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Epic Cracking Down On UT2K4 Cheaters Already
qasimodo writes "Gamespot.com is reporting that Epic has banned the first cheater from Unreal Tournament 2004. You can read the thread explaining this on the official Atari forums for the game. DrSin, one of Epic's programmers started the thread as a warning to fellow users, and so far everybody seems to be happy. I agree with that, we need to stop the cheaters before they ruin every game out there. But the question remains: How can they stop them completely? Surely, script kiddies will just stop and go somewhere else, but how about the guys who write all the tools? They won't stop so easily." Elsewhere, nerdb0t points to an ACM Queue editorial on the subject of cheating in online games, arguing: "Perhaps game developers don't realize they're enabling roving gangs of sociopaths who are effectively destroying the virtual world the developers have worked so hard to create."
It didn't fail. It detected someone cheating, notified the admins, who verified it, and then they banned the cheater. Case closed. The anti-cheating measures in-game are the reason it took a full week to notice someone with a cheat - it's hard now.
EULAs aren't enforcable unless you agree to the terms before you purchase the game. If I made a video game and one of the terms on the EULA (to be read once the game was installed and there was no possible way to return it, at least in North America) was "You agree to me hacking into your bank account and emptying it," or even "You agree to send me $10," would it hold up in court? Doubtful.
Condemnant quod non intellegunt.