Battlefield 3 DDOS

Battlefield servers have been suffering from a massive DDOS attack for the last few days - apparently it is still ongoing too..

Uh oh! How widespread is it I wonder?

Maybe it's COD fanboys?

Edited by deleted (Thu 09-May-13 11:27:31)

According to this report, it looks like someone at DICE was trying to mitigate the MX cheating system, but was stupid enough to use his company email address : here, and they decided to retaliate...

As I stated in the official BF3 forums, if/when you do this, you use a completely isolated system with a completely different ISP (making sure it is registered differently to main the systems)...

Edited by deleted (Sun 12-May-13 18:11:45)

Is cyber security your specialism then, MrTAToad2? I hate cheats btw. Just don't wanna be thinking about people getting one over on you when you're gaming. I prefer to think it's their skill as a player in kicking my butt and not some beefed up aimbot or the like. A nice, level playing field is good. Cheaters should be executed.

It was a very small part when I was working at Plastics Software The rest was mainly software development on a product that I had no idea how it worked

Cheating should be made as hard and as expensive has possible for the offender - software companies really need to do a lot more about it.

Edited by deleted (Mon 13-May-13 14:50:19)

Yeah, I read the linked page but it's quite hard knowing what they're going on about. They're all rolling about laughing at DICE but I can't really work out why.

Security is a major deal for sure. It'd be nice to know about computers and network stuff but I'm just too thick to understand it and get too tired and bored by it when I do try. No hope for me really.

Anti cheat game systems like punkbuster/evenbalance don't seem to be very effective or at least, often half hearted attempts especially if a game has aged some. Cheating in BF2 is meant to be rife. It was a real blight and the cartillery server hack didn't exactly help either.

Yes, the fact that the author(s) English is a bit dodgy doesn't help...

Punkbuster's use is limited and can generally be easily circumvented - why publishers still use it, I have no idea - unless they don't want to spend money on an effective anti-cheating system...

Good point.

I never understand why people cheat and why they play games where everyone else cheats.
What's that all about?? The GF's boy had a cheat on COD where he didn't have to aim just press the button and everyone died. The little [censored] thought it was great.

for the lulz.

yawn

You must be new to the scene.

Pretty much for the "lulz"

Edited by deleted (Mon 13-May-13 20:58:58)

Double Yawn..........Insomnia setting in.......Im feeling sleepy.........zzzzzzzzzzzz

You must be new to the Gaming Forum

In reply to a post by Zadeks:

for the lulz.

What is lulz's???


Oh I found out

lulz is laughter at someone else's expense (from the German concept of "Schadensfreude").

Surely the laughter should be at the cheats for being such sad little [censored]

Edited by deleted (Tue 14-May-13 16:27:42)

If gamers want decent anti cheat then they will have to pay for it, either through higher game prices or a small subsciprtion cost to pay for developers to keep the anti-cheat up to date.

Or perhaps do the correct thing during development : Don't use client side collision detection!

That would solve two problems : Reduce cheating (harder to cheat the server) and makes killing fairer.

Edited by deleted (Wed 15-May-13 11:38:33)

I thought we were already paying enough for some form of continued support for our games. They can add the price within the games and obviously they do. Software support doesn't bring in any money though, hence why developers are always moving swiftly onto the next thing that does bring money in.

The good companies understand that working towards continued healthy profit entails more than just regular product cycles; treat your customers right and they will develop brand loyalty: works for the likes of Apple and some of the better software developers. Sometimes a premium is justified but this usually needs to be built in.

Mind you, cheating is so rife that a paid for subs might not be a bad thing. PB is basically a token gesture in some respect. Valve's VAC is better. What Mr Toad says is very interesting and I'm sure, with continued development it'll make more sense. Can't pretend I know anything about coding requirements, server management and the like but the main point is these big publishers aren't exactly short of cash. Their market is highly competitive of course and there's significant factors that work against smaller devs but it's not always about making the consumer pay more. I think, in general, we pay enough already.

^ ^ ^ Wot he said.

Don't use client side collision detection!

Some of my clients may wish they had that if they don't think about paying their bills sharpish. No wonder I'm still stuck playing Medal of Honour .*


(* I am in fact not still playing Medal of Honour. It's actually hanging from a string in the back garden with numerous pellet holes in it.)

The big developers and publishers have the funds but they wont spend it on a decent anti cheat, as soon as they update it the hacks will be updated within a few weeks, in the long run its not value for money for companies to pay for decent anti cheat, they will have their next game out etc.

dev support of games now days is very poor.

Whats the norm now? release buggy game and if lucky may get a patch or 2 shortly after release which might be integrated inside paid DLC's. Once 6 or more months are passed patches rare in todays gaming world.

Go back to the 1990s, and games without a sub financial model had dozens of patches post release even several years after release. the morals have changed greatly.

Don't you know anything Lieutenant? Just normal guys, just for the laughs.

In addition, Cleary pleaded guilty to a further four charges, including hacking into the US Air Force's computers and possession of indecent images of babies and children.

Not so funny anymore.

From SPOOK's link by the way - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-22552753

Pleased to announce I'm now a level 80 Colonel!

Yeah, lowest of the low. I bet he'll enjoy being in prison then.

In reply to a post by MrTAToad2:

Pleased to announce I'm now a level 80 Colonel!

That's very good going, shows obvious commitment to a good game. I haven't been in for a while and I think I'm still at a really low rank. Yeah, just checked it. I'm Sergeant 3 Star (level 16).

Actually, I came across something that could be quite interesting. It's a personality study linked to people's player stats that's meant to reveal certain traits about a player's basic psychology and details about their age, playing-style etc.

An interesting quote:

In reference to bf3stats.com/:

It turns out that how you play Battlefield 3 does say a bit about who you are. Slower players are more careful and precise in real life. People who tend to shrug off their real-life duties tend to be better players. And, of all the statistics that are tracked for Battlefield 3, your Unlock Score says the most about your personality. The more and the faster you unlock new gear in the game, the less careful, precise, and out-going you are in real life.

PsyOps Research

Dunno what that says about me. I tend to dilly dally a lot on the battlefield these days, a sure sign that I'm getting old. I blame Skyrim though, as I'm becoming far more interested in looking for flowers and other plants than plain old slaughtering.

Standing around gazing at the ground doesn't work too well in the heat of battle of course. Probably explains my lousy K|D ratio.

It turns out that how you play Battlefield 3 does say a bit about who you are. Slower players are more careful and precise in real life. People who tend to shrug off their real-life duties tend to be better players. And, of all the statistics that are tracked for Battlefield 3, your Unlock Score says the most about your personality. The more and the faster you unlock new gear in the game, the less careful, precise, and out-going you are in real life.

Interesting SPOOK, but I dispute that conclusion.

Speeding through ranks and unlocks says more about your connection than your personality. Your play style will always reflect the limitations of your connection, up until the point that you become bored (either due to connection issues or simply with the game itself) and move on. I have predominantly played co-op (zombies and the like) with the same three people for years. With the in game chat, familiarity and an appreciation of each others play styles and ability, it soon becomes abundantly clear how fundamental connection is to not only your enjoyment of the game, but also to the way you are forced to modify your play style.

Surprisingly, age also seems to be very closely tied to play style.

For those exact reasons, this is not surprising at all! Good link though SPOOK, I will read the it more thoroughly later on.

For those exact reasons, this is not surprising at all! Good link though SPOOK, I will read the it more thoroughly later on.

Or when he has a week to spare

Yawn

Edited by time2die (Mon 20-May-13 07:40:57)

Thanks. Although some of your admiration and praise should go to Mr & Mrs Claymore who have done a sterling service in introducing enemies to the joys of being blown up, who's service in the line of my duty has been incalculable (well, it is calculable at 907 kills) whilst I whittle away at those idiots who rush past my favourite container...

Also thanks should be given to Sir C Fore too at a not to inconsiderable 429 kills.

Without these two lovely weapons, people's complaints would be (un)fortunately a lot less...

Edited by deleted (Mon 20-May-13 11:45:23)

Oh yes - a fast internet connection is need, although with BF3 unfortunately, the higher the ping (than yourself) then the better they do - although once they reach a ping of 200 then lag really kicks in for them and the effect is reversed...

Yeah, I have my own ideas about gaming psychology but they're just my own thoughts. It's hard to see how you can come to those base conclusions as I'm pretty sure players who play similarly - and let's face it the type of game encourages people to play in a particular manner (adapt or die) - do so in order to better exploit the gaming mechanic and reap the rewards. I guess there is something to be said about what kind of rewards people aim for, even in a First Person Shooter.

Back in the days of Battlefield 1942 (during the war! sounds like uncle Albert), there was a map called Coral Sea and that was a plane map where the objective was to destroy the enemy's aircraft carriers and prevent them spawning. Your basic attack choice was to get in a plane. And your main defensive tactic was in repairing the battleship. Not many people chose to be engineers I can tell you. I still remember the sight of a couple of engineers frantically running about with their spanners. So funny.

I don't think there's necessarily a direct correlation in your pace of play or carefulness with how you are as a person in real life. I think during such conclusions that sloppy aimers were also less careful in general might not be the correct conclusion to take. People have many different aspects to their personalities. It would be like saying somebody with poor spelling/punctuation or grammar is a moronic loser and we all know that isn't the case, lots of highly successful people with poor literacy skills (many due to having dyslexia). The converse is also true.

I'm glad I don't have your connection trouble mrnelster. I've had my fair share of problems over the years and owing to my current ISP, BE, getting sold and moved over to Sky, I've had to jump ship and go fibre. How a player's connection affects their playing style/ability is a whole other field of research innit? Actually, playing in such close communication with players you've known for a long while is far more likely to affect your playing style and be much more rewarding through having a richer playing experience than the simple quoted statements suggests. Unfortunatley I don't think much of BF3's communication system unlike BF2 where you could easily talk to other squad members.

Anyway, I'll take a better look at PsyOps reserach one day. Maybe? I doubt it though.

Well done on reaching level 80
I'm living it up on my way to level 42 I'm so close I can feel it



Hang on COLONEL SERVICE STAR 41 (86) does that mean I'm level 86???

I gave up with claymores as no one seems to trip over them any more

In reply to a post by time2die:

Yawn

You an' me, outside now sunshine.

You just need to give them a reason to walk near a well hidden claymore or 2 - perhaps the lifeless body of one their soldiers - no medic could resist that

I like your style

So sneaky. Lovin' it.

Thanks! I do too!

Best way go support with the explosives perk, find a building place 2 clays on the staircase with one above the other- 2 step gap roughly.

Then bait a enemy in and you will have your kills, then rinse repeat, corners can work as well.

Good idea!

Thanks to the Double XP weekend, that was postponed due to the DDOS attack, I managed to get to COLONEL SERVICE STAR 86

I missed the double xp as was away in Wales Boyo

Ah, thats your loss - although with the many sheep around, maybe not...

Edited by deleted (Mon 27-May-13 13:01:26)

Yawnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn

Now on the last leg, so to speak. Currently at Colonel 90, so only 10 more to go before I can officially call everyone a "noob" and make other derogatory statements about their playing...

I'll let you all know how it goes!

Nice one
I've given up playing games for the summer, although I did have a game tuesday evening and managed to get to level 42

Yawwwwwwnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn.....zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Thanks! Very nearly at 91...

I can tell you're eaten up with jealousy, you wish you could find a game you love as much

468 hours and counting = pretty good value for money

In reply to a post by Lt_Swan:

I can tell you're eaten up with jealousy, you wish you could find a game you love as much

468 hours and counting = pretty good value for money

Yeah and i got a feeling Cod Ghost aint going to be it either,looking forward to Swear Word Alert [Battlefield 4] though if I'm honest and i will endeavour to get the most out of this game on a new system.

new pc but not going to waste money on BF3, might just get BF4

cheaters are generally kids with tiny todgers who realise that they will never win at anything and so have to cheat to make them feel grown up

Good news! I'm now at 93...

Nice work
7 more to go

Yes, I'm getting there!

Now on 95. Apparently a week long Double XP event is taking place, which is certainly helping. With any luck, I'll be on 100 by the end of the month...

Blimey Toady. I hope they hand out free welding masks at level 100, else going outside again is gonna hurt!

My mate has just made it to level 100
He's a bit [censored] off now because he's getting loads of points but they don't mean anything any more

Don't worry - I look at a picture of the sky every few hours...

I'm now on level 98

And now on 99...

In reply to a post by MrTAToad2:

Now on the last leg, so to speak. Currently at Colonel 90, so only 10 more to go before I can officially call everyone a "noob" and make other derogatory statements about their playing...

I'll let you all know how it goes!

PC hopefully. If it's a console you can't call anyone anything.

You don't hang about

Is there any better platform for gaming than a PC ? I think not!

Indeed not - hopefully I'll be at 100 by the time the Double XP event finishes...

In reply to a post by MrTAToad2:

Is there any better platform for gaming than a PC ? I think not!

If there is I ain't found it yet

Well, made it to COLONEL SERVICE STAR 100

My plans on recording it when a little astray, as it appears I was promoted during a game, which I left due to everyone else leaving, but I was never told I was promoted (as the game is want to do, thanks to one of the updates).

Fortunately I did record that match as well as the first as a 100 (complete with the progress bar going a little kaka as well), as it will be going on YouTube shortly (and a link added here later).

My BF3 stats are now

Excellent and now you don't need to worry about your score just cap flags

I think after 800 hours of play, now would be the time for a change.

Yawn

Does seem strange not playing it continually... Will probably go back to older games now or something...

cheaters are basically little kids with tiny todgers who can't score in real life or in game, so they cheat

interesting blog...

Yes, haven't the blog for a long while unfortunately...