Idea Revised Screenshare Ideas

Overview
Tallscot's thread provides an excellent argument regarding why Brawl - WarZ in particular (and arguably, Raid as well) needs a screenshare-protocol in general.

In this thread I will highlight his ideas/arguments and present some other ones to explain why WarZ/Raid would benefit from this protocol and outweigh the drawbacks that have been mentioned in counterarguments.


Main Idea
I'll keep this in point form for a quick read:
- Staff will devise a documented and effective protocol screensharing players who have been flagged for potential cheating and/or use of a ghost client

- Devs will implement a "freeze" system. staff with special perms will be able to freeze a player in place. They will not be able to move or engage in PvP. Their 2 options will be to logout (resulting in a regular ban), or follow through with the screenshare process once they are frozen

- SMOD+ will have access to the freeze command and the protocol. MODs may have special access (recommended since there will be many WarZ MODs soon). I also recommend that a test similar to hack tests should be created which should be simple. If this is too much of an inconvenience, then MODs will require an SMOD+ to accompany them to ensure that no abuse ensues (more on this later).

- Base protocol:
If the player is found with a ghost client, they should be permanently banned.
If the player is found with a regular client, they should be permanently banned during the call until they delete every single client on their computer, resulting in a ban reduction to a regular ban on the frozen account.
If the player evades the screenshare, at minimum a regular ban will occur on the frozen account; discussions for further punishment can be made.
If the player follows through with the screenshare process and no clients were found, they are unpunished, nothing stays on record.


Why this is foolproof
I will list the popular counterarguments:
- Invasion of Privacy: To begin, screen sharing is not an inherent invasion of privacy since both parties agree to the process. Players will be given a skeleton procedure that outline what they will have to do. It is their choice whether or not they continue. SMOD+ are trusted staff. If an SMOD+ invades privacy via deviating from the protocol, they likely have already done it through other mediums (ip-checks, area checks, blackmail etc.) and that is an issue with the staff team/management, not the protocol itself. MOD+ will require an SMOD+ to participate in the process, so the same argument applies in this case as well. The protocol will be designed and approved such that no breach of privacy will occur. Invasion of privacy is also a moral law, given that the player ultimately 100% has the CHOICE to screen share. We just won’t allow them on our server.

- Pre-existing Clients on Computer: Give a timeframe to which Brawl's (low/manageable) players can delete their clients before the protocol takes place (preferably a month). This step is hilariously easy for any player to complete, and if they are not willing to do so, then why should we welcome them on the server. DEVs may obtain special permission to keep clients for anti-cheat testing and so-on. Further, if there are ways to check which clients were used in what time without error, then this argument becomes obsolete altogether.

- Training Staff is Tedious: Not entirely true as long as the protocol is well-devised. I know for a fact there are staff on the current team that have prior experience with in-depth screening.

- Pointless due to Injection/Self-destructing Clients: If the player has one and it is not found, nothing changes. If the player has a regular client or a found ghost client, they are caught whereas otherwise they are not. This protocol would only ADD to the current (lack of) security.

- Encourages Ghost Clients to Hide from SS: The whole point of this protocol is to weed out players we do not want on the server. If a player purposefully attempts to evade the protocol, they are not someone we want on the server anyway and eventually they will be caught. If they don’t change over, then security is added and players have a better chance to get caught now. Implementing this protocol will make it more tedious for a player to cheat and may encourage them, similarly, to not cheat at all.

Final Arguments
WarZ/Raid are littered with xrayers. These are servers that give an extreme advantage for using these clients, with little to no possible way of obtaining evidence for a ban given the current protocol. Xray is a difficult thing to record + ban for (current protocol). The advantage given over other players through Xray causes:
- Events to be unfair
- New players to struggle even further against experienced ones
- Experienced players to struggle against other experienced ones, causing a domino-effect of xray-downloading out of frustration; fights become xray vs. xray
- Fight quality drastically decreases in creativity/longevity; may potentially cause side effect of boredom/less content created for the server
- Fight metas cause un-achievable and high standards for new players to even hope to grasp; causes new players to leave in frustration; causes lack of (concurrent) players; causes lower playercount/ranks purchases; causes MANY BAD THINGS

Other arguments include:
- Requires little to no dev time since only the “freeze” command and effect will need to be implemented. Everything else is handled by the protocol/Discord
- The WarZ community specifically is largely in favour of a screenshare protocol. Listen to your community.