Jump to content
Forum rules

Westford

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Content Count

    800

  • Joined

  • Last visited

Posts posted by Westford

  2. Posted

    1 hour ago, Uhtdred said:

    anticheat working? please tell me it's enabled.

     

    Matt did mention in the "Back In the Streets" AMA

    that he is considering providing “some” AntiCheat stats on a regular basis
    Keeping it high level, potentially just Number of Detection's Identified & Number of Sanctions Administered.

     

    Might have to pose this question on LO's discord, as there seems to be more 

    of a fluent communication stream there.

     

    However they decide to communicate this, I'm sure any news concerning these stats would be encouraging.

     

  3. Posted

    3 hours ago, BlatMan said:

    Will this kernel level anti-cheat run in userspace on Linux? I don't trust an in-house kernel driver, mainly from a system stability standpoint. I was one of many who had to fix servers when Crowdstrike released that broken driver. 

     

    Removal of instantly getting into blocked doors is going to feel really awkward. Why bother? I guess fixing things that didn't need fixing is to be expected, and this is why I don't trust your kernel driver.

     

    "Trust".... is a fickle beast they say.

     

    I remember the discussion of "Trust" came up in the last AMA questionnaire for "Back to the Streets" update in March.

     

    On 3/10/2025 at 4:12 AM, vsb said:

     

    if you don’t trust that the devs are banning cheaters, why would you trust that the devs would post legitimate ban statistics? 

     

    • Why would we trust that the devs are identifying and banning cheaters ?
    • Why would we trust the patch notes are accurate ?
    • Why would we trust 3rd Party Anti Cheat implementations are working ?
    • Why would we Trust that an in house developed anti cheat will be effective ?
    • Why would we Trust a client side in house developed anti cheat kernel will be safe ?

     

    I think for many of us that have hung in there over the years, we all realize that it was 

    not just "lack of content" or "performance" that drove many players away.

     

    It's unfortunate, but "Cheaters" ruin the gaming experience for all players.

     

    And many of us who have been here since Punkbusters was around, 

    also know that the 3rd party Anti Cheat efforts were not the doing best.

    • Punkbusters
    • Fairfight
    • Battleeye
    • Easy AntiCheat
    • SA....... (never mind)

     

    One might assume that APB, being an older game was not high on the 
    list of priorities for Anti Cheat makers to make whatever updates were needed for APB

    in a timely fashion. 

    /sigh

     

    So yeah, I'm ok with an in house developed anti cheat.

    Why not ?

     

    They know the game code.

    They know specifically what data to capture.

     

    Cost effective.

    Regular updates, cause.. why not.

     

    Will we lose some "Legit Players" cause of this ?

    Maybe.

     

    Will we lose players that do not support fair gameplay with their use of 3rd party tools to gain an advantage ?

    Probably.

     

    And I am ok with that.

    Myself, and I am sure many others, just want "fair" gameplay.

     

    What has NOT worked in the past, more than likely will not work in the future.

    So why not try something different.

     

    "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results"

     

    Namaste...

     

     

    • Like 2

  4. Posted · Edited by Westford

    Since the anti-cheat "topic" has come up..

     

    Can you provide a status update on the "GamersFirst Technology Platform" initiative ?

    This platform, as was earlier described , was going to include the in-house developed anti-cheat.

    How is the progress, good news ?

     

    Many of us are still hanging in there .

     

  5. Posted · Edited by Westford

    3 hours ago, Ardita said:

    You are free to go, I don’t assume anyone keeping you here against your own will. 

    speaking about insanity, that’s also somehow barking at a “sandbox for cheaters” forum and not playing the game yourself or being a part of it. 
    Einstein can get credit for that too if you like 😄 😄 

    I wouldn't be too harsh with @Dead_Game 's sentiments.

    He has a point.

     

    If we were to walk down memory lane for a bit, Little Orbit acquired APB (Gamersfirst)

    back in May of 2018.

     

    7 Years.

    Yeah, I let that sink in a bit before I reflected on some of the direct,

    and even indirect messaging in those 7 years. 

     

    Hmm, 2 unban waves.

    The clear message from Matt Scott that "We will not ban cheaters"

    opened up the flood gates, metaphorically speaking,

    and a definite "gut punch" for those players that just wanted "Fair Gameplay".

     

    I get it... battling cheaters can be viewed as "no win situation" , 

    constant and never ending for the Game Co.

     

    Not sure I agree with LO's decision for the 2 unban waves and the messaging concerning cheaters.

     

    And here we are...

    7 years later, having the same discussion as we did in 2010, 2014, 2016.....

    Was curious how many Legit Players "threw in the towel", and went to the "DARK side", 

    just to get some "Fair Gameplay".

     

    I mean, they won't be banned, so that's a plus.

     

    I don't play many missions as much as I used to, but I do like the driving the cars.

    Was chasing this one Foxy speedhacker the other night, in my car.

    Couldn't catch her.

     

    And she certainly wasn't hiding it.

     

    Looking forward to the June update, for this year, 2025.

     

     

     

     

     

    • Like 1

  6. Posted · Edited by Westford

    On 5/24/2025 at 2:22 PM, Weaboos said:

    Wasn't it DogFish from BitFenix aka BitPenis and not DopeFish tho?

    I may be wrong with the name, it was so long ago.

    But yeah, I also heard that this individual had claimed that their account was hacked by someone in russia,

    and that that person was also in tight with a few GM's.

     

    At that time, it was all about "who you know" when it came to APB justice.

     

    Fortunately times have changed, when umm, unban waves are a thing, and cheaters can play

    with more or less impunity.

     

    I am still somewhat optimistic that in the near future, fair gameplay will be a priority,

    Even if that means LO releasing their Premium Tier Aimbot/Wall hack for

    unrestricted use in game.

     

    Then, everyone will be playing on a level playing field.

    I can't wait.

     

     

  7. Posted

    4 hours ago, Ardita said:

    Was that reversed based on loud disagreement from the community or they actually found that false ban? 

    Not saying that I ever said Dope was cheating, but I mean I never saw them change their opinion when they banned people back then, now is a different story.

    -Ban hammer slamming hard 😮  

    Not sure of all the details, or what led to the ban reversal.

    Yes, the community for the most part were supportive of Dope's claim that his account was hacked.

    And you are right, ban reversals were very rare under G1.

    • Thanks 1

  8. Posted

    32 minutes ago, Weaboos said:

    Yeah it's nothing to joke about, even worse for the legendary weapons where you couldn't directly buy them at the time and had to gamble them from scam boxes. Some people had to spend hundreds to get those, really scummy tactics by G1. But people couldn't have been so naive not to expect a weapon that's clearly too strong and everybody is abusing not to get fixed.

     

    Heh I remember dopefish doing nano only missions back when you could snipe people from 70 m with it and outgun primary weapons in cqc

    I remember when Dopefish was banned... although reversed after some time.

    A Russian Agent they said.

     

    Hell, I believed it.

     

  11. Posted

    6 hours ago, Weaboos said:

    I meant they (old G1) nerfed FBW from 5 to 6 shots "bcus OP" and then released a new 5 STK pistol (.45 AP) on Armas to cash in. 

    Haha,

     

    I remember when G1 would regularly release a new Weapon on ARMAS marketplace that would dominate and was OP as hell.
    Everyone flocked to the Marketplace to grab this OP weapon.

     

    Many complained on the forums.... for months.

    And then.... after maybe 4-6 months, after many were sold, they would nerf that weapon into oblivion.

     

    Haha, I thought to myself.. what a SCAM..

    Rinse & Repeat.

     

    Lol

     

    They made some good coin back then,

     

     

    • Like 1

  13. Posted · Edited by Westford

    I am on the East Coast of US ,, and have faithfully been connecting to 

    "West Coast" servers, ever since the reprisal of APB after the extended outage in February.

     

    Typically the latency is around 80ms, which is doable.

    Tonight, 180-210 ,,,,

     

    Something is not working...

     

    Please investigate.

     

    Update:

    Ran a Speed Test, wanted to spot check my internet..

    660 Mbps (down) 22 (up)

     

  14. Posted

    On 5/8/2025 at 2:59 PM, OnEGod said:

    I do have solution. Sue all cheat sites and get monneeeeyyy🤑💰 

     

     

    Little Orbit would not be the first.

     

     

    "Activision Is Suing the Creators of a Call of Duty Hack It Says Is So 'Toxic' It's Causing Fans to Quit Playing the PC Version of Black Ops 6 Altogether"

     

    Activision is suing the people behind a well-known Call of Duty hack it alleged is so "toxic" it's causing fans to stop playing the PC version of Black Ops 6 altogether.

    The lawsuit, filed in the Central District of California and viewed by IGN, takes action against Lergware and GameHook, two Call of Duty hacks that Activision has been trying to shut down for some time.

    Both hacks include a set of selftitled "toxic" functions, including features that let users "kick" other players from Activision’s multiplayer servers (sometimes referred to as a "rage" cheat), or even crash multiplayer servers entirely.

    GameHook also lets players cheat by using "aimbots," which cause weapons to automatically hit opponents, and "ESP Bots," which identify opponent positions and allow players to see through walls or other obstacles.

     

    • Like 1

  15. Posted

    6 minutes ago, OnEGod said:

    Okayyyyyy, your out of box idea seems fair after years of pain from cheaters destroying APB... But, I wouldn't do that.

     

    Someone told in last ama that this game should have kill cam that would be awesome feature and maybe one button save to your computer so you can show that to future ticket handlers? 

     

    Their own anti cheat sounds horrible but at least they try to do something for the game and that's what I like to hear and see UPDATES!

     

     

     

     

     

    giphy.gif

  16. Posted · Edited by Westford

    13 hours ago, OnEGod said:

    Second thing that LO should do is that when someone gets banned they get banned from game and also get hardware ban. I thought they already did that, but maybe cheaters can bypass that?

     

    I think Matt has made it clear that he has no desire to ban people that were identified as cheating.

    His concern that he voiced in the most recent AMA, was that he cannot be 1000% sure that they were cheating.

    This does explain, I think to some degree, why the two "unban waves" that occurred in the last several years.

     

    They are planning on introducing there own "home-brew" antcheat program, and for those player

    that use 3rd party tools to cheat would suffer "sanctions" and the loss of features.
    (not sure what features they would lose, time will tell)

     

    I had another idea that LO might consider, although extremely radical and totally "out-of-the-box" thinking"

    Since playing on a "level playing field" is almost impossible to achieve when players are using 3rd party tools,

    why not just allow "ALL" 3rd party tools for all players ?

     

    Macros with Triggerbots, no-recoil, consistent fire rate, or for those players that

    don't mind paying a monthly subscription for some of those elite tools,

    like Aimbot, Smooth Aim, ESP and whatnot,

    everyone then would all be on a level playing field.

     

    Granted, it would remove the "competitive gameplay" from the game, but at least

    we would all be playing on a level playing field.

    I mean, we're really not afforded a competitive game play experience as it is now.

    Kind of like "May the best aimbot win" kind of approach.

     

    Ok, ok, so maybe some of the long time cheaters might not like this approach much,

    cause, the loss of a distinctive advantage and all.

     

    But at least the legit players of today, can enjoy playing on a level playing field.

    Hell, LO could ditch their in house developed anticheat, and release a Premium Only

    version of their Aimbots and ESP.

     

    I think this would be a WIN WIN for both the players and LO.

     

    Thoughts ?

     

     

  17. Posted

    15 hours ago, Pedroxin said:

    Well in case u missed the memo, u dont get a "choice", when u are put in a match, if it is in another district, you will be sent there in 20 seconds. the prompt gives u the option to skip the 20 second grace timer, nothin else 

    I guess what threw me of was the pop-up asking if I wished to proceed with the Yes/No buttons.

     

    Thanks for clarifying.

  19. Posted · Edited by Westford

    Two Waterfront Districts on NA , albeit west coast servers.

    But finally a full, or partially full two WF Districts so I can

    finally level up with the ever elusive, Lynette Casey.

     

    Ahh, my shining light.

    The end of the road as it were.

     

    Two WF Districts;

    Tot Pop  /E   /C

    D!: 72    /35 /37

    D2: 54  /23  /31

     

    I was in D1. pressed "K" ... cause I had my game face on.

    Big Window popped up...

     

    Do you wish to switch Districts for an instant Match..

    YES/NO ......

     

    I chose NO...

     

    And then I was "whisked" away to another District,,,

     

    So like NO, means maybe .. ?

     

    Asking for a friend.

     

    giphy.gif

     

     

     

     

     

    EDIT:
    My friend noticed... the second time..

     

    Windows POP UP.

    NO

     

    System MSG:

    You will automatically be transferred to another District.

  22. Posted · Edited by Westford

    5 hours ago, explosiveUA said:

    He spent 2.5 hours talking about anti-cheat and punishment for cheaters?
    lol.

    Oh gosh no, he talked about a lot of other things.

    lol

     

    The GamersFirst Technology Platform and their internal AntiCheat caught my interest the most.

    lol

     

    That's why I mentioned it here.

     

    He also discussed their;

     - continued prototyping of UE5

    - adding EMP grenades

    - Car Racing

    - new PVE games

    - discussing nighttime displays
    - possibility to bring back the "Refer a Friend" program
    - possibility to bring back the old Armas Event page

    - Internal Voice chat

    - Player run Tournaments

    - Potential to bring back Console Play

    - etc ..

     

    A whole bunch of stuff.

     

    I just didn't mention everything, sorry.

    I figured if there was enough interest, people would watch the recorded AMA.

     

    Can you forgive me @explosiveUA ?

    Haha

     

    EDIT:

    Oh, I forgot to mention that one of the questions was if Tails could be added to the Clothing store.
    Matt was unable to commit to this.

     

    For those interested in this discussion, you can skip to the time slot of the AMA 1:37:15

     

    yySIuz9.jpeg

     

     

    • Like 1
    • Thanks 2

  23. Posted · Edited by Westford

    8 hours ago, Yapopal said:

    Please tell us briefly what Matt was talking about.

    I also watched the AMA, and thought that it was really informative.
    Sorry, I have no TLDR;

    Matt briefly discussed the outage that occurred during the month of February,
    their plans on spinning up the East Coast servers in New York, upcoming Patch tentatively in May,
    amongst other things.

    May Patch Release:
    New contacts and the release of a new application framework called GamersFirst Technology Platform.
    This platform will be used to create and manage Leader Boards, rewards and such.

    This platform will be comprised of standards and application protocols that will be used by other games
    under the LO umbrella, with the possibility to license said platform to other companies.


    The GamersFirst Technology Platform will also include their own internal AntiCheat.

     

    The discontinued use of SARD AntiCheat.


    Matt Scott had realized that 3rd party AntiCheat software, was ultimately incompatible with
    APB due to a number of factors.

    When a player is banned, any ban appeal has to go through the 3rd party vendor,
    it is no longer in the hands of LO.

    As players are banned from APB, “cheat makers” provide timely updates to their “cheats”,
    as 3rd party AntiCheat companies lag behind in providing subsequent updates to their software,
    resulting in a constant circular effort of keeping up.

    LO realized that 3rd part AntiCheat software was extremely difficult to fully integrate with
    APB’s backend. This lack of full integration resulted in many holes in obtaining a “comprehensive”
    AntiCheat approach.

    LO had announced that as part of their in-house developed GamersFirst Technology Platform,
    a component of this framework would include their own an internal AntiCheat framework.

    This internal AntiCheat framework would be comprised of a client side kernel level AntiCheat,
    and two Server level AntiCheat components.

     

    Matt realize that there are cheats designed to bypass the client side methods in order to
    inject their cheats into the APB application.
    Hence the server side components.

    Matt communicated that he is reluctant to outright permanently ban players for cheating,
    as once a player is banned, they are gone, and there is absolutely no way that you can be
    1000% sure that it was not a mistake.

    He has expressed his frustration of trying to unravel the mix of legitimate bans from the false positive bans from the past.

    His approach besides segregation in the District Mission Pools, based on the number of Cheat Points accrued, 

    is to  impose sanctions on those players that use 3rd party tools to evade fair gameplay.

    What does Sanctions even mean ?
    He referenced the disabling/locked out or removing “features” from a player that has been detected
    as using unfair game practices.

    This had me thinking what Features are available that a cheater may lose, either temporarily,
    or permanently.
     

    FightClub
    Lockout Access
    Can only join districts

     

    Weapon Loadout.
    Disable/Lockout weapons in the players weapon locker
    Both Primary, Secondary and Grenades
    Disable/Lockout weapon mods


    Character Loadout
    There are four character slots that can be populated
    with anything from Car Surfer, Fragility, Ammo Box,  etc ….
    Disable/Lockout individual Character slots


    Car Loadout
    Disable/Lockout cars in a players inventory
    Disable/Lockout Car mods

     

    I think the most extreme scenario for a player that has reached a high enough threshold of cheat points,

    would have just the Starter Weapons and Car availble to them.
    STAR 556
    FBW
    Frag Grenade
    and the starter car


    Joker Store
    Lockout the ability to Rent/Buy using Joker Tickets accrued

    Email
    Lockout the ability to Send/Receive/Retrieve Attachments

    MarketPlace
    Lockout the ability to Buy/Sell

     

    Designer
    Lockout Vehicle. Symbol, Music designer
     

    I’m sure there are other features that LO has on their list, but I think this would be a great
    start for those players who do not support fair gameplay.

     

    Matt also mentioned that he is considering providing “some” AntiCheat stats on a regular basis
    Keeping it high level, potentially just Number of Detections Identified & Number of Sanctions Administered.

    I hope he decides to implement this.

    Matt’s initial thought is that a player would hopefully realize that the AntiCheat is working
    when completing a mission, that fairness was intuitive.

    Problem is, that so many times in the past, it has not always been  intuitive, hence the constant
    hackusations that occur. Even when their opponent is not cheating, they were just a good player.

    By actively communicating on a consistent basis, it does send a clear message to the player base;
    “We are actively and consistently vetting all players to ensure fair gameplay is maintained”

    This level of communication is, in my opinion much more effective than a blog post
    that is provided every few months.

    It communicates regularly and consistently , that the AntiCheat is active, and issuing remedial actions.
    This, in my opinion, is a reassuring, consistent and positive message.

     

    • Thanks 3

  24. Posted · Edited by Westford

    2 hours ago, vsb said:

     

    if you don’t trust that the devs are banning cheaters, why would you trust that the devs would post legitimate ban statistics? 

     

    I had not realized that there would be much objection to monthly SARD ban stats.


    I was wrong, but am curious as to why this type of transparency is a bad thing.

     

    And I never said that I do not trust that cheaters are being banned or not,
    I did not realize how uncomfortable this level of transparency would be
    received by some players.

    I understand that for some legit players, as @BlatMan had mentioned,
    this information would be useless, and those players would not even bother
    to take a look at the stats.
    So no problems there, as they would never see the stats.
    That information to them provides no value.
     

    why would you trust that the devs would post legitimate ban statistics?
    Good question.

    Let me see if I can make an analogy.

    LO releases patch notes fairly regularly.
    One might assume that these patch notes are released for the sake of transparency,
    which is a good thing.

     

    But now you have me thinking, what if… those patch notes are not legitimate.
    How can we trust them ?

    Seriously ?

     

    Yeah, I trust them, patch notes and all.
    Would be kind of ridiculous to post made up ban stats, but now you’ve got people thinking.
    lol

     

    Hey, if people are so dead set against ban stats, fine.

    Again, not sure why this information is so uncomfortable to some.

     

    ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

    EDIT:
    I have explained my reasons and value added to the player base as to
    the benefits of SARD monthly ban stats.
    - Transparency
    - Reassurance that bad actors are being removed on a consistent basis

    I have not read any negatives to providing this level of transparency.

    The argument that "cheaters will be able to use those stats to determine what is getting them banned."
    I do not believe is valid, as there is not enough data being posted that could provide ANY 
    indication as to why any cheater was banned.

     

    Cheater X is banned on the 13th of the month.
    Cheater X knows they have been banned since they get the infamous error code when trying to log in.
    They do not know what was identified that caused the ban.

    At the end of the month Cheater X's ban is tallied up/or not tallied up with the others for a cumulative count.
    Cheater X still does not know anything, or even if the ban stat listed included themselves.

     

    So, can anyone provide some information/details as to WHY ban stats are a bad thing.

    Please.

     

    Thank you
     

  25. Posted

    1 hour ago, BlatMan said:

    Providing those ban stats will be useless for legit players, but cheaters will be able to use those stats to determine what is getting them banned.

     

    Are more bans a good thing? Does it mean the anti-cheat is working as intended? Does it mean there's more cheaters? What percentage of cheaters are caught?

     

    Besides, a bronze player won't know the difference between an aimbot and the character turning when shooting.

     

    I am not sure I agree with all of your opinions, and I usually stay away from making
    any assumptions unless there is more information  available.
     

    Providing those ban stats will be useless for legit players
    I do not agree with this opinion.
    I am a legit player, and having the knowledge that “cheaters” are actively being banned,
    does provide myself, and other legit players that SARD is flushing out the bad actors
    on a consistent basis.
    I am sure I am not the only legit player that feels this way.
    I agree that there will be some legit players that would find this information useless.


    but cheaters will be able to use those stats to determine what is getting them banned
    Interesting…. I am curious how Server/Faction/Rank will provide enough meaningful data
    to the cheat community as to what cheat they used that caused a ban.
    Also, there would be some lag time between an individual’s ban, and when they would be tallied into the stats.
    Can you elaborate more ?
     

    Are more bans a good thing?
    More cheaters banned or just bans in general ?
    If you are referring to cheaters, than of course.
    Yes, that would be a good thing.

    Do you disagree, and if so, why ?

    Does it mean the anti-cheat is working as intended?
    Only LO will know if it is working as intended.
    Posting ban stats would provide transparency to the playerbase that SARD is actually doing something.
    Would it improve the confidence level of the playerbase ?
    I believe it would, but that would only be my opinion.
    As you said, for some legit players, it would be useless information.

     

    Does it mean there's more cheaters?
    More than what.
    Than initially assumed ?
    Sorry not following the question.

     

    What percentage of cheaters are caught?
    Not sure that can be determined.
    If a cheater is not caught, then there is really no way of knowing
    what percentage are caught vs not caught.
    Or maybe I am misunderstanding your question.

     

    Besides, a bronze player won't know the difference between an aimbot and the character turning when shooting.
    Not sure how this is even relevant to the discussion of SARD ban stats.
    what difference does it make if a Bronze. Silver or Gold player can or cannot tell the difference ?


    I didn’t  want to hijack this post on discussing whether or not LO should or should not provide ban stats or not.


    I’ll leave it to LO to decide.

     

     

×
×
  • Create New...