Viol #89246, #89296 and #89229 Bans Removed (BF3)

-IBR-Gen.Venttura, on Feb 12, 2012 - 02:30 PM, said:

So, the innocent people who use the autohotkey macro should be punished because it comes with their legitimate software??

You are seriously misguided! It is unfortunate that there are people like you to wish bad things on people who did nothing wrong.

sirdrako, on Feb 12, 2012 - 02:31 PM, said:

Wouldn't be the first time we took action before Even Balance did:

http://www.pbbans.com/forums/viol-79542-bans-removed-bc2-t136903.html
http://www.pbbans.com/forums/viol-50074-bans-removed-cod2-t145852.html

Thank you for this!!

I use AHK for my VPN Net Extender for work, so I can just press F1 and that brings up my VPN and logs me in. After I am done working on the servers I usually close AHK but yesterday I was in the middle of work when friends wanted to play so I just suspended the script for AHK instead of closing it and after 10-15 minutes of playing in a server I was kicked and added to the MBI list. Thank you for lifting this as my AHK script was not tied to BF3 or any other game. So @-IBR-Gen.Venttura this would be a situation where people are innocently banned and they in fact were not cheating.

Are there any way to make PB kick for AHK?

Id like to prevent the use of AHK on our war server

pb_sv_Restrictions 2

Benway, on Feb 12, 2012 - 04:09 PM, said:

Was that directed at me?

Edited by Benway, Feb 13, 2012 - 01:12 AM.
- Answer: Sure :)

Odd i use Auto Hotkey to moderate an online game Desert operations & have it running whilst in game yet never been banned i stream to PBBANS & GGC yet never been banned so how is that possible ?...

;		   Helps
;
::m1:: /sticky
::m2:: /unsticky
::h1:: You can send a Support Ticket here: http://www.looki.co.uk/support/newticket.php?category=28
::h2:: Everyone has a opinion, whatever it may be, this chat is not the place to air your personal views. Please stop the discussion, thanks
::h3:: Please keep the chat topics related to the game as this is the game chat and not a private chat room. Thank you
::h4:: Please read the game manual here http://wiki.desert-operations.com/uk/index.php/Main_Page
::h5:: Please read chat rules and Game GTBS here http://uk.desert-operations.com/wiki and in the forums here http://www.looki.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=989
::h6:: Please stop. To over emphasize words or names by adding redundant extra letters and/or special characters is annoying and disturbs the chat.
::h7::
::h8::
;
;		   Warnings
;
;
::a1:: No alliance recruiting please in this Room . Please use the Alliances chat lobby or PM.
;
::s1:: Swearing is against the rules. Even using **'s or abreviations in place of bad words is against the rules, and will result in you being muted.
;
::c1:: Dont use caps please, its considered shouting and is against the rules, and can result in you being muted.

And there has been once or twice i spammed my server by mistake with auto hotkey so how is it only some were getting banned ?.(out of interest)

I was ubanned. All I used AutoHotKey for was VOLUME CONTROL and launching apps?! So I should be banned because I use it in lue of my keyboard not having media controls? Some of you guys if you would have been in my shoes and had ~130 hours of play time and been banned for seemingly nothing you would think other wise. The problem lies in finding out how to read memory hashs of scripts that are altering gameplay and not simple volume control etc. Which I'm not even going to muse how that's possible. I think they did the right thing with this one.

Just a slight note, I've used AHK for years with no issues until last week. Something has changed with BF3 on the EvenBalance side of things if you ask me.

This is my AHK script:

#Numpad1::
Run Chrome
return
#Numpad2::
Run %windir%\explorer.exe
return

#Numpad3::
Run %windir%\ehome\ehshell.exe
return
#Numpad5::
Run Calc
Return
#Numpad7::
Run G:\Steam\Steam.exe
Return

#n::
IfWinExist Untitled - Notepad
WinActivate
else
Run Notepad
return

#t::
Run Taskmgr
return

#v::
Run %windir%\system32\mstsc.exe
Return
;This is keypad launching. Mainly for games and often used utilities.
;So keep this section clean so that you can use what you need when you need!
#Numpad0::
Run "G:\TeamSpeak 3 Client\ts3client_win64.exe"
Return
;Sound Settings /multi-media For Keyboard.
;This emulates needing to use a function key to do it.
^NumpadEnter::
Send {Volume_Mute}
return

^NumpadSub::
Send {Volume_Down}
Return

^NumpadAdd::
Send {Volume_Up}
Return

^CtrlBreak::
Send {Media_Play_Pause}
Return
^PgUp::
Send {Media_Next}
Return
^PgDn::
Send {Media_Prev}
Return

Edited by Qazme, Feb 12, 2012 - 04:43 PM.

Good for you PBbans, you made the right decision. The mass banning was way over the top and too agressive of a move for EB to enforce.

A proper Kick and warning should have been the first line of action, then Ban after that. I was one of those wrongfully accused, it sucked, to put it mildly. Plus the real hacks are going to get away with far worse cheating than using AHK.

All this did was hurt a lot of innocent people. You can't just Expect people to know that AHK is no longer allowed, and throw up some dumb a** code. They allowed it for 10 yrs, NOW they decide to secretly ban people w/o warning, ridiculous. Just a complete Wrong way of going about it.

-IBR-Gen.Venttura, on Feb 12, 2012 - 02:01 PM, said:

sirdrako, on Feb 12, 2012 - 02:20 PM, said:

You 2 are not in receipt of the full facts and you do not stream a server via PBBans so I guess you never will be.
The PBBans MCI manager has suggested a PB setting that will kick all AHK users and on top of that he has updated our MD5 scans so that only cheat related AHK scripts that we have in our cheat collection database will trigger a violation.
You should also remember that as it stands at the moment any server that is PB enabled will still kick for the 2 gamehack violations concerned (the default 2 minutes) the only difference is, that PBBans will not place a permanent ban for anyone raising either of those violations.

So maybe your ire should be directed at Even Balance for giving a 2 minute kick instead of a globalguid ban

If either of you have any further concerns that you feel might warrant an explanation, please use our general forums for discussion rather than clog up a news item with your opinions.
Thanks.

it is preferable to let cheaters go than to have an innocent banned.

I love how all you morons, say totally the wrong action by PBBans, when it's happened numerous times over the past several years. Where were you guys when those others got removed? When innocents were banned? Go away you dam trolls and learn what an actual hack is.

-IBR-Gen.Venttura, on Feb 12, 2012 - 02:01 PM, said:

sirdrako, on Feb 12, 2012 - 02:31 PM, said:

Now GGC have confirmed that totally innocent players are raising a cheat violation that they can be banned for, what would you 2 suggest they do now
 GGC-Stream _ News _ Violations #89246 and #89296 (Allegedly Auto Hot Key).jpg   235.61K   49 downloads

no permission to view attachment?

-IBR-Gen.Venttura, on Feb 12, 2012 - 02:01 PM, said:

-IBR-Gen.Venttura, on Feb 12, 2012 - 02:30 PM, said:

sirdrako, on Feb 12, 2012 - 02:31 PM, said:

http://www.ggc-stream.com/news/133/Violations+%2389246+and+%2389296+%28Allegedly+Auto+Hot+Key%29

Quote

It'd be neglectful for PBBans, and other third party A/C organisations, not to act in the best interests of this community where seen appropriate. We do not make cavalier (Showing a lack of proper concern; offhand.) decisions and we have a reason for everything we do - which should now be very clear.

While we appreciate that there is an illegitimate use for AHK (allegedly) there is also a large legitimate use. Where we can not guarantee that a ban is conclusively as a result of a cheat/hack it is given the benefit of the doubt; it's how we maintain the integrity of our service and MBi.

Ice Man, on Feb 13, 2012 - 01:19 AM, said:

try now

This whole thing is testament to the level of paranoia we now game under, the stance of innocent until proven guilty is no longer considered with many people even going as far as to be happy to ban people who are using it, in an innocent capacity (and that includes people who dont know there's even a problem) so long as they catch the "few" that are using for dubious means. Its completely the wrong attitude to have in my opinion and Its good to see GGC have followed PPBans lead on this.

It reminds of an quote made by the Abbot of Citeaux when discussing how to deal with the Cathers when he announced "kill them all god will know his own!".

Quality over quantity and I would personally rather deal with an army of cheats than having innocent people banned.

Edited by {SAS}stalker, Feb 13, 2012 - 07:31 AM.

Just for the records - Evenbalance has now converted both violations to restriction kicks:

http://www.evenbalance.com/index.php?page=support-bf3.php

-IBR-Gen.Venttura, on Feb 12, 2012 - 02:30 PM, said:

I understand where you're coming from. And you're not wrong to be upset about cheaters using it to their advantage. Your point is valid. The problem is those that do use it to gain an advantage.

The greater good here that I believe we can both agree with is that PBBans made a decision to not have innocent people banned at the cost of a few cheaters going free. As a buyer of BF3, it would be unfortunate to be restricted from servers over a tool that may be used maliciously which is why I'm happy that EB/PB still applies a restriction kick.

Maybe it will be fixed and the PB restriction will no longer be applied. Until then, this is the best solution in my view.

{SAS}stalker, on Feb 13, 2012 - 07:30 AM, said:

While I agree, I can understand that due to the overwhelming numbers of cheaters we see in servers these days, this is now the case (people more willing to believe players are deliberately cheating). Probably why I prefer single player/co-op games now.

In as far as AHK and other macro programs being used in multi-player games, I believe restriction kicks are the answer simply because people don't always use AHK etc., for cheating so asking them to turn off the macro before rejoining the server is the way to go. By the way, I lump the use of G15 and mouse macros in the same boat - shouldn't be on in multiplayer games regardless of usage.