25 replies to this topic

[Hef]

Please note, I'm coming from a background as a server admin for games ranging from counter-strike to minecraft.

Now feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but there's been a lot of talk around here about feature implementation or discussion of mech warrior lore and while I've enjoyed lurking for a while, I have noticed a glaring omission from the community about how the devs will address the issue of hacking. And so, I post.

It would be a wonderful world in which nobody used and developed third-party software to give themselves an unfair advantage online, but that's not the world we live in.

I would absolutely love to know how the devs are dealing with pre-emptively tackling hackers in how the game works.

For example: Is the server going to pipe information about all nearby mechs with full data on critical components and let the client filter whether to show that info to the player (dumb) or is the server going to be constantly checking which mechs can see what information (smart, but server intensive).

And what happens when a mech is powered down so that they can only be spotted visually? Are we going to see hacks where a mech doesn't need to be powered up to flouresce on a user's screen? Can the server do a visibility check on powered down mechs and then if the player passes the check, the HUD is pinged with the powered down mech's location?

tl;dr
Devs should make the information warfare stuff as server-side as possible, to prevent hacking.

[Sabbathiel]

yeah Hackers suck. and ruin the gaming fun for everyone. But hacking games are some peoples high. i personally think they should be hung by the toes. and everyone gets a hit with the bat.

We we must face it there will always be some stupid punk @#@@# kid trying his best to ruin our fun. I hope they do the best that they can to stop and punish such people.

point blank with a AC20 would due.

[jbone]

I would like to see preferably at a minimum some md5 checksums or hash check to ensure that some folks don't mod their files so buildings are 90% alpha'ed out so you can literally see through buildings, same thing for particle effects tables etc. Asking to have files encrypted by DESII or something like that would be too much of a hit on disk performance or make load times way too long.

there are some other interesting ideas that could be discussed, watermarking a a border with a data code to verify image hashes with said code (this removes database lists by making the data code be a hash of the image.

As for trainers and stuff like that, that's always a constant fight, you have to pass more info about the "map" than the player actually sees because of lag times and pre cache requirements so when a mech moves into line of sight your not having to download all the information. keeping the locations in and encrypted memory state would help prevent there programs from tracking that info and overlaying it.

There are a lot of other methods out there and I'm sure they are and will be discussed in detail long before we get to log in and start turning the urban spawn into chunks of ferrocrete.

[Tannhauser Gate]

Judging by the frustrating level of user login security on this forum, I think the game will be a flawless monolith.

[Aegis Kleais]

This game WILL be hacked.

The hackers WILL be impervious as any other user is to banning due to the F2P nature of the game.

I have an odd feeling that there will be next to no player based kicking allowed in servers, or if there is, the standard "not enough players are aware of the player hacking and don't chime in to vote them off the server" snafu.

You're just gonna have to deal with repeated 1 shot headshot kills, indestructible armor, 200kph Atlases holding 600 tons of weapons, unlimited ammo/heat management, etc.

[Felbombling]

Perhaps the dev team can figure out a way to give hackers electrical feedback damage, similar to what Mechwarriors suffer from ammo explosions. Dare to dream...

[Paul Inouye]

Hef, on 08 February 2012 - 08:05 PM, said:

Now feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but there's been a lot of talk around here about feature implementation or discussion of mech warrior lore and while I've enjoyed lurking for a while, I have noticed a glaring omission from the community about how the devs will address the issue of hacking. And so, I post.

Okay... here, here and here.

We are very well aware of the hack/cheat crowd operates and we are taking steps to ensure that this will happen minimally if not at all.

[Paladin Brewer]

Suggesting they make the game hacker proof is like suggesting they make the game fun. Duh.

[Gremlich Johns]

from
Aegis Kleais™

You're just gonna have to deal with repeated 1 shot headshot kills, indestructible armor, 200kph Atlases holding 600 tons of weapons, unlimited ammo/heat
management, etc.

and jump jets!!

Edited by Gremlich Johns, 09 February 2012 - 05:01 PM.

[renegade mitchell]

Game will not be hacked, hopefully. Sure nothing online is a safe bet, but the Devs have stated no outside parties will have any access to MWO. Though I wish leagues can be formed from this game, like previous MW titles, I see no way it will happen.

[wolf74]

Sadly no game is hacker proof. But does not mean they can find creative way to “kill” the Hacker character in combat VS a Ban hammer of they found me.

Aka Hacker loads in to a Match 60sec after the match start a “Random” Artillery strike hit their mech, Or Naval Bombardment the out damage to the mech would be minimal but ALL heat sinks in the mech are destroyed.

If above does not stop it after the 2 or 5^th match (the mech can survive for the next 2 min after being hit with the above) than a Giant Hula Girl comes Running across the map and beats the living tar out of the mech with an Oversize Rolling Pin. Pushing the cheat mech out of bound so he/she forfeits all gains he/she may get in that map and the server sets there mech to 100% damaged as well. Finial option If they have not remove the cheats by now Set the characters Cash to negative $9,999,999,999,999. This can be reset to $0 for Real Cash payment of $5,000.00 (IF the Cheater going to cheat they can pay the company for their fun )

Edited by wolf74, 09 February 2012 - 05:41 PM.

[Phades]

Well they are using an engine that has been hacked, so it will be interesting to see how they address the problem as it arises.

[MaddMaxx]

That ends my Fantasy

[Pvt Dancer]

Quoted from BullsI from a different thread....

Quote

Personally, I love the way WOT does there battle system. The game is actually played on there servers, your computer is doing nothing more then rendering the graphics information the server is sending. This has an immeasurable benefit in terms of security against various peoples of malicious intent. (ergo if you wanna [color="#ff0000"]hack[/color] the game you gotta get into the servers, find your instance, and change it directly in the server.) This also leads to the company being able to allow for game modding, specifically in skinning or interface tweaks.

They are influenced by WoT... they are going to do the same thing... they are hosting and storing the info, your just rendering it. Dungenons and Dragons Online is a great example of a game with pretty much no hacks and no plat famers and free to play to boot. And they have been running for 5+ years.

[Sym]

I just hope they have a better matchmaker than WoT.

[FinnMcKool]

The giant hula girl with a rolling pin sounds interesting, na Ya cant do it it would just in-courage cheating, heck what id give to see it tho.








its just coffee , come on !

Edited by FinnMcKool, 12 February 2012 - 08:10 PM.

[Razed]

Hacks are going to happen, it's just the way of things. Any static defense will eventually be circumvented by a more fluid offense. My hope is that the Devs are quick to react and repair the breeches so the honest players can go back to having fun.

[Arkas]

Technically you could make a game unhackable, but you break the game itself doing so. In a sense it would litterally check if everything was accurate and nothing 3rd party trying to do something they're not supposed to do. This... however.. would take a lot of time to code and implament and cause increased load-times and server side stress. Doing something like that to be iron-clad would make the game consume a large amount of resources.

[Bhael Fire]

Beowulf13, on 14 December 2012 - 08:07 PM, said:

Yesterday I was in one game where the name and the entire mech was hidden, but he was spotted by the source point of his lasers, another where a lone Commando was happily blowing up the most powerfull mechs while no one could even damage it when they hit it.

Do you know about ECM?

...or was this a sarcastic post making fun of ECM? I have a hard time telling these days.

Edited by Bhael Fire, 14 December 2012 - 09:33 PM.

[Jadel Blade]

Beowulf13, on 14 December 2012 - 08:07 PM, said:

I am sad to report hacks ARE happening. And if you watch the online chatter you will see its affected a few players now and more have witnessed it when asked. Basically its ruining the game for me - I prefer to be on an even ground which is now not possible anymore. Hacks seen include Teleporting close to the enemy base at start, invincible armor, massive firepower on mechs that wouldn't even support it at normal play level, invisibility and a few others like massive speed boosts beyond that of the game.

Yesterday I was in one game where the name and the entire mech was hidden, but he was spotted by the source point of his lasers, another where a lone Commando was happily blowing up the most powerfull mechs while no one could even damage it when they hit it.

People will up sticks and leave unless holes are plugged - I want my play to be fun, not unfair by a few morons who think hacking is their duty because they are too childish to cope with being blown up. I have seen far too many 'kids' whine in group chat using pretty dire language when they die - grow up - you win some, you loose some. Deal with it.

Is whining in group chat somehow worse than whining on the forum?

You seem to be vehemently against one while fondly embracing the other.

...........

Never seen a hacker yet. I find it odd that you seem to have been playing in an endless series of hacked matches.
Perhaps you just arent any good?