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[aIW|Blitz]

Greetings,

First off, I think it's important that I introduce myself. I go by Blitz, and am one of the administrative staff with alterIWNet, which many of you are probably familiar with. I'm here to question one of the plugins, created by Bakes, that has been used at least twice now by server owners to cheat in competing against other servers for players. The plugin in question is located here.

I am surprised to see that a reputable organization such as BigBrotherBot has allowed such plugins to be freely distributed knowing that said items undermine the basic server search process and can cause a flood of false data, causing servers to appear active when in reality they are empty. These types of plugins serve no legitimate purpose except to create personal gain (money or clan members - or both). It is very frustrating for our users when they attempt to join a server they believe is populated but is in fact not. As this plugin gains popularity, it is quite possible our entire list is filled with nothing but junk unless more severe countermeasures are taken on our end, which I would rather avoid entirely. A response from a BigBrotherBot staff user would be appreciated.

My hope is this particular plugin, and other plugins that may be developed for the sole purpose of cheating and undermining gaming networks, will be removed and further posting banned by your organization. I think what I say is in the interest of all PC gamers. Thank you for your time, and looking forward to your reply!

- Blitz, AlterIWNet Administration

Verification: Private message "aIW|Blitz" on #alteriwnet, network irc.rizon.net, OR, send me a PM at our above linked forums to user "Blitz".

[MordyT]

While I am not a B3 staff member, I do agree with you to some extent.
However, I was under the impression that the plugin in question does not work on MW2 as CoD6 is not in the list.
Are you 100% sure that plugin is being used?

Also, plugins such as that one will be made, even if that one is removed. This is the nature of open source. I suggest a better way of dealing with it:
B3 sends a heartbeat to the master server once a day. In that heartbeat, among other things, is a list of all plugins used. I suspect you can code a system to de-list a server from your system if that plugin is in the heartbeat.

Like I said, just my own personal opinion. I do NOT represent B3 in any way shape or form.

[aIW|Blitz]

While I am not a B3 staff member, I do agree with you to some extent.
However, I was under the impression that the plugin in question does not work on MW2 as CoD6 is not in the list.
Are you 100% sure that plugin is being used?

Also, plugins such as that one will be made, even if that one is removed. This is the nature of open source. I suggest a better way of dealing with it:
B3 sends a heartbeat to the master server once a day. In that heartbeat, among other things, is a list of all plugins used. I suspect you can code a system to de-list a server from your system if that plugin is in the heartbeat.

Like I said, just my own personal opinion. I do NOT represent B3 in any way shape or form.

Hi MordyT,

Thank you for your reply. I received a link to this plugin from one of the abusive users who had ended up caught - it was an exchange for a lesser ban term (so far I've been banning entire sets of clan servers for those caught using this item). I think it is then reasonable to assume this likely works with MW2, especially given the engine is similar to the one found in  COD4. Nonetheless, even if it were not to work on our servers, the principle argument of my post is still something I stand behind. The problem would not be localized to our network, but would also show up on xfire lists for all of the games this type of device supports. We would have no way to control that at all.

I understand that programs such as the one referenced will come out no matter if it's censored on one site or not. However, I contend that it being available on this site in particular makes it easy for the "script kiddie" types to get a hold of. It's kind of like hosting aimbot binaries on the google homepage, instead of having to search harder for  them. A convenience if you will.

As for your suggestion, I'll pass that along to our chief developer, as that seems reasonably easy to include. One last question for this post, however - since you said you do not represent B3 and thus probably have little say in what kind of policy is held for the board itself, do you know if any of the other officials check these sections for posts like mine? I would really appreciate it if one of the policymakers would be able to give me a final word on this. Again, thanks for your help - I really appreciate it.

Blitz

[xlr8or]

First of all I would like to thank you for your concern and for sharing your opinion on this matter. We've discussed the issue with the staff and came to a unanimous conclusion.

Although we don't fully agree on the term cheating we do agree that using a plugin to intentionally create false information (by communicating with the gameserver pretending to be a valid client) is not what B3 was designed for.

Therefor we removed the plugin from our download section.

[aIW|Blitz]

xlr8or,

Thank you and all the other staff involved in coming to this decision - obviously I was quite pleased to read your conclusion. Moreover, thank you for your team's continued effort in building such useful and successful software while asking so little in return. Best wishes,

Blitz