Pretty bummed about UO atm

[Eyes of Origin]

I debated on whether or not to even post this, but I've decided to go with it, even though, I have said myself how sick I am of seeing posts like these.

I know 3rd party programs exist and I know people use them, but we aren't allowed to post any type of accusations on the boards. In some ways I understand, in others, I don't.

The posts have since been removed from the Origin pvp boards, but last night a certain pvper's photobucket pictures were copied and pasted to the pvp boards.
The player was called out on having screenshots of illegal programs showing in his screenshots. He claimed the screenshots were fake, but everyone knows better. We traced all his other posted screenshots back to the same account.
Not only do we know it was his photobucket account, but this player admited off the boards that it was not fake and that it was from his photobucket account. He's admitted before, off the boards of course, that he is a code/script writer and the type of programs he does use.
I'm use to hearing about the type of scripts that people use to farm resources or train chars. This was a rather elaborate pvp script.

I log in maybe once a week as of lately and have recently gone from 5 accounts to 2 and after this, I dont see why I would log in anymore. It's devestating to the game.

To be honest, if we cant openly accuse someone over the boards, even with proof, why isnt there a way for us to send the information directly to someone at EA/Mythic? Why is it that we can't forward their player names to them and have them track the player in game and find a way to ban them for the use of such programs?

 

[Llewen]

Because the devs don't care? I hate to be a Negative Nelly, but that was the message I got when they cancelled Punk Buster a few years back, and since then they've done very little to show me that they do care about the issue.

Yes they deleted some gold, and burnt down some houses a few years back, but none of that touched the cheating that has always gone on in pvp except in a very minor, indirect way, and as far as I am concerned it didn't touch 99% of the cheating that goes on in all the other UO contexts.

They talk a mean game. They have said they have a fix for speed hacking, and third party cheat detection in the works, but that particular announcement was made three months ago, and since then there hasn't even been a whisper about it from the devs. And actually if you look back I believe I remember the devs talking about a fix for speed hacking years ago.

They have no way of detecting cheats in game, so paging a gm is pointless unless it is an obvious exploit that is clearly visible through the client. Posting screenshots and naming names is also pointless because very few cheaters will ever admit to cheating, in game or out, and in fact most cheaters manage to successfully convince themselves that they aren't actually cheating, and screenshots and videos can always be manipulated.

But don't worry, you'll get some pixelated chocolate for Easter, or a fun Easter event to take your mind off the fact that UO is dominated by cheaters. Of course you'll have to accept the fact that if there is an event it is the cheaters that will get the best rewards, and the greatest numbers of them...

 

[UOKaiser]

You didn't catch him unattended lol. Besides player name is useless. I know there is about 10 of me running around at any time. Even though am the original

 

[Kellgory]

You can probably have 100's of screenshots of them using "special skills" and "enhanced clients" and even them bragging about using them, but as far as EA/UO/Mythic is concerned, those are basically unusable since they could be modified by other programs, and at this point in time, as far as we know, they do not have a way to tell if a person is running an unapproved 3rd party program on their computer, therefore, your probably not going to see a PVPer getting yanked by a GM because they can insta chug a cure pot or apple. They keep saying they are working on a solution.

 

[Trebr Drab]

I don't think Stratics can allow posts like that because someone will post fake stuff. But the rest, I completely agree with.

 

[RavenWinterHawk]

I dont PvP cause there is no real reward.

However, you have to understand that this is a game. And player use 3rd party because its just a game.

In saying that it does suck. But cheating occurs because it is easy to do and enhances their game play.

 

[Martyna Zmuir]

You can probably have 100's of screenshots of them using "special skills" and "enhanced clients" and even them bragging about using them, but as far as EA/UO/Mythic is concerned, those are basically unusable since they could be modified by other programs, and at this point in time, as far as we know, they do not have a way to tell if a person is running an unapproved 3rd party program on their computer, therefore, your probably not going to see a PVPer getting yanked by a GM because they can insta chug a cure pot or apple. They keep saying they are working on a solution.

EA Mythic can ban whoever they like for whatever they want any time they want. Its their game, their rules, and their responsibility. They don't police the game.

I'm not impressed with them banning some sclub macroing skills while they knowingly allow scripters & speed hackers to run rampant. You can watch the mine scripters recall from spot to spot day after day - yet nothing is done.

They've promised for years that they were "working on it." The lastest smoke and mirrors promise dosn't have much credibility. They may have fixed the movement code to help speed hacking, but this "last 5%" has continued 3+ months more.

 

[Llewen]

Anyway, the cheating was part of what caused me to quit once, but quite frankly, as annoying as it is, I have lots of fun playing UO even though I am often beaten by people that are very likely cheating. So I determined that when I came back this time I wasn't going to let the cheating get to me. So far so good.

I'm still going to keep poking the devs with a stick over it though whenever the opportunity arises...

 

[gunneroforgin]

I debated on whether or not to even post this, but I've decided to go with it, even though, I have said myself how sick I am of seeing posts like these.

I know 3rd party programs exist and I know people use them, but we aren't allowed to post any type of accusations on the boards. In some ways I understand, in others, I don't.

The posts have since been removed from the Origin pvp boards, but last night a certain pvper's photobucket pictures were copied and pasted to the pvp boards.
The player was called out on having screenshots of illegal programs showing in his screenshots. He claimed the screenshots were fake, but everyone knows better. We traced all his other posted screenshots back to the same account.
Not only do we know it was his photobucket account, but this player admited off the boards that it was not fake and that it was from his photobucket account. He's admitted before, off the boards of course, that he is a code/script writer and the type of programs he does use.
I'm use to hearing about the type of scripts that people use to farm resources or train chars. This was a rather elaborate pvp script.

I log in maybe once a week as of lately and have recently gone from 5 accounts to 2 and after this, I dont see why I would log in anymore. It's devestating to the game.

To be honest, if we cant openly accuse someone over the boards, even with proof, why isnt there a way for us to send the information directly to someone at EA/Mythic? Why is it that we can't forward their player names to them and have them track the player in game and find a way to ban them for the use of such programs?

Well, Morgaine you will do what you feel is best. I know if you do quit UO you will be missed as you are already missed on Origin. I am sure you probably could PM Mesanna with your issues.

 

[Warsong of LS]

Well, if you are convinced that it is 100% true, you could always leave off the fight when that person shows up, there are plenty of places to fight. Or just understand that the need to win in their petty minds no matter what, and try to enjoy the game as much as possible. It is your entertainment, the object is for you to have fun. Everyone knows EAMythic is full of it, when it comes to catching these people. They have been ineffective for years. Why let it get under your skin?

 

[Picus at the office]

There are lots of things to do other than PvP but what those are I'm not sure. As for cheating, nearly everyone does it and one nearly has to in order to remain effective so......the scripts are one thing but the speeders are another IMO.

You can quit, stick it out and hope, stick it out and cheat or stick it out and not care.

 

[Gildar]

To be honest, if we cant openly accuse someone over the boards, even with proof, why isnt there a way for us to send the information directly to someone at EA/Mythic? Why is it that we can't forward their player names to them and have them track the player in game and find a way to ban them for the use of such programs?

You mean like by paging a GM?
Or by sending the info using the feedback form on UO Herald?
Or by e-mailing one of the e-mails listed on the contact information page, like the [email protected] or [email protected]?

Stratics forums are NOT the place to accuse other players, even if you have proof. If you have proof, send it to EA... they really aren't that hard to contact.

 

[georgemarvin2001]

While we were discussing a classic shard, I figured out a few things.

1. There is exactly one extremely successful 3rd party scripting program. Out of 75,000 or so EA UO subscribers, at least 26,625 use that illegal 3rd party scripting program. And a lot of the people who don't use it are multiple account owners, who don't need to use the program because those accounts just hold houses and stuff. That means that about half of their active accounts are scripting There is no way that UO is going to do a mass ban of HALF of their customers.

2. Most free shards don't have that problem, because: They all allow players to use a free UOAssist clone, which actively checks to see if that one particular scripting program is running, and sends that info to the server. The server admins can then ban that account. People playing those shards have a choice: Either use the equivalent of UOAssist for free and do a little work making macros, OR use the scripting program and get insta-banned if they are caught. Also, they don't just ban the account. They ban ALL accounts using that IP address.

3. When I checked the free shards out, I didn't see anybody using a speed hack. They aren't even all that common on EA UO. From discussions with my guildmates, there is apparently just one speed hack out there, and it doesn't work very well. They don't have to worry about it the enemy PvP guilds that have it actually using it for several days after every patch. About the time it starts working again, UO patches again and breaks it. I assume that the free UOAssist clone program also notes that the speedhack program is running when it sends info to the server, resulting in insta-bans for speedhackers.

I don't know why, after all these years, that UO hasn't given us anything similar to the pay-to-use UOAssist, or made something to actively check whether 2 specific 3rd party programs are running. But a big part of it may be that the half of their customers who are using at least one of the programs are just too important to their bottom line. Free shards, on the other hand, don't really have to worry about the bottom line, but they do want to have a really large player base, so they have a lot more incentive to keep cheating down to a minimum.

 

[dukarlo]

On GLs pvp forums(not stratics) the smack talk is plentiful. Players are so non-chalant about cheating its pretty sad. Players repeatedly post pics with cheats running on thier task bars all the while talking smack. The sad part is its so rampant that for every player that calls them out for it even more chime in backing the cheater up. UO is and has been a joke for quite some time. I cancelled a 2nd account a couple years ago because of it(figured id try to protest by not giving EA additional money) and may be getting to the end of the line on my remaining account, an account ive paid for 11 years now. It seems players are just getting faster and faster and there is no end to that in sight. More and more people in my guild are getting to the point of quitting also. At this point I dont even understand the point of signing the games TOS considering noone has to follow it. Its sad but EA has been and continues to be greedy, lazy, incompetent and otherwise a complete joke. UO has such a core of hardcore players but EA manages to **** them off more and more. The players know who is cheating and who isnt but it amazes me that EA does not care and makes no attempt whatsoever to take care of problems that obviously cause the game to bleed subscriptions. Obviously UOs official forums(stratics) protects the cheating masses(intentionaly or not) and because of that it allows EA to bury its collective heads in the sand. There is only 1 solution and that is for players to continue cancelling accounts. Money is all EA knows. It knows nothing of making games better. Its why its always buying small talented companies up and running them into the ground. Money talks(lots of it) when EA is concerned.

 

[JHall]

I have faith that things are going to get much better for UO.

 

[Llewen]

I have faith that things are going to get much better for UO.

Let's hope you're right, but these problems have been around for what, 13 years now? We keep hearing that the devs are working on this, or working on that, and a few times they've thrown us a bone and banned a few accounts belonging to a few of the most egregious of the offenders, but for the most part it has been 13 years of lip service and inaction.

Can you blame those of us who are sick of playing a different game than the cheaters are playing, using the same ball, of being cranky and cynical?

 

[dukarlo]

I have faith that things are going to get much better for UO.

Who the heck is J Hall? Another EA employee with no connection to the UO playerbase or a stratics apologist or what? All it says is J Hall- General Manager. Manager of what?

 

[Rhiannon]

It just amazes me that these type of posts and conversations are still happening after all these years. I think the first time I ever saw a post like this was early 1998. I guess the main point of my response is that someone will always figure out a way to cheat. So we as players have to find a way to have our own fun and avoid the obvious cheaters. They usually get board and go away eventually.

 

[Nyses]

I have faith that things are going to get much better for UO.

HHmm, if by "much better", you mean all of the issues with UO will be resolved, thats true. UO will eventually shut down and so will every problem UO has, right along with it.

However, that is not the option I would prefer.

 

[Guido_LS]

Who the heck is J Hall? Another EA employee with no connection to the UO playerbase or a stratics apologist or what? All it says is J Hall- General Manager. Manager of what?

He's the new general manager of Stratics... and while I dunno if he has any connections with EA/Mythic, I do know he's been making a serious effort to improve things here...

Little respect and a little research will go a long way.

 

[SchezwanBeefy]

You mean like by paging a GM?
Or by sending the info using the feedback form on UO Herald?
Or by e-mailing one of the e-mails listed on the contact information page, like the [email protected] or [email protected]?

Stratics forums are NOT the place to accuse other players, even if you have proof. If you have proof, send it to EA... they really aren't that hard to contact.

I have pages on known scripters several times and yet they continue to pop up in the game. They're unattended, walking in and out of their house and mining and smelting and they having tens of thousands of ingots sitting right on their porch. And yet, somehow, they keep showing up, in the same house, on the same character, on the same server.
So I ask you Gildar, what more do I do other than page a GM about the issue?

 

[Gildar]

I have pages on known scripters several times and yet they continue to pop up in the game. They're unattended, walking in and out of their house and mining and smelting and they having tens of thousands of ingots sitting right on their porch. And yet, somehow, they keep showing up, in the same house, on the same character, on the same server.
So I ask you Gildar, what more do I do other than page a GM about the issue?

If you know they're unattended (and not just ignoring you and following a set path and moving at a fairly constant speed like many attended miners will do)...
1. Submit a GM Review about your pages.
2. Send e-mails of complaint to the UO community e-mail.
3. Continue to page on the scripters when you see them.
4. Quit if you believe the activity makes it so UO is no longer worth your $10-13 a month and do not have faith that EA can or will take enough action to remedy the problem.

If it's quite possible that they are attended, then ignore them and stop wasting GM time. EA (hopefully) isn't going to ban somebody who has a decent chance at being a legitimate but anti-social resource gathering player.

Complaining about scripters to other players doesn't help the problem at all - it just annoys those players.

 

[Yalp]

As for cheating, nearly everyone does it and one nearly has to in order to remain effective so.

.. I am sorry but I don't believe that nearly everyone cheats.

 

[Capt.E]

It is disheartening to see players cheating ingame. It bothered me for awhile. It still does honestly.

I came to the conclusion that these peoples skills are so obviously lacking that they have to resort to every cheat or hack they can come up with to compete.

So for me, when I see it I count it as a win, even if my screen goes grey.

It is frustrating. I am hoping for a change.

 

[SchezwanBeefy]

If you know they're unattended (and not just ignoring you and following a set path and moving at a fairly constant speed like many attended miners will do)...
1. Submit a GM Review about your pages.
2. Send e-mails of complaint to the UO community e-mail.
3. Continue to page on the scripters when you see them.
4. Quit if you believe the activity makes it so UO is no longer worth your $10-13 a month and do not have faith that EA can or will take enough action to remedy the problem.

If it's quite possible that they are attended, then ignore them and stop wasting GM time. EA (hopefully) isn't going to ban somebody who has a decent chance at being a legitimate but anti-social resource gathering player.

Complaining about scripters to other players doesn't help the problem at all - it just annoys those players.

They aren't attended. Trust me. They are on endlessly doing it over and over. You say hello to them, nothing. They just keep going. This is also in Fel. I've attacked them and gotten no response before. They are definitely unattended. I've paged, I actually did send in a complaint through email about this problem, and like I said, I have paged on them countless times. But maybe GMs are like you and defend this game with a "so what, then quit" and don't read what other players post.

 

[Llewen]

As for cheating, nearly everyone does it and one nearly has to in order to remain effective so...

.. I am sorry but I don't believe that nearly everyone cheats.

Two of the classic lies that cheaters tell themselves and others.

1. Everyone is doing it.
2. I "have to" cheat to compete.

There are a number of other lies that cheaters tell themselves and others, but those are two of the big ones.

 

[Gildar]

They aren't attended. Trust me.

My lists covered both possibilities (though for the record... you're still describing something that I could easily see as being done while attended).
I listed the second primarily because I'm sure that GMs waste a whole lot of time responding to pages against people who are attended, and that lost time makes it more difficult for them to actually do anything against those who are cheating.

But maybe GMs are like you and defend this game with a "so what, then quit" and don't read what other players post.

1. I am reading what other players are posting.
2. GMs aren't paid to read Stratics, they're paid to respond to pages in game and follow a set of rules when responding to those pages.
3. I didn't say "so what, then quit" - you've grossly misinterpreted what I was saying. If the cheating in UO is enough of a problem for you then it would be in your best interest to quit. If it is not enough of a problem for you, then you shouldn't quit, and instead should continue following one of the other options (or just ignore the problem entirely).

 

[Taylor]

Who the heck is J Hall?

Who the heck are you?

 

[Froden_UO]

Syrus of Gahd,

Nice signature from Job 29:17.

 

[popps]

I log in maybe once a week as of lately and have recently gone from 5 accounts to 2 and after this, I dont see why I would log in anymore. It's devestating to the game.

Ultima Online would be such a much better game, and with perhaps so many more players playing it, "IF" scripting, hacking, duping and cheating in it had been fought the hard way from early on and made scorched land to players using them.

Unfortunately, I am still waiting.......

Will it ever happen ? I have been hoping it for so many years now I have lost count.

I am no longer holding my breath and, honestly, I do not see any light at the end of the tunnel.......

It is sad, though.

I have seen many fellow players leave the game in disgust over the wide spread cheating, and have heard of also quite several players who wanted to come back but decided not to because of the continued cheating.

It beats me why this is not addressed, once and for all.

 

[popps]

I have faith that things are going to get much better for UO.

Sorry, but really waaay too many years have gone by now hearing the same old promises and good wishes with nothing really changing for real.

At this point, I will believe it only when I will actually be able to see it.

In the meantime, the game keeps losing players having enough to play a game where so many and so easily cheat.

 

[popps]

4. Quit if you believe the activity makes it so UO is no longer worth your $10-13 a month and do not have faith that EA can or will take enough action to remedy the problem.

So then the game closes down for lack of subscribers ????

So now, instead of asking for EA/Mythic to finally stop cheats in UO players should shut up and quit playing ?

Hallo ?

Wouldn't it be MUCH better to stop cheats in UO and KEEP playing the game, instead ?

Uhu ??????????

 

[Eyes of Origin]

You mean like by paging a GM?
Or by sending the info using the feedback form on UO Herald?
Or by e-mailing one of the e-mails listed on the contact information page, like the [email protected] or [email protected]?

Stratics forums are NOT the place to accuse other players, even if you have proof. If you have proof, send it to EA... they really aren't that hard to contact.

If they have no thrid party detection program, how are they even going to know? I'm not talking about script mining or bull taming scripts, where the GM can obviously tell a person is afk... I'm talking about the scripts people run while they are playing.
The GM's wont do anything because they can't. The person isnt afk so they have no proof a script is being used.
Copying all the screenshots from this guys pic folder and sending them to EA probably wont get me far either. How do they know I didnt fake the screenshots? Even though I know I didnt and the guy who got busted knows the truth, it wont matter.
The guy is still claiming fake, btw and even went as far as requesting someone repost the pics because he finds it humorous, which since a mod cleaned up the thread, we cant repost anything.

Either way, until there is a 3rd party program detector, EA/Mythic wont do anything and after hearing its been going on since this game practically started, I doubt there ever will be one.

 

[Taylor]

Syrus of Gahd,

Nice signature from Job 29:17.

I like you, even if you are from Georgia. Texas B-B-Q ftw!

 

[wanderer1origin]

funniest thing about this is bull taming scripts LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

so one use of script good but if used against bad ??

not accusing morgaine never saw,

but some her company she keeps or have kept in past



be well morgaine

all cheating hurts the game

 

[Eyes of Origin]

i dont agree with it Author and I admited above I know plenty of ppl who use scripts, some of them I know better than others.. what do you want me to do? I'm not EA, I cant smack their hands and ban them for doing it.
If EA didnt let this go on for as long as it as, it wouldnt be a problem now.

 

[wanderer1origin]

i totally agree with you like i said didn't accuse you but where is the edge of slippery slope ? okay for friends to get taming up for pvp on new shard vs a auto bot who admits is looser on a pvp thread and has it on screen shot in taskbar!!!

he is no less a looser than your friends that auto bot skills, just smarter as he wont probably get caught at!

i dont agree with it Author and I admited above I know plenty of ppl who use scripts, some of them I know better than others.. what do you want me to do? I'm not EA, I cant smack their hands and ban them for doing it.
If EA didnt let this go on for as long as it as, it wouldnt be a problem now.

 

[Beer_Cayse]

So then the game closes down for lack of subscribers ????
In a word: yes. Popps, something for customers to know and use if needed ... speak with their wallet if needed. I am a firm believer that UO should die due to lack of subscribers if EA/Mythic does not stop the unattended scripting persons.

So now, instead of asking for EA/Mythic to finally stop cheats in UO players should shut up and quit playing ?
So when does the stop to it all happen? It hasn't for years ... we HAVE asked ... more than once. GMs who seem to NOT know this game are responding inappropriately if at all. That does not help to curb cheating.


Wouldn't it be MUCH better to stop cheats in UO and KEEP playing the game, instead ?
Yes it would, but when does it happen (see answer #1 above)?

 

[MalagAste]

I'm sorry but I almost have to laugh at the Cheaters... I mean really... you have to cheat to play UO and be good at it?!!?!?!?!?

How pathetic is that???

That's the way I see it. I play just fine.... with over 40 characters ..... and no cheating. No scripting, no hacking and no autolooters... just me.... and my G-13. Yes I run the new UOCartographer.... Yes I run UOAssist...... but I do not run anything that isn't accepted.

I use Ventrillo to talk to my friends and my Trillian... but I play the game myself.... I don't need no cheats to play. And sometimes.... I can beat the cheaters... always gives me a warm feeling inside when I do.

But I find those that use them.... Pathetic. The only ones they are cheating are themselves .... but the problem is they are obviously too dead headed to realize that. Probably why they need to cheat to play.

 

[H2O]

What is really sad about cheating is, you can page on a cheater and give every single detail to the GM's and they will always give the same response

"Greetings! Thank you for your petition.

We will review this matter and take action if warranted. This will take some
time, so please be patient. Due to our privacy policy, you will not be informed
of the results of our investigation. If you would like further information
concerning our policies and Rules of Conduct, we encourage you to review the
information available on our knowledgebase at the following link:

http://support.ea.com/cgi-bin/ea.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=347

Unfortunately Game Masters are not available to discuss policies and cannot
provide details concerning the results of an investigation. Please continue to
report the actions of any players that you feel to be in violation of our
policies so that we may investigate the issue, although multiple reports for a
single player are not necessary.

Thanks again for your report!

GM No Help


EA.com Customer Relations "

With same results every single time...................Not a damn thing done about it since they do not care and most likely don't even know anything about UO. All the GM's knows is to send out the auto reply message and hopes the person that paged just goes on and ignores the cheaters just like the GM's does.

 

[UOKaiser]

I'm sorry but I almost have to laugh at the Cheaters... I mean really... you have to cheat to play UO and be good at it?!!?!?!?!?

How pathetic is that???

That's the way I see it. I play just fine.... with over 40 characters ..... and no cheating. No scripting, no hacking and no autolooters... just me.... and my G-13. Yes I run the new UOCartographer.... Yes I run UOAssist...... but I do not run anything that isn't accepted.

I use Ventrillo to talk to my friends and my Trillian... but I play the game myself.... I don't need no cheats to play. And sometimes.... I can beat the cheaters... always gives me a warm feeling inside when I do.

But I find those that use them.... Pathetic. The only ones they are cheating are themselves .... but the problem is they are obviously too dead headed to realize that. Probably why they need to cheat to play.

The problem is that those that don't have a g-13,don't have uo assist,don't have uocartographer,don't have 40 characters,don't use ventrillo or triilian or icq would be pointing at you for being a cheater because you have the advantage over them.

 

[NuSair]

EA can already detect when you are running a 3rd part application. The programmer of one of the 'programs that cannot be named' has stated as such on the boards of said program. So, if you have run it, they already know about it.

The whole legal issue with WoW and their program has proven that EA can legally put something on your system to actively detect if you are running a 3rd party application.

As far as Punk Buster goes, as it has been stated many times before, because of the nature of PB, it's enforcement in non-US countries was questionable.

 

[Llewen]

EA can already detect when you are running a 3rd part application. The programmer of one of the 'programs that cannot be named' has stated as such on the boards of said program. So, if you have run it, they already know about it.

And you trust the creator of a cheat program? I've heard this said before, but I don't believe it.

For one thing from what I understand it would require the acceptance of a TOS where you give express consent for them to examine other programs which may be running on your computer and send that information back to them. I haven't read the UO TOS recently, but the last I checked it didn't have wording to that effect.

I think that is just the creators of that program which shall not be named making excuses for their behaviour, as in another of the lies that cheaters tell themselves and anyone else who will listen.

3. The devs already know about it and aren't doing anything about it so they must not care.

As with most good lies there is always an element of truth to them. Unfortunately this one is uncomfortably close to the whole truth. But nonetheless I don't think the functionality to detect third party cheat applications has yet been published to either of the clients.

 

[Restroom Cowboy]

I have faith that things are going to get much better for UO.

Do you? How about the system in place for stratics? Do you feel that is solid? I don't. I could give you a dozen reasons why.

 

[popps]

If they have no thrid party detection program, how are they even going to know? I'm not talking about script mining or bull taming scripts, where the GM can obviously tell a person is afk... I'm talking about the scripts people run while they are playing.

Either way, until there is a 3rd party program detector, EA/Mythic wont do anything and after hearing its been going on since this game practically started, I doubt there ever will be one.

Bingo............. right on spot.

I cannot possibly see any other solution, if EA/Mythic really wants to call cheating in Ultima Online a thing of the past and no more, than going after the use of illegal third party programs to interact with UO......

Will this happen ? Go figure, I am not holding my breath any longer at this point as I have been for the past. Way too much time has gone by without seeing it happening....

 

[georgemarvin2001]

SchezwanBeefy and H2O: If it's any consolation, you're not being ignored. They DO check out all those pages. I recall mine and LJ a lot, when I'm going to veg out in front of the TV for a few hours, and don't want to do anything that takes a lot of attention. When I'm mining, a GM will occasionally pop up and there will be a conversation something like:
"What is the answer to 5 +3?"
9
"that isn't the correct answer"
Lemme get out my calculator. I didn't think knowing how to count was a prerequisite to playing.
The answer is 15-7.
"Very funny. We had multiple reports that you were mining unattended so I had to check it out. Have a nice day."
I'm not. Tell them ST*U from me. Now I gotta mine the rest of this spot by hand.

The fact is that most recall miners get reported over and over and over and over again, because they have a set of runes marked, and have a macro set up for each spot. Recall in, hit macro, wait till it gathers all the ore and recalls home, dump ore and recall to next site, then hit macro button again. GMs do drop by and ask a simple question every once in a while, and expect an answer that shows that you are really there. I won't go to the trouble to stop my macro to talk to everybody who just wants to pester me when I'm busy, but I'm definitely going to stop it and answer a GM. The other recall miners evidently answer when the GMs ask a question, too, or they wouldn't be there day after day.

A lot of inconsiderate people who just want to chat don't seem to realize that UOA macros are pretty picky; once I stop it, if I try to re-start it, it will try to re-use the prospector's tool on the same spot that it already prospected when I first started the macro, then time out. That means that if I stop it to chat, I have to do the rest of the spot by hand, which isn't a lot of trouble, but remember that I'm mostly watching TV and just glancing at the screen every few seconds, when the screen changes and I have to dump the ore and recall to the next spot, so it's really annoying if I have to do a spot by hand. Especially if I was watching something interesting.

Also, you've never mined before if you think "thousands of ingots" is a lot. You can mine several thousand ingots in an hour.

 

[Jirel of Joiry]

Morgaine- Don't let the asshats get ya down!

You can play and still have fun! DO NOT let some asshat take something away from you because they choose to cheat. I proved to myself that cheaters CAN be beaten.

Friday night or early Saturday morning (it was midnight) I was mindin my own business running quests in the abyss and getting lost. A aquaintance of mine suddenly says over global chat "OMG! This guy is hacking into my house does anyone want to come see this cause I'm not believing this shyte!" So I get over to his Fel house and he quickly friends me. We are sitting in his house and he's telling me that a well known asshat keeps coming in his house and killing him. The house is a private, BTW. Well suddenly said asshat appears in the house and kills both of us. My friend goes SEE! So off we sprint to find a healer. When we return I check the friends list and the asshat in question isn't on it nor is he accessed. Well he reentered the house twice more and kills us so we shout to anyone that was awake we could use a little help.

We tried to boot the guy from the house but he kept coming back. I chased him down outside but he was also running a speeder so he was a little hard to catch. Meanwhile a guildmate of my friend shows up on a sampire, this person has some pvp expirence but admits they aren't that good. Well neither am I but hey I can try!

Well my sister been watching us fight this guy over my shoulder. She goes that's it I wanna piece of that asshat! So my sister the TERMINAL TRAMMIE comes stomping into fel, dragon in tow and NO friggin clue how to pvp what so ever!! LOL My friend co-owners sis to his house and they both check the co-owner list...nope asshat ain't co-ownered. Another trammie comes over with a rune beetle and a dread warhorse, then a mage with faction horse, and a second sampire. Its now 7 to 1 in our favor!!


Well mister smarty pants asshat try to sneak over in wolf form ....LMAO we jump on him like a puppy on pork chop! He took off running and we gave chase, Damn lost him. Well the third time he came to the house he came inside and we were ready for him! He high tailed it outside where sis sicced her Draggy hidden from his veiw on him. Two draggys, the dread, the Beetle, the faction horse, two Sampires and I all beating on him! Our mage friend had figured out he was vunerable to paralyze. We killed him!!

The sound of WOOT WOOT UR DEAD CHEATER rang joyously through Fel! We killed him 4 more times!! Yeah he killed us a few more times too.

Point is with all his stupid cheats and hacks all it took was a bunch of pissed off players with relatively little pvp skill, but the determination to do something and the heart to stay in it and fight!

Good does triumph over evil and my second grade teacher was right "Winners never cheat and CHEATERS NEVER WIN!"

Morgaine when you quit you're letting the asshats win....NEVER LET THE ASSHATS WIN! You are better than them! Stand up girl! Fight and don't back down!!

 

[Derium of ls]

First, I'm sick of people saying "if you don't like it, quit". I don't think they are smart enough to understand that they are defending people who cheat and destroy the game...

Also, it's really sad UO is in this state. If they ban all the cheaters, the game will fold because most people cheat it seems. It is wrong of them to allow cheating as the same time. So what can they do? I dunno, but they need to figure it out. They kinda missed the train of 'banning cheaters early on, so honest people would stop leaving'...

of course the only answer I can see is making that classic shard, enforcing the rules and scanning for the bad programs like free shards do (I actually tested it, paged a GM on a free shard saying someone was speed hacking, the GM said: "speedhacking is not possible on this server, we do our best to prevent it 100% of the time"... amazing, and those GMs are not even paid for their job.

/rant

 

[popps]

First, I'm sick of people saying "if you don't like it, quit". I don't think they are smart enough to understand that they are defending people who cheat and destroy the game...

I am glad to see someone else besides me having this concern....

Also, it's really sad UO is in this state. If they ban all the cheaters, the game will fold because most people cheat it seems. It is wrong of them to allow cheating as the same time. So what can they do? I dunno, but they need to figure it out. They kinda missed the train of 'banning cheaters early on, so honest people would stop leaving'...

I think there could be a solution or, at least, a good possible compromise given the circumstances.

For example, an hypothesis could be of doing it in steps.....

Step #1)
Work silently on a technical solution to get rid of all these cheats which hurt the game for many players. In the meantime, monitor players for illegal activities and take note and investigate those accounts being suspected of using cheats;

Step #2)
Test whatever technical solution is found for its accuracy and well working and keep monitoring accounts on live shards;

Step #3)
Announce publicly that a technical solution has been found to cheating in the game and that on a specific date all production servers will be patched. Also announce that the accounts monitored which have been using cheats most extensively or in activities that most hurt the game and other players will be banned (should be a limited number, hopefully). All other accounts only occasionally found using cheats or not for activities that hurt the game too much will get a warning.

Step #4)
A public announcement would be made that after the production shards will be published with the anti-cheat update, any account found still doing it will be banned.

Now, what this hypotethical approach to the problem could do is get the cheating issue in the game solved for good, which is the most important thing, and then address the accounts involved on a case by case basis trying to limit the number that will be banned to those that have done it the most or in areas that more hurt the game.

Might not be a perfect solution, and perhaps someone can come up with better ideas but the highest priority should be stopping cheating in UO.

of course the only answer I can see is making that classic shard, enforcing the rules and scanning for the bad programs like free shards do (I actually tested it, paged a GM on a free shard saying someone was speed hacking, the GM said: "speedhacking is not possible on this server, we do our best to prevent it 100% of the time"... amazing, and those GMs are not even paid for their job.

I am not sure that having yet another shard with different rules and code would be not adding more problems than finding solutions.
Different rules and different code means more work for maintainance and if the people in charge for the game have to do more maintainance work they may have less time to add new content.

I'd rather prefer a solution that works for all production shards.

 

[Petra Fyde]

Nice outline. As far as I remember from officially released information they're about halfway through your step 3 this time round, having gone through those steps repeatedly in the past. The last known occasion being the duping problem.