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As Nickodell and PlutoIsAPlanet pointed out, this "issue" was raised by a group of banned Team Fortress 2 cheaters, who are developing obfuscated aimbots. In a

As Nickodell and PlutoIsAPlanet pointed out, this "issue" was raised by a group of banned Team Fortress 2 cheaters, who are developing obfuscated aimbots. In all likelihood, VAC's detection is premised on other factors in combination with the username. Like, for example, botting in online multiplayer games. This may come as a surprise to half the users in these comments, but, for the 99% of gamers who are not malware enthusiasts, banning bad actors is a feature, not a bug.

anonymousab 9y ago
Seemingly heavy handed features wouldn't be so readily despised if: * Valve didn't shut the discussion down altogether. If the GitHub page wasn't the right place, then suggesting a forum where feedback would be appropriate and actually prompt a response would be the way to go. * Valve (or rather, their support staff) didn't have a history of extolling the perfection of VAC while dealing with some false bans in private. * Bans didn't have such large implications, or: * The support and appeal process wasn't so obtuse, seemingly useless and blackboxed. I think they'd be encouraged to take more chances with their Anti-cheat ideas if the process for fixing false positives wasn't so genetically corporate and so user-hostile.
- throwaway2048 9y ago
  The problem is all of those mechanisms give hackers a lot of leverage to evade banning, and they will be abused.
FRex 9y ago
No, it's clearly not. There are people in the linked issue saying they had no cheats and just the username and got banned and the last comment is a Valve employee stating this is all intentional and forbidding any further discussion of it. This is an incredibly dumb way to catch "cheaters" and now that they know they will easily defeat it. This is absolute bullshit and like saying "issue of rape in prison was raised by criminals who are evil so it's a feature for society they get raped". And here's a money quote (guess whose): > When the truth of one issue goes against a person's political leanings, that person will generally say whatever they can to avoid feeling guilt or shame.
- user5994461 9y ago
  A cheater claiming to not be a cheater. That's ground breaking.
  - Kr4ken 9y ago
    I think it should be easier to get past the cheater part after Valve confirms that it is banning people based off of usernames now...
    - user5994461 9y ago
      Valve didn't comment. They could have more information, like checking that multiple users are called catbot. If you look at the history, you will find that there were a handful of ban waves that were reverted or adjusted after they were found to be false positives. It seems that the discussion was opened and driven by the developers and users of the bot. Not expecting too much for them.
      - Kr4ken 9y ago
        https://github.com/ValveSoftware/Source-1-Games/issues/2475#issuecomment-354618175 https://github.com/ValveSoftware/Source-1-Games/issues/2475#... Kisak, a Valve Employee, confirms that VAC bans are being handed out for usernames matching catbot. Yes, it was open and driven by the people that were banned because of a username.
        user5994461 9y ago
        It appears you are affiliated to the cheat and maybe got banned. Would you mind to comment about your involvement with the catbot? edit: your other messages have confirmed that you are either a user or a developer of the bot. Thank you for your participation.
        Kr4ken 9y ago
        What confirmation? I am neither a user or a developer of the bot. I also have not been banned by Valve's decision to ban usernames either. My affiliation is to the extent of creating an issue on their github repository. Why are you making such unfounded accusations?

anonymousab 9y ago

Seemingly heavy handed features wouldn't be so readily despised if: * Valve didn't shut the discussion down altogether. If the GitHub page wasn't the right place, then suggesting a forum where feedback would be appropriate and actually prompt a response would be the way to go. * Valve (or rather, their support staff) didn't have a history of extolling the perfection of VAC while dealing with some false bans in private. * Bans didn't have such large implications, or: * The support and appeal process wasn't so obtuse, seemingly useless and blackboxed. I think they'd be encouraged to take more chances with their Anti-cheat ideas if the process for fixing false positives wasn't so genetically corporate and so user-hostile.

throwaway2048 9y ago
The problem is all of those mechanisms give hackers a lot of leverage to evade banning, and they will be abused.

FRex 9y ago

No, it's clearly not. There are people in the linked issue saying they had no cheats and just the username and got banned and the last comment is a Valve employee stating this is all intentional and forbidding any further discussion of it. This is an incredibly dumb way to catch "cheaters" and now that they know they will easily defeat it. This is absolute bullshit and like saying "issue of rape in prison was raised by criminals who are evil so it's a feature for society they get raped". And here's a money quote (guess whose): > When the truth of one issue goes against a person's political leanings, that person will generally say whatever they can to avoid feeling guilt or shame.

user5994461 9y ago
A cheater claiming to not be a cheater. That's ground breaking.
- Kr4ken 9y ago
  I think it should be easier to get past the cheater part after Valve confirms that it is banning people based off of usernames now...
  - user5994461 9y ago
    Valve didn't comment. They could have more information, like checking that multiple users are called catbot. If you look at the history, you will find that there were a handful of ban waves that were reverted or adjusted after they were found to be false positives. It seems that the discussion was opened and driven by the developers and users of the bot. Not expecting too much for them.
    - Kr4ken 9y ago
      https://github.com/ValveSoftware/Source-1-Games/issues/2475#issuecomment-354618175 https://github.com/ValveSoftware/Source-1-Games/issues/2475#... Kisak, a Valve Employee, confirms that VAC bans are being handed out for usernames matching catbot. Yes, it was open and driven by the people that were banned because of a username.
      - user5994461 9y ago
        It appears you are affiliated to the cheat and maybe got banned. Would you mind to comment about your involvement with the catbot? edit: your other messages have confirmed that you are either a user or a developer of the bot. Thank you for your participation.
        Kr4ken 9y ago
        What confirmation? I am neither a user or a developer of the bot. I also have not been banned by Valve's decision to ban usernames either. My affiliation is to the extent of creating an issue on their github repository. Why are you making such unfounded accusations?