Those MW3 Bans Clarified: There's A 'Douchiness' Scale

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Over the weekend, we brought you news that over 1600 bans had been issued to gamers caught cheating by exploiting bugs and loopholes. However, it's not a case of one little cheat and you're out forever. No, InfinityWard's community man Robert Bowling has now revealed that there's a ban scale being used by his studio's security teams, although no specifics were mentioned. He said on Twitter:

Every ban [is] unique to the level of douchiness of the offense. The greater the douche the greater the length [of the ban]. PermaDouche possible. Any attempt to cheat, hack or glitch in MW3 will not be tolerated.

InfinityWard relies on gamers reporting each other to help clean up the gaming space. To do this, gamers can rat on each other from the game's lobby, where clicking on a username gives you the option to report them. The information supplied then goes straight to the security team, who will, rather sensibly, vet the claim before issuing any ban, so as to counter the malicious false reporting that must also go on. Bowling explained how they do this:

We verify reports with in-game stats, in-game video recordings, and other data to verify you were cheating.

It's not clear though, whether any sanctions are taken against malicious false-reporters who repeatedly try to get other innocent gamers banned. It seems reasonable that there should be sanctions, however.

So, it looks like not all bans are permanent and Bowling hasn't said how many bans they're up to now. The challenge for those pesky cheaters now of course, is to figure out which cheat delivers the maximum satisfaction for the shortest ban and then try to play it just under the radar to avoid getting caught at all. Or they could quit being douchebags, just act like decent human beings instead and play the game properly, like everyone else.

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[SteelSix]

LOL, they use the same rating system I use for my coworkers "level of douchiness!"

And we all probably know at least one "PermaDouche"

 

[Trackr]

Professional.

 

[1c3d0g]

Good. Ban them all!

 

[stefanels]

In the end we will play the multiplayer alone...

 

[eidairaman1]

Even Balance System was a lil easier, major drawback to this is that if you truly are good without no hacks, someone calls u a hack u get banned then u cant game, thats not fair to the person.

 

[DannibusX]

In CoD, I've popped shots to an area where I like to hide, or even where I have found others hiding in the past, and killed fools without seeing them on many occasions. It would suck to be banned over something like that.

 

[FordGT90Concept]

InfinityWard relies on gamers reporting each other to help clean up the gaming space. To do this, gamers can rat on each other from the game's lobby, where clicking on a username gives you the option to report them. The information supplied then goes straight to the security team, who will, rather sensibly, vet the claim before issuing any ban, so as to counter the malicious false reporting that must also go on.

And that is where the problem lies. I've been accused of cheating numerous times even though honest to god, I wasn't. Accusations, in virtually all scenarios, are indefensible. It's your word against their's with someone that has everything to lose and someone who has nothing to lose. It never ends well.

The most effective way, in my experience, to police a server is to have a level-headed veteran player that knows how to spot the different types of cheats. Have them report offenses and if a certain threshold is met, the banhammer comes down.

 

[eidairaman1]

In CoD, I've popped shots to an area where I like to hide, or even where I have found others hiding in the past, and killed fools without seeing them on many occasions. It would suck to be banned over something like that.

AKA the Deep Impact perk, n Ya same with sniper posts as a counter sniper using an M16

 

[Undead46]

Why not file suits to those who classify under the "PermaDouche" category? It'll at least scare people into thinking twice before hacking.

 

[NC37]

InfinityWard relies on gamers reporting each other to help clean up the gaming space. To do this, gamers can rat on each other from the game's lobby, where clicking on a username gives you the option to report them.

Oh thats some real epic anti cheating system in place! I'm sure that will never be abused! We all know 10yr olds won't tattle for any reason other than finding a real cheater

 

[hhumas]

wow this reporting system is awesome

 

[timmyisme22]

LOL, they use the same rating system I use for my coworkers "level of douchiness!"

And we all probably know at least one "PermaDouche"

Douching for life! (Random picture on the interwebz)


But in all reality, it's just the same reporting system that's been in place for years in games. The only difference is that IW is policing rather than server owners (or does this take place solely on their servers?).
Admins have always had to filter the crap of "OMG! HE GOT A HEADSHOT!@! HAKZ!!@!!!" vs. "He tracked us through the walls, killed us all instantly with the knife, and flew. Here's the vid of me spectating him."

 

[eidairaman1]

Why not file suits to those who classify under the "PermaDouche" category? It'll at least scare people into thinking twice before hacking.

no matter what you do there will always be hackers, just like criminals

 

[Undead46]

no matter what you do there will always be hackers, just like criminals

Yes, but there would be more criminals than now without a justice system.

 

[eidairaman1]

Best way to fix this game is to have an In Game Moderator

 

[Fx]

it would be great if we could get xp on dedicated servers and moderate ourselves

 

[faramir]

In CoD, I've popped shots to an area where I like to hide, or even where I have found others hiding in the past, and killed fools without seeing them on many occasions. It would suck to be banned over something like that.

I remember America's Army (AAO) back in the 1.x and 2.x days when it was still possible to load the maps in single player mode, load up whichever weapon you wanted, spawn static NPC dummies that served as targets and disable the fog. This would allow you to position yourself on certain spots at foggy maps such as Bridge and use nearby objects as a reference in order to pop off "blind shots" using an M24 or M82 sniper rifles ... Every game this could net you 1-5 kills, depending on how stupid the opposing team was (and skill was usually concentrated on Assault only - Defense was for n00bs, being percieved as the easier side of the map to win on when teams were equally matched).

Same went for M203 underbarrel launchers: sometimes I could get 3-4 kills with a single shell, especially when it was placed behind the stairs on inside the building on Defense team side (where n00bs used to mingle) On other maps (SF Hospital before it got nerfed etc.) this was possible using RPGs and fragmentation grenades as well.

It took plenty of offline training and good timing to be able to do this though so I don't consider it cheating by any extent; all this was possible by using nothing but supplied (= unmodified) game that was the same for all players and instructions and tutorials describing offline commands were publically avaliable on official forum. One just had to invest some time in order to "powergame" on par with the best.

Cheating was using aimbots (which was quite prevalent before PunkBuster was introduced and many kids did it even with PunkBuster in spite of bans). Now those were annoying as hell because they could track you through the walls and aim directly at your head automatically so it was an instant kill as soon as you popped out of what would otherwise be cover.

I don't play this CoD game but I wholeheartedly agree with you that using your familiarity with the map and playing styles on that particular map to your advantage should not be considered cheating. If people can't be bothered to take some time to familiarize themselves with the map they're playing on and if theyn't be bothered to put some thought into what others are doing, they probably shouldn't be playing games with human-vs-human interaction anyway. That's how fighting works in the real world as well - you try to outsmart the enemy, not just mindlessly plow ahead or hide in same spot thinking to yourself you'll be safe just because of short rendering distance or fog ...

 

[Widjaja]

I'm wondering how the cheating will be confirmed by the accuser if they are relying on the public.

As mentioned before there are people out there who are really good at specific games, enter a lobby with people who do not like being beaten and know each other, the next thing you know they start crying wolf and attempt to get you banned.

I had some old guy called me a cheat in DiRT 3 Gymkhana, so I explained to him how to get a high score, in response he gave me bad rep.

 

[AsRock]

And that is where the problem lies. I've been accused of cheating numerous times even though honest to god, I wasn't. Accusations, in virtually all scenarios, are indefensible. It's your word against their's with someone that has everything to lose and someone who has nothing to lose. It never ends well.

The most effective way, in my experience, to police a server is to have a level-headed veteran player that knows how to spot the different types of cheats. Have them report offenses and if a certain threshold is met, the banhammer comes down.

Yes i do wounder if for example 20 TPU members joined a game and started to report the same person over and over if that person would get banned even though he did nothing.

So really all it would take is a bunch of people in a clan\squad\team who like messing with someones day.

Yes, but there would be more criminals than now without a justice system.

A hell lot of them though hide with in the law system. And there is plenty holes in the lay system as well.

 

[de.das.dude]

In the end I will play the multiplayer alone...

fixd

 

[faramir]

I'm wondering how the cheating will be confirmed by the accuser if they are relying on the public.

As mentioned before there are people out there who are really good at specific games, enter a lobby with people who do not like being beaten and know each other, the next thing you know they start crying wolf and attempt to get you banned.

In case of AAO I mentioned above the server administrator was able to have a look into PunkBuster screenshots. Cheaters' screenshots either displayed the cheating tool HUD or were completely blacked out (in order to make it look as if there was some sort of malfunction in the game or PB ...). Either way it was easy to verify that somebody is a cheater and a permanent ban was then issued on that server and submitted into a database that many server administrators used in order to weed out the trash.

 

[Widjaja]

How annoying, having the cheating tool covering up part of the screen.
I suppose not everyone's priorities are the same.

 

[[H]@RD5TUFF]

Why would you have a scale, if your a cheating douche then you should be banned.