Post: How Cheaters Cheat
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08-30-2010, 07:44 PM
#1
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LAG SWITCHES[/COLOR]
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If you have ever played a first person shooter online, e.g Call Of Duty, over the PlayStation or Xbox360 you have probably heard somebody being accused of using a "lag switch". Sometimes when people do really well in a game people accuse them of using a lag switch, more so on XBL than on PSN. So what is a lag switch and how could it help cheat on a video game?
This delay of traffic flow to the internet by triggering the lag switch allows players that use them to get free kills cause by the lag which freezes enemies for several seconds. By temporarily blocking connections to and from their Xbox 360, they will appear frozen to everybody else in the game but in reality are actually still moving around and playing locally. From their perspective, everybody else is frozen allowing them to pick people off cheaply without much effort. Their actions still have effect so if they kill you, it's going to count. It is sort of like Prince of Persia: Sands of Time where the main character can freeze or rewind time at will.
It goes without saying that using a lag switch is cheating and they are used by individuals that don't care about ruining the quality of fun for other online video game players. Using one can earn you a console ban which is more so enforced by MicroSoft on Xbox Live, if the use of one is detected. Since you are effectively manipulating the network, the more you do it, the more red flags you are going to raise and the bigger target you will become to the Enforcement Team. Many game developers have even tried to build network manipulation detection into the networking coding itself to auto-ban anybody who the script suspects is doing it.
It is both funny and pathetic at the same time that you have to press this big red button on an apparatus attached to your controller if you start getting owned, almost like a panic button. If you need to use a lag switch to get your kills, you will never actually get better at the game. What satisfaction can be derived from kills achieved through illegitimate means? If anything, using one proves that you are actually an unskilled player.
So how do you know if you are being cheated by lag switchers? The video below taken from YouTube shows exactly what it looks like when a lag switch is being used and what you would see on your kill cam if you are killed by someone using one on Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare.
[ame=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooq_vFjLP1w&feature=player_embedded]YouTube - xbox 360 lag switch test[/ame][/B]
TURBO CONTROLLERS[/COLOR]
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In addition to using lag switches, another way that people cheat on games over online video games is through the use of turbo controllers. A turbo controller is a modified controller that has special "turbo" buttons added to it. The gamer maps their desired button sequence to the turbo button and then pressing it down performs the action. For example, if one were to map the right trigger to turbo, the result would be as if they were feverishly pressing it over and over. This allows people to shoot ridiculously fast in FPS games or pull off complex combinations in fighters with the press of a button.
Have you ever seen someone in Call of Duty using a single shot weapon on full auto such as a sniper rifle? Chances are that wasn't just lag making it seem like he was firing that fast, it was a turbo controller in action. Below is a video found on YouTube of a turbo controller being used on Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare:
[ame=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWIb_j8-SSU]YouTube - Rapid Fire Controller (Turbo Controller) Call Of Duty 4[/ame]
That isn't an MP5 he is using, it's a G3 which is supposed to be a single shot weapon! Yet this player is able to use it on fully automatic by simply holding down one of his custom turbo buttons and draining an entire magazine in mere seconds. You can really get a grasp for how much faster he is firing when he falls into last stand and begins using his M9 pistol as if it were an Uzi or something. Is this fair play?
In a panel at PAX 2009, Stephen Toulouse explained that the Microsoft Enforcement Team does not consider the use of turbo controllers cheating and that you would not actually be banned from Xbox LIVE for using one. He explained that it is up to the game developers to deal with what type of input a game accepts, not them. Toulouse did say that opening your controller to modify it was against the Terms of Service which makes one wonder, if you can be punished for creating a turbo controller why not for using one?
The video above shows just how much of an advantage turbo controllers give over players using non-modded equipment. Like lag switches, the player is obtaining his kills by artificial means and not from his own skill. A player that relies on a turbo controller to help him will never get better at the game. Although Microsoft doesn't think those who use turbo controllers are cheating, many honest gamers do. As the person who asked Toulouse the question at the PAX 2009 panel said "I feel dirty just touching it.[/B]
MODDING[/COLOR]
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The third major way that people cheat at video games is by modding the actual files on their console. According to a tutorial on learning to mod your console it can be as easy as purchasing the ironically titled e-book "Hacking the Xbox 360 for Noobs." The general way that modding works is that a hacker (called a modder) modifies certain files on the consoles hard drive to act differently than how they are supposed to. For example, in Team Fortress 2, some players have modified maps to allow for low gravity games. While low gravity is an option in the PC version, it is not in the Xbox 360 version so if you find yourself jumping like you are on the moon, the host is probably a modder.
Many mods like the one described above are pretty harmless and can actually be a lot of fun. Others, however, are used maliciously in an effort to cheat. There are ways to make yourself utterly invincible, ways to fire rockets out of sub-machine guns on full auto instead of bullets, and of course ways to walk through walls.
There are also other uses for mods than just for cheating in games. Special modchips can be installed into your console that allow you to use any SATA hard drive with your 360 giving you a lot more space for much cheaper or play burned DVD-R's which otherwise would not be possible. Most modchips have to be soldered into the console so installing them requires a lot of technical knowledge so you don't ruin the console. Others can simply be plugged right into the USB ports. Getting modchips to work can be just as confusing as installing them since some require extracting the drive-key from the console and hacking firmware updates since taking a modded console online to download the real ones is a risk.
Microsoft has done all they can to crack down on modders and modding files on your 360 then playing online is the quickest way to get your console or even your IP banned from Xbox LIVE. This is one reason why buying a used Xbox 360 on Craigslist or eBay can be dangerous. Not only do you risk it suffering the RRoD faster than a new console but you may have even been sold a console that has been banned from Xbox LIVE for modding. Good luck trying to get your money back.
In conclusion, you shouldn't cheat online whether it be through the use of lag switches and turbo controllers or by modding your actual console. Cheaters ruin the fun of others trying to play the game legitimately and very little satisfaction (if any) can be derived by cheating since it isn't actually your skill that is making you win. Knowing you need to rely on a special piece of hardware or added lines of code to make you invincible just proves how bad of a player you truly are.
[/B]LAG SWITCHES[/COLOR]
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If you have ever played a first person shooter online, e.g Call Of Duty, over the PlayStation or Xbox360 you have probably heard somebody being accused of using a "lag switch". Sometimes when people do really well in a game people accuse them of using a lag switch, more so on XBL than on PSN. So what is a lag switch and how could it help cheat on a video game?
Originally posted by another user
"A lag switch is a mechanism installed on a home network that allows you to insert delays into the flow of local traffic to the Internet."
This delay of traffic flow to the internet by triggering the lag switch allows players that use them to get free kills cause by the lag which freezes enemies for several seconds. By temporarily blocking connections to and from their Xbox 360, they will appear frozen to everybody else in the game but in reality are actually still moving around and playing locally. From their perspective, everybody else is frozen allowing them to pick people off cheaply without much effort. Their actions still have effect so if they kill you, it's going to count. It is sort of like Prince of Persia: Sands of Time where the main character can freeze or rewind time at will.
It goes without saying that using a lag switch is cheating and they are used by individuals that don't care about ruining the quality of fun for other online video game players. Using one can earn you a console ban which is more so enforced by MicroSoft on Xbox Live, if the use of one is detected. Since you are effectively manipulating the network, the more you do it, the more red flags you are going to raise and the bigger target you will become to the Enforcement Team. Many game developers have even tried to build network manipulation detection into the networking coding itself to auto-ban anybody who the script suspects is doing it.
It is both funny and pathetic at the same time that you have to press this big red button on an apparatus attached to your controller if you start getting owned, almost like a panic button. If you need to use a lag switch to get your kills, you will never actually get better at the game. What satisfaction can be derived from kills achieved through illegitimate means? If anything, using one proves that you are actually an unskilled player.
So how do you know if you are being cheated by lag switchers? The video below taken from YouTube shows exactly what it looks like when a lag switch is being used and what you would see on your kill cam if you are killed by someone using one on Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare.
[ame=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooq_vFjLP1w&feature=player_embedded]YouTube - xbox 360 lag switch test[/ame][/B]
TURBO CONTROLLERS[/COLOR]
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In addition to using lag switches, another way that people cheat on games over online video games is through the use of turbo controllers. A turbo controller is a modified controller that has special "turbo" buttons added to it. The gamer maps their desired button sequence to the turbo button and then pressing it down performs the action. For example, if one were to map the right trigger to turbo, the result would be as if they were feverishly pressing it over and over. This allows people to shoot ridiculously fast in FPS games or pull off complex combinations in fighters with the press of a button.
Have you ever seen someone in Call of Duty using a single shot weapon on full auto such as a sniper rifle? Chances are that wasn't just lag making it seem like he was firing that fast, it was a turbo controller in action. Below is a video found on YouTube of a turbo controller being used on Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare:
[ame=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWIb_j8-SSU]YouTube - Rapid Fire Controller (Turbo Controller) Call Of Duty 4[/ame]
That isn't an MP5 he is using, it's a G3 which is supposed to be a single shot weapon! Yet this player is able to use it on fully automatic by simply holding down one of his custom turbo buttons and draining an entire magazine in mere seconds. You can really get a grasp for how much faster he is firing when he falls into last stand and begins using his M9 pistol as if it were an Uzi or something. Is this fair play?
In a panel at PAX 2009, Stephen Toulouse explained that the Microsoft Enforcement Team does not consider the use of turbo controllers cheating and that you would not actually be banned from Xbox LIVE for using one. He explained that it is up to the game developers to deal with what type of input a game accepts, not them. Toulouse did say that opening your controller to modify it was against the Terms of Service which makes one wonder, if you can be punished for creating a turbo controller why not for using one?
The video above shows just how much of an advantage turbo controllers give over players using non-modded equipment. Like lag switches, the player is obtaining his kills by artificial means and not from his own skill. A player that relies on a turbo controller to help him will never get better at the game. Although Microsoft doesn't think those who use turbo controllers are cheating, many honest gamers do. As the person who asked Toulouse the question at the PAX 2009 panel said "I feel dirty just touching it.[/B]
MODDING[/COLOR]
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The third major way that people cheat at video games is by modding the actual files on their console. According to a tutorial on learning to mod your console it can be as easy as purchasing the ironically titled e-book "Hacking the Xbox 360 for Noobs." The general way that modding works is that a hacker (called a modder) modifies certain files on the consoles hard drive to act differently than how they are supposed to. For example, in Team Fortress 2, some players have modified maps to allow for low gravity games. While low gravity is an option in the PC version, it is not in the Xbox 360 version so if you find yourself jumping like you are on the moon, the host is probably a modder.
Many mods like the one described above are pretty harmless and can actually be a lot of fun. Others, however, are used maliciously in an effort to cheat. There are ways to make yourself utterly invincible, ways to fire rockets out of sub-machine guns on full auto instead of bullets, and of course ways to walk through walls.
There are also other uses for mods than just for cheating in games. Special modchips can be installed into your console that allow you to use any SATA hard drive with your 360 giving you a lot more space for much cheaper or play burned DVD-R's which otherwise would not be possible. Most modchips have to be soldered into the console so installing them requires a lot of technical knowledge so you don't ruin the console. Others can simply be plugged right into the USB ports. Getting modchips to work can be just as confusing as installing them since some require extracting the drive-key from the console and hacking firmware updates since taking a modded console online to download the real ones is a risk.
Microsoft has done all they can to crack down on modders and modding files on your 360 then playing online is the quickest way to get your console or even your IP banned from Xbox LIVE. This is one reason why buying a used Xbox 360 on Craigslist or eBay can be dangerous. Not only do you risk it suffering the RRoD faster than a new console but you may have even been sold a console that has been banned from Xbox LIVE for modding. Good luck trying to get your money back.
In conclusion, you shouldn't cheat online whether it be through the use of lag switches and turbo controllers or by modding your actual console. Cheaters ruin the fun of others trying to play the game legitimately and very little satisfaction (if any) can be derived by cheating since it isn't actually your skill that is making you win. Knowing you need to rely on a special piece of hardware or added lines of code to make you invincible just proves how bad of a player you truly are.
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The following 9 users say thank you to MBO for this useful post:
:y:
08-30-2010, 08:45 PM
#7
Comic Book Guy
Comic's
08-30-2010, 09:19 PM
#9
LeBRON-BEA$TN
< ^ > < ^ >
I hate when people cheat in video games. YOu know you suck @ life when you are cheating in the VIRTUAL WORLD. Video games in the whole gist of things mean ABSOLUTELY nothing. They are fake and yet people still want to cheat to get better scores. All those kids who cheat in MW2 are pathetic. Go put on your job resume that you are level 10 prestige with a 5.0 kill death ratio and a killstreak of 100 on COD4, COD5, and MW2 and see if that gets you the job you are looking for.
The following user thanked LeBRON-BEA$TN for this useful post:
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