Pathboy's Take on Things (and Clok's answer to True colors)
Hello all!
During my second year of medical school (way back in 1993), a game was released called Doom. All my buddies loved it from the start and we found that we could turn the 'computer learning center' into one big LAN party and started my addiction to FPS multiplayer games. It was the true golden age. Imagine, all the people you played against were in the same rooms. And the best part, no hackers. Everyone was on the same playing field. Doom2, DukeNukem3D and quake followed with equal glee.
Fast forward to now. The good: turning 8 or so guys into a large, diverse community. The games have continued to improve. The bad: "anonynimity breeds contemptible behavior". In Ultima online(Magic Bob - Lake superior shard baby!), we quickly found out the internet was full of people that took glee in ruining the game. And despite all atempts of the game designers, VAC system, and other anti-hacking software, the plain truth is that people will always figure out a way to cheat if they really want to cheat. Period.
What's a guy who wants to just enjoy the game supposed to do? What's our defense? If you just randomly joined servers in CS in the past, I swear there would be a hacker in 2/3 of them and I would have to quit. You're best bet was to find a well admin'd server and 'hang-out' there. I stubbled upon N/U about a year and a half ago, and I stayed because it was about as even playing field as I could find. The admins kept resonable control of the server and bullshit/griefing was swiftly punished. I have to say the only reason I became admin at the start is because one night no admins were on the office server and a hacker came on and I was force to quit. But guess what? Even with lots of admin and BEING an admin, we still have to deal with people wanting to cheat 'to win and impress' (I never have understood this).
So here's my point: ultimately there is only one defense we have against hackers in our community. Trust. I know my close friends would never cheat to beat me. The same generally goes with N/U. We all have the same goal to help sustain and play in an evenly run game server. How do I know that Easy Target doesn't hack even though he consistently kills me to the tune of a 3:1 ratio? I don't have any scientific data to support that he doesn't. But I know he doesn't because I trust him. That's the ultimate defense for the regulars on the server. If you're a regular, understand that our trust in you is our ultimate defense against hacking. Admins are for keeping an eye on the 'guests' so we call all play a clean game.
Sorry for the long post.
Pathboy
PS: Clok, the answer to your question on pastie's "true colors" topic is this: When element posts on the forums that he's sorry he did wrong, blah, blah, blah, and THEN gives grief to SoopaTroop, it makes him appear duplicitous. In other words, it makes his original apology look fake or invalid.
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