Goodbye Public ArmA Servers...

[nullsystems 0]

So, whats the point in playing ArmA online anymore?

From KFC

Quote[/b] ]Today's the day amigos!

We mark the great 9th of september, also known as today, in the history books of the teamkill and cheat community! This is the day when we, for the first time have transformed a multiplayer game into a game completely free of rules, the first in the history of multiplayer gaming.

With the new Cheat Pack for Armed Assault you can do exactly what you like as long as you like. You don't like the admin? Then why dont you try kick him out yourself? Or maybe you got the sudden desire to measure the in-game gravitational acceleration constant by dropping series of devastating bombs at a position of your own liking and making the game measure the drop time for you? Then this is exactly for you.

Maybe you just want that god mode in multiplayer too? Only god knows and now you got the ability to become one yourself. Or rather you just don't like the religion we call rules, at all, and want make up your own? Like the one that says that in every proper multiplayer game there has to be zombies roaming the streets, shooting miniguns from their chests and teamkilling everyone in their sight! Spawn your minions anywhere you like, say what other people should say, in their voice, teleport, rig vehicles and have fun. Do exactly what you want. These are only some features of the cheat pack for ArmA.

The pack comes with over 99 scripts and the ability for you to make your own.

The only limit for your freedom now is your imagination.

Enjoy!

I know of three VERY popular servers based in the UK who have already closed or gone private in the past 6 hours.

I hope someone deals with this accordingly because this will be the downfall of ArmA.

[Lor 0]

Join a private ArmA multiplayer community.

Problem Solved.

[Serclaes 0]

So, whats the point in playing ArmA online anymore?

The answer lies within your post. Find a nice clan with nice people and play there.

You will always find such people. The trick is to ignore them as i used to do with my little bro when he was between 0 and 10.

[efefia 0]

Yeah, so people like me that play online maybe 4-5 hours a week on any random server that has a game up and running what do you suggest then? Join a clan? Don't think there'd be any that would be interested in taking me anyway, as I said I play random servers that have games with good population. If this thing's real then kiss goodbye to seeing people like me playing online. The exploiters were already starting to get on my nerves as it was. The lack of any sort of anti cheat systems has made it tough going for everyone before this, now this is out the general online community will roll over and die. It's not exactly like it was a thriving, heaving community at the best of times but the good outweighed the bad, this thing's going to tip the scales if it goes unanswered.

[Lor 0]

Yeah, so people like me that play online maybe 4-5 hours a week on any random server that has a game up and running what do you suggest then? Join a clan? Don't think there'd be any that would be interested in taking me anyway, as I said I play random servers that have games with good population. If this thing's real then kiss goodbye to seeing people like me playing online. The exploiters were already starting to get on my nerves as it was. The lack of any sort of anti cheat systems has made it tough going for everyone before this, now this is out the general online community will roll over and die. It's not exactly like it was a thriving, heaving community at the best of times but the good outweighed the bad, this thing's going to tip the scales if it goes unanswered.

There's no reason you can't create some server which is passworded that caters to your play style. Or join some clan that already has a server that is passworded that caters to your play style.

[efefia 0]

Yeah, so people like me that play online maybe 4-5 hours a week on any random server that has a game up and running what do you suggest then? Join a clan? Don't think there'd be any that would be interested in taking me anyway, as I said I play random servers that have games with good population. If this thing's real then kiss goodbye to seeing people like me playing online. The exploiters were already starting to get on my nerves as it was. The lack of any sort of anti cheat systems has made it tough going for everyone before this, now this is out the general online community will roll over and die. It's not exactly like it was a thriving, heaving community at the best of times but the good outweighed the bad, this thing's going to tip the scales if it goes unanswered.

There's no reason you can't create some server which is passworded that caters to your play style. Or join some clan that already has a server that is passworded that caters to your play style.

I've hopped on some clan's servers from time to time, jolly nice folks as well most of them however, I play Evolution pretty much exclusively, I've seen clans servers ranging from 1 or 2 people up to 30 at peak times but it's erratic and so are my playtimes. So great I join a clan, I get home from a call-out at work at 3am and fancy a couple of hours playing, chances of me hopping straight into a well populated game as I do now are remote and that's being optimistic. That's down to my playtimes maybe, but I've seen some very odd population fluctuations accross a lot of different servers at different times. I can also state that I bump into a lot of casual players that roam random servers just like I do, I'm pretty sure all will have the same outlook as me on this. Joining a clan presents a possible solution to a big problem for a few people. BIS need to look into this asap in my opinion, if the cheating/exploiting gets out of hand and effects the community so adversely right after the ArmA 2 announcement, it's not only going to effect the current online playerbase, it's going to impact on ArmA 2's potential sales.

[BloodOmen 0]

Join a private ArmA multiplayer community.

Problem Solved.

Exactly.

[efefia 0]

Join a private ArmA multiplayer community.

Problem Solved.

Exactly.  

Very insightful, thanks a bunch. Did you even manage to read past the second post?

Quote[/b] ]I know of three VERY popular servers based in the UK who have already closed or gone private in the past 6 hours.

Now, god forbid that there's still people out there willing to buy ArmA and try it online, you're going to tell them that actually if they want to play online they have to join a clan and get access to a private server? Great way to build a community.

[Gaffa 0]

Quote[/b] ]The SCP comes with over 99 scripts and the ability for you to make your own.

The only limit for your freedom now is your imagination.

Hopefully once verified signatures come out, that will be a start! Im sure they will need to pbo the scripts up to use them. (Don't quote me on this though lol)

Other than that, its only a matter of time before addons start getting released. If a mission uses an addon, you will need that addon in order to play, or you'll be kicked

I can't really see these sad cheats downloading addons, just to ruin a game

So your wrong nullsystems, public servers will still be with us, but in order to play on them you will need the content

[kronzky 5]

There are plenty of existing threads discussing this issue already (mainly in the Multiplayer forum).

Please continue the discussion in one of those (e.g. in KFC Idiots.. and BIS... Question about cheaters..)

[blackjack-VS- 0]

i would like to give my opinion on this matter and i know ii was suposed to be posting in the "moved" thread, BUT the thread u pointed us is closed now...any new path for it?

Also would like to ask if there's any official thread from bis, where "official" players like me who bought the original game, can ask for a "fix" to this cheating issue?

And i cant agree with you guys when u say that "go and play in a private server" is the solution...99% of the players start on a public server ( i also did), since back in the days of ofp. From there u know other players, and then maybe move to a private squad.

luckly i'm one of those players who found a nice "home" back in 2003 with ofp. till now i play with the same 25 guys, but once in a while we opened the server for some new blood refreshing.

not having that as an option (opened servers with minimum security), seems to me as a HUGE handicap to our favourite game.

I´m sure that BIS is thinking on a fix to this plague, since they know pretty well HOW vital it is to have an healthy/unsuspicious mp community.

Again sory for posting here, but the moved thread is locked...

Nice gamming to everyone!

[Guest Ti0n3r]

Quote[/b] ]Public ArmA Servers

Uhm? I thought public ArmA MP died the day ArmA was released?

[Tijai 1]

Well we are not closing just yet.

Just pinpointing then and taking IPs

[Mr_Tea 0]

Well we are not closing just yet.

Just pinpointing then and taking IPs

Forget the idea, that banning IP`s will help.

Not all players have fixed IP`s.

All i need to do is unplug the power cord of my DSL Router, wait a moment and plug the power cord in again. Once the Router is reconnected, i have a new IP.

I am no cheater, but cheaters that have that connection to the net, can get dozens or even more different IP`s a day.

[binkster 0]

Well we are not closing just yet.

Just pinpointing then and taking IPs

Forget the idea, that banning IP`s will help.

Not all players have fixed IP`s.

All i need to do is unplug the power cord of my DSL Router, wait a moment and plug the power cord in again. Once the Router is reconnected, i have a new IP.

I am no cheater, but cheaters that have that connection to the net, can get dozens or even more different IP`s a day.

Thats why you use a IP RANGE.. its been done before and some inocent players may be banned too but thats part of it...

We have already started logging at RN and If you can get some folks together we can all share ip ranges..

All it takes is once and they are banned.. I got two banned just in 2hrs of playing.

Couple things that I suggest admins watch for. If a player is by himself not doing anything and if people start loosing connection for no reason. Ive noticed the cheats cause server lag when they send scripts to the server.

Wait for 109 im sure this patch will help out with the cheating.

[Mehmehmeh 0]

Join private ArmA community? Obtain a password for locked servers? Join a squad/clan? Set-up own server?

Are those the things I might have to do to play my eight hours a day?

But if I am not into clans/squads, running a server, asking for passwords or joining communities, then how?

What I am trying to say is, why should I get the same treatment as the cheaters get as an honest player?

As far as I am concerned, the devs, publishers and server companies that should do something about all the cheating and not players.

I have done my part, purchased an original copy of ArmA. That is it.

But I have a feeling that the devs, publishers and server companies do not have any intention of stopping cheating. Some might try such as games with punkbuster enabled or other measures. But it stops there and all responsibility is shifted to bunkbuster or other similar solutions.

I might be wrong though, and if I am, please point me to an article or anything where a cheater in any game has been at least fined for using a wall hack or whatever...

[ArmaVidz 0]

[frederf 0]

I'm pretty sure anti cheat is a big bullet item on the 1.09 patch agenda. I'm not sure how effective it'll be but at least it's in print.

My biggest grief with BIS's approach to anti cheat is that they aren't using the biggest resource at its disposal, the community. There are tons of Good Guys that can do a whole lot of good in aggregate if given the tools and opportunities to do so.

A serious admin front end showing what clientside scripts may be activating, highlighting suspious code, something would allow us to know that hacking is going on (sometimes it takes a minute to realize it), then a fast response way to deal with it (kick, ban, etc the offender, automated perhaps), ways to ensure that person is dealt with (better player account tracking?).

I think it's rather funny that, oh about a year ago, I blabbed something like "You cannot play ArmA with people you don't know. If anyone told you different you were sorely misinformed." and someone liked it so much they made it their sig

One thing that would REAAAAALLLY help with non-malicious but ADHD people is the power of the human voice By this I mean get VoN working to the point that servers start using it. You'd be surprised how hard it is for someone to be a jack@ss while in voice communication with other human beings. And by "get VoN working" I don't mean simply the physical ability to voice chat but I'm talking about ALL the features of voice chat. admin muting, seeing who's talking, muting channels, muting players, good network performance, good voice quality, good sound level control (separate sliders for XMIT and RCV), ect. Even when VoN works properly in the current ArmA environment, it's just not an option in public due to the feature wasteland.

Joining a gaming community doesn't have to mean selling your soul (and your Saturdays) to the devil. There is a range of commitments that one can make from diehard to casual. It usually does cut down on the variety of play but definitely ups the quality. And it's not like community membership means you can't public.

[-Puma- 2]

i was thinking this stuff yesterday, when some TK'ers and cheaters wrecked our evolution session. 1 thing that would help alot was a better voting system, like in americas army. u type vote admin puma for expample, and all the players see a message "press button to vote puma as admin". vote goes on for 1 minute and so. same kinda system for other voting too, like kick player etc. This would make ppl in server alot more better way to get rid of ppl ruining the game.

[LeftSkidLow 1]

The problem now with voting is you have no idea who the griefer is. With the new hack, they will type in any players name they feel like (impersonating) and its getting legitimate ArmA players who paid their $50 for the game banned from servers. I would say the title to this thread is very accurate, I know 1.09 won't be out soon enough for the server owners who are paying for consistently crashed/hacked servers. Why should they keep their servers up? not nearly as many people are playing, they know their server is gonna go down at least a few times a day and there isn't a damn thing they can do about it. They have absolutely no control, and at this point I don't see why anything new in 1.09 can't be worked around in a few weeks. Fighting cheaters is a never ending battle, any big time game developer knows this, thats why they are constantly patching. If BIS really understood how bad the public online situation is, I think they would have had a patch out in a week to address the problem, and not just leisurely release it when they fixed enough other bugs to deem a new update. How often do you think BIS is playing online in public servers, I bet they have absolutely no idea how bad it is. The fact is, its just not worth playing online right now.

[Call911-AGE- 0]

And I wander if they realise how this will all effect sales for ArmA 2 when it comes out? Why I quit playing BF2, why i quit playing Joint Operations, an is why i'm highly considering quittin playing Armed Assault, did'nt spend $70 to have a game shipped an imported to US only to see it goto crap because of all this.

[colligpip 0]

I agree with the above post. I used to love playing games online but have given up due to a bunch of retards - it is a shame.

This needs to be sorted now before its too late. Okay i could join a clan etc passworded server but i dont want to really. I want to be able to jump into full servers at anytime as I only have a few hours each week to spare - and i'm not that bothered to do it at specific times.

so if anybody knows any passworded servers/clans that are always full please let me know.

[Dwarden 1125]

i can assure You developers full understand how cheating / server operation destruction affects actual and future game sales

and the dev blog clearly answers they not ignore the problem already

[sickboy 13]

Just an idea?

Create a semi-public server:

[*] Weekly or Bi-Weekly changing password

[*] Have password posted on forum that is only visible to 'verified members'

[*] Put your website in servername

Let ppl register on your forum:

[*] Give them Verified Status after they introduced themselves

[*] Remove Verified Status when they break the rules, cheat, gave away password to others etc. And change password.

[*] Possibly; Disallow registration from proxy servers by http check, port check and/or ip/host black list.

[*] Keep a list of ip-addresses and ip-ranges/subnets that abuse, and share this knowledge with other server administrators. Block them in firewall of server and/or website.

[*] Work together, Share.

Isn't that a solution for server admins that are closing their servers atm?

Also, there are ip/host blockers out there that allow to import from distributed files. All needed is some guys taking the 'job' and managing these block lists.

[*] PeerGuardian, Windows: http://phoenixlabs.org/pg2/

[*] MoBlock, Linux: http://moblock.berlios.de/

IMHO, security against hackers aswell as cheaters is a sys-admins responsibility. BIS is taking some steps against cheating, but with the extreme flexibility of the scripting engine, I can believe they cant do too much without breaking nearly all missions and addons Which would defeat one of the purposes of this game.

Anyway, signature protection might help a lot against the 'simple' script cheats out there, and maybe a PunkBuster alike program might help on code injection etc etc.

Still reading ppl out there that quit the games that are even protected by PunkBuster, I dont have that much faith in the real effectiveness of these tools in terms of players not stopping playing the game etc

[Dwarden 1125]

i heard birds singing that DSTS is very usefull to pinpoint disruptive players