[New Users] Please note that all new users need to be approved before posting. This process can take up to 24 hours. Thank you for your patience.
Check out the v.250 - Mayple Island Patch Notes
here!
Human Police patrol to fight hackers
To hire 1 or 2 employees as a Police Patrol inside Maplestory. You can create a special map for this Police Patrol where players can always meet them to report if they see hacker. Or can just have them stay at certain map example Henesys ch 10. Just announce to players where players can find them. These Police Patrol will have certain ability such as suspend players for 15 mins, 30 mins,1 hour, 6 hours, even 24 hours+. So if players get suspended, they will not be able to login depends on how long they get suspended. For ability to ban players, I would suggest that they have the ability to report hackers to the GMs, but they don't have the authority to ban players at place.
To avoid players trolling on the Police Patrol, they can put minimum level requirement. Example they will only act if the players who report it is lv 150 or above. As if there are players above lv 150 still troll, Police Patrol can just suspend them for 15 mins or 30 mins, or even 24 hours+ if it happened repeteadly. Eventhough a player is not level 150, they can still find help from friends who has a level 150+ char. Should not be that hard to find a player with lv 150+. If you want, you can even put higher minimum requirement such as lv 200+
These hackers have been ruining the game on a lot of aspects and I think it is worth for Maplestory to take out some money from their pocket, let's say $3.000 per month to hire someone who will patrol inside Maplestory.
Comments
Secondly, how is this going to work?
I go to the Police map and I tell them "I saw Roni777 hacking" and they just suspend you on my word?
Or do they go to the map where you are and watch to see if you're hacking or just normally training?
And while they are there watching you, what happens if someone else comes looking for them to report another hacker?
What if in that minute while they're gone, 10 people come in with new reports?
Nexon assures us that they do have GMs patrolling in-game 24/7.
They also assure us that all reports are looked into.
If you see a hacker during Live Chat hours, you can even go on live chat and report them, and they say they'll send the patrolling GM over.
Problem is that hackers and bots are automatically created faster than a human being can ban them. Even if Nexon hires more people, it's a losing war.
It's about as effective as trying to get rid of an ant infestation by hiring a bunch of people to kill the ants with their fingers, one by one. Bringing more people in is not the answer. Effective answers include finding and destroying the ant nest, or blocking the cracks they use to enter your home, or spreading poison that kills any ant that does make it in.
So Nexon is now trying, in addition to patrolling GMs, to create smarter solutions in the form of the auto-ban. So far their heuristics (the logic the auto-ban uses to determine whether someone is hacking) are a little lacking, but I believe this is the direction they need to keep pursuing.
Meanwhile, they do need more patrolling GMs (it's pretty ridiculous that people are still able to bot to 250 despite being reported multiple times), and they need more knowledgeable Senior GMs to investigate claims of false auto-bans.
Thanks for the questions. That is a good in depth questions.
Regarding 8 worlds, after i think about it, to put 8 Police watch is too many. Probably on several worlds that is crowded. As in the future, if there are more worlds getting crowded, i think it is worth it for maple to get more Police watch
how it works? My reason to put level minimum so that no troll is happening. So that every report is legit. As if players reporting false, if it is happening more than once, The Police Watch can suspend them for 15 mins or more for repeating offense. Let's say if maplestory decide to put minimum level 200, obviously it doesn't take only 5 mins to reach lv 200, but more than that. It takes some effort and time. So, it is not so easy to have the privillage to report to police watch. And trhough time, Police Watch will know which players are actually legitly reporting hackers/botters and which players are only a fraud / Troll. And Even the Police Watch can build a communication with players especially with those who are willing to help combat hackers / botters.
What if others come to report while the Police watch is on his way to a " crime scene"? A good question. As i think it over, then the Police watch should have at least 2 computers and 2 accounts. One char to stay on the spot while the other one can go mobile. it can be operated by 1 person. What if there are more than 10 reports at once. Well, there will be a lot of reports when early release of this Police Watch. But as time goes on, Hackers will be reduced because they know that hacking is harder and might not worth the time. The hackers might even quit playing. But this is better for the community. So the Police Watch can tell the players the situation and ask to wait. At least it is better than having no place to ask when there are hackers around.
Most hackers gets huge advantage by hacking and leaving their computer online and hack for long hours. So by suspended their char, it will give an obstacle for them to hack. At the end it will reduce the amount of hackers coz the police watch will keep an eye out on them with he help of the community. Hackers will have more chances to stop when they keep getting suspended or even banned even after just started it for 30 mins. For them to make a char to, lets say lv 200, and then getting banned / suspended, might make them think over it. It will not worth the time and trouble. You kill the rats/the ants before they eat your food. As these "rats" fail over and over again, this hacker rats will think over it and might stop and quit. it is because the cost they spend to hack, will not balance the gain they can get. Hacking 30 mins - 1 hour and to get suspended, won't give them much advantage, sooner or later hackers will quit. The one that makes hackers flourish is hacking for 24 hours+ without getting caught and earned billions of mesos and items. Only several would be willing to hack for 30 mins - 1 hour with at the end getting caught.
Using Live chat hours, GM can't determine whether the account who report it legit or just a troll. But by having Police Watch that actually on the game, can interact more with players especially to players who have more dedication on fighting hackers. To go to live chat, you need to open maple site, login, go into the live chat, and report it. not many players would do it. But by giving an easy access, player can just just teleport to the place and report. Or probably just locate it on "easy to access" map like Ardentmill, FM or PQ entrance.
When the Police Watch first release, it will be very busy. But after a while, it will force more hackers to quit, hence the Police Watch will have more time to focus on each report.
As Destroying the cracks or the nest, i have heard from several forum user that it is impossible to tackle. Because hacking and botting is so hard to tackle. And it is proven up until now, no Nest destroyed or Cracks have been repaired. The Nest is getting larger and there are more cracks appear everywhere.
BUT,
I agree that we still have to keep pursuing the Auto-Ban System.
"So Nexon is now trying, in addition to patrolling GMs, to create smarter solutions in the form of the auto-ban. So far their heuristics (the logic the auto-ban uses to determine whether someone is hacking) are a little lacking, but I believe this is the direction they need to keep pursuing."
I absolutely agree with this.
"Meanwhile, they do need more patrolling GMs (it's pretty ridiculous that people are still able to bot to 250 despite being reported multiple times), and they need more knowledgeable Senior GMs to investigate claims of false auto-bans. "
Also agree with this.
As addition, i have mentioned this on my previous suggestions, but will just write it again in short.
on Auto Ban, they also need to put, auto hack prevention. It is somekind of soft prevention. Example if certain players getting ridiciolously fast levelling, disconnect them. Or getting ridiciolous amount of mesos on short time, disconnect them. It is just soft action, not banning them. But will create barrier for hackers to easily getting huge advantage over a long period of time. If they can only get advantage for like 1-2 hours and getting disconnected, probably hacking won't be as bad as now.
For Ban Appeal, requires players to send video appeal showing player face, so GM can know the face. Hackers can hide under annonymous name, but using videos they can't hide anymore. Gms can sooner or later sort it out who are the repeat offender. Some people asking me about the legal issues. There is no legal issues here on asking your customer identity. It is not like you are asking their private matters. It is also not like you bring a weapon to ask them for their identity.
Obviously it is normal for any company to ask for their customers identity. They have their choice to give out the identity or not. In any other countries, asking for identity is not against the law. When we want to apply for work, when we apply for bank account, when we reporting something to the police, when we are applying for school, when we are applying to the court, when we are applying for Health Care, when we are applying for plane ticket, when we are buying something online, and such, all of them require us to submit identity and it is not against the law. You can just ask them to send you short videos stating their identity such as names, birth date, and city/country.
If some argue they can't make videos or don't have video recording, it is a lie. Even my 7 years old niece can make a video, and post it on our family whatsapp. She can even forward message and videos. if you don't have phone to make video record, go borrow from someone for a while. I don't believe someone who can own a computer to play Maplestory doesn't have at least someone he knows who have a phone.
This identity video is actually the best solution to smash the ant nest. Don't let hackers hide under annonymous name, otherwise no matter what GMs do, they will never find the nest, coz the Nest is hidden under annonymous name. The nest will getting bigger and bigger. It will cost you millions to solve it in the future. You don't even know whether it is an Ant Nest, bees Nest or a rats nest. You don't even know what bite you.