declined Game Reports channel

[Brandorrrr 119]

This was a thing at one point. It was during an update and never returned. I know people that encounter hackers and don't publish anything about it because they don't want to give tanki their personal email. I think it should be returned for the convenience of not having to give tanki any personal information and staying on one community to get a hacker reported.

[Maf 32,300]

Declined

You can use the /vote [nickname] command to report a player for hacking or sabotage, and a battle moderator will come to deal with your report in real time. This is the most efficient way to deal with reports, and experience shows that the new reports system is a far better use of battle moderators' time than sitting in a lobby chat and sifting through player messages.

[Inkling_Boy 124]

@Maf Does a message even show in the chat with the violator's ban so I know if to spend time trying to get a player banned who may already banned?

[Jeers4U 666]

On 4/9/2023 at 4:38 PM, Maf said:

Declined

 the new reports system is a far better use of battle moderators' time than sitting in a lobby chat and sifting through player messages.

I would think that time wouldn't be an issue with so few players actually being here and posting messages in the lobby chat...?

[Cyborg 24]

On 4/10/2023 at 8:16 PM, Jeers4U said:

I would think that time wouldn't be an issue with so few players actually being here and posting messages in the lobby chat...?

They are lazy. 

Getting free stuff for doing nothing in the lobby chat. 

I already reported few moderators who are doing nothing to Marcus. 

[Maf 32,300]

On 4/10/2023 at 10:16 PM, Jeers4U said:

I would think that time wouldn't be an issue with so few players actually being here and posting messages in the lobby chat...?

If the game is to have an official chat channel for players to report violations, it means that a battle mod must always be on duty there, to ensure that new reports from players are answered as soon as possible. So a battle mod would still have to be there all the time even if there are few actual player reports.

Plus, reporting this way requires the player to leave the battle and potentially lose their spot. It's a rudimentary, inconvenient and inefficient way to report violations. The /vote command is an order of magnitude more effective.

 

On 4/10/2023 at 1:32 AM, Inkling_Boy said:

@Maf Does a message even show in the chat with the violator's ban so I know if to spend time trying to get a player banned who may already banned?

If a player gets banned in your battle, the ban message is visible in battle chat.

[Jeers4U 666]

On 4/10/2023 at 2:47 PM, Maf said:

If the game is to have an official chat channel for players to report violations, it means that a battle mod must always be on duty there, to ensure that new reports from players are answered as soon as possible. So a battle mod would still have to be there all the time even if there are few actual player reports.

Plus, reporting this way requires the player to leave the battle and potentially lose their spot. It's a rudimentary, inconvenient and inefficient way to report violations. The /vote command is an order of magnitude more effective.

 

Based on how easy it is to start a new account, I would think time isn't a factor--as long as the hacker is eventually banned.

So a battle mod need not be present--unless you need real, in-game evidence that a hacker is present (based on tank behavior. magical shots through buildings, etc)

 

A dedicated channel would warn others of hackers and even give players a place to state if they encountered the hacker as well.

The in-game voting system relies on 1 or 2 players recognizing that there IS a hacker in the first place--which doesn't always happen.

If my tank is GS2k and I encounter a hacking GS8k, I would naturally assume he is winning because of his higher GS, not because of hacking...

 

I guess it boils down to this question:

Is in-game video evidence the only method you use to detect and to ban hackers?

[Maf 32,300]

On 4/11/2023 at 1:18 AM, Jeers4U said:

Is in-game video evidence the only method you use to detect and to ban hackers?

I'm not a battle mod, but from what I know — yes, this is the case.

Any hacker that's not automatically detected and impeded by the anti-cheat system must be banned either by a moderator present in the battle (as a player or as a spectator), or by someone recording a video and reporting externally (on RU forum).

[PirateSpider 1,489]

I either just ignore them or leave the battle if they're bothersome.

[Inkling_Boy 124]

On 4/10/2023 at 1:47 PM, Maf said:

Plus, reporting this way requires the player to leave the battle and potentially lose their spot. It's a rudimentary, inconvenient and inefficient way to report violations. The /vote command is an order of magnitude more effective.

 

What's wrong with reporting them AFTER the game? I find hackers in matchmaking all the time and I specify in the report that it was in matchmaking/MM or post the link if it's a pro battle. I still use Pro Battles to report hackers and other forums of game violation.

[Inkling_Boy 124]

It probably doesn't help that @mometasone created multiple accounts and lurked around the reports chat all day bullying anyone who made I report. I haven't seen him around for a while, so the chat should be safe from his pointless fights and one-sided arguments.

[Maf 32,300]

On 4/11/2023 at 8:43 AM, Inkling_Boy said:

What's wrong with reporting them AFTER the game? I find hackers in matchmaking all the time and I specify in the report that it was in matchmaking/MM or post the link if it's a pro battle. I still use Pro Battles to report hackers and other forums of game violation.

Because the damage is already done, and the hacker ruined multiple battles. So having battle moderators only work on real-time violations is better for player satisfaction and overall effectiveness of dealing with violations.

Think about it. If someone reports a player in battle, a battle mod responds to it within seconds or minutes, and the ban is issued swiftly (if needed). But if the player has to report it after the fact by recording a video, it means they have to first record it, then save it, then upload it, then create a topic on the RU forum, and so it may be hours before the video is seen by a battle mod and a ban is issued. In that time the hacker will have spent a long time ruining battles and many others would record and report him, meaning that battle mods would have to check through multiple reports of a player that already got banned, wasting additional time.

[Inkling_Boy 124]

On 4/11/2023 at 1:43 AM, Maf said:

Because the damage is already done, and the hacker ruined multiple battles. So having battle moderators only work on real-time violations is better for player satisfaction and overall effectiveness of dealing with violations.

Think about it. If someone reports a player in battle, a battle mod responds to it within seconds or minutes, and the ban is issued swiftly (if needed). But if the player has to report it after the fact by recording a video, it means they have to first record it, then save it, then upload it, then create a topic on the RU forum, and so it may be hours before the video is seen by a battle mod and a ban is issued. In that time the hacker will have spent a long time ruining battles and many others would record and report him, meaning that battle mods would have to check through multiple reports of a player that already got banned, wasting additional time.

Still, hacker satisfaction is ruining the game for others, so they will more than likely hack in the next game as well. Reporting them after the game can still be valid in getting a hacker banned. If Tanki likes their chat bots so well, then they should add bots that will automatically forward a report to any battle moderators online so they don't have to stare at a channel all day. The bot automatically finds them and makes their username in black or whatever distinguishes a violator for a battle moderator.

[Inkling_Boy 124]

Also, I used to have a topic called "Hacker Invasion" where you could complain about issues with hacking, the anticheat system, etc. I was the creator of this topic and I at one point stated that the topic could be used to suggest improvements to the anticheat system. This topic was mysteriously removed one day  with no given reason.

Someone (I think Bowser448) suggested having an auto-ban system. According to the author of this idea, there would be fixed boundaries and invisible counters that detect the possibilities of certain hacks being used. 

The best example to further explain the idea is the fly/jump hack detector. There would be invisible boundaries above the map that if crossed, automatically bans the user for hacking. There would also be a second boundary that is lower that sends a warning out to a battle moderator so a battle moderator can determine if the suspected user is actually hacking. If a hopper uses it's overdrive, then it is immune from the boundaries for 5 seconds after it's overdrive is activated.

Only downside is that this would be tough to implement and a lot of debugging is probably necessary in order to reduce the number of accidental bans. This would only be for matchmaking, not parkour.