It's a joke to ban players who openly exposed security flaws in the games intregrity stakes. They should get a 1-3 month ban max..
Say an individual has been carrying out a crime and is willing to expose the details and inform he/she gets immunity or reduced sentence.
There's no evidence to suggest they used this method before the exposure for personal gains. Admittedly carrying on for months 'proving a point' is his downfall. He should of tried for a week to validate this and privately notified CG, rather than embarrass them.
Not a fan of the current solution. You guys are gonna receive thousands of reports every day. There are lots of soar loosers playing this game, quick to call anybody a cheater when they loose... I think your shooting yourselves in the foot here.
Being able to watch the defensive matches is the best solution IMO
Your (EA) bug report page specifically asks if a bug/exploit/problem can be recreated, im guessing it asked in order to show proof of existing problem. That is exactly what these videos did. Sure the tone might be set improperly by all 3 parties, but its not too late to unban and apologize for them following YOUR guidelines. PR aside, this problem really needs to be addressed asap as it jeopardizes more than just GAC...
You were able to tell us numbers of players who were able to complete the Acklay mission, so start narrowing potential users of this cheat from the new TB* matches manually, until you have an update that validates the end user client communication properly to the server.
*Edit: "TW to TB"
The DEV, CG and EA don't really care about cheating as long as they get their Money. I am sure there are plenty of Whales cheating but they will NEVER BAN or SUSPEND them. CG just wants their cash, SWGOH is such a money grubbing game it is not even a game anymore.
Like so many others here, I don't really post much neither on this forum nor reddit. I just try to enjoy this game. But I feel the urge to repeat what's been said now so many times here: besides the arguably harsh conduct concerning McMole and Bulldog, the core issue remains to be as mind-boggling as disturbing to me: you expect people to continuously spend good money on your product, yet now you most obviously haven't done nearly enough to properly police this game in order to keep even the most obvious cheating to an acceptable minimum... despite promising so several times throughout the past months and years. If that's how you care about your customers, you can't blame anyone for demanding refunds. Like so often seen in the recent past, your communication is embarrassingly vague, incoherent and shrouding. CG or better EA is burning bridges and undermining the trust of their admittedly demanding yet devoted community at an alarming rate. My humble advice: either get your act together and do your job (30% increase in the volume of cheaters detected just isn't enough and once more the most vague statement possible). Or finally get a professional PR-spokesperson capable of at least adding a positive spin to your shortcomings. Doing both would be the best possible scenario.
Honestly, the part I hate about all this is when I lose, I want to lose to someone that beat me because they were, better then me. I want to learn and continue to grow my strats and try my hardest to beat players stronger then me, was able to do that a lot this GAC.
Now really, when I lose there is a chance every single time that I may have only lost cause they cheated, but its impossible to know or find out, are we supposed to report EVERYONE that wins? Does that mean every time I have won, I have been reported for cheating?
Should we actually be scared of winning in Gac because the other guy can suspect cheating?
At the start of GA we were "Promised" (I guess its a CG type of Promise) that cheaters would be dealt with to prevent this happening. So far, this cheat has existed for the entire time GA has existed, and only now its brought into the light, and you are "taking cheaters more seriously"? You know how terrible a statement that is? WHY were you not always taking cheaters seriously? Is it because they spent money on your game? Can't hurt your revenue?
And not only that, legit people who are trying to make the game better, were targeted and banned.
In short: you CG dont do NOTHING to fix the cheating problem and ban that one who do a public service exposing that.
In the list of shamefull atitudes, that's was the worst because you dont wanna solve the problem, you wanna hide it.
Maybe if you had a better working relationship with the "game changers" it would not have got to this point. Bull dog actually cheated I get why you banned him. He should have come to you with his information first. McMole loves this game. He didn't cheat, he was only trying to bring light on the subject. If this is going on we have the right to know. We deserve more than just a damage control statement. After watching the Video I know I'm more aware of what to look for to spot cheating and that was his intentions in making it. Bottom line you guys need to have a better working relationship with the YouTubers / game changers. I love this game thank you for all the amazing content you've made over the last four years. Please work on your PR it needs to improve.
Shucks, hard one for McMole. He knew the possible consequences while he was making that video though I think. I know his goals were altruistic, he had more worry about what could happen with our own personal gaming experience than for his own continuation.
If we want Cg to be tough on crime how can we complain though?
They would have preferred if bulldog had sent this info straight to them instead of testing it of course...maybe others did.
They would have preferred if. mole had reached out to them directly instead of making the vid.
On the topic of permanent bans- we are saying that an account is banned true? Can the same device start or load a different account?
I guess the game server cannot identify cheater systematically, they rely on player report.
If this is the case, the game should add a simple battle history, let us know which squad the opponent were using. Then we can report suspicious player.
This. If CG/EA wants players to be more active in reporting cheaters, at least provide us a tool to help us do so. And no, a "Report Cheater" button doesn't help, as any sore looser who doesn't understand the nuances of the game will use it when their teams get beaten by well theory crafted counters.
A battle log would at least allow players to see if their opponent could have beaten them legitimately. That would probably work much better than banning players accounts who are trying to shed light on the issue for you.
But then again, that would require CG/EA to do the "right thing"....not exactly their strong point lately.
In game name: Lucas Gregory FORMER PLAYER - - - -"Whale blah grump poooop." - Ouchie
In game guild: TNR Uprising I beat the REAL T7 Yoda (not the nerfed one) and did so before mods were there to help
*This space left intentionally blank*
I am quite sure I’ve ran across a few of these teams. I’ve had full health and been 1 hit taken out b a Barriss. I’ve had a NS team with a lead of Asajj just magically come back to life. I know of all the ways a NS team can bring someone back and this wasn’t it. I had already killed them enough time Stoney were dropping. I has killed MT and Daka off for good, then bam everyone is back. It was pretty crazy.
How do i know if i lost in a fair way or against a cheater? We haven't enough information to differenciate.
So what is CG expecting us to do? To report every fight/player that looked suspicious in some way?
Well ok, have fun reading all upcoming reports then.
CG: oh noes, we have so many false reports to wade through we can't possibly get through them all. The players are to blame for making false reports. Looks like our hands are tied again! *Shrug and giggle*
I am quite sure I’ve ran across a few of these teams. I’ve had full health and been 1 hit taken out b a Barriss. I’ve had a NS team with a lead of Asajj just magically come back to life. I know of all the ways a NS team can bring someone back and this wasn’t it. I had already killed them enough time Stoney were dropping. I has killed MT and Daka off for good, then bam everyone is back. It was pretty crazy.
Nope. People can only cheat when attacking, it has been said and explained multiple times. Your post is actually a good example of how people will start falsely accusing legit players because they don't understand the mechanics of this game.
...bulldog had my sympathy until I just saw a post on FB saying that he is going to broadcast the hack to everyone if they don’t reverse the ban....this is stupid. He knew the risk he took and he has to live with the consequences, but to try and burn down the entire game is incredibly childish and petty. He deserves the ban if this is how he’s gonna act. For shame.
Too many of you are acting like the TOS should be treated like the US constitution or scripture.
The TOS is a corporate document CG writes in its own best interests. They can enforce it or not enforce it, change it at their whim, etc.
We shouldn't get caught up like we're discussing a major social issue on Meet the Press. "Look, laws should be enforced. What kind of society are we if we don't enforce laws! If you want to change the law you need to go about it in the right way. Write a letter to your congressman. I am sympathetic to the cause of the two youtubers but they should have done things differently"
CG absolutely does not keep its own word when its in the best interest of CG not to. Play the game for a few years and notice how often they total disregard statements and plans they make.
It's pretty apparent why they banned these players but haven't developed, for years, a reliable detection system: developing a reliable detection system costs money, and so does letting people know the truth that they money they spend in the game may not be buying the advantage they think they're buying.
So you look at this "rule enforcement" and you ask, who does this benefit? You have to ask, whose interest does it serve to make an example out of people who take players out of their blissful ignorance about cheating? And the answer to that is pretty clear: it does not benefit honest gamers but it does benefit CG and the cheaters themselves.
CG wants us in a state where cheating is mysterious, most of us don't even know how it works, so that if any of us start complaining about cheating the rest of us will say "wow salty" "git good" or "well he could have gotten that score doing blah blah." Because if we don't know anything other than what CG tells us one guess is as good as another.
Do not forget that they already punished McMole in the past just for criticizing the business model of CG.
It amazes me that people are taking the side of CG on this against their own interest. Bulldog and McMole put CG in a position where they have to finally do something, that is, as long as we don't rush to the defense of CG and demand that instead of fixes and restoring bulldog's membership in the community we demand a return to our blissful ignorance where all we have is CG's "good word" to go on.
So I guess the answer is to just report everyone and let CG sort it out on their side? Get ready for the influx CG...
This is a pure, total crap response here guys. It’s highlighted by the fact that you can’t even find the alt account Bulldog used to create the video. That’s like a laugh out loud level of incompetence and supports the idea that this *needed* to be brought into the light.
Give them their accounts back and actually do something about the problem for once.
Not a fan of the current solution. You guys are gonna receive thousands of reports every day. There are lots of soar loosers playing this game, quick to call anybody a cheater when they loose... I think your shooting yourselves in the foot here.
Being able to watch the defensive matches is the best solution IMO
This is not correct. They’re shooting themselves in the head...
I am quite sure I’ve ran across a few of these teams. I’ve had full health and been 1 hit taken out b a Barriss. I’ve had a NS team with a lead of Asajj just magically come back to life. I know of all the ways a NS team can bring someone back and this wasn’t it. I had already killed them enough time Stoney were dropping. I has killed MT and Daka off for good, then bam everyone is back. It was pretty crazy.
And this illustrates perfectly why the normal system for policing GAC will never work. If it is left to a group like a shard chat or a guild, those people are generally smart enough collectively to figure out whether cheating was likely. When it is left to individuals, we will have people like this who don’t understand the basic mechanics of the game or what client side cheating would even look like. So they either don’t report at all or they report every time they lose. Which means the vast majority of cheating reports will be baseless.
Bulldog wasn't expecting a medal or anything, he was trying to show CG what to look for and how to guard against it. He's been a huge help with not only tips, but identifying exploits that should be addressed to improve the game overall. And he gets banned for it? He had absolutely nothing to gain..
"He works with the permission of the owners of systems. An ethical Hacker must comply with the rules of the target organization or owner and the law of the land and their aim is to assess the security posture of a target organization/system."
People hack Apple and Microsoft and Google to expose security flaws without their permission are jailed IRL
There are proper safeguards in place, and bulldog never went through the correct channels to exploit the game. He never asked CG for permission to do this.
He cheated
He got caught
He got banned
He wanted fame and notoriety which is also a M.O. of some hackers -- Look up Morris Worm, the owner did the same thing that bulldog did
I like bulldog but hacking a game has consequences that can result in a ban and it was pretty dumb to do so and think he can get away with it
Replies
Say an individual has been carrying out a crime and is willing to expose the details and inform he/she gets immunity or reduced sentence.
There's no evidence to suggest they used this method before the exposure for personal gains. Admittedly carrying on for months 'proving a point' is his downfall. He should of tried for a week to validate this and privately notified CG, rather than embarrass them.
Being able to watch the defensive matches is the best solution IMO
You were able to tell us numbers of players who were able to complete the Acklay mission, so start narrowing potential users of this cheat from the new TB* matches manually, until you have an update that validates the end user client communication properly to the server.
*Edit: "TW to TB"
Now really, when I lose there is a chance every single time that I may have only lost cause they cheated, but its impossible to know or find out, are we supposed to report EVERYONE that wins? Does that mean every time I have won, I have been reported for cheating?
Should we actually be scared of winning in Gac because the other guy can suspect cheating?
At the start of GA we were "Promised" (I guess its a CG type of Promise) that cheaters would be dealt with to prevent this happening. So far, this cheat has existed for the entire time GA has existed, and only now its brought into the light, and you are "taking cheaters more seriously"? You know how terrible a statement that is? WHY were you not always taking cheaters seriously? Is it because they spent money on your game? Can't hurt your revenue?
And not only that, legit people who are trying to make the game better, were targeted and banned.
In the list of shamefull atitudes, that's was the worst because you dont wanna solve the problem, you wanna hide it.
If we want Cg to be tough on crime how can we complain though?
They would have preferred if bulldog had sent this info straight to them instead of testing it of course...maybe others did.
They would have preferred if. mole had reached out to them directly instead of making the vid.
On the topic of permanent bans- we are saying that an account is banned true? Can the same device start or load a different account?
This. If CG/EA wants players to be more active in reporting cheaters, at least provide us a tool to help us do so. And no, a "Report Cheater" button doesn't help, as any sore looser who doesn't understand the nuances of the game will use it when their teams get beaten by well theory crafted counters.
A battle log would at least allow players to see if their opponent could have beaten them legitimately. That would probably work much better than banning players accounts who are trying to shed light on the issue for you.
But then again, that would require CG/EA to do the "right thing"....not exactly their strong point lately.
In game guild: TNR Uprising
I beat the REAL T7 Yoda (not the nerfed one) and did so before mods were there to help
*This space left intentionally blank*
How do i know if i lost in a fair way or against a cheater? We haven't enough information to differenciate.
So what is CG expecting us to do? To report every fight/player that looked suspicious in some way?
Well ok, have fun reading all upcoming reports then.
CG: oh noes, we have so many false reports to wade through we can't possibly get through them all. The players are to blame for making false reports. Looks like our hands are tied again! *Shrug and giggle*
Nope. People can only cheat when attacking, it has been said and explained multiple times. Your post is actually a good example of how people will start falsely accusing legit players because they don't understand the mechanics of this game.
The TOS is a corporate document CG writes in its own best interests. They can enforce it or not enforce it, change it at their whim, etc.
We shouldn't get caught up like we're discussing a major social issue on Meet the Press. "Look, laws should be enforced. What kind of society are we if we don't enforce laws! If you want to change the law you need to go about it in the right way. Write a letter to your congressman. I am sympathetic to the cause of the two youtubers but they should have done things differently"
CG absolutely does not keep its own word when its in the best interest of CG not to. Play the game for a few years and notice how often they total disregard statements and plans they make.
It's pretty apparent why they banned these players but haven't developed, for years, a reliable detection system: developing a reliable detection system costs money, and so does letting people know the truth that they money they spend in the game may not be buying the advantage they think they're buying.
So you look at this "rule enforcement" and you ask, who does this benefit? You have to ask, whose interest does it serve to make an example out of people who take players out of their blissful ignorance about cheating? And the answer to that is pretty clear: it does not benefit honest gamers but it does benefit CG and the cheaters themselves.
CG wants us in a state where cheating is mysterious, most of us don't even know how it works, so that if any of us start complaining about cheating the rest of us will say "wow salty" "git good" or "well he could have gotten that score doing blah blah." Because if we don't know anything other than what CG tells us one guess is as good as another.
Do not forget that they already punished McMole in the past just for criticizing the business model of CG.
It amazes me that people are taking the side of CG on this against their own interest. Bulldog and McMole put CG in a position where they have to finally do something, that is, as long as we don't rush to the defense of CG and demand that instead of fixes and restoring bulldog's membership in the community we demand a return to our blissful ignorance where all we have is CG's "good word" to go on.
This is a pure, total crap response here guys. It’s highlighted by the fact that you can’t even find the alt account Bulldog used to create the video. That’s like a laugh out loud level of incompetence and supports the idea that this *needed* to be brought into the light.
Give them their accounts back and actually do something about the problem for once.
#freemcmole #teambulldog
This is not correct. They’re shooting themselves in the head...
And this illustrates perfectly why the normal system for policing GAC will never work. If it is left to a group like a shard chat or a guild, those people are generally smart enough collectively to figure out whether cheating was likely. When it is left to individuals, we will have people like this who don’t understand the basic mechanics of the game or what client side cheating would even look like. So they either don’t report at all or they report every time they lose. Which means the vast majority of cheating reports will be baseless.
Lol... you never fail to tow that CNN line lol
Kill the messenger. Post a note to inform everyone what they did on this issue. No further actions needed.
Go and sleep and let it die off.
Ahh you mean nothing