cheating
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Chinese police arrest three in high-tech exam cheating scheme
As we've seen countless times, the temptation to cheat on tests using various gadgets and wireless technology is often too great for students to overcome -- even chess players have occasionally given themselves an unfair advantage. While much of the test cheating involves nothing more than hidden iPods or cellphones, it can sometimes raise to the level of elaborate test cheating crimes rings, with students forking over big bucks for a little assistance. As Reuters reports, that appears to be what has gone down during China's recent national college entrance exam, where three men were arrested for relaying answers to a student from a van parked outside the school. Apparently, the student (who paid $1,500 for the "service") wore a wireless microphone to read out the questions, with the men in the van using a pair of computers to look up the answers. That's not all the police had to deal with, however, with them also reportedly turning up 42 pairs of so-called "cheating shoes" with "transmitting and reception ability" prior to the exam, as well as some "cheating wallets" and hats.
The pacing of the new endgame
So Illidan met his match yesterday in the form of Nihilum, which means that since the Black Temple is the last and latest bit of content to show up on the live servers, the game is effectively beaten. That's it. We're done. Time to go home.Didn't that seem a little fast? The original WoW content took a few years to "beat," it seems, and now Burning Crusade (and the 2.1 patch) has been beaten by players in a matter of months. Is the endgame going too fast? From Boubouille's wrapup of the Illidan defeat yesterday, we get this post on the Elitist Jerks forums by Tigole. He says Blizzard is very happy with the way Black Temple is tuned. He also takes a look back at Naxx, and says the Four Horsemen were an example of an encounter that was well-tuned, but players at the time didn't have the gear they needed, so it took much longer for guilds to finish them off. The biggest hole in WoW content right now, Tigole says, is the lack of options after Karazhan for 10 man raids-- but, he says, "we're fixing that." So /cheer for more 10 mans to come.But is the endgame dropping too fast? In my estimation, not at all. In my estimation, Nihilum is not a normal guild. If you're willing to give them the benefit of the doubt on gold buying (and frankly, I am not-- I believe they're cheating), they clearly play the game more than anyone else, driven by both their own determination and the fact that they are basically raiding celebrities in Azeroth. They are the hardcore. And if you're asking me whether hardcore players should finish the endgame content quickly, I'd say they should.Why? Because that means it will be that much easier for casuals to get there, too.
Hot new anti-cheating tool: RFID tagging exams
Given the vast amount of digital goodies that can be utilized as tools to gain an unfair advantage in certain testing situations, it's about time we see the officials fight fire with fire. With some schools banning iPods while others tie them into the learning process, Edexcel is looking to nip any potential theft problems in the bud by tagging packs of GCSE and A-level papers with RFID. Reportedly, the level of security surrounding these papers is already quite strict, and while actual cases of theft have remained relatively small so far, the exam board's not willing to risk it. The papers are apparently quite tempting targets for larceny, as past episodes have landed the confidential information on underground markets and even the internet, and the new tagging system will keep track of "how many papers are in the bundle, where they came from, and where they are going." Interestingly, it was noted that the packs wouldn't actually be tracked remotely, but instead would "speed up checks carried out by compliance officers." Currently, a "major trial" is already underway to presumably judge the effectiveness of the new anti-cheating system, so we'd think twice before snagging that pack of papers laying on the teacher's deserted desk.[Via The Register]
US schools banning iPods, DAPs to curb digital cheating
Slowly but surely, phenomenons such as texting and digital cheating are being both accepted and rejected (respectively) in high schools across the US. Apparently, school boards are just now figuring out what an iPod is truly capable of, as the gigabytes of space can hold an awful lot more cheat sheets than a mere TI-83 can (fess up old schoolers, we all did it). While cellphone bans have typically been in effect for some time now, it appears that the secret of using display-touting DAPs and PMPs to cheat is coming out, but why in the world has it taken this long? Besides that, we find it a bit curious that teachers weren't already frustrated with being tuned into with just one ear, as it seems that music players in general would cause quite the distraction in your average high school learning session. Still, it won't be long before diminutive Bluetooth earphones become all the rage, and once more institutions of learning will be futilely fighting the same battle all over again.
Hacker gets revenge on Puzzle Quest's bullying AI
We're not certain what sort of demonic sacrifices Infinite Interactive made to grant Puzzle Quest its hellborn AI, but we imagine that the cursed contract that authenticated the ceremony was written with the blood of many innocents. The match-three puzzler does everything short of outright cheating, stealing your advantages and setting up multiple combos, each computer-cleared gem bearing the mark of Mephistopheles.DS gamer Zaraf plotted a strategy that would tear down the AI's defenses and avenge dozens of unfair losses. Unwilling to spend months leveling up and making preparations, staying his vendetta, he hex-edited the game to to max out his character's stats. Zaraf then armed his warrior with a class spell called Deathbringer, enabling him to fill the screen with an amount of damaging skulls equal to half of his red mana. Head past the post break for the results caught on video.
Man wins $102,000, casino cries malfunction
We're fully aware that getting too clever while in a casino is likely to land you behind bars, but a Pennsylvania man is now crying foul after he got the short end of the stick in an unfortunate "mishap." The retired carpenter, who had visited the Philadelphia Park casino before, dropped his two quarters into a Wheel of Fortune slot machine only to win $102,000 -- or so he thought. The machine proudly conveyed his winnings right alongside his actual name, sending his emotions into a jovial whirlwind, but apparently the machine wasn't exactly supposed to, you know, let people hit the jackpot, and now he's fighting just to get his due reward. A spokesperson for the venue stated that it "was just an error in the communication system," but added the mistake seems to have originated in the in-house computing system, not within the machine itself. The man was offered "two tickets to the buffet" (saywha?) and advised to read the disclaimer on the machine, nullifying any awards if the machine malfunctions, but he still feels that this "fault" is illegitimate. So if you're the next person to strike it rich in a questionable casino, try not to get your hopes up too high, alright?[Via TechDirt]
Judge rules in favor of RIAA, XM ready for battle
Not like this is altogether surprising by any means, but a US District Judge has ruled that a lawsuit in which "record companies allege XM Radio is cheating them by letting consumers store songs can proceed toward trial." Deborah A. Batts has decided to not throw out the case which Atlantic, BMG Music, Capitol Records, and "other music distribution companies" filed against XM, and claims that the Audio Home Recording Act of 1992 does "not protect the company in this instance." Essentially, the judge ruled that special handheld recording devices, marketed as XM+MP3 players (you know, like the Inno), are not at all like "radio-cassette players," and then proceeded to explain how "recording songs played over free radio doesn't threaten the market for copyrighted works as does the use of a recorder which stores songs from private radio broadcasts." Aside from our apparent inability to understand why source A is less illegal than source B, we're completely on the same page with Ms. Batts, but nevertheless, she also asserted that XM is attempting to be "both a broadcaster and a distributor, while only paying to be the former," but completely disregards the extra fees that satellite radio firms pay to record labels in comparison to "free" stations. But if you think XM is downtrodden, you'd be sorely mistaken, as the company simply stated that it "looked forward to making its case (read: winning) in court." Now that's the spirit.[Via Orbitcast]
British cheaters jailed for illegally beating the odds
Joining the ever-growing list of folks using technology to unlawfully beat the odds is a group of British gurus who claimed nearly £250,000 ($487,400) before being sniffed out by curious officials at the Mint Casino in Cromwell Road. As with so many other high-rolling hijinks, the trio seemed to doing just fine, pulling in £38,000 ($74,084) during a single week at one point, but greed ended up getting the best of them, as you're bound to get scrutinized after winning 34 out of 44 matches in a row. The average joes-turned-poker-sharks utilized sleeve-mounted cameras to beam card deals to a completely wired up van waiting outside, which then rolled the footage in slow motion and passed along the top secret information to the actual table sitter, who listened intently via a hidden speaker. Their method illegally snagged massive chunks of coin from an estimated six of the capital's 25 gambling locales, and now they each face nine months behind bars, coupled with 150 hours of unpaid community service. Of course, one may argue the ethics behind stealing from a venue which thrives on suckering people in that stand little chance at walking out with any profit at all, but regardless, you won't see these folks in any gambling parlor for two full years after their stint, which should be ample time for RFID-infused playing cards to hit the underground market.[Via Fark]
Chess cheater's Bluetooth scheme sniffed out
It's no surprise to hear of someone using mobile / wireless technology to their advantage, and in the latest case of cleverness slapped down by the law, a scandalous Indian chess player was banned for a solid decade in order to "send a message" about how serious they took his act. Umakant Sharma had reportedly logged rating points at an alarming pace in the last 18 months of play, and even qualified for the national championship. But alas, racking up such insane numbers was bound to attract an investigation, and it was discovered that Sharma had been communicating to outside accomplices via a mobile handset and a miniscule Bluetooth earpiece stitched inside a cloth cap, which allowed an external computer to direct his each and every move. While we fully understand the wrongness of such a ploy, we can't deny the humor in envisioning seasoned chess players becoming enraged at their sudden misfortunes, but we'd highly recommend ditching the headgear (and any devious thoughts) before entering a tournament yourself.
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]
Fall update curbs GamerScore cheating
GamerScore whore awfullygood, from the appropriately named blog, "Confessions of a GamerScore Whore," describes how the Fall update made life more difficult for achievement cheaters:With the Fall Update, Microsoft has introduced a hybrid locking mechanism that effectively harms the first method [ for swapping game saves] and squelches the second method. Method 1 has been smacked silly because the vast majority of existing game save files created on the previous update do not work on the Fall update software version. This renders those files useless until unscrupulous members decide to re-upload hundreds of saves based from the new dashboard version. This will most likely take months upon months or possibly never happen for very unpopular games.Method 2 has been rendered useless as new console specific security is in place. Gamerscore thirsty gamers are taunted with a Corrupt Save message when the bypass method attempts to be used. Obviously, the new security may eventually be cracked by code junkies, but those game saves may also have to be re-uploaded. I'm unsure of any repercussions to method 3. I've always found trading accounts to be supremely idiotic as anyone could keep your account for themselves. Anyway, if anyone has heard if method 3 has been affected, let me know. Former champ ST TheKing quit the GamerScore race after the upper reaches of the leaderboard became became clogged with fakes, including awfullygood himself (who admits he was cheating just to keep up with the Joneses). Sure Xbox 360 achievements are intangible and useless, but they are fun to earn and these a-hole cheats make a mockery of every pallid kid who spent a three day weekend in the basement going after that final Lumines Live time attack get. For God's sake, if putting endless hours into a crap game like Bomberman gives you a limited sense of accomplishment, stealing a game save must give you even less. Of course, these changes won't stop cheating, just slow it down for a bit. But it does serve as a reminder that you're not entitled to an elite score, unless you're playing that other console.
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.
Roulette-cheating gadget may be legal in the UK?
In case that established career of yours isn't working out so well, you may want to consider a move to the United Kingdom, where a new law deregulating the gambling industry may make it much easier to cheat at roulette. A £1,000 ($1,883) device, consisting of a tiny computer that can be embedded inside other electronics is used to calculate deceleration on a roulette wheel that's perceived to favor one section over another; the computer then sends an audio signal to the wearer alerting him/her where to place a bet. The Guardian reports that the legal change requires casinos to police themselves, and that the Gambling Comission is advising British gaming establishments to refuse making pay outs to gamblers caught with the device, forcing upset clientèle to take their grievances to court. Still, it's unclear whether or not the so-called Gambling Act 2005 which goes into effect next year actually prohibits such devices -- although it does create a "criminal offence for cheating at gambling," Europe's only professor of gambling, Mark Griffiths at Nottingham Trent University, argues that neither the roulette computer nor card counting techniques constitute cheating to begin with because both supposedly use "science to give yourself a better advantage." While we'd have to disagree that using a computer inside a casino is the same thing as using your brain, the fact of the matter is that the gambling community as a whole benefits from a stricter interpretation of the law: i.e. if electronic aids become legal, and everyone starts using them and winning, then the casinos will eventually go out of business and there'll be no more gambling at all -- way to ruin everyone's good time, you lousy non-cheaters.[Via The Guardian]
59,000 More Accounts Closed
In their continued effort to rid Azeroth of hackers and gold farmers, Eyonix announced this evening that 59,000 accounts were closed during the month of June for terms of use violations. Have you seen anyone behaving suspiciously on your server? An account that's being controlled by a bot isn't too difficult to spot if you spend a bit of time paying attention - and Blizzard investigates all reports. So if you suspect such behavior, report it to a GM, and help the community be rid of the annoyance of hackers and bot farmers.
"Wigged out" students caught cheating
You've probably considered it, you may have even given it a whirl just to see if it'd fly; using technology to your advantage in testing situations is most often regarding as cheating, as was the case when proctors recently busted a ring of Vietnamese test-takers attempting to cheat on their college entrance exams. More than 20 hopeful students paid between $1,250 to $3,125USD to get wired up with wigs and shirts that would allow them to communicate questions and answers via mobile phones without being discovered. The potential gain was apparently worth the risk, especially since only 10 percent of applicants in Vietnam get accepted to universities. Once again we see that crime doesn't pay, but we can't help but give props to the high-tech hijinks.
Griefing and self-governance in online games
The Guardian has produced an excellent column that addresses the problem of "griefers", people that abuse, team-kill and cheat other players of online games, particularly MMOs. Griefing has always been a problem where real players compete against their peers, although with massively multiplayer online games the problem has become much more serious. Earning a battleship in Eve Online or crafting a special item in World of Warcraft can take weeks if not months of game time. On top of that, the recent trend for people to sell items on auction sites like eBay has meant that rare online items have a monetary value.The article cites several high profile situations where griefers have bent moral codes with the Guiding Hand Social Club's ruination of Ubiqua Seraph in Eve Online and the funeral crash in WoW being the two main examples. Solutions that companies have come up with to limit these types of situations from happening are also looked at with the Xbox Live points system and strong community measures (like guilds and friend lists) being top on the list of letting players self-govern the problem. Effective community governance is essential if companies want to keep players inside the game and so that the owners don't have to resort to more drastic measures, like Blizzard does with its periodic account banning binges.Update: fixed a couple of minor grammatical errors.
Blizzard Closes Another Round of Accounts
In their never-ending war against the evil gold farmers of the planet, Blizzard has announced that during the month of May, over 30,000 accounts have been suspended, removing over 30 million in gold from the economy across all servers. Now, just look at those numbers for a moment: 30 thousand accounts closed. That's a number of subscribers that many small game companies would love to claim as their entire playerbase, and those are not only just the cheaters in WoW, but only the ones who got caught! And 30 million gold out of the economy...that's...well, I'm actually not sure what the hell that means, because I'm not an economist. i'm sure Ben Stien could tell you.In any case, the bottom line is, don't cheat, or Blizzard will get you. If they're lucky. You can read the full announcement at the official homepage right here.
WoW Breeding Online Vigilantes In China
In the holy-lord-I-hope-this-never-happens-to-me dept., an article today over at the International Herald Tribune shines a light on an interesting phenomenon that's making headlines in China; internet hunting. No, it's not when you click the mouse on those 'shoot the duck' pop-up ads; internet hunting is nothing less than a virtual mob of people tracking down the perpetrator of an alleged indescretion online & basically making their life a living hell any way they can. It began with the case a couple of years ago where a woman seen being abusive to her pet in public was tracked down online & harrassed mercilessly by hundreds of Chinese internet users, and the latest case started right in our beloved World of Warcraft.As the article states, a player named Freezing Blade apparently discoved a communication between his wife & an acquaintance that led him to believe the two were having an affair. So, he gathered a group of online friends & proceeded to 'hunt' the other guy. Soon, the 'hunt' included literally thousands of other players & net users, in what might be a bigger manhunt than the FBI has conducted in years.The net can be a powerful tool for a variety of things, so I'm surprised it's taken this long for online revenge to make the news. I just hope none of my ex-girlfriends ever reads this and gets any bright ideas. In any case, it's a fascinating read. Check out the full article right here.
Confessions of a Middle School Cheater
In yet another sign of the decaying morals of our youth, today's Salt Lake Tribune has an article on 'cheating' in MMO's that contains some shamefully unremorseful confessions by some local youths of their nefarious gold-buying & pay-per-level activities. Where are these kids getting the cash to buy hundreds of dollars worth of powerleveling services, anyway? At that age I was lucky to get 35 cents to buy a comic book (yes, they were 35 cents...and I was still pissed about the price hike from 25).I love how these kids absolve themselves of guilt with statements like "Yeah, it was cheating...but I got a whole bunch of weapons". I'm pretty sure Lex Luthor said that once...
F.E.A.R. patch to include PunkBuster
Vivendi announced today that there's a new patch for the psychological shooter F.E.A.R. in the works. This patch will include PunkBuster anti-cheating software and the option to kick players from multiplayer matches, as well as three new maps.This is eerily similar to the recent Call of Duty 2 fiasco, in which players threatened strike action unless something was done to reduce the levels of in-game cheating. A patch was released with PunkBuster, and everyone seemed to be satisfied. Cheating can make or break a title in terms of its multiplayer success, and as developers will inevitably have to patch anti-cheating in, it's surprising that neither game launched with the functionality.
