We are being too lenient on hackers

I'm sure I'm not the only one thinking we're being far too lenient on hackers, but I think a full thread is needed so that we can draw some attention to this glaring issue. However, before I start I want to say that no names will be mentioned on this thread about who is hacking or who is not. I have my own opinions about who is or isn't just as you do, but this thread is not about that - it's about how we treat them.

The current staff protocol is absolutely ridiculous for catching hackers - to the point where it is laughable. I'm sure we've all been in various discussions in discord servers about how the staff do nothing about them. This isn't because they don't want to, it's because the sheer amount of evidence needed to catch one hacker using something less blatant than a client which makes them fly or turns their bow into a machine gun. They're able to get away with it for months if not permanently simply because there's not enough sufficient evidence to get them banned. Even if there is something it's often not accepted solo, with multiple clips being needed to take a hacker down.

This system does not work. Yes, your chances of being right when catching a hacker are higher than elsewhere because of the necessary checks involved. The problem is, the number of checks needed are so high that the staff can't do anything - basically allowing these players to get away with it. This system, whilst "robust", is inefficient enough to allow these players onto the server whilst the mods hands are tied. It's not practical to have a system like this. To those in power, I'm all for making the right call, but there's also a right time. You need to give your staff the ability to do something about these hackers sooner. That doesn't mean you should just cut all the red tape - obviously you want to make sure that things are done well. With that said, this is way too much.

Of course, that would be fine if it were the only problem. Sadly however, when you ban a player on brawl they don't really stay banned. They can be unbanned very quickly, and you need 3 accounts banned to be IPbanned, a ridiculous concept given most players have at least 1 alt. This allows those hackers to essentially switch account and carry on doing exactly what they were doing before. The only difference this time is now the staff need to collect evidence for this account, starting the process all over again. This delays the process of removing hackers even longer, allowing them to quite literally keep going for months before they're caught. Even then, you can buy unbans. This means even when they are banned, they can just come right back again! What is the point in banning hackers if they can just come back again and again. At least it would cost them some money to do something like that if bans were more frequent for cheaters, but with the amount of time it takes, it's easily achievable!

I understand at this point that talking to brawl on these kind of occasions doesn't really result in much change. I'm not the first person to have said any of this, but this has not changed since I first came to brawl. I personally think what should happen when you hack is you're banned, permanently. However, that's a bit of a difficult situation due to the revenue from unbans and other such things. I just wish it were easier to actually catch these hackers so we can penalise them for what they're doing.

Failing that, I think there's one thing we can all do regardless of brawl rules, and it can be put in place by the CTF committee. When hacking, you should not get restrictions, you should receive three strikes and be banned from the match server. I say this because the match server is a privilege, we get that to play competitive CTF with the best players in the game. I don't see why we should afford that privilege to hackers. Not only is hacking bad sportsmanship (1 condition worth a strike), but it also violates brawl's rules (2) and displays a lack of common sense (3) as it's clear that if cheating on a casual server is blatantly wrong, playing like that in the competitive scene is blatantly wrong. Just because they buy an unban, doesn't mean they've changed their ways - it just means they've given some money to you. Their actions should also have lasting consequences, to deter people. Right now, there's nothing that would do that, probably contributing to the rising number of regulars people say are hacking.

Of course, none of this means people don't deserve the right to appeal and false bans do occur. In those cases, obviously the consequences should be reversed so players aren't penalised for something they didn't do. All I am trying to say is that there should be lasting consequences for players that are hacking. Right now that isn't happening and they're essentially running riot.

 

Completely agree with the message. My personal opinion is the whole system is far too lenient, but it's very difficult to create a thread that covers all of the flaws in the brawl system. It would probably amount to an essay longer than any I've written before (and frankly noone wants to read that). It's the same reason I overlooked bias with regulars and new players. Those are important topics, but focus on one thing at once. Just a note on harassment specifically - I'd say that the problem is the lack of punishment rather than the punishments themself

 

Very well, next time I won't bother trying to get things changed without doing my homework.