Cheating in Elite Dangerous

[znôrt]

I think this happens in every online game for PC, it is something that will always be.

you are not understanding the issue. this is not about the common cheat cat-and-mouse game in other games, but about frontier being unable to play the cat in the first place because a lot of crucial values aren't under their control. they can compute if your fuel consumption matches your displacement across the galaxy because they have enough datapoints inbetween (e.g., each time you change system, their servers know), but they have no control of what happens with other values (e.g., shield strength, weapon damage, speed) while your computer arbitrates a fight with another player's computer. they are blind to most of that, and that's information that should never have been trusted to a client.

yes, they can examine logs from those computers ... just as easily as those logs can be faked. they are no help whatsoever except in a bona fide cause.

changing that means a significant redesign and rewrite, there would be 2 opposite paths:

• change the architecture and have instances governed server side
• implement protocols to safeguard that information client side.

option 1 would be sensible, but expensive. option 2 is equally expensive and most likely means suicide. they will chose none of them and go with option 3:

• do nothing.

 

[Riverside]

I was talking about press, not reality.

Well if you're into wild speculation go straight for blackhat.

It is possible to be extremely irritating while remaining entirely within the rules

 

[Space Dandy]

Lots of this could have been avoided if offline mode hadn't been canned as most of the cheaters would be playing offline.

 

[Old Duck]

Lots of this could have been avoided if offline mode hadn't been canned as most of the cheaters would be playing offline.

Huh?

 

[Jankules]

Grayhats...whitehats or blackhats...Ryan is the most helpfull player in ED ever...respected pvp-ier and the first human player who attacked me back in2015...07

 

[War Eagle]

Well they could dedicate much of the server to checking everyone's levels before it allows anything to move forward- but I don't think you would want it doing that- it would be very slow and a whole new reason to B&^%$ about the game.

 

[Vasco Sapien]

Conveniently bypassing the in game cheats. I get your message.

I never said that. Ive accepted your 3 strike system in that regard and also given reason why client hacking has its own appropriate response.

 

[Deareim]

Most interesting thing is color changes on the radar....supposely not possible. A cheat with QoL for the game, that is a first. Always on the top FD for these things.

 

[Space Dandy]

Huh?

It's not rocket science.. many of these hacks are being sold, at least they were last year or the year before when I did my own investigating into this issue, with some free ones being "leaked" to have free guinea pigs test stuff out.

The biggest issue the hackers had I think was when ED went from 32bit to 64bit client and it looks like they have finished "updating" their hacks so to speak.

If you visit the cheat engine forums most players are looking for cheats in single player games to cheese through things etc. While it would not completely end this issues in ED Online.... having a offline mode like we were suppose to have would sure as hella dry up some of the "money" these cheaters are getting as I would bet most of em would just straight up go hack offline mode for fun.

It would make hacking ED Online less worth while as a good part of the people interested in hacking ED would be doing it themselves via cheat engine or just getting free cheats for offline.

 

[Ziljan]

you are not understanding the issue. this is not about the common cheat cat-and-mouse game in other games, but about frontier being unable to play the cat in the first place because a lot of crucial values aren't under their control. they can compute if your fuel consumption matches your displacement across the galaxy because they have enough datapoints inbetween (e.g., each time you change system, their servers know), but they have no control of what happens with other values (e.g., shield strength, weapon damage, speed) while your computer arbitrates a fight with another player's computer. they are blind to most of that, and that's information that should never have been trusted to a client.

yes, they can examine logs from those computers ... just as easily as those logs can be faked. they are no help whatsoever except in a bona fide cause.

changing that means a significant redesign and rewrite, there would be 2 opposite paths:

• change the architecture and have instances governed server side
• implement protocols to safeguard that information client side.

option 1 would be sensible, but expensive. option 2 is equally expensive and most likely means suicide. they will chose none of them and go with option 3:

• do nothing.

You're making it sound like the problem is unsolvable. If they have to change the architecture that is something I just don't see them doing. Which means that PVP is meaningless. That Frontier created a system that is so vulnerable is maddening. P2P was an idiotic idea. Letting players computers dictate such key stats is ludicrous.

 

[Rob At Work]

Let me be clear. I have respect for SDC. Full stop.

What?

EDIT: did someone just say you have to pay for these Hacks? - I have a LEP does that count?
(it has to count somewhere other than flippin' bobbleheads and snowflakes - shirley)

 

[EUS]

Youtube link in OP not working?

 

[znôrt]

Well they could dedicate much of the server to checking everyone's levels before it allows anything to move forward- but I don't think you would want it doing that- it would be very slow and a whole new reason to B&^%$ about the game.

they also could have read a bit about prior art and computer science as related to multiplayer games before building one.

or ... simply not market the game as what it isn't.

as for your inference, i guess you assume other game builders of solid and working games use magic.

 

[War Eagle]

they also could have read a bit about prior art and computer science as related to multiplayer games before building one.

or ... simply not market the game as what it isn't.

as for your inference, i guess you assume other game builders of solid and working games use magic.

No as a former programmer I know that there is nothing that can't be hacked/scripted. Just using solo mode allows people to script abilities ie: cr's, builds ect without any interference from anything then it will be uploaded to the server as they earned it- and the server will accept it as done correctly.

 

[CMDR Cosmic Spacehead]

Honestly, anyone caught cheating should be;
1st offence; 7 day shadowban to solo
2nd offence; permanent account deletion.

 

[Old Duck]

No as a former programmer

We're all former programmers here, and I'm not even joking.

 

[znôrt]

You're making it sound like the problem is unsolvable. If they have to change the architecture that is something I just don't see them doing. Which means that PVP is meaningless. That Frontier created a system that is so vulnerable is maddening. P2P was an idiotic idea. Letting players computers dictate such key stats is ludicrous.

this is my understanding, yes, or in any case exceedingly difficult.

i guess there are things that can be done, but all will imply either more load on the clients (more crypto, more syncs, whatever) or on new servers (not necessarily implement everything serverside, just manage the indispensable 'source of truth') or something inbetween. and the complexity of that. no, p2p with all its advantages and properties was never a good idea for real time multiplayer combat (specifically), it only works if clients collaborate.

 

[Space Dandy]

I would be all for ED changing from a P2P to proper server but only if they then gave us offline mode, but yeah I know better than to think FD would ever do that....lol

 

[znôrt]

Which means that PVP is meaningless.

oh, this, i forgot to mention. well this is just perspective. pvp with any real stakes is obviously moot. but clients can collaborate, even while fighting. so the base fight experience is still there, and it's good. you just have to fight for the love of fight

 

[Crank Larson]

I dunno, SDC causing trouble again.

Can't find much to disagree with in the OP.