duplicate ids - need BIS to answer

[sbsmac 0]

I've been logging activity on our server for the last few weeks.  Server is 1.96 running on a windows machine.  I've used the -netlog option to generate a net.log file.

During the course of this, I've discovered that certain player ids have multiple names associated with them.  Obviously there is nothing to stop a single player changing names but in at least one case I know the players involved and have fairly good confidence that this is NOT a case of a single player with multiple names.  

The relevant files from the net.log file look like (real names and ids removed)...

139950.111: 10:08:00 Player [xxx]jjj connected (id=1111111)

140029.211: 10:09:19 Player [yyy]dddd connected (id=1111111)

184286.808: 22:26:56 Player [xxx]jjj connected (id=1111111)

229081.623: 10:53:30 Player [xxx]jjj connected (id=1111111)

208249.846: 21:06:47 Player [aaa]ssss connected (id=1111111)

Now, I am pretty certain that whilst [yyy]dddd and [aaa]ssss might be the same player, [xxx]jjj is someone completely different. (This is backed up by IP usage.)

So my question is whether there really are duplicate player ids floating around or whether this is just a bug in the logging routine. I'll be quite happy to supply the full logs if required.

 Thanks in advance - neil

[Waterman 0]

Looks like an ID changer...

[Ninja_STO 0]

There is one possible reason that I have run into this in the past. For a while my own PC was not working, so I installed my copy of the game on a computer at a local internet cafe. The game version at that time required you to insert the Resistance CD to play it, so only I was able to use that game. But after I updated that version to 1.96 it didn't require CD anymore. When I got a new PC at home, there was a time that someone had logged on at the cafe playing the game with a new name, but it still used my old ID number. Different IP and name, same ID.

I have since lost my manual and had to order a new ID key from BIS, so this is not a problem for me anymore. But maybe you can find out if your friend had done something similar.

[Migebuff 0]

The ID is calculated from the CD-Key. If two players are using the same CD-Key, they will also have the same ID.

[hellfish6 7]

Yeah, this can happen if someone let a friend install his Flashpoint discs... technically it's illegal.

[benu 1]

There are some warez ids floating around, you can find them by looking for ids which have a great number of nicks to them. Sometimes people just let a friend use their id, sometimes those guys play at the same time on the same server.

As the id is calculated from the cd key you can be sure that there is something wrong when ids turn up multiple times. I have spoken to some of the players with duplicate ids on my server and always at least one of them did not have an original ofp.

[Ninja_STO 0]

Maybe a little off topic in regards to original purpose of post, but some advice to the gamers out there.

If you are using a copy of OFP that you didn't buy, such as borrowing a friend's Key or using a keygen, you really should just go out and buy the game. You can find copies for sale as low as a dollar on Ebay, and when you have your own individual ID key you and only you will have it. If you ever want to join a squad/clan/group, from what I understand your xml info uses your ID key to display your personal info. If not, please excuse this point. If so, just think of what that means.

Not to mention the fact that if you lose your ID key, you can always email BIS for a new one, and can get tech support in some cases if something goes wrong. And last of all, pirate copies are just not cool.

[darkpeace 0]

If someone wrote a trojan to collect the information from the following registry keys:

-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Codemasters\Operation Flashpoint (player id is based from this string, which is just the cd-key in a different, encrypted shall we say, format, to protect it yes, however it can sadly be extracted with ease.....and I am only a mediocre hacker / security tester)

-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Codemasters\Flashpoint Resistance (used at installation, otherwise appears unrelated to "player id" in resistance, and can be removed without affecting resistance at all", possible omition in Resistance source code ?, however GOTY does not use this key at all, while still permitting Resistance to be run)

Or otherwise exported the "encrypted" versions of the game serial number (they do not match your cd-key, but they are the same thing, just scrambled, trust me on this, they also relate, equally to your 'player id')

Then anyone with the scrambled key could create a *.REG file, and thus be able to pirate the game, using someone elses cd-key, simply by hacking their machine, and stealing all the information in say the "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software" branch of the registry.

I won't go into to much details for obvious reasons, but I suspect many players running Windows 98 or earlier have had this performed on their PCs.

I am thankful the cd-key/serial was encryped in the registry, but it is not impossible to reverse engineer (adv maths, hex, etc) to the original cd-key.

Also if they pirated the game folder (not an ISO of the CD) then all a given priate needs is the *.REG file, that is very easy to create.

Unfortunately this can cause havoc for legit customers.

(I paid for Flashpoint Gold, and got Resistance the same day, later on, due to file patching and different CRC issues, and admins claiming as my CRC was different I must be cheating, which I was clearly not, but some admins don't even know what a CRC is,-see NASA website for CRC they invented it-I also paid for the GOTY version, which only needs 1 patch, and CRC matches most server based installations)

All in all, it was worth it, 2 cd-keys, PDFs of all the maps, and the music from Seventh.....the GOTY is only AU$35 these days on most online shops !

Also does FADE actually still do anything ?

- eg: affect accuracy, speed, hitpoints, sprint movement, etc ?

[benu 1]

I would guess they use a proxy that just alters the packets containing the plaintext key sent to the server.

[darkpeace 0]

The server only ever gets sent the Player ID, and figures out for itself if it is valid or not (eg: blacklisted, etc)

Even encrpyted it would be folly to send either the actual cd-key or the semi encrypted version that is stored in the above registry keys.

PS: I am more than happy to WHIM both my IDs, as well as my Resistance CD-Key, and other CD-Keys to an admin, if they suspect I am trying to run a pirated copy of the best game ever made.

[benu 1]

The server only ever gets sent the Player ID, and figures out for itself if it is valid or not (eg: blacklisted, etc)

Yes, you are right, i did some network sniffing some time ago and saw that too. I mixed this thread up with another one, i was more in the line of the "players changing/faking player id on the server" while this is more about "players using warez id/keygenerators to install the game".

Quote[/b] ]Even encrpyted it would be folly to send either the actual cd-key or the semi encrypted version that is stored in the above registry keys.

I agree to this too.

Quote[/b] ]PS: I am more than happy to WHIM both my IDs, as well as my Resistance CD-Key, and other CD-Keys to an admin, if they suspect I am trying to run a pirated copy of the best game ever made.

I have three original keys actually, two cwc and one goty