Are Console Developers Doing Enough to Punish Cheaters?

[RaychelSnr]

Gamers who have some experience playing PC games are undoubtedly familiar with Valve Corporation and its homegrown anti-cheat client.

Valve's innovative "VAC" (Valve Anti-Cheat) has gone through two iterations -- the marginally successful VAC1 and the industry-leading VAC2 -- since its implementation into the classic online shooter, Counter-Strike, way back in 2002.

The service has done so well that, if one was to name any of the most popular PC shooters right now (Left 4 Dead, Team Fortress 2, Counter-Strike, etc.), there is a good chance that it is being "watched over" by Valve's VAC client.

Read more - Are Console Developers Doing Enough to Punish Cheaters?

[Methlab]

GReat article. But from a guy who is about to purchase NHL09, should I pass? Is the online unplayable, because that is all I care about.

[jyoung]

NHL '09 has been cheater-free since the patch that came out a few weeks ago, so you don't have worry about them affecting your online experience.

2 or 3 months ago, however, it was a totally different story; the game was, as the article says, unplayable due to the rampant cheating.

For EA to completely ignore the impact that those cheaters had on the online experience during that time is a disservice to all the honest players in the game's community.

[The Sim God]

i like this article

if they cheat ban that ps3/xbox SERIAL NUMBER from going online.

even if you make another account (free ps3, 50 on xbox lvie) you will NOT be able to play online on the system that you cheated on.

imagine if little timmy cheats and got Timmy Sr ps3 banned online.

[MassNole]

So what happens then if you buy a used system of a cheater? No XBL or PSN for you?

[sb24]

Re: Are Console Developers Doing Enough to Punish Cheaters?

Well once we get those websites that sell guides to glitching games (just saw maddens), the developers should be able to stop that. If you have a guy showing you that they make the qb stand in front of the line by doing xxx, then you should be able to stop that. I dont program games, but going off released patches, they can correct errors after the game was shipped. I know you will never catch everything, but when there a guide on how to glitch, cant you put things in place to stop those glitches?

[goh]

Re: Are Console Developers Doing Enough to Punish Cheaters?

They're doing too much offline and not nearly enough online wich is why I don't even bother playing online. All the people I marked with bad rep on XBL nearly all still have a 5 star rep.

[Matt Diesel]

I dont understand the mentality of video game cheaters. What does it provide them? How exactly is it fun to cheat? It takes away the whole purpose of the game. 'Game' being the operative word here.

[jyoung]

The mentality is "win at all costs"--only winning matters--that's what people are taught these days.

And because there are no "costs" when it comes to cheating in console gaming, the cheater's mentality prevails.

As many parents as are content to let video games raise their kids these days, maybe it's time for the console developers to realize that they need do a little parenting themselves and teach these kids a lesson about integrity.

Cheating needs to have "costs," otherwise, it will continue to dominate and ruin the online experience for people who play their games the right way.

[CreatineKasey]

You hit the nail on the head with the entitlement generation. It seems like so many youth in this generation feel entitled to everything without earning it. Along with this they fail to abide by powerful values that guided our society for centuries. It saddens me to see this attitude and I really strive to not be associated with it, as I'm only 22 and am within this "spoiled brat" generation.

[rockchisler]

Re: Are Console Developers Doing Enough to Punish Cheaters?

I dont understand the mentality of video game cheaters. What does it provide them? How exactly is it fun to cheat? It takes away the whole purpose of the game. 'Game' being the operative word here.

Low self esteem, they need to cheat to win because they are not very good so when they win, it to them makes them feel good. Perfect example Bernie Madoff had a interview last year and one of the questions was "How does it feel to be a Billionaire"? His response was "It feels really good" Come on you dork you bilked Millions upon millions from your investors, and your wife was the bookkeeper and she doesn't want her funds taken away? Please..Sorry off on a tangent.

[tril]

I never understand why folks cheat on a video game, especially when one can always continue playing if they lose.

But, I also fault the developers. The rules, point system, power-ups and player rankings in on-line games should be overhauled.

A system should be in place where everyone is neutral. This is where mastering a game comes in handy. 1on1, 5on5 should literally be like playing a game of chess or checkers. the only advantage comes from the gamers skill level, not because he assembled a team of all star players (Kobe,Lebron, etc), or gathered up the most power ups.

These sports titles already have the mechanics in place. running plays, signature shots, etc, should all be based on the users ability.

A war game should be about progressing through the game without power ups. Knowing how to use the virtual landscape and using the weapons should be the only advantage a gamer has.

long story short get rid of all the artificial bs in on-line games.

[SmokeCapone]

I have been an online gamer since its inception on PS2 with madden and has always felt that people who need to cheat do not need to be able to play online if it hurts them to lose. Its about competing with someone across the globe or states or just taking a load off by getting online with your FAVORITE team and trying to win a chess match like game with your opponent.

The problem is that gamers can just go and make a new profile at will if they want to and I believe that your profile should be your 1 and only and it should cost a hefty price to get a new one for situations like this. If devs and companies made your gamer tag like the "heart and soul" of that gamers online career then i think that it will deter the cheating online coupled with a decent used feedback system. For madden and other sports games, players should be mandated to play devs or the mods that are out there monitoring cheaters just to see how well they seem to be at winning like they are.

The ranking system in madden is what draws cheaters the most online. With the ability to get the same amount of points for playing anyone is beyond ******** and should make it more challenging to level up in games like that. There is no way a level 22 should be ranked and leveld that high by playing level 1's all day every day. People that exploit flaws in the game like the FB dive by manually putting there RB in at FB deserve to be banned as well. We need to get the point across that these guys are wasting the time or what little time others have who just play to relax and chill from a long days work or whatever and not to sit there for half an hour to an hour to humiliated by a guy who finds it funny to cheat people so he could look like he's the man online.

Punish these fools I say and make it harder for them to come back and ruin people time and fun.

[Ruffy]

Good write-up!

I really agree with the poster that making extra names should be detered. Each Ps3 should have a limited number of names you can make for it.

Anyy ban should be tied to the console and not just a user name.

Greater mod control in online games.....the messages punks send me on the PSN network is laughable.....in fact im going to start a blog where I post them after taking a photo of them to post.

I have no problem losing 100 games in a row as long is the game is played fair....money goals, and plays makes some games unplayable online.

More sports games need to follow the Shows lead with moderation, updates and player banning. Its by no means perfect but when most games push online play as a huge selling feature...it needs to be supported!

[jyoung]

abiner:

I'm not sure that I'd put NHL '09 rank-exploits in the same category as the type of cheating that was going on before the second patch (players juicing their players up with 99 ratings).

To me, it's one thing to try to cheat a rankings system (and let's be honest, has any sports game ever had a ranking system that couldn't be exploited?), but it's on a whole 'nother level when you're exploits are giving you a distinct, competitive advantage on the court as a result of glitches in the game.

In a perfect world, both types of cheating would be policed, but for now, I think that policing the cheats that directly affect the competitive balance in gameplay should be given more attention than trying to police these games' imperfect ranking systems.