Quote:
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Originally Posted by Limited
Constructive Comments
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Ok. Here's a summary of the situation :
* Some popular servers are being crashed to make way for fake "mouse trap" servers.
* People are having their cd key hashes getting stolen.
* These cd key hashes are being used in such a way that they're getting the genuine owner of the key banned on UTAN.
* Epic are apparently refusing to supply replacement cd keys on grounds that UTAN is "third party" and this despite some sort of semi-official approval of the system.
* Epic haven't really made any official statement about what's happening so most people are clueless. They also seem to refuse to acknowledge there's a problem and have systematically closed/deleted threads discussing the issue.
* This is creating paranoia, causing players to avoid unknown servers and generating much less activity overall.
* This in turn is causing admins to shut down some of their servers due to lack of visits.
* The UT2004 playerbase on the whole is suffering as people turn away because having to splash out some more money for a game through no fault of your own is silly.
So, here's the immediate solutions :
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Somehow, the cd key hash stealing activities need to be stopped.
Problems :
- Orange.fr/France Telecom refuse to do anything on grounds that they can't reveal the identity of whoever is doing this (why would we need to ?!) and state that they will only take action upon request of local authorities. This is despite their own conditions.
- Perhaps there is some weird french law constituting an obstacle. However, I personally don't see the difference between this and a spam problem.
- The french judicial police states that a collective complaint needs to be introduced using a local representative. So, someone on french soil actually has to volunteer to represent a collective before a complaint can even be made.
- Any legal proceedings could take months or longer to complete. And there's guarantee they will go anywhere seeing the respective positions of Epic and the UTAN team. A judge might just state that the problem lies with UTAN and it is up to them to fix it, or that Epic need to issue new cd keys.
- There is total lack of support for a collective action anyway. It would seem that the people that have their cd keys abused have gone to get a new copy moved on. Same goes for those admins that have had their servers crashed/faked.
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Players need to be informed of the possibility that their key might be abused under certain conditions
Problems :
- Epic still refuses to acknowledge the problem, hasn't made an official statement and, therefore, a majority of the playerbase doesn't have a clue what's going on.
- Fan sites haven't posted any news of this and the only information that can be had is on forums outside of the official Epic ones.
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UTAN needs to be modified in such a way that a genuine owner of a cd key isn't penalized. This could be done by using, say, hostnames or geographic zones.
Problems :
- Making a new system like this would take time and the people behind the project are doing this on a voluntary basis with little time on their hands.
- Are any possible solutions feasible or practical ?
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UTAN being a "third party" is creating a grey area which is being used by Epic as grounds for refusing replacement cd keys. It may also be used in a court of law as grounds for dismissal.
Problems :
- Epic can choose to officially endorse UTAN or not. They didn't develop the system.
(To be continued from the workplace :p)