ok, so I will concede that I am relatively new to PC gaming, and have loved it much so, but the one thing I do miss about my Xbox live was the knowledge that I was not going to be cheated, or that if I were, the account would get banned.

Now, maybe im exercising too much intelligence here, but why not ban people's CD keys or IP addresses if they are caught cheating? Like maybe patch in PunkBuster or something, and if they are caught and banned on say 2 or 3 servers, make their CD key invalidated. boom. no more MP with out another one...

This is basically what happened in Halo 2 as I recall, cheating was really a big problem then Bungie started banning people from playing when they were caught cheating, and thats basically the standard now on consoles as I understand it. Why not just do this on PC? Might really bring people back to PC if cheating were so harshly punished.

I can find a cheater on almost every server I get on for Crysis 2, but in all my time on Xbox live, Ive maybe run into 4. Consoles legitimately beat PC here, so maybe PC should learn from that (yeah yeah consolization bad, but still).

Anybody wanna weigh in?

I've been putting a thread together so server admins like myself can share data on cheaters including username, profile ID and IP address. A large number of us have server admin software now to kick and ban cheaters. But check out what my response has been with the bottom post on the following thread. Makes me feel like not bothering really if this is the attitude.
http://www.gamesas.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=40&t=22015

It svcks people are so problematic like that, and while I see where hes coming from, Still, a more unified system to "police" the servers and keep cheaters from doing what they do is what I think PC gaming needs. Bungie gets a LOT of crap for banning people, but at least you rarely see people cheating the system, and I think overall its way more fun...

My roommate plays Crysis 2 on his Xbox, and honestly, he has a WAY better multiplayer experience it seems as he can find games that are actually fair, and worth playing...

Yea we used to have PB Ban list, not sure if it is still in existence, a website with a data base of cheaters, it was constantly updated and you just downloaded the latest list to your rcon software. I don't really see too much in the way of cheating on my server but when I do they are banned without hesitation. I mean 100% concrete cases not just if someone has a high score or something.

Banning IP addresses is senseless, if i do a relog of my router i have a new IP address.
Banning CD-Keys is also senseless, cause i did read Hacker can still use fake CD-Keys so they only switch to another.

PB would be a good start, but its not the universal remedy cause you can also bypass it :>
But with PB those Script kiddies would be gone ^^

ok, new idea- Deposits.

Most people will pay attention when things start to impact their wallets, so make that the case.

Hypothetically speaking:
Crysis 2 is purchased for $60. I beat the campaign, awesome, now on to multiplayer. BUT before I can play, I must put down a deposit for good behavior. I pay $20 as collateral more or less, and I will get a refund in one month if I play and do not cheat. I ultimately only paid $60, with $20 on the line depending on my behavior. This repeats every month.

Now, say I cheat in someway, the $20 is forfeited and I am banned for a time 2-4 weeks for arguments sake. I will not be getting that $20 back, and now I have paid $80 because I cheated. Or $20 cuz I cheated with a pirated copy. Still people will pay money for cheating is the idea.

The idea being that the extra money is like a key to the Multiplayer that you will lose for misbehaving, so that you will then have to shell out for another one, and when your done playing, you get your money back. Never do you have to have more than $20 in the game, and you get it back so long as you dont cheat...

Thoughts?

ok, new idea- Deposits.

Most people will pay attention when things start to impact their wallets, so make that the case.

Hypothetically speaking:
Crysis 2 is purchased for $60. I beat the campaign, awesome, now on to multiplayer. BUT before I can play, I must put down a deposit for good behavior. I pay $20 as collateral more or less, and I will get a refund in one month if I play and do not cheat. I ultimately only paid $60, with $20 on the line depending on my behavior. This repeats every month.

Now, say I cheat in someway, the $20 is forfeited and I am banned for a time 2-4 weeks for arguments sake. I will not be getting that $20 back, and now I have paid $80 because I cheated. Or $20 cuz I cheated with a pirated copy. Still people will pay money for cheating is the idea.

The idea being that the extra money is like a key to the Multiplayer that you will lose for misbehaving, so that you will then have to shell out for another one, and when your done playing, you get your money back. Never do you have to have more than $20 in the game, and you get it back so long as you dont cheat...

Thoughts?

Yes I have a thought.

Non-hypothetically speaking,

You sir have won the award for most dumb. Congrats and please take a bow for all those with sub 50 IQ's.......

I think they need to get the whole CD key system working properly before they ban keys. They now actually check the keys, but a lot of people are getting spurious "invalid serial" messages. Not to mention that keygens and stolen keys can get other people banned.

I can find a cheater on almost every server I get on for Crysis 2, but in all my time on Xbox live, Ive maybe run into 4. Consoles legitimately beat PC here, so maybe PC should learn from that (yeah yeah consolization bad, but still).

To simply solve this, all that needs to happen is Microsoft and Sony need to release a mouse/keyboard option for the next gen consoles.

I think they need to get the whole CD key system working properly before they ban keys. They now actually check the keys, but a lot of people are getting spurious "invalid serial" messages. Not to mention that keygens and stolen keys can get other people banned.

THIS is my big worry about such a system right here. I hate to say it, but the only one on the ball for how to get only the right people banned right now is Valve... due to their new guard features ON TOP of VAC.

Why not just do this on PC? Might really bring people back to PC if cheating were so harshly punished.

I can find a cheater on almost every server I get on for Crysis 2, but in all my time on Xbox live, Ive maybe run into 4. Consoles legitimately beat PC here, so maybe PC should learn from that (yeah yeah consolization bad, but still).

You seriously think Halo 2 invented this? No. Don't take Crytek or anything they say seriously. Taking cheating seriously and doing nothing against it is a great example. The method you were talking about has been used since cd-keys came into fashion. Banning IP's as long as internet has been there. These ideas have been there before anyone even thought about making a copyprotection platforms aka consoles.