Rust Dev Unveils Anti-Cheating Software, Bans 4,600 Players

[StewShearerOld]

Rust Dev Unveils Anti-Cheating Software, Bans 4,600 Players

Facepunch Studios has launched CheatPunch, a "stop gap solution" to help halt cheating in Rust.

Rust, Facepunch Studio's game of apocalyptic survival, has done pretty well for itself in the months since it launched on Steam Early Access. In fact, with a million sales under its belt, you might go so far as to call it a success. That said, success of that scale comes at cost. The first price, of course, is losing all of your friends who can no longer relate to your now wealthy self. The second is having to handle the inevitable jerks and cheaters that slip into your game.

Hoping to deal with said cheaters, Facepunch has announced the implementation of new anti-cheating software that it's dubbed CheatPunch. According to founder Garry Newman, the custom program ran "over the weekend" and has resulted in the banning of some 4,621 players. "If you get kicked from the official servers with the message that you've been banned then you have been caught," he said. "You know what you have done. You won't get unbanned. We know it was your 9 year old cousin. We know your computer got hijacked. We know that the CIA is getting you banned from all your games on Steam so you will join them in the hunt for aliens."

To help quell the complaints from players claiming they were wrongfully banned from the game, Newman revealed that Facepunch is also in the process of "[setting up] a site set up for people that have been banned so they can go and see proof that they've been caught." That said, he admits that CheatPunch is just a "stop gap solution" and that cheaters will find ways around it. Even if they do however, Newman affirmed that Facepunch would be there to meet cheaters with new methods of restriction. "We're never going to be finished fighting."

Source: Rust


Permalink

 

[TheIceQueen]

That's probably the most amusing ban message from a staff member of anything ever. It got one of those sensible chuckles out of me. It was the perfect level of build up from one example to the next until it was about just pure crazy.

 

[CpT_x_Killsteal]

This may actually encourage me to take the last step to actually buying the game. If there's a proper anti-cheat in place, I won't crack the shits like I usually do with DayZ, when a hacker teleports on top of me the same bullshit gear I took off his corpse 3 minutes ago.

OT:
Hilarity of the message aside, I like the "The war is never over" attitude they've got when it comes to fighting off hackers and their ilk. Very badass.

 

[lacktheknack]

So my nine-year-old cousin is a computer hijacker for the CIA? WHAT ELSE DO YOU KNOW ABOUT ME, FACEPUNCH?!

 

[Bke]

wait, what kind of software is this that they employed, and how can we trust it to be infallible? With a perma-ban on the cards I would hate to have weird latency spikes flag me as a cheater (internet in South Africa sucks), or some other software I have on my computer cause some kind of conflict.

I mean, if I'm going to pay for an early access game only to get banned for something that isn't my fault, how can I even think of supporting this? The devs really need to reconsider this perma-ban story.

 

[RicoADF]

wait, what kind of software is this that they employed, and how can we trust it to be infallible? With a perma-ban on the cards I would hate to have weird latency spikes flag me as a cheater (internet in South Africa sucks), or some other software I have on my computer cause some kind of conflict.

I mean, if I'm going to pay for an early access game only to get banned for something that isn't my fault, how can I even think of supporting this? The devs really need to reconsider this perma-ban story.

I was thinking the same thing. Can you start your own server without it if your having issues or you want to game with friends using a mod? Seems like a dick move to dictate how a person plays the game he paid for. Regardless of weather I agree with it people who like to use cheats have the right to have somewhere to have fun their way.

 

[Therumancer]

wait, what kind of software is this that they employed, and how can we trust it to be infallible? With a perma-ban on the cards I would hate to have weird latency spikes flag me as a cheater (internet in South Africa sucks), or some other software I have on my computer cause some kind of conflict.

I mean, if I'm going to pay for an early access game only to get banned for something that isn't my fault, how can I even think of supporting this? The devs really need to reconsider this perma-ban story.

I agree to an extent, I do not like the idea of a computer program perma-banning automatically. I believe there needs to be human oversight on everything.

That said, my opinion might change if Facepunch actually comes up with a system that can show people being caught cheating, that at least gives some evidence if the system is working or not, and presumably provides the grounds for
an appeal.

I am however wondering how one exactly "cheats" in an early access game. I mean the idea here is supposed to be to try and break the game in order to help with testing and such. If anything at this stage Facepunch should be encouraging people to mess with the game in any way they can so they can gather data for the eventual release.

I'll be bloody honest, if I was in an early access game, especially one that I paid for, and someone banned me for cheating before the game ever came out, I'd probably get a lawyer. I mean these guys are basically charging you money to be alpha/beta testers which is insane to begin with, and then they are going to ban you for doing that job?

What's more, unless I miss the point of Rust, I fail to see how exactly someone "cheats" in a resource harvesting/building game. I know this one has a PVP component, so I'm guessing it comes down to aim botting or
something to kill other players. I mean otherwise what is there to cheat at? "OMG, you found a way to gather too many sticks too quick?"

What's more with the bullying going on in RUST I'd think they would be more concerned about griefing, and finding some way to prevent established players from just shooting new ones running around with a rock for lulz. Factional infighting sounds like it's part of the fun, but with all the stories of newbie harassment, I'd be more concerned about that before release because the last thing you want is to immediately chase off half your player base or have them demand refunds because experts who learned in early access are killing all the new guys again and again for fun and not letting them actually play or live long enough to figure anything out.

 

[NuclearKangaroo]

wait, what kind of software is this that they employed, and how can we trust it to be infallible? With a perma-ban on the cards I would hate to have weird latency spikes flag me as a cheater (internet in South Africa sucks), or some other software I have on my computer cause some kind of conflict.

I mean, if I'm going to pay for an early access game only to get banned for something that isn't my fault, how can I even think of supporting this? The devs really need to reconsider this perma-ban story.

I agree to an extent, I do not like the idea of a computer program perma-banning automatically. I believe there needs to be human oversight on everything.

That said, my opinion might change if Facepunch actually comes up with a system that can show people being caught cheating, that at least gives some evidence if the system is working or not, and presumably provides the grounds for
an appeal.

I am however wondering how one exactly "cheats" in an early access game. I mean the idea here is supposed to be to try and break the game in order to help with testing and such. If anything at this stage Facepunch should be encouraging people to mess with the game in any way they can so they can gather data for the eventual release.

I'll be bloody honest, if I was in an early access game, especially one that I paid for, and someone banned me for cheating before the game ever came out, I'd probably get a lawyer. I mean these guys are basically charging you money to be alpha/beta testers which is insane to begin with, and then they are going to ban you for doing that job?

What's more, unless I miss the point of Rust, I fail to see how exactly someone "cheats" in a resource harvesting/building game. I know this one has a PVP component, so I'm guessing it comes down to aim botting or
something to kill other players. I mean otherwise what is there to cheat at? "OMG, you found a way to gather too many sticks too quick?"

What's more with the bullying going on in RUST I'd think they would be more concerned about griefing, and finding some way to prevent established players from just shooting new ones running around with a rock for lulz. Factional infighting sounds like it's part of the fun, but with all the stories of newbie harassment, I'd be more concerned about that before release because the last thing you want is to immediately chase off half your player base or have them demand refunds because experts who learned in early access are killing all the new guys again and again for fun and not letting them actually play or live long enough to figure anything out.

cheating is not the same thing as glitching

when you use a third party program to gain and advantage over other player, you are cheating scum, if you use a glitch to get an advantage, well you are still scum, but significantly less so, the dev aims to counter cheaters with this solution, not glitchers


i really hate how people keeps saying "on early access you are paying to be a beta tester", dont be, buy the game on early access (or not because, as you know, its all optional) but dont play it until release, you will still have the game, and you will have probably bought it at a discount, there, you wont be testing the game, you will not get to play it before most people and contribute to its development

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

wait, what kind of software is this that they employed, and how can we trust it to be infallible? With a perma-ban on the cards I would hate to have weird latency spikes flag me as a cheater (internet in South Africa sucks), or some other software I have on my computer cause some kind of conflict.

I mean, if I'm going to pay for an early access game only to get banned for something that isn't my fault, how can I even think of supporting this? The devs really need to reconsider this perma-ban story.

I agree to an extent, I do not like the idea of a computer program perma-banning automatically. I believe there needs to be human oversight on everything.

That said, my opinion might change if Facepunch actually comes up with a system that can show people being caught cheating, that at least gives some evidence if the system is working or not, and presumably provides the grounds for
an appeal.

I am however wondering how one exactly "cheats" in an early access game. I mean the idea here is supposed to be to try and break the game in order to help with testing and such. If anything at this stage Facepunch should be encouraging people to mess with the game in any way they can so they can gather data for the eventual release.

I'll be bloody honest, if I was in an early access game, especially one that I paid for, and someone banned me for cheating before the game ever came out, I'd probably get a lawyer. I mean these guys are basically charging you money to be alpha/beta testers which is insane to begin with, and then they are going to ban you for doing that job?

What's more, unless I miss the point of Rust, I fail to see how exactly someone "cheats" in a resource harvesting/building game. I know this one has a PVP component, so I'm guessing it comes down to aim botting or
something to kill other players. I mean otherwise what is there to cheat at? "OMG, you found a way to gather too many sticks too quick?"

What's more with the bullying going on in RUST I'd think they would be more concerned about griefing, and finding some way to prevent established players from just shooting new ones running around with a rock for lulz. Factional infighting sounds like it's part of the fun, but with all the stories of newbie harassment, I'd be more concerned about that before release because the last thing you want is to immediately chase off half your player base or have them demand refunds because experts who learned in early access are killing all the new guys again and again for fun and not letting them actually play or live long enough to figure anything out.

Easy difference between cheating and bug-hunting:
Bug-hunting you test different aspects, find a bug, repeat the process to see if its repeatable, log your findings and report it.
Cheating is using any advantage, whether its 3rd party programs or bug-exploits, to gain an advantage over other players or circumvent game mechanics. Such as getting stuck inside a rock that allows you to shoot out but protects you from incoming bullets, and racking up kills by exploiting it rather than reporting that issue along with the mechanics/process used to make it happen. Exploiting a broken resource or other mechanic to gather more materials than intended by the game and doing that over and over to get more and gain from it = cheating.
Bug-exploiting is NOT testing the game, its cheating.

 

[Strazdas]

You know what you have done. You won't get unbanned.

This is unworkable. No banning system is fail-proof. especially not one autoamted software in its initial first time test. No appeal system and not even telling people what they done wrong is a surefire way to loose your costumers that DIDNT cheat but got falsely flagged.
Facepunch should punch itself now.

 

[Shadow-Phoenix]

Sounds amazing and at the same time dispenses justice to the ones that cheat, honestly cheater are the worst kind of scum out there, they have next to no sense of honour let alone respecting the rules or you the other player.

What's even worse are those that seek to unban themselves when they know they've cheated, there needs to be a next step for that like an actual arrest or some shit, people that cheat need to know to stop it right there and now instead of trying to push your damn luck further with arrogance.

 

[Bke]

cheating is not the same thing as glitching

when you use a third party program to gain and advantage over other player, you are cheating scum, if you use a glitch to get an advantage, well you are still scum, but significantly less so, the dev aims to counter cheaters with this solution, not glitchers


i really hate how people keeps saying "on early access you are paying to be a beta tester", dont be, buy the game on early access (or not because, as you know, its all optional) but dont play it until release, you will still have the game, and you will have probably bought it at a discount, there, you wont be testing the game, you will not get to play it before most people and contribute to its development

Easy difference between cheating and bug-hunting: Bug-hunting you test different aspects, find a bug, repeat the process to see if its repeatable, log your findings and report it.
Cheating is using any advantage, whether its 3rd party programs or bug-exploits, to gain an advantage over other players or circumvent game mechanics. Such as getting stuck inside a rock that allows you to shoot out but protects you from incoming bullets, and racking up kills by exploiting it rather than reporting that issue along with the mechanics/process used to make it happen. Exploiting a broken resource or other mechanic to gather more materials than intended by the game and doing that over and over to get more and gain from it = cheating.
Bug-exploiting is NOT testing the game, its cheating.

These are valid points, however the issue I'm most concerned with is that these are permanent bans that are administered by software that we, the greater gaming community, are unfamiliar with.

So lets say the bot looks for people using geometry exploits in order to get kills, like in that rock example. Being as this is early access there will be many clipping bugs and if you just happen to be messing around and get stuck in geometry for a little too long... Bam! Perma-ban. And there's nothing you can do because the devs don't want to hear a word about it.

You see, the issue here isn't what constitutes "cheating" but rather that these bans are permanent and will, probably, leave you with a hunk of software on your hdd just taking up space. A hunk of software that you supported financially before it was even complete.

If they change this policy to being a temp ban, or being only allowed to play on servers that cheaters are consigned to for a certain time, then I will have no problem with this. But so long as this idea of unquestionable perma-bans stays in effect then I can't see how we can honestly share our good will with the devs.

Finally this

"If you get kicked from the official servers with the message that you've been banned then you have been caught," he said. "You know what you have done. You won't get unbanned. We know it was your 9 year old cousin. We know your computer got hijacked. We know that the CIA is getting you banned from all your games on Steam so you will join them in the hunt for aliens."

Sounds like the words of a thirteen year old who was made forum mod through some accident, as he dishes out his myopic understanding of justice through his binary understanding of fairness. It strikes me as being very unprofessional, and in my eyes, as a customer, reflects poorly on their business.

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

**SNIP**

The situation you described and the situation I described with the rock have two distinct things that set them apart.
Your situation is getting stuck, my situation is getting stuck, realizing it is an advantage and using that to get something out of it you normally wouldn't.
I'm not saying their program is exact or perfect but I'd bet it has something to do with parsing various points of data like: map location so they know where you are (in the case of a rock, whether you're out of bounds), what was happening at the time (firefight, gathering resources, whatever) and probably some metrics on how the game is supposed to run (e.g. how many sticks you can pick up or other resources you can gather in a given time maximum) vs. how your end was running.
Being able to show people WHY they were banned also speaks to more than just arbitrary numbers, perhaps with some real-time data stream that allows them to recreate the bannable offense in question to show it. So it might be more than just "oh I got stuck in a rock and now I'm banned", probably translates to "I found an exploit of getting stuck in a rock that allows me to shoot players without fear of getting ganked myself, but I got caught and am pissed about being banned for it".
And the last part is just about every excuse I've ever heard of "why my account shouldn't be banned" on XBOX Live forums and other large scale game related sites. Basically the dude is saying "we're not buying your bullshit lines" and I commend him for it.
Will the system work as intended? Who knows? Will people get banned unfairly? Possible. Its also possible that those people could get a review on account of maybe the program screwed up.
Also this is something I've never understood. If you pay to go to a restaurant, act like an asshole and get banned from the restaurant for your behavior, you don't deserve a refund. The owner of the restaurant or the manager has the right to refuse service to anyone. Same with a game that involves playing online with other folks. The people who run the servers, and own the game have the right to say your conduct is unbecoming of online play and yank that status. People need to learn some responsibility and not try to get one over on other folk by nefarious means (hacks, exploits, 3rd party programs) and accept the consequences of their actions. No system of justice is perfect and innocent folk get branded for things they didn't do. Thats what appeals are for.
BTW, offline cheating is just fine, as is messing around on private servers (as long as they're not hacked or reverse engineered) with friends is also just fine with me. There's a difference between playing a game and changing the rules around for fun and waiting til your opponent looks away and moving pieces around the board to your own advantage.

 

[AuronFtw]

I agree with the majority of your points Bke but my assumption when reading the article is that there are xyz popular third party programs, and this banwave was just catching people who used it/them. In "reality," there are a ton of ways to cheat in a game... from in-game glitches to, of course, a wide variety of third party programs (the biggest/most popular of which are often the most targeted by the devs). If their cheat-catching mechanism had some kind of irrefutable proof you were using that software, I don't think a permanent ban is out of the question. But, of course, it would have to be absolutely perfect, and not ever have a false positive or permanent bans are inexcusable.

But given the guy's wording, it seems that they're going after people who are knowingly using third-party cheats or straight up game hacks and not people who glitch... but he might want to get that sorted out before they start handing out permanent bans like candy. I think it's premature that they'd launch the banwaves without having any kind of proof or evidence on display (and no appeals process, which is important for any automated ban process). Very haphazard.

Then again, "in their defense," I think that's a legitimate part of early access games. Indie companies with no other titles might not have encountered this kind of thing before, so they're feeling their way around the problem. If they do some kind of disastrous fuckup by permabanning legit players and not letting them appeal, they'll learn their lesson by having their game's reputation permanently ruined by the ensuing PR shitstorm. It's quite a hard thing to come back from.

 

[The_Longier]

This was needed, valve anticheat was ok but too slow in catching the hackers, to clarify for all the people earnestly posting their views of "OMGZ UNFAIRZ" without having played the game the most common cases of hacking are. Flying, self resource and equipment spawning, aimbots and the infamous suicide hack. Having logged over 180+ hours on the game I can tell you its hard enough to gather enough resources to make it through the first couple of days without somebody flying over you and suicide hacking you not for your stuff just because you are there is more than a little annoying and its good to see a Dev actually stand up to cheaters.

 

[Infernal Lawyer]

Wait, so there's no appeal system, but you get to know what got you banned? Seriously?

So what's going to happen is that people who were unfairly banned will be told to fuck off, even if the 'proof' actually shows that they didn't cheat, while cheater developers will get the developers to tell them which hacks get detected and which ones won't. Brilliant.

 

[SinisterGehe]

"You know what you have done. You won't get unbanned. We know it was your 9 year old cousin. We know your computer got hijacked. We know that the CIA is getting you banned from all your games on Steam so you will join them in the hunt for aliens."

Oh this is just grand someone give them a fucking prize or something.

And the idea of open site to see the proof why you got banned. I something I would always liked to games have. Show people they will get caught, why they did and how.
Also name and shame.

Wait, so there's no appeal system, but you get to know what got you banned? Seriously?

So what's going to happen is that people who were unfairly banned will be told to fuck off, even if the 'proof' actually shows that they didn't cheat, while cheater developers will get the developers to tell them which hacks get detected and which ones won't. Brilliant.

They will have to legally add it or Steam gets in trouble. The appeal system will pop-up at some point. And if Steam gets in trouble then so does the developer.
Unfair treatment on unjustified basis is illegal in Europe(at least) so if you get. This goes to licenses. If I buy Rust, get banned the first day because of glitch in the system. Then it is unfair treatment of a customer.

Also knowing Facepunch even if there would be appeal system it doesn't mean it gets treated on fair grounds. Their forums are ruthless when it comes to banning and controlling people.

 

[Bke]

The situation you described and the situation I described with the rock have two distinct things that set them apart.
Your situation is getting stuck, my situation is getting stuck, realizing it is an advantage and using that to get something out of it you normally wouldn't.
I'm not saying their program is exact or perfect but I'd bet it has something to do with parsing various points of data like: map location so they know where you are (in the case of a rock, whether you're out of bounds), what was happening at the time (firefight, gathering resources, whatever) and probably some metrics on how the game is supposed to run (e.g. how many sticks you can pick up or other resources you can gather in a given time maximum) vs. how your end was running.

And the last part is just about every excuse I've ever heard of "why my account shouldn't be banned" on XBOX Live forums and other large scale game related sites. Basically the dude is saying "we're not buying your bullshit lines" and I commend him for it.
Will the system work as intended? Who knows? Will people get banned unfairly? Possible. Its also possible that those people could get a review on account of maybe the program screwed up.
Also this is something I've never understood. If you pay to go to a restaurant, act like an asshole and get banned from the restaurant for your behavior, you don't deserve a refund. The owner of the restaurant or the manager has the right to refuse service to anyone. Same with a game that involves playing online with other folks. The people who run the servers, and own the game have the right to say your conduct is unbecoming of online play and yank that status. People need to learn some responsibility and not try to get one over on other folk by nefarious means (hacks, exploits, 3rd party programs) and accept the consequences of their actions. No system of justice is perfect and innocent folk get branded for things they didn't do. Thats what appeals are for

Good point, however this leads me to my second argument that AuronFtw and The_Longier sorta lead into as well: we don't actually know how this bot of theirs is going about finding cheaters. I suppose showing us the code for this bot or telling us how it works will defeat the purpose of having this anti cheating bot, but it makes me wary of the whole thing. This is why I mentioned that it might mistake glitches for bug exploits.

In fact using an anti cheating bot on bugs is kinda dumb. It's simpler to fix a bug that people are exploiting than to leave it and write code to ban them for using it. I want to say this is lazy, but its actually just really really dumb. And I will say that if even one person is wrongfully banned then the entire system is unacceptable and must be turned off. In my mind nothing excuses this.

Your restaurant argument does bring up an interesting thought though. while a restaurant and a game aren't /really/ comparable I wonder if any recourse beyond banning could be employed... like delaying frilly skin and cosmetic updates to cheaters or denying them altogether

Anywho, to return to my main point: everything I just said would be rendered invalid if the bans were temporary. I would have nothing to say in that case. But I can't say much else on this matter because we do seem to be in accord, at least regarding the implementation of an appeals system.

Then again, "in their defense," I think that's a legitimate part of early access games. Indie companies with no other titles might not have encountered this kind of thing before, so they're feeling their way around the problem. If they do some kind of disastrous fuckup by permabanning legit players and not letting them appeal, they'll learn their lesson by having their game's reputation permanently ruined by the ensuing PR shitstorm. It's quite a hard thing to come back from.

I don't know if this could excuse them though. I mean, yes, it is something we must consider and it's probably the reason why they're doing all this. However there are so many systems used by a variety of companies and games, that have themselves learned how to do this, that I see no reason why they had to go for such harsh measures right off the bat. Indeed the reason I mention the devs quote as being childish is because that's the exact same reaction a person would have if they were on the receiving end of hacking, and were lashing out in frustration without duly considering the limitations of anti-cheating software.

 

[Ympulse]

wait, what kind of software is this that they employed, and how can we trust it to be infallible? With a perma-ban on the cards I would hate to have weird latency spikes flag me as a cheater (internet in South Africa sucks), or some other software I have on my computer cause some kind of conflict.

It's sniffing for hook dlls, most likely. Relatively simple anti-cheat system that kills 90% of 'leet haxxor' injection methods. Nothing to worry about if you aren't using third party programs.

 

[erbkaiser]

wait, what kind of software is this that they employed, and how can we trust it to be infallible? With a perma-ban on the cards I would hate to have weird latency spikes flag me as a cheater (internet in South Africa sucks), or some other software I have on my computer cause some kind of conflict.

It's sniffing for hook dlls, most likely. Relatively simple anti-cheat system that kills 90% of 'leet haxxor' injection methods. Nothing to worry about if you aren't using third party programs.

Hope that isn't the case or they'll potentially ban anyone using something like ENB.

But since they will make it visible why you were banned I guess this CheatPunch is a combination of an automated process and some human eyes.