Cracking Down on Online Game Hacking
Rockstar Games is awesome. They’ve not only made some of the coolest games of all time, but they handle their customers in ways that other game developers don’t. In their latest bit of awesomeness, Rockstar has created the Cheater’s Pool for Max Payne 3. Essentially the Cheater’s Pool is where online players who have been caught cheating are sent. They are still able to play the game but only with other caught cheaters.
What makes this really awesome is not only the fact that it deters gamers from cheating by making the experience less fun, but it shames them into not wanting to cheat anymore. For the most part gamers behave when they play online. They generally don’t cheat but as the old saying goes, a few bad apples spoil the bunch. However, Rockstar has implemented fairness as anyone who manages to clear themselves of any wrong doing will be taken out of the Cheater’s Pool. However if they come under suspicion of cheating again they will permanently be put in the Cheater’s Pool.
Rockstar also went on the record to say that cheating in this instance specifically refers to hacks that give unfair advantages to online players and not the use of legitimate tactics that gamers dislike, such as camping. This is great because there are far too many gamers who get overly upset whenever someone uses the camping strategy and try to report the players that do it anyway. This is a great opportunity for Rockstar to set a precedent that other developers may follow.
Wielding the Rockstar Banhammer
The idea of taking gamers that do the right thing and gamers that don’t and putting them into different categories is a great idea as it serves to teach a lesson to those who would abuse online play and keep the online experience a good one for those who do follow the rules. Far too often gamers have to endure cheaters who, more often than not, simply cheat to get on the nerves of other gamers. It’s bad enough that we have griefers running around without having to deal with cheaters too, so it’s great to see at least one developer is trying to do something about it.
