miscellaneous

Looks like he got a free reset courtesy of Ender for posting that silly script on the forums. Pretty tame punishment, only his main got the zeroing out.

for lazies

What script? Did I miss anything juicy?

Yeah, I apparently missed it also...

I thought you posted on it Nos?

Yeah, you did post on it nos. It was an auto script if I read the script right. (I don't trust alan with installing a script on my browser.)

Last night, Alan attempted to distribute an autoclicker by way of forum thread. I deleted the thread as soon as it was brought to my attention and locked/reset a few of his bots (if he has other "main" bots that I missed and are obviously his, please inform me and I will lock/reset those as well) shortly thereafter, but unfortunately it was still up for a few hours.

I'll say this on the matter: It's one thing to cheat on your own just to try to (unfairly) get ahead, but it's another thing entirely to distibute a tool for others to use. It's both pathetic and sad that someone can be so morally bankrupt that they have no problem trying to ruin a hobbyist game developer's creation. The worst part about all this is that it's really you, the players of this game, that get hurt most by things like this. Instead of seeing fun new features like tournaments next, I'm now forced to focus my efforts on security.

All that being said, I'm still in this for the long haul and will continue to improve the game's security so that everyone can enjoy a fair competition, so not to worry. :)

Oh, I clicked the link. I wasn't aware that that is what that was.... Yeah. Anything he post. I steer clear of.

He couldn't win the game, so he tried to ruin it instead. How silly.

Makes me a little sad honestly. The game+forums were more fun and entertaining with him here.

Oh poor Ender. He could've found out about this months ago by a simple Google search. I was talking to Alan about it the other day but since I don't much care what people do on this game/Alan said he had showed it to you before, I didn't say nothing. The game is in a sad state of affairs anyway and if you actually start looking for the people using the script Ender you'll kill every active player on this game I bet.

It's all gone to Chinatown buddy, IT'S ALL CHINATOWN!

Btw, screw you for making him leave Facebook too :(

if you actually start looking for the people using the script Ender you'll kill every active player on this game I bet.

Are you implying everyone on this game cheats?

If they're using scripts I wouldn't call them active players anyway.

He couldn't win the game, so he tried to ruin it instead. How silly.

Not true. I didn't want to put the time in, get first let's say. Then get reset, people get even more pissed at me because we would lose.

Figure if I get reset, I'd have no reason to play anymore. So ya.

I did tell Ed about it a long ass time ago. It's his choice to not react on it then. Sorry to say.

-Alan

I didn't want to put the time in

That's exactly what I meant.

Oh goodness I did miss something juicy !

Alan, why? ... And then post it on the forum seems like you wanted to be caught.

It's his bots equivalent of asking a pub to never let you in, so you can finally get over your drinking problem.

I've had the script since like a month after the final release.

It's all good now.
Means I can do other things :) Playing since May of 06'. Met many people, which I love to do. I like knowing about people, studying people. That's why I sit on the online list so much. Just watching. That's just who I am.

o/

It's his bots equivalent of asking a pub to never let you in, so you can finally get over your drinking problem.

Nah, he could have done that by simply asking to be blocked or whatever. It's about being a 'bad ass'. He needs the recognition. He even named his script 'Alan' ^_^

Knowing about people and studying people? Online, most people act nothing like they do in real life. I hope you aren't doing it for the educational value. Take a psychology class or something if that kind of thing interests you.

That's why I sit on the online list so much. Just watching.

That's kinda sad :L

You have just depressed me, as well. Thanks.

Are you implying everyone on this game cheats?

Ya, pretty much. I have no hope in any of you being legit at all nor do I think Ender is any better than floR was now. The game is dead to me so I'll accuse whoever I want of whatever I want :P I'm just crazy is all.

There's a misunderstanding here of my strategy for dealing with scripts, so I'll share some details.

The argument being posed is that because Alan had sent me his script before distributing it and I did not specifically block it, I therefore chose to allow cheaters to continue by choosing not to act. This incorrectly assumes that my approach to dealing with scripts is a goal of 100% prevention, when in fact my strategy has always been 100% detection. The latter is far easier, more effective, and has the same effect in the end.

If my focus were prevention, I would have patched the game to specifically block Alan's script, then he would have updated it to get around the patch, and we'd continue this dance in a neverending arms race. In the meantime, legitimate players would suffer as further annoyances in addition to fake links/CAPTCHA were added. Since there's plenty of people who have the basic set of programming skills to write a script and the motivation to do so, and only one of me, it doesn't make sense for me to fight back on this front. Prevention is an ineffective waste of time that only makes things worse for legitimate players.

My focus has instead always been on detection. I have all sorts of tactics at my disposal, some of which are quite sneaky and not at all obvious to cheaters, which works greatly to my advantage. All I have to do is catch a person cheating once and their bots are gone; no back and forth process is necessary. Being able to do this has allowed me to catch a lot of cheaters and it also gives me confidence in saying cheaters are by and far a tiny minority of the overall playerbase.

Yea, it really doesn't make sense to patch a script prior to finding proof and punishing the people using it. At least, that's where the argument is from what I'm getting out of this.

Either way, fuck Alan. The game is better without him.

It's kind of interesting, if not a bit sad, to note how the player base has been reduced with all the cheaters that have been caught since bots4 began. It feels like the player base is just in slow decline, with no real new players taking hold in the game.

Maybe it's just me but I feel this game needs something. New gear, new features, new players, anything. Something that get's some activity going, because right now the game is a little dead imo.

New players for sure, but there's no solid voting system. I still think that's the first step.

Yeah, we're in need of something.

we just need some pants

Advertising would help

we just need some pants

I'd much rather be pant-less.

you know i meant it for the bots ...

But then we have to pull them down before we rape em :[

That's why sagging was invented Gpof.

hands Gpof a miniskirt