet? If not.. Write one.. Sure you can ban them from your server, but it would simplify things just to add a command :p

I don't believe there is an IP ban command in yet (though I'd like to see one too), but just a quick tip: most OS's now come with built-in firewall features; if necessary, you could use those to block IP's.

Not quite how it works.

IMO, the whole point of hacking/cheating in EQ is to derive virtual profit from your illegal trade. Creating new accounts sorta defeats that purpose, because the banned accts never really get a chance to finally 'beat the curve' if ya know what I mean.

Unlike many FPSs, a person can't just jump into EQ with an AIMbot and speedhack and make the server damn near unplayable for everyone else. What they can do is break a fragile economy/atmosphere of fairness for everyone else. Some players might know how to dupe on the emu, and duping sometimes involves crashing the server.

That would get old pretty fast :shock: 8-)