Can Video Game Cheating Be Prevented?

**Silverfoot** · 2nd October 2007, 09:44 AM

Quote:

Some players give themselves the ability to magically see and shoot through walls. Others find a way to fly, making them nearly impossible to defeat.

Cheating like this in video games has a long and even respected tradition. Games have often slyly included ways - intentionally or not - for sophisticated players to hack into the software and then skip levels or take on supernatural powers.

But these days, the subject is getting a more serious look. Unlike older games, today's are networked to be played with strangers over the Internet. And now, real money is at stake. Fantasy games like "World of Warcraft" and computer environs like "Second Life," to name a few, have their own currency or other virtual valuables that can be traded for hard U.S. dollars.

In other words, hacking into a video game to cheat can be a business strategy. And so clamping down on it could be key to maintaining virtual worlds' economies and reputations. Even chip-maker Intel Corp. is suggesting a technology for doing it.

But one huge question is: Can cheating really be stifled?

"What I've always said is: It'll go away the same time crime goes away," said Tony Ray, founder of Even Balance Inc., which makes cheating-detection software called Punkbuster. "There's always somebody trying to get around the rules."

Perhaps, but Gary McGraw and Greg Hoglund, authors of the new book "Exploiting Online Games," argue that video game makers could do much more to stop it. McGraw and Hoglund contend that poor software design enables the vast majority of cheats.

Complex games operate partly on central servers run by the game companies and partly on a player's own computer. Essentially, the individual computer reports back to the game on the mouse clicks or trigger pulls performed by the player, and the game registers the appropriate response. That's where cheating hacks often occur: Tell your computer to report 100 trigger pulls for every one actually made, and you've turned a pistol into a machine gun that racks up points much faster.

McGraw and Hoglund offer ideas for how game makers could seal up such holes. And they argue that the entire software industry needs to be watching, since these "massively multiplayer online role-playing games" are at the leading edge of computing.

"The kinds of problems that they are facing right now are direct indications of the kinds of software security problems we can all face in the coming years," McGraw said.

More.....Original article here

**kingtony** · 2nd October 2007, 10:34 AM

there is no way to prevent cheating in anything only fix it after it has been done ..remember there is always someone out there smarter then the person who combats cheating

callumf · 2nd October 2007, 11:23 AM

A lock only keeps an honest man honest.

It wont stop a thief.

**Adri** · 2nd October 2007, 01:36 PM

True that. However, if you add other deterrents, like perhaps a criminal prosecution (the equivalent of having a shotgun behind the locked door) it may stop more people. I'm not sure what grounds they could prosecute on tho. Maybe if the big gamer companies could sue cheaters for breaking the TOC that has been agreed upon by both parties?

**kingtony** · 2nd October 2007, 03:22 PM

the old saying goes you can't con a con man , and you can't hustler a hustler so cheating will live on ,as for prosacution unless they can come up with a program that bans there computer number they just keep coming back

cadethepagan · 3rd October 2007, 05:08 PM

why cant we just trace the cheater and give out there home address to people who are pissed off at the cheater?

**Ezekiel** · 3rd October 2007, 05:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cadethepagan

why cant we just trace the cheater and give out there home address to people who are pissed off at the cheater?

Ive always advocated a similar punishment...public humiliation. Pictures of the offenders in a prominent place...like the games website and in the case of MMOs, a place like a stockade where the players char will be ondisplay and you can throw virtual rotten fruits and veggies at them while calling them obscene names...

**Silverfoot** · 3rd October 2007, 08:42 PM

Where do I buy my ticket Ezekiel!

Brom · 3rd October 2007, 09:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ezekiel

Ive always advocated a similar punishment...public humiliation. Pictures of the offenders in a prominent place...like the games website and in the case of MMOs, a place like a stockade where the players char will be ondisplay and you can throw virtual rotten fruits and veggies at them while calling them obscene names...

How about attaching a permanent in-game tag to the end of the characters name (e.g. - (C) for cheater). That way everyone would know exactly who they're dealing with.

DJMystix · 12th October 2007, 07:55 AM

A Blind man may not be able to find a stone, but he sure can recognize defeat.

-me

if it doesnt make since its because i made

..i think maybe i read it some where and thought of it well anyways..

2nd October 2007, 10:34 AM	#2
kingtony How do you tell when you run out of invisible ink? Join Date: Jan 2007 Shard: alantic Posts: 2,648 Gold: 200 Thanks: 0 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post	Re: Can Video Game Cheating Be Prevented? there is no way to prevent cheating in anything only fix it after it has been done ..remember there is always someone out there smarter then the person who combats cheating For to win one hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the acme of skill. To subdue the enemy without fighting is the acme of skill.

2nd October 2007, 11:23 AM	#3
callumf Eternal Drama Queen Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 853 Gold: 1,134 Thanks: 3 Thanked 3 Times in 3 Posts	Re: Can Video Game Cheating Be Prevented? A lock only keeps an honest man honest. It wont stop a thief.

2nd October 2007, 01:36 PM	#4
Adri Wearing metal panties in a lightning storm Join Date: May 2004 Shard: Pacific/Landroval Posts: 3,845 Gold: 1,022 My Mood: Thanks: 209 Thanked 118 Times in 85 Posts Awards Showcase Total Awards: 2	Re: Can Video Game Cheating Be Prevented? True that. However, if you add other deterrents, like perhaps a criminal prosecution (the equivalent of having a shotgun behind the locked door) it may stop more people. I'm not sure what grounds they could prosecute on tho. Maybe if the big gamer companies could sue cheaters for breaking the TOC that has been agreed upon by both parties? We are all broken and wounded in this world. Some choose to grow strong at the broken places. --Harold J. Duarte-Bernhardt

2nd October 2007, 03:22 PM	#5
kingtony How do you tell when you run out of invisible ink? Join Date: Jan 2007 Shard: alantic Posts: 2,648 Gold: 200 Thanks: 0 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post	Re: Can Video Game Cheating Be Prevented? the old saying goes you can't con a con man , and you can't hustler a hustler so cheating will live on ,as for prosacution unless they can come up with a program that bans there computer number they just keep coming back For to win one hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the acme of skill. To subdue the enemy without fighting is the acme of skill.

3rd October 2007, 05:08 PM	#6
cadethepagan Join Date: Jul 2007 Shard: Great Lakes Posts: 429 Gold: 110 Thanks: 0 Thanked 3 Times in 3 Posts	Re: Can Video Game Cheating Be Prevented? why cant we just trace the cheater and give out there home address to people who are pissed off at the cheater? Power is not given, it is taken!

3rd October 2007, 08:42 PM	#8
Silverfoot Mith'quessir Join Date: Mar 2005 Shard: Chesepeake Posts: 2,353 Gold: 8,970 My Mood: Blog Entries: 8 Thanks: 218 Thanked 153 Times in 93 Posts	Re: Can Video Game Cheating Be Prevented? Where do I buy my ticket Ezekiel! "Careful what you wish for, You just might get it all.... And then some you don't want"

12th October 2007, 07:55 AM	#10
DJMystix Join Date: Sep 2007 Shard: Pacific Posts: 7 Gold: 52 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: Can Video Game Cheating Be Prevented? A Blind man may not be able to find a stone, but he sure can recognize defeat. -me if it doesnt make since its because i made ..i think maybe i read it some where and thought of it well anyways..

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