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Glitching with ghosts in Mario Kart Wii
Well, folks, the game we're all looking forward to might not be so perfect after all. Now, while the glitch itself works 100%, it seems that Nintendo is mindful of it and removing the faulty times from the leaderboards. So, at least the cheaters aren't getting the credit they so badly want.%Gallery-4772%[Via Siliconera]
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WoW Insider Show: Special multiboxing edition this weekend with guest Xzin
Multiboxing -- we've mentioned it quite a few times here on WoW Insider, and it's always been a controversial subject. While the game is quite clearly not designed around players playing multiple characters at once, Blizzard has stated that they have no problem with it -- as long as people are paying for each account they use, and not using third-party programs to control their characters, Blizzard is fine with it.But I, Mike Schramm, personally have always been quite against the idea of multiboxing. Lots of folks have used macros and programming to control multiple characters all the way up to level 70 and beyond, and some have even taken teams of characters into PvP areas to win battlegrounds and gain honor, or even win the arena seasons, and all the rewards that come with that victory. In my opinion, that's a horrible mockery of the way the game was designed -- this is a social game that is meant to be played with other players, and to pit one person with five computers against a real-life team of five people just isn't fair or interesting. Sure, you might be able to control the movements of five characters with skilled programming and control, but the other team has to coordinate five human minds all together, a much harder and more interesting act, in my personal opinion. I am firmly against multiboxing -- it's not the way this game is meant to be played at all, and while Blizzard may be content to make more money off of someone paying for many accounts, I'm not content to be stuck in a game with them.Which is why, this Saturday on the WoW Insider Show over on WoW Radio (at 3:30pm EST), our guest will be Xzin, one of the most notorious (and popular) multiboxers the game has ever seen.
Blizzard locked in legal battle with WoW bot maker
The BBC today has a nice little summary of the ongoing legal battle between Blizzard, maker of World of Warcraft, and Michael Donnelly, maker of bot program MMO Glider. In short, Blizzard says MMO Glider violates its copyrights and the end-user license agreement that players agree to when they install the game. Donnelly says he isn't breaking copyright because he isn't selling a copy of the game client itself, and that no one reads those stupid end-user license agreements anyway (we may have made up that last part of Donnelly's defense, but that doesn't make it any less true!).WoW Insider also has an update on the latest round of legal wrangling in the case, which seems to be a somewhat split decision that leans towards the side of the bot-makers. Ethical issues aside, we definitely don't have the legal acumen necessary to work out which side is in the right here. If any commenters out there think they can untangle this one, have at it.
Gears already riddled with cheaters
Emergence Day was supposed to be a celebration. A celebration of chainsaws, headshots, and curb stomping. It looks like it was a celebration of something else entirely: cheating. Remember the hubbub about not having friends in ranked matches of Gears? It looks like it was all for naught, as getting into ranked matches with your friends is easy as hell. All you have to do is host a game and your friends find your name in the host list. So, in pursuit of points and prizes, there were plenty of stacked teams yesterday. Gamer Andy tells of a particularly nefarious exploit using 5 people. "But GOW uses teams of four," you say, and right you are. The fifth person is actually on the opposite team, a saboteur for whatever clan is trying to rise to the top of the leaderboards. That not cheatery enough for you? How about the fact that the host has the power to start the match at any time, whether all members have clicked "Ready" or not? This makes it easy to stack games with uneven teams of 4v3 or even 4v2. Easy, ranked pickings for anyone. But wait, there's more. Another nasty exploit can be employed during execution matches. In execution, players can only be killed via curb stomp or execution. After a predetermined amount of "bleed out" time, a downed player will simply revive. So, cheaters start by stacking a 4v3 game, execute 2 opposing players, and leave a third alive. The third player is then shot down, but not executed. Why? Because downing a player is worth more points than executing them. Once the player revives, cheaters shoot him down again, wait for him to revive, rinse, repeat. This continues for the duration of the round. This also leaves the victims with an unfortunate choice: quit a ranked match and risk negative feedback from cheaters, or stay and endure fruitless minutes of death and rebirth.We'd like to believe that all this cheating was merely for the sake of winning some of the Emergence Day prizes, but we know better. Sure, cheaters may have hoped for a prize, but they would have cheated regardless. The unfortunate truth is that some people are just jerks (especially Pod 6). A lot of these problems could be solved simply by tweaking the lobby system -- not displaying host names, not letting hosts force start matches, etc. Hopefully, this will be addressed in the upcoming patch. Has anyone experienced these exploits online?[Via Inner Angst]
Serious Games Summit: The cheat's the thing
Cheating in games is a bad thing, right? Not necessarily says Mia Consalvo, a University of Ohio professor who has spent the past five years studying cheating and cheaters in video games.Where cheating in an academic or professional setting is severely frowned upon, Consalvo found through her research that almost all gamers consider cheating a natural part of video games. By conducting interviews with gamers and game-makers, wide surveys of players and direct experience with cheating in Final Fantasy XI, Consalvo has broken down the spectrum of video game cheaters into three general groups: Purists, who consider it unethical to complete a game using any outside help from codes, strategy guides or even advice from friends. Purists tend to think of these things as cheating themselves out of the full experience of the game, like peeking at a gift before Christmas morning "Code is law" followers, who believe cheating is all right as long as it is integrated into the game code by the developers. God mode in Doom is all right, hacking into Counter-Strike to create a god mode is not. "Cheaters," who will take any possible advantage against other players, who they often assume are cheating as well. This group will use hacks and outside programs to affect the game, and believe cheating doesn't hurt the cheater's enjoyment of the game experience. Consalvo also discussed the various motivations players had for cheating: Many players use cheats and guides to get unstuck or to add value to a game, but some use hints and codes as a way of fast forwarding through tedious sections or just to "be an ass" as Consalvo put it.Given the insatiable desire for players to cheat at games, Consalvo suggested that designers focus on making hints and exploits a natural part of single-player games rather than trying to force complete order. In multi-player games, she said that systems where players police themselves and punishments that take away prestige work better than technological solutions.
Inside the mind of a cheater
Have you ever played Battlefield or Halo online, only to be faced with dirty, filthy, joy killing cheaters? What was your first reaction? Whatever it was, we're pretty sure it wasn't "hey, would you like to do an interview?" That's exactly what Richard (nice name) from Aeropause did. The interview is a fascinating look into the thought processes of a cheater. Here's one of our favorite selections. When asked what game makers should do to curb cheating, the schmuck responds:"Give Up! There is no way to stop us. Everyone wants to cheat and we will always find a way to do it. Anyone reading this is simply jealous of the fact that I have enough nuts to cheat and play the game the way I want to."Wow. In denial much? Cheating because you enjoy making people miserable at least has some semblance of sense to it, but actually believing people are jealous of the act? That's practically mental instability. Still, his response to one question makes it all better:"Do you have a girlfriend? Schmuck5000: What kind of freaking question is that for this kind of interview? How does me having a girlfriend relate to cheating? (AP: We will take that as a NO!)"Ah, the fetid reek of Loserville. Makes us all warm inside. Hit the read link for more insight, if you dare.
