Cheating in online games are activities that modify the game experience to give one player an advantage over another player(s); depending on the game, different activities constitute cheating and it is often a matter of consensus opinion as to which particular activity or activities actually constitute cheating. Clive Thompson writes^[1] that "Johann Huizinga, one of the first big philosophers of ludology -- the study of play -- defined cheating as when you pretend to obey the rules of the game but secretly subvert them to gain advantage over another player." Online games refer to games that are played over some form of computer network. ... For other uses, see Consensus (disambiguation). ... Sir Clive Thomson (born ca 1943) (aka Mr 20% or That Unreconstructed Thatcherite) was Chairman of European Home Retail (EHR), a company which has recently gone into administration, owing money to thousands of members of its Christmas savings club. ... Johan Huizinga (b. ... Video game studies (Lat. ... Game studies is the still-young field of analyzing games from a multi- and inter-disciplinary perspective. ...

Cheating reportedly exists in all multiplayer online games but is difficult to prove^[2]. The Internet provides players opportunity, means and methodology -- through anonymity and resources -- necessary to cheat in online games; however, darknets also provide access to cheat tools and methods. Online gaming redirects here. ... A Darknet is a private virtual network where users connect only to people they trust. ...

Types of cheats

User settings

Typically, a player can change settings within a game to suit their preference, play-style and/or system; these alterations are considered cheating in certain circumstances. For example, changing the keyboard layout to make it easier to use is an accepted practice and not considered cheating; however, changing player models and/or textures, increasing the field-of-view, turning off or limiting particle effects, modifying the brightness and/or gamma are considered cheating when set to extremes. The field of view is the part of the observable world that is seen at any given moment. ... The term particle system refers to a computer graphics technique to simulate certain fuzzy phenomena, which are otherwise very hard to reproduce with conventional rendering techniques. ... Brightness is an attribute of visual perception in which a source appears to emit a given amount of light. ... Example of CRT gamma correction Plot of the sRGB standard gamma-expansion nonlinearity (red), and its local gamma value, slope in log–log space (blue). ...

Exploits

Main article: Exploit (online gaming)

Exploiting is the application of an unintended use or bug that gives the player an advantage. Not all gamers view exploits as cheating, some view it as another skill because certain exploits take a significant amount of time to find and/or dexterity/timing to use. Example dexterity/timing exploits include bunny hopping and texture-climbing in Quake. Even an official part of the series such as "skiing" in Tribes is considered an exploit by some. However, exploits are considered cheating when they have an unbalancing effect, are used in an unintended manner or not intended to be feature. In the realm of online games, an exploit is usually a software bug, hack or bot that contributes to the users prosperity in a manner not intended by the developers. ... A computer bug is an error, flaw, mistake, failure, or fault in a computer program that prevents it from working as intended, or produces an incorrect result. ... The bunny hop is a novelty dance in the 1950s. ... This article is about the original video game. ... Tribes is a series of science fiction first-person shooter computer games originally published by Dynamix, a subsidiary of Sierra Entertainment. ...

Ghosting

Most games allow other participants to observe the game as it is played from a variety of perspectives; depending on the game, perspectives allow an observer a map overview or attach a "camera" to the movement of a specific player. In doing so, the observer can communicate with an accomplice using a secondary communication methodology (in-game private message, 3rd-party or even off-line) to inform friendly players of traps or the position of opponents; an observer can be an active player, using a separate computer, connection and account. A shoutbox or tagboard is a chat-like feature of some websites that allow people to quickly send messages to each other without requiring a post to a standard Internet forum or the use of a separate medium such as IRC. In their simplest form, they are simply a list...

Binding

Binding involves binding the "fire" command to the mouse wheel or any other key or combination of keys that allow a player to shoot faster (generally with weapons that fire at the speed that the user clicks) when compared to the default "fire" key configuration. This is a subset of the user setting cheat. Cheating in online games are activities that modify the game experience to give one player an advantage over another player(s); depending on the game, different activities constitute cheating and it is often a matter of consensus opinion as to which particular activity or activities actually constitute cheating. ...

Aimbotting and Triggerbot

Main article: Aimbot

An aimbot (sometimes called "auto-aim") is a type of computer game bot used in multiplayer first-person shooter games to provide varying levels of target acquisition assistance to the player. While most common in first person shooter games, they exist in other game types and are often used in combination with a TriggerBot, which shoots automatically when an opponent appears within the field-of-view of the player. Some TriggerBots are blatant while others attempt to hide the fact they are being used through a number of methods. An aimbot, sometimes called auto-aim, is software used in online multiplayer first-person shooter games that assists the player in aiming at the target. ... Contrast with aimbot, a type of software that is used to cheat in multiplayer games A bot, most prominently in the first person shooter PC game types (FPS), is a robotic computer controlled entity that simulates an online or LAN multiplayer human deathmatch opponent, team deathmatch opponent or a cooperative... Online gaming redirects here. ... This article is about video games. ... Target acquisition provides detailed information about enemy forces and locates them with sufficient accuracy to permit continued monitoring or target designation and engagement. ...

Wallhacking

Wallhacking allows the player to see through solid or opaque objects and/or manipulate or remove textures. When used in conjunction with an aimbot certain wallhacks allow the player to shoot through solid objects. A subset of the wallhack known as WhiteWalls removes the color/texture from objects in the surrounding environment, providing distinct contrast to the opposition's character models, which remain colored/textured. (See ESP for the evolution of the WallHack.) Cheating in online games are activities that modify the game experience to give one player an advantage over another player(s); depending on the game, different activities constitute cheating and it is often a matter of consensus opinion as to which particular activity or activities actually constitute cheating. ...

ESP

Extrasensory perception (ESP) in video games displays contextual information such as the health, name, equipment, position and/or orientation of other participants as navigation/directional markers. In military parlance, this is known as Battlefield Visualization and part of a larger trend toward Information Dominance.

Sharing

Sharing is when multiple people play using a singular character -- mainly in MMORPGs -- to gain an advantage by having higher online times and/or being able to apply more manpower toward game activities such as leveling or gaining experience. In some MMOs this is not seen as cheating although others such as Maplestory, Blizzard Entertainment's World of Warcraft or Jagex's Runescape specifically forbid it. An image from World of Warcraft, one of the largest commercial MMORPGs as of 2004, based on active subscriptions. ... This article is about the original game for Windows. ... Blizzard Entertainment, a division of Vivendi Games, is an American computer game developer and publisher headquartered in Irvine, California. ... World of Warcraft (commonly abbreviated as WoW) is a massive multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) developed by Blizzard Entertainment and is the fourth game in the Warcraft series, excluding expansion packs and the cancelled Warcraft Adventures: Lord of the Clans. ... Jagex Ltd. ... RuneScape is a Java-based MMORPG operated by Jagex Ltd. ...

Spinbots

Spinbots alter the game so that play occurs on a rotated screen -- upside down, sideways, diagonal, etc. Spinbots that cause the player to have more difficulty playing are rare; spinbots that present the user a normal view are more common but may still cause the player in-game model to spin extremely fast, disrupting the character model's hitbox and distracting other players.

Disconnecting

In games where wins and losses are recorded on a player's account, a player may disconnect when they have lost in order to prevent the loss from being recorded. A similar phenomenon is when a server operator boots an opponent or players who they do not support. Disconnecting is considered immoral, as the opponent may not have their "win" recorded. Some games implement a disconnection penalty, usually by recording the disconnect as a loss, or a loss of experience points as in Halo 3.

Stacking

Stacking involves altering game settings or team lineups to give one or more teams an unfair advantage over the other(s). One example includes pitting a team comprised of skilled or known players against a team with members of lesser skill. Although a valid and accepted tactic and practice -- especially in real-life sports^[3] -- stacking upsets less-skilled players who feel that they aren't being given a fair chance. Less ethical rigging involves weighting the game by providing a player or team an advantage by outfitting them with better (or more familiar) weapons/equipment or creating a play field that caters to a certain player, team and/or playing style.

Farming

In games where achievements are available via defeating a number of a particular class, players may arrange to win/lose against one another in order to obtain the achievements without having to play the game linearly. This is also known as stat-padding or swapping.

Implementation of cheats

There are many facets of cheating in online games which make the creation of a system to stop cheating very difficult. In the client-server model, the server is responsible for sending a client only necessary information and maintaining game continuity. (See "Efficiency versus security" below for drawbacks.) In the peer-to-peer gaming model, clients run equal code but are still subject to most of the same type of cheats found in client-server multiplayer model; however, the peer-to-peer multiplayer model has depreciated in favor of client-server with the wider adoption of high-speed networks. Cheating in online games are activities that modify the game experience to give one player an advantage over another player(s); depending on the game, different activities constitute cheating and it is often a matter of consensus opinion as to which particular activity or activities actually constitute cheating. ... A peer-to-peer (or P2P) computer network is a network that relies on the computing power and bandwidth of the participants in the network rather than concentrating it in a relatively few servers. ...

"Never trust the client" is a common maxim among game developers that summarizes their opinion regarding the client-server multiplayer gaming model. It argues that programmers should assume information sent to the client will be known by the player regardless of whether or not the player should know that information. For example, the server might notify a client in a first person shooter that another player is hiding behind a door and cannot be seen, but a wallhack cheat would reveal the other player. Conversely, data from the client might indicate that the client teleported from one side of the map to another for some reason (possibly a change made to the game's data). A video game developer is a software developer (a business or an individual) that creates video games. ... Client/Server is a network application architecture which separates the client (usually the graphical user interface) from the server. ... A first-person shooter (FPS) is a computer or video game where the players on-screen view of the game world simulates that of the character, and there is some element of shooting involved. ... The term wallhack is used to describe various methods for cheating by changing the properties of walls in a multiplayer first-person shooter. ...

The game software

Many cheats in today's games are implemented by modifying the game software, although many game companies have EULAs which forbid modification. While game software distributed in binary-only versions makes it harder to modify code, reverse engineering is always possible. Also many of the data files for games can be edited without editing the main program and thereby circumvent protections implemented in software. A software license is a type of proprietary or gratiuitious license as well as a memorandum of contract between a producer and a user of computer software — sometimes called an End User License Agreement (EULA) — that specifies the perimeters of the permission granted by the owner to the user. ... Reverse engineering (RE) is the process of taking something (a device, an electrical component, a software program, etc. ...

Wallhacks and maphacks often function by modifying the software. Other cheats can analyze or change the game's state in RAM, such as some aimbots and programs that give infinite ammo or health (often called trainers). There is software that are actually legitimate programs during normal uses but they can fulfill the goals when used inside the game. Some examples of these programs include program accelerator and auto clicker. The term wallhack is used to describe various methods for cheating by changing the properties of walls in a multiplayer first-person shooter. ... A maphack is a cheat in real-time strategy games that enables the player to see more of the map than the game intends them to see. ... RAM redirects here. ... An aimbot, sometimes called auto-aim, is software used in online multiplayer first-person shooter games that assists the player in aiming at the target. ... Trainers are programs made to modify behaviour of a computer game, usually u addresses and values, in order to allow cheating. ... An autoclicker is a software, or macro that can be used to simplify and speed up repetitive input procedures. ...

System Software

Rather than modifying the game (which the game may detect), cheats can choose to modify the underlying system software. An example of this is modifying graphics drivers to ignore depth checking, and draw all objects on the screen (A primitive wallhack). The advantage of these is they are harder to detect, as there are very large number of possible drivers.

Packet tampering

The protection of game software can be circumvented by manipulating data in real-time while in transit from the client to the server or vice versa. This manipulation can be performed on the client machine itself or via an external communication proxy. Some aimbots in first-person shooters incorporate this methodology. Newer games encrypt network data to prevent such manipulation at the expense of client computing resources that could be directed to make a faster, more immersive gaming experience. An aimbot, sometimes called auto-aim, is software used in online multiplayer first-person shooter games that assists the player in aiming at the target. ... This article is about video games. ...

Cheat Prevention

Game developers and third party software developers have created or are developing^[4][5] technologies that attempt to prevent cheating. Anti-cheat software is commonly used in popular games such as Half-Life, Quake, or World of Warcraft. A few examples of anti-cheat software are DMW Anticheat, GameGuard, PunkBuster, VAC, or Warden (software). This article is about the original video game. ... World of Warcraft (commonly abbreviated as WoW) is a massive multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) developed by Blizzard Entertainment and is the fourth game in the Warcraft series, excluding expansion packs and the cancelled Warcraft Adventures: Lord of the Clans. ... Developing Multiplayer Worlds (DMW) is a 3rd party anti-cheat application first released in January of 2002 for Medal of Honor: Allied Assault by EA Games which was released without an anti-cheat application. ... nProtect GameGuard (sometimes called GG, with a driver dump_wmimmc. ... PunkBuster is a computer program published by Even Balance, Inc. ... Valve Anti-Cheat, abbreviated to VAC, is a proprietary anti-cheat solution developed and maintained by Valve Corporation as a component of the Steam platform. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

Exploits of bugs are usually resolved/removed via a patch to the game; however, not all companies force the patches/updates on users, leaving the actual resolution to individual users.

Some companies ban suspected cheaters by blacklisting the specific installation/serial keys; the player is effectively prevented from playing the game online. Many game publishers are known to have banned players, though the actual number of players banned is usually not revealed.

Efficiency versus Security

Generally, the more game code run on the server, the fewer cheats possible in the game, since the server operator maintains control over what is allowed. However, a game server has limited bandwidth and limited resources, which makes it necessary to distribute code to the clients causing a trade-off between availability of cheats versus usability. A game server is a server used by game clients. ...

For example, a player is not supposed to know who is hiding behind a closed door. The server has to make a trade-off between calculating what the player can and cannot see. It can do this by sending only a part of the entire world state, which can result in client lag but makes wallhacks unlikely, or sending the player the entire world state, which is faster for the player but makes wallhacks more likely. The server can also choose to send part of the world state -- a trade-off between security and efficiency.

References

Hoglund, Greg. Exploiting Online Games. 2008. Pearson Education

External links

• Aspects of Networking in Multiplayer Computer Games by J.Smed et al., The Electronic Library, volume 20, number 2, pages 87-97, 2002.
• Counter-Hack.net Provides information on many aspects of cheating and anti-cheating in many online games. Counter-Hack.net, 1999.
• Punkbuster Provides "anti-cheat" software for various online game manufacturers.
• Fair Online Gaming Information on Intel's anti-cheat research initiative and technology.