Friday, September 27th 2024

Valve Addresses Rampant Cheaters in Deadlock With Unorthodox 'Frog Anti-Cheat' in Latest Update

Valve's latest third-person MOBA-like hero shooter, Deadlock, has had a pretty serious cheater problem, despite still being an invite-only public test. While the game has thus far operated on a player reporting system to identify and punish cheaters, a recent game patch has introduced a rather comical—and seemingly effective—anti-cheat system that can either ban cheating players or turn them into frogs until the end of the match.

Valve says that the new anti-cheat system is set up to be fairly conservative at the moment to avoid any false positives. Aside from the new anti-cheat, Deadlock's September 26 update introduced a new hero, Mirage, whose design and gameplay seem rooted in the jinn from Arabic myths (aka djinn or genie) and added a pretty vast collection of gameplay updates, balances, and quality-of-life improvements throughout the game.
According to the update notes, if the new anti-cheat system detects a cheater, it prompts the rest of the players in the game to vote: Either they can kick and ban the offending player effective immediately, ending the match in the process, or they can turn the cheater into a frog until the end of the match and then ban them. It's clear that Valve is having a bit of fun with the reputation that Deadlock has recently earned because of its cheaters, although it says it is working on "a v2 anti-cheat system that is more extensive." It's not entirely clear which anti-cheat system Valve is using for Deadlock, however, it was previously thought to be implementing VAC, as is present in Counter-Strike 2.

You can read the full patch notes here, but it's safe to say that the game is changing rapidly as Valve gathers feedback from its player base, which has reportedly reached well over 100,000 players as of the time of writing. The biggest changes seem to be in the name of fair and fun gameplay, with fixes including:
  • Aggressive crouch spamming within a very narrow window will now cause you to very briefly move progressively slower.
  • Some latency-related calculation improvements that help orbs be a little less deny favored.
  • Side lanes are now a little further apart from the middle lanes.
  • Added a Soul Generator (like the one in hero sandbox) in the respawn area. Starts spawning orbs at 3 minutes. Each orb is worth 10 souls when shot. (primary purpose for this is cases when you are very close to an item purchase)
Deadlock is still in early development, and although Valve has given the game an official Steam page, it hasn't yet commented on when the game will be released. That said, all indications point to a 2025 release for the new hero shooter.
Sources: Valve (via XenForo), Deadlock Intel, SteamDB
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23 Comments on Valve Addresses Rampant Cheaters in Deadlock With Unorthodox 'Frog Anti-Cheat' in Latest Update

#1
natr0n
I like this idea. frog humiliation, continue a fair game and ban
Posted on Reply
#2
R-T-B
natr0nfrog humiliation
No. Frogs are too powerful. They should turn them into some other more degrading animal, like a human.
Posted on Reply
#3
sepheronx
R-T-BNo. Frogs are too powerful. They should turn them into some other more degrading animal, like a human.
I actually, as a human, enjoyed the taste of frogs legs.

Was like Chicken.
Posted on Reply
#4
Uns1gn3d_C0d3
sepheronxI actually, as a human, enjoyed the taste of frogs legs.

Was like Chicken.
Alligator as well. A bit on the salty side, though that could've been due to the way it was prepared. Only had it once.

I approve of Valve's tactics here. Despite the fact that I have zero interest in online games and I frequently deploy Cheat Engine in my single player games.
Posted on Reply
#5
Shihab
Why poll?
It's obvious most people would prefer to avoid going through connecting, loading, and starting a new game if they can just kick offender and continue playing. Adding humiliation of cheaters the mix? Jimmy Carter had better odds...
sepheronxI actually, as a human, enjoyed the taste of frogs legs.

Was like Chicken.
Are you by any chance from the francophone parts of Canada?
Posted on Reply
#6
sepheronx
ShihabAre you by any chance from the francophone parts of Canada?
I should place you on ignore just for thinking I could even be from that part of Canada.
Posted on Reply
#7
kawice
What a retarded idea! :kookoo: Why not insta ban and then join a legit player to the game from matchmaking queue to help the team.

I hope this crappy game will end up as Concord. :D

We have enough Overwatch clones over 10 years. :D
Posted on Reply
#8
natr0n
R-T-Bmore degrading animal, like a human.
This is the most heathen comment I have ever read online.
Posted on Reply
#9
TheDeeGee
Ah yes PvP cheaters, the bottom of the barrel low life gamers.
Posted on Reply
#10
Jeager
TheDeeGeeAh yes PvP cheaters, the bottom of the barrel low life gamers.
Gamers ? Please, use the rights words like low life dogs, subhumans, cunts etc :)

I know it's internet but some countries shouldn't be allowed to play vs the rest of the world
kawiceWhat a retarded idea! :kookoo: Why not insta ban and then join a legit player to the game from matchmaking queue to help the team.

I hope this crappy game will end up as Concord. :D

We have enough Overwatch clones over 10 years. :D
Did you play both ? What's wrong with this one ?
Posted on Reply
#11
mikesg
JeagerDid you play both ? What's wrong with this one ?
Deadlock takes the worst from CS & Dota and combines them into one.

If you don't use the number one build for your character, drink five coffees, and jiggle-dance from afar... you get movement-locked, skill-locked, dead in two seconds and abused by your team for doing nothing.

Should have been a Savage: Resurrections clone.
Posted on Reply
#12
bug
How I miss the days when I could play game on my own, at my own pace... If I felt like it, I could even cheat and give myself a ton of cash or infinite lives, no one would give rat's a$$. ("Jing it baby", "IDDQD" anyone?)
Posted on Reply
#13
64K
I should be thankful that I learned my lesson early on with the multiplayer games. Whenever there is a game with rankings and stats there will be cheaters. They will find a way somehow. It ruins the fun of the experience for me. Some might be surprised to find out this has been going on as long as online gaming has existed. I recall a popular online game back in the mid 1980s on dial up BBS called Empire. Understanding the simple BASIC programming language was common back then and any sysop or cosysop (administrator or moderator in today's terms) could alter the variables in the program to cheat like crazy and many did.

Then my next experience was in playing chess, backgammon and checkers online on Yahoo Games back in the late 1990s. Incredibly there were many using programs to cheat on those games to raise their stats. How pathetic is that?

Cheaters don't care how pathetic they are or how they ruin the fun for everyone. They just do it for the glory of the high stats and rankings. I don't see how it's possible to ever eliminate them entirely. From what I've read there are even gaming monitors that can track opponents in MP shooters and outline them on screen to give an advantage.
Posted on Reply
#14
R-T-B
sepheronxI actually, as a human, enjoyed the taste of frogs legs.

Was like Chicken.
You. Into the boiler device. Now.
natr0nThis is the most heathen comment I have ever read online.
Good. I aim to please.
Posted on Reply
#15
SOAREVERSOR
R-T-BYou. Into the boiler device. Now.


Good. I aim to please.
You don't boil frog legs you fry them. It's like chicken wings. Aligators are also fried up like catfish here.
64KI should be thankful that I learned my lesson early on with the multiplayer games. Whenever there is a game with rankings and stats there will be cheaters. They will find a way somehow. It ruins the fun of the experience for me. Some might be surprised to find out this has been going on as long as online gaming has existed. I recall a popular online game back in the mid 1980s on dial up BBS called Empire. Understanding the simple BASIC programming language was common back then and any sysop or cosysop (administrator or moderator in today's terms) could alter the variables in the program to cheat like crazy and many did.

Then my next experience was in playing chess, backgammon and checkers online on Yahoo Games back in the late 1990s. Incredibly there were many using programs to cheat on those games to raise their stats. How pathetic is that?

Cheaters don't care how pathetic they are or how they ruin the fun for everyone. They just do it for the glory of the high stats and rankings. I don't see how it's possible to ever eliminate them entirely. From what I've read there are even gaming monitors that can track opponents in MP shooters and outline them on screen to give an advantage.
This is false. A lot of people cheat on PC for the laughs.

Case in point in ut2003 ut2004 one of the top American players also created a cheat engine. Largely an aimbot. I knew him personally as in face to face. He never once cheated in a competitive match and helped point out cheats. He was trusted. But that did not stop him from loading up an alt name and turning the shit on full blast on CTF face and just unleashing all hell because instagib is for scrubs and it was darkly funny. Obviously he wasn't doing it for the rankings as it wasn't in competitive events and wasn't using his tag. That had nothing to do with it. His motivation was that Dr.S1n created an aimbot in UT99 and then got hired by EPIC games and he wasn't gonna have any of that so he went and did his own thing. Que hilarity.

Cheating is just a part of PC gaming. Don't like it get off the PC. But the motivations are wide and variable.

Besides PC gaming is about cheating now. Look if you have a righ with a 4090 and a 480hz monitor and all that jazz you have an advantage over someone who does not. Inherently PC gaming is about being able to hurl money at it to win more. Not about playing fair. It always has been. So complaining about software cheating when you can spend your way up the charts is very silly.
Posted on Reply
#16
R-T-B
SOAREVERSORYou don't boil frog legs you fry them. It's like chicken wings. Aligators are also fried up like catfish here.
Right. You boil people who eat frog legs. They are going straight to hell anyways.

Sidenote: My father has also eaten frog legs and that may be part of why I am a frog. Watch your offspring.
SOAREVERSORYou don't boil frog legs you fry them. It's like chicken wings. Aligators are also fried up like catfish here.



This is false. A lot of people cheat on PC for the laughs.

Case in point in ut2003 ut2004 one of the top American players also created a cheat engine. Largely an aimbot. I knew him personally as in face to face. He never once cheated in a competitive match and helped point out cheats. He was trusted. But that did not stop him from loading up an alt name and turning the shit on full blast on CTF face and just unleashing all hell because instagib is for scrubs and it was darkly funny. Obviously he wasn't doing it for the rankings as it wasn't in competitive events and wasn't using his tag. That had nothing to do with it. His motivation was that Dr.S1n created an aimbot in UT99 and then got hired by EPIC games and he wasn't gonna have any of that so he went and did his own thing. Que hilarity.

Cheating is just a part of PC gaming. Don't like it get off the PC. But the motivations are wide and variable.

Besides PC gaming is about cheating now. Look if you have a righ with a 4090 and a 480hz monitor and all that jazz you have an advantage over someone who does not. Inherently PC gaming is about being able to hurl money at it to win more. Not about playing fair. It always has been. So complaining about software cheating when you can spend your way up the charts is very silly.
I mean the rules change when you are playing an online game and sign a EULA saying you "will not cheat."

Don't like it? Get off that game.
Jeagerdogs
Dogs are legit bro.
Posted on Reply
#17
mechtech
I think a turkey would be a good one too or the chicken from Moana lol
Posted on Reply
#18
64K
SOAREVERSORYou don't boil frog legs you fry them. It's like chicken wings. Aligators are also fried up like catfish here.



This is false. A lot of people cheat on PC for the laughs.

Case in point in ut2003 ut2004 one of the top American players also created a cheat engine. Largely an aimbot. I knew him personally as in face to face. He never once cheated in a competitive match and helped point out cheats. He was trusted. But that did not stop him from loading up an alt name and turning the shit on full blast on CTF face and just unleashing all hell because instagib is for scrubs and it was darkly funny. Obviously he wasn't doing it for the rankings as it wasn't in competitive events and wasn't using his tag. That had nothing to do with it. His motivation was that Dr.S1n created an aimbot in UT99 and then got hired by EPIC games and he wasn't gonna have any of that so he went and did his own thing. Que hilarity.

Cheating is just a part of PC gaming. Don't like it get off the PC. But the motivations are wide and variable.

Besides PC gaming is about cheating now. Look if you have a righ with a 4090 and a 480hz monitor and all that jazz you have an advantage over someone who does not. Inherently PC gaming is about being able to hurl money at it to win more. Not about playing fair. It always has been. So complaining about software cheating when you can spend your way up the charts is very silly.
Well, I guess you have made your point that cheating is ok and if people don't like it then, as you say, they should just get off the PC. Now you just have to convince everyone else and maybe send a note to Gaben that Steam is wrong to fight cheaters because cheating is ok and if he doesn't like it then he can just take all of their MP games off the PC. lol Let me know how that turns out for you.
Posted on Reply
#19
Tartaros
bugHow I miss the days when I could play game on my own, at my own pace... If I felt like it, I could even cheat and give myself a ton of cash or infinite lives, no one would give rat's a$$. ("Jing it baby", "IDDQD" anyone?)
Dude, this is a competitive game. You play against other people with a ladder system, who would want to play an online competitive game with cheaters. Also what you mean by "missing the days when you could play the game on your own at your own pace" xD. What the fuck that even means, no one is putting a gun on your head to play any game at any imposed pace xDDD
Posted on Reply
#20
shhnedo
This is spiteful to CS2 players. Just sayin'.
Posted on Reply
#21
_JP_
If only they would do the same on TF2 (turning them into gray dispensers, benefits both teams) and CS (turning them into chickens!).
JeagerGamers ? Please, use the rights words like low life dogs
Oi!
Posted on Reply
#22
Tripwired
mikesgDeadlock takes the worst from CS & Dota and combines them into one.

If you don't use the number one build for your character, drink five coffees, and jiggle-dance from afar... you get movement-locked, skill-locked, dead in two seconds and abused by your team for doing nothing.

Should have been a Savage: Resurrections clone.
Sounds like you're not very good to me.
Posted on Reply
#23
Jeager
mikesgDeadlock takes the worst from CS & Dota and combines them into one.

If you don't use the number one build for your character, drink five coffees, and jiggle-dance from afar... you get movement-locked, skill-locked, dead in two seconds and abused by your team for doing nothing.

Should have been a Savage: Resurrections clone.
So overwatch or CS ? :D

I have a couple of hours now and the dota feeling is only here because it's a fking mess, no one communicate, you have denies and towers but that it.
If you are a few K behind it's very hard to recover/have impact or win the game (unless you are dead brain haze with +20k)
Posted on Reply
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