Notice A statement on cheating in Elite Dangerous.

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This is exactly how seal-clubbers are made. I've only recently began lightly preying on commanders in situations where my narrative fits. If I eventually sour, I'm self-aware enough to know that I'll find a hardcore gank crew and completely abandon civility.

...because schadenfreude.

You don’t have to make excuses or blame someone else for going down the path of seal clubbing, we are all adults with the ability to make our own decisions. If you wanna go seal club just accept that it is what you want to do, embrace it and go for it.
 
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For me personally, someone only ten months into the game, this whole situation seems to be exactly how SDC lays it out. When I ask for proof, or further reading, SDC produces it almost immediately. When I ask for proof from people representing what is effectively a counter-argument to SDC's claims, I consistently get next to nothing.

There's a point to which guys like me are going to sour. Guys like me, who droped over 2k to play this game. Guys like me, who burned over 350 USD on vapor because they believed the purchases supported a developer who wasn't entirely about cash.

This is exactly how seal-clubbers are made. I've only recently began lightly preying on commanders in situations where my narrative fits. If I eventually sour, I'm self-aware enough to know that I'll find a hardcore gank crew and completely abandon civility.

...because schadenfreude.
You will be taking out your frustrations on innocents rather than the real culprit. That is your right, of course, in Open. I very much honor the right to self-express. However, I even more honor the ability to self-discipline.

I am lucky enough that I don't care if I lose a fight or BGS. The joy for me in this game is to be a better pilot and to support my wonderful squadmates. Fights for me are only a tool to gauge whether or not I have improved. And if the bar is set higher because of cheats, so be it. The frailities of human nature are currently the status quo, I will live with it and seek to make the best of it.

o7
 
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Fights for me are only a tool to gauge whether or not I have improved. And if the bar is set higher because of cheats, so be it.

I can confirm that: when I was doing triathlon my bar of speed I compared my cycling skills to was the speed of light. On my way to better performance compared to light speed I never improved so much. So after some years of struggling with this bar I stopped with this sport.
 
For me personally, someone only ten months into the game, this whole situation seems to be exactly how SDC lays it out. When I ask for proof, or further reading, SDC produces it almost immediately. When I ask for proof from people representing what is effectively a counter-argument to SDC's claims, I consistently get next to nothing.

There's a point to which guys like me are going to sour. Guys like me, who droped over 2k to play this game. Guys like me, who burned over 350 USD on vapor because they believed the purchases supported a developer who wasn't entirely about cash.

This is exactly how seal-clubbers are made. I've only recently began lightly preying on commanders in situations where my narrative fits. If I eventually sour, I'm self-aware enough to know that I'll find a hardcore gank crew and completely abandon civility.

...because schadenfreude.
These are the explanations and genuine reasons for some, to become seal clubbers. Most are born or raised, to be that way.

Frustration expresses itself in many forms. One in called, 're-directed aggression'. Which is why humans punch walls, or attack weaker targets and dogs like me, tear apart things, like the sofa.
 
I can confirm that: when I was doing triathlon my bar of speed I compared my cycling skills to was the speed of light. On my way to better performance compared to light speed I never improved so much. So after some years of struggling with this bar I stopped with this sport.
Lol. Of course one tries for perfection despite knowing full well the impossibility.

I have had so many failures in real life that what happens in a game is trivial in comparison.

o7
 
Lol. Of course one tries for perfection despite knowing full well the impossibility.

I have had so many failures in real life that what happens in a game is trivial in comparison.

o7

Yes, all in all we should not forget that we are talking about a game.

But cheating is not IN the game, the cheater cheats in the game, which puts me out of the game. What I am seeking while playing the game (excitement, fun, relaxation, ...) is easily destroyed by a cheater, which destroys my game experience I am looking for, therefor it is not just IN the game.

Compare this with a group of people playing a card game or board game. If there is one cheater, it destroys the game immersion completely. The groups stops playing the game and starts arguing about cheating, which is now real life and not game.

For me there are two problems currently: one is the cheating the other is Frontiers silence about this. Like a game master in a board RPG: "ok, one of us is a cheater, but let's don't talk about this and just pretend we all have a good time!".
 
Does this mean that Frontier will also be addressing the long standing combat logging problem? If they're going to tack supposedly impossible to address client side cheats, then we should also address combat logging in open play.
 
It's also expressed in dance, song, art, writing...
......but nothing quite hits the spot; like finding the biggest weapons you can and taking on the world and killing everything.

Oh wait: That is what you said, just now.

Anyway: Back to using software cheats. Is frustration, with the developers, or the game; valid reason for using such things?
 
Yes, all in all we should not forget that we are talking about a game.

But cheating is not IN the game, the cheater cheats in the game, which puts me out of the game. What I am seeking while playing the game (excitement, fun, relaxation, ...) is easily destroyed by a cheater, which destroys my game experience I am looking for, therefor it is not just IN the game.

Compare this with a group of people playing a card game or board game. If there is one cheater, it destroys the game immersion completely. The groups stops playing the game and starts arguing about cheating, which is now real life and not game.

For me there are two problems currently: one is the cheating the other is Frontiers silence about this. Like a game master in a board RPG: "ok, one of us is a cheater, but let's don't talk about this and just pretend we all have a good time!".
This comparison just forces me to extend a little, just for lols.
So, the cheater, is the guy in a group that does not follow the rules, and gets everyone angry about it.
Then the ganker/pkiller is the guy that suddenly comes up to your group's table and steals the whole deck of cards and runs away laughing, right?
 
Yes, all in all we should not forget that we are talking about a game.

For me there are two problems currently: one is the cheating the other is Frontiers silence about this. Like a game master in a board RPG: "ok, one of us is a cheater, but let's don't talk about this and just pretend we all have a good time!".

What makes me sad about a "Is so and so cheating?" atmosphere is that players are more likely to accuse others of cheating and players are less likely to give others the benefit of the doubt. This is a fetid and toxic mindset to have, and in my opinion, psychologically unhealthy and dispiriting. I detest cheating, but I am a firm believer in "innocent until proven guilty." In the back of my mind I know humans are capable of utterly despicable behavior. But I also know they can be absolutely wonderful and inspiring. Which mindset would help you be personally happier? We must not allow cheating to effect our total outlook on the game. Then the cheaters will have won a complete victory.

Extreme pessimism and extreme optimism are both delusional. We have the choice to either believe in humanity's potential or not.
The technological innovations we have accomplished are mind boggling. If only our personal character and a belief in a better future could progress as magnificently.

o7
 
Half the blame is on the engineers. Their tweaks and quirks allowed for the bending of tried and true rules that ED tested so much initially. Metas followed, and cheaters came to prey some more. If anything else, I think this is Karma.
 
Half the blame is on the engineers. Their tweaks and quirks allowed for the bending of tried and true rules that ED tested so much initially. Metas followed, and cheaters came to prey some more. If anything else, I think this is Karma.
haha... yup, engineers have certainly messed up balance. I have started a non engineered ships only Open mode Private Group. It's under my Commander name Slange Lands. Anyone can join. I actually might play a trader; I might have an actual chance to win against a non engineered combat ship. And the npcs will not seem as boring in a non-engineered ship. Ha, I might not be able to take down a CZ spec ops.....
 
haha... yup, engineers have certainly messed up balance. I have started a non engineered ships only Open mode Private Group. It's under my Commander name Slange Lands. Anyone can join. I actually might play a trader; I might have an actual chance to win against a non engineered combat ship. And the npcs will not seem as boring in a non-engineered ship. Ha, I might not be able to take down a CZ spec ops.....

Given the thread you have posted this I don't suppose you could offer any insight about how your group can be policed?
 
Given the thread you have posted this I don't suppose you could offer any insight about how your group can be policed?
I don't yet know. It's a work in progress. If enough peeps play, then I will be vigilant about enforcing. Some friends have offered to help me and I would welcome any input from Commanders who are interested in this project. I suspect some veteran PvPers will be able to tell from videos if cheating is a possibility. And since it my private group, I will immediately ban those who are proven guilty of deliberately cheating.

o7
 
I don't yet know. It's a work in progress. If enough peeps play, then I will be vigilant about enforcing. Some friends have offered to help me and I would welcome any input from Commanders who are interested in this project. I suspect some veteran PvPers will be able to tell from videos if cheating is a possibility. And since it my private group, I will immediately ban those who are proven guilty of deliberately cheating.

o7

You accurately describe the reason why FDev cannot reasonably offer a PvE flag to replace the Mobius PvE groups (who have a similar issue with policing unenforceable rules and must rely on an honour system). FDev cannot ban players for no reason, you as a private individual can.

Currently in-game when IFFing another ship only basic info is displayed, with a little more about the loadout available in the left HUD panel. If more detail on modules were selectably available it would be possible to confirm whether a module was engineered or not, maybe exactly what engineering had been applied.

If this greater level of info were available about other ships it would help in a number of situations where there are questions over the legality of a particular loadout, mostly in PvP situations.
 
haha... yup, engineers have certainly messed up balance. I have started a non engineered ships only Open mode Private Group. It's under my Commander name Slange Lands. Anyone can join. I actually might play a trader; I might have an actual chance to win against a non engineered combat ship. And the npcs will not seem as boring in a non-engineered ship. Ha, I might not be able to take down a CZ spec ops.....
Are PP goodies allowed?
 
Are PP goodies allowed?
Yes, probably..... as long as they are not engineered. Enhanced thrusters may be allowed. I would have to ask the advice of people more knowledgeable than myself. However, guardian and tech broker modules and weapons will probably be banned. I don't want to force people to have to grind for those modules. One should be able to purchase the ship they want to fly and immediately fight or trade with it. And if one is at Jameson, there would be no need to transfer. One also wouldn't need a huge credit balance because selling a ship with all its modules to pay for another would be easy, that is, one wouldn't have to strip it of engineered modules first.


o7
 
Thats the million dollar question. I am afraid FDEV can't tell unless someone flags a person for cheating, or they start messing with more obvious things like jump range, fuel consumption, speed etc.

If FDEV can't tell who is cheating, and are just investigating based on reports, that would be a very scary situation indeed. Considering their Cut and Paste response, that may very well be the case.

It is pretty obvious they can't tell. They are using peer to peer for their networking, which means the rules must be stored locally. If they are stored locally they can be changed locally and that is why they don't take a more aggressive approach; they can't. Unless of course, you plonk yourself sideways in a docking port with a neon sign over your head saying 'Ban me' on YouTube.
 
Half the blame is on the engineers. Their tweaks and quirks allowed for the bending of tried and true rules that ED tested so much initially. Metas followed, and cheaters came to prey some more. If anything else, I think this is Karma.

Even prior to Engineers the game had frequent and often undocumented changes to mechanisms that skewed balance. Engineers certainly complicated the game as well as radically shifting balance, but it's no to blame for cheaters, nor for ignorant hackusations. Hacks also predate Engineers by quite a bit.

Consistency would go a long way, but lack of it doesn't excuse anything and isn't to blame for cheating.
 
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What makes me sad about a "Is so and so cheating?" atmosphere is that players are more likely to accuse others of cheating and players are less likely to give others the benefit of the doubt. This is a fetid and toxic mindset to have, and in my opinion, psychologically unhealthy and dispiriting. I detest cheating, but I am a firm believer in "innocent until proven guilty." In the back of my mind I know humans are capable of utterly despicable behavior. But I also know they can be absolutely wonderful and inspiring. Which mindset would help you be personally happier? We must not allow cheating to effect our total outlook on the game. Then the cheaters will have won a complete victory.

Extreme pessimism and extreme optimism are both delusional. We have the choice to either believe in humanity's potential or not.
The technological innovations we have accomplished are mind boggling. If only our personal character and a belief in a better future could progress as magnificently.

o7
Oh I don't think people are so black and white about inspiration and cynicism. People loved Lance Armstrong for his cycling achievements, his overcoming cancer, his public service, BUT they also reveled in his fall from grace - his race cheating, leaving his wife, etc. etc. Did his actions call into doubt the fairness and trust in the sport - of course. People still watch the race though...

As far as this game goes though, we're talking about a niche community with tension between pve and pvp communities. Sprinkle a bit of cheating on top, and you don't have a healthy mix for expanding the community.
 
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