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Yep, Fall Guys just broke Proton (i.e. Linux) and Ultrawide Monitor support with the addition of Easy Anti-Cheat in the latest patch. I feel consumers need bet

Yep, Fall Guys just broke Proton (i.e. Linux) and Ultrawide Monitor support with the addition of Easy Anti-Cheat in the latest patch. I feel consumers need better protections against this stuff.

matheusmoreira 6y ago
We need to get rid of invasive technology like anti-cheating software. Many of these things are actually implemented as kernel drivers that are designed to take over the machine and monitor everything users do. That's the only way they can even hope to prevent cheating and it's not even guaranteed. Lots of games will start working again on Linux if we get rid of this stuff. Online gaming with random people is just like networking with random people: you never know who is going to be a malicious actor. People should play only with those they personally know and trust.
- dleslie 6y ago
  SaaS games are the only proven viable alternative to anti-cheating software; if the host is the sole authority then there's less concern for peers to cheat. Wallhacks and input hacks notwithstanding.
  - matheusmoreira 6y ago
    Cheaters can still automate inputs, decision making and what not. Honestly, given how games these days are straight up designed to be addictive, I'd even say they should be automated in order to cure people of their addiction to stuff like daily rewards. There's just no way it's going to work unless there's trust between the people playing. Can't trust randoms.
    - lacker 6y ago
      But anti-cheat software does work pretty well. It certainly reduces the amount of cheaters. It’s an arms race against the cheaters, rather than a perfect mechanism to stop all cheating, but it helps a lot.
- hengri 6y ago
  Okay, but what if I want to play with strangers and NOT have to worry pervasive cheating?
  - matheusmoreira 6y ago
    You're gonna be disappointed. People manage to cheat even on consoles which are designed to only run software if it's been signed by the manufacturer. There's got to be a point where they ought to stop and say "okay, this is as far as we can go with this idea". That point is probably when they start making kernel drivers that own your system for the sake of trying to guarantee a video game hasn't been tampered with. Some of these things don't exactly have a friendly privacy policy either.
    - dleslie 6y ago
      They manage to, but there's far less of it. You have a choice: roll down the knotted hill where you're certain to smear dog poop on youtself doing so, or roll down the hill that almost never has dogs on it and is frequently mowed and maintained.
      - manicdee 6y ago
        You left out the part where the gardener watches over your shoulder as you do your banking, apply for a passport, apply for a better job, yadda yadda. Given my druthers I'd prefer the ability to block people I don't want to play with, and have no anti-cheat system. As an example if you play Warframe on consoles you'll find that you are encountering the same people game after game. So a block list (as a way to punish cheaters) would be useful because you aren't playing with a random selection of the entire world. There's also the case that Warframe is a game where cheating doesn't matter (though some abilities have been modified to prevent griefing). If a subscription to a game store means it's possible to prevent multiplayer games matching me up with certain other subscribers, I'd much prefer that over the game publisher wanting to install anti-cheat software that takes control over my operating system.
apacheCamel 6y ago
To be fair, the amount of cheaters has gone down a lot in my games. There has to be some middle ground. I paid for a game that I want to be fair and fun for everyone. Fall Guys with cheaters takes away 100% of the fun.

Yep, Fall Guys just broke Proton (i.e. Linux) and Ultrawide Monitor support with the addition of Easy Anti-Cheat in the latest patch. I feel consumers need better protections against this stuff.

matheusmoreira 6y ago

We need to get rid of invasive technology like anti-cheating software. Many of these things are actually implemented as kernel drivers that are designed to take over the machine and monitor everything users do. That's the only way they can even hope to prevent cheating and it's not even guaranteed. Lots of games will start working again on Linux if we get rid of this stuff. Online gaming with random people is just like networking with random people: you never know who is going to be a malicious actor. People should play only with those they personally know and trust.

dleslie 6y ago
SaaS games are the only proven viable alternative to anti-cheating software; if the host is the sole authority then there's less concern for peers to cheat. Wallhacks and input hacks notwithstanding.
- matheusmoreira 6y ago
  Cheaters can still automate inputs, decision making and what not. Honestly, given how games these days are straight up designed to be addictive, I'd even say they should be automated in order to cure people of their addiction to stuff like daily rewards. There's just no way it's going to work unless there's trust between the people playing. Can't trust randoms.
  - lacker 6y ago
    But anti-cheat software does work pretty well. It certainly reduces the amount of cheaters. It’s an arms race against the cheaters, rather than a perfect mechanism to stop all cheating, but it helps a lot.
hengri 6y ago
Okay, but what if I want to play with strangers and NOT have to worry pervasive cheating?
- matheusmoreira 6y ago
  You're gonna be disappointed. People manage to cheat even on consoles which are designed to only run software if it's been signed by the manufacturer. There's got to be a point where they ought to stop and say "okay, this is as far as we can go with this idea". That point is probably when they start making kernel drivers that own your system for the sake of trying to guarantee a video game hasn't been tampered with. Some of these things don't exactly have a friendly privacy policy either.
  - dleslie 6y ago
    They manage to, but there's far less of it. You have a choice: roll down the knotted hill where you're certain to smear dog poop on youtself doing so, or roll down the hill that almost never has dogs on it and is frequently mowed and maintained.
    - manicdee 6y ago
      You left out the part where the gardener watches over your shoulder as you do your banking, apply for a passport, apply for a better job, yadda yadda. Given my druthers I'd prefer the ability to block people I don't want to play with, and have no anti-cheat system. As an example if you play Warframe on consoles you'll find that you are encountering the same people game after game. So a block list (as a way to punish cheaters) would be useful because you aren't playing with a random selection of the entire world. There's also the case that Warframe is a game where cheating doesn't matter (though some abilities have been modified to prevent griefing). If a subscription to a game store means it's possible to prevent multiplayer games matching me up with certain other subscribers, I'd much prefer that over the game publisher wanting to install anti-cheat software that takes control over my operating system.

apacheCamel 6y ago

To be fair, the amount of cheaters has gone down a lot in my games. There has to be some middle ground. I paid for a game that I want to be fair and fun for everyone. Fall Guys with cheaters takes away 100% of the fun.