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Ge0force

Self-requested ban.
Banned
Oct 28, 2017
5,265
Belgium
According to an article from Jez Corden on Windows Central, Sea of Thieves is already hacked on PC. Cheaters are using aimbots and other cheats to give themselves advantages in the game:

This program allows a cheating player to exploit Sea of Thieves' UWP client to auto-aim for player's heads, see chests, and other objects through walls, and perform other game-breaking feats of Godmodehood.

sea-of-thieves-aimbot.jpg


Because Sea of Thieves is cross-play, this means that Xbox gamers will have to deal with cheaters as well from now on:

Generally, Xbox players have been immune to hackers due to the closed-nature of console gaming, but as console players are now discovering, thanks to cross-play with PC, hackers are beginning to appear on Xbox One.

Naturally, all hacking players will eventually get banned from Xbox Live, losing all of their licenses and potentially access to their Microsoft Account in the process. But that isn't much comfort to those who have had their fun spoiled, particularly when one of the selling points of console play, at least for me, is a pure, hacker-free experience.

Another interesting point is that UWP and file encryption of UWP games are preventing mods and community content, but don't protect against piracy and cheating at all.

One of the "selling points" of Universal Windows Platform (UWP) PC games is that it is supposedly more secure than regular Win32 executables. UWP apps and games run inside a container which mimics a Windows environment, and can be cleanly uninstalled without any leftover registry keys and that sort of thing. UWP games are also supposed to verify file integrity over the internet, preventing unwanted modification of programs. It turns out that, in reality, like most things, UWP isn't completely secure either.

Shoot me out of a cannon if old.
 
Oct 25, 2017
21,439
Sweden
thinking about how much shit goes on with hackers in pc versions of souls games (in the first one they can ruin your save file irreversibly) i am completely happy to go without cross-platform play in many games
 

Error 52

Banned
Nov 1, 2017
2,032
I think Fortnite handles crossplay well, since it only activates if you've invited someone else. It's probably the way forward.

If you're just matchmaking you probably don't give a shif about who you're matching with, whereas being invited means you know what you're getting into.
 

Geoff

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
7,115
and the cross-play dream comes crashing down.

Is that hyperbole? I'm not even sure.
 
OP
OP
Ge0force

Ge0force

Self-requested ban.
Banned
Oct 28, 2017
5,265
Belgium
I think Fortnite handles crossplay well, since it only activates if you've invited someone else. It's probably the way forward.

That's my opinion as well. On the official forums, Xbox players are also complaining about the point & click accuracy of PC players. At least they should have an option to play the game with other Xbox players only.
 

Deleted member 8408

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 26, 2017
6,648
They need to lock down UWP I tell you. Pesky hackers ruining multiplayer games and injecting keyloggers into your mods.
 

spam musubi

Member
Oct 25, 2017
9,380
The more interesting story to me here's is how trash UWP is yet again. It prevents legitimate uses of editing the executable, like mods, but illegitimate uses like cheating can get by. Just burn UWP to the ground.
 

christocolus

Member
Oct 27, 2017
14,932
Rare and MS better do something about this fast. Crossplay is a great feature but as usual there will always be downsides like these all thanks to some bad eggs. May be including an option to allow crossplay with the PC guys would be a great start.
 
Oct 27, 2017
977
Hacking in PC games has gone on since forever, and it is already clear that cross-play with PC is not an issue for any of the Platforms. I don't see how this could possibly stop or restrict cross-play going forward.
 

Renna Hazel

Member
Oct 27, 2017
11,557
Crossplay should only apply when playing with friends. There is no reason to do it with randoms unless the game is dead or something. This problem can be easily solved.
 
Oct 26, 2017
3,116
Amalthea
I was quite surprised to see Trueplay not being used in Sea of Thieves. I thought it would be the first game to use Microsoft's built-in anti-cheat system but I guess not.

Haven't run into hackers myself but I don't like this one bit. However, that won't stop me from advocating crossplay!
 

DarthWalden

Prophet of Truth
The Fallen
Oct 27, 2017
6,030
Ugggggghhh this is so frustrating... Cross play has been such a wonderful thing with this game I'd hate for them to have to shut it down moving forward or for me to decide whether to risk playing with hackers to play with my PC freinds.

Hopefully there is something on MS end that they can do to resolve this.
 
OP
OP
Ge0force

Ge0force

Self-requested ban.
Banned
Oct 28, 2017
5,265
Belgium
The more interesting story to me here's is how trash UWP is yet again. It prevents legitimate uses of editing the executable, like mods, but illegitimate uses like cheating can get by. Just burn UWP to the ground.

I've mentioned this in my OP as well. But yes, this makes Microsofts PC gaming efforts even more ridiculous.
 

Deleted member 24118

User requested account closure
Member
Oct 29, 2017
4,920
More and more, console players get to experience all the downsides of PC gaming with none of the positives, lol.

But really I'm not a huge fan of crossplay. Last thing I need is my Battlefield team being filled with gamepad users.
 

Dom6

Member
Oct 26, 2017
255
Games out for a week and hacking is already publicized, not a good look :( Since it's so heavily reliant on online play, makes me worried. You would think with Microsoft onboard, this would be the least of their concerns, other games have successfully avoided hackers like Destiny 2 on PC
 

xrnzaaas

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
4,125
Every game should have to option to pick if you want to crossplay or not. It's not just the hackers, PC gamers can gain advantage from something as simple as using a mouse.
 

nib95

Contains No Misinformation on Philly Cheesesteaks
Banned
Oct 28, 2017
18,498
I know crossplay with PC already exists in a few examples with both Xbox One and PS4 games, but I honestly hope in future for most games it doesn't. Or at least give us the option to turn it off. Not just because of hacking potential, but also because I dislike the prospect of controller users being up against keyboard and mouse users, along with the copious amounts of aim assist and gameplay affecting tweaks necessary on consoles to even things out in terms of competitiveness, as a result of the imbalance.
 

PKMNTrainer

Member
Oct 25, 2017
378
I was afraid of this. Really hope this can be addressed in some way. I'd be fine with an invite only system for PC/Xbox crossplay.

What are the methods other PC games employ to discourage/stop aimbots?
 

NIN90

Member
Nov 6, 2017
565
Boy am I glad that UWP makes it so that I'm safe from someone phishing my passwords as I'm typing them into Chrome.
 

JohnnyMoses

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,658
I think Fortnite handles crossplay well, since it only activates if you've invited someone else. It's probably the way forward.

If you're just matchmaking you probably don't give a shif about who you're matching with, whereas being invited means you know what you're getting into.

When Fortnite gives an option to turn off crossplay and being matched with KB&M users, I'll agree.
 

Wereroku

Member
Oct 27, 2017
6,203
That's my opinion as well. On the official forums, Xbox players are also complaining about the point & click accuracy of PC players. At least they should have an option to play the game with other Xbox players only.
Wait isn't that a requirement for 3rd party crossplay? Are MS not holding their own studios to opt in crossplay?
 

bsigg

Member
Oct 25, 2017
22,541
Report them if you suspect it and move on. It sucks but that's the most we can do right now.

Rare will hopefully be implementing things to detect this in the future but I can't see them getting to it soon with everything else going on with the game.
 

Soony Xbone Uhh

Attempted to circumvent ban with alt account
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
3,156
By the way here is a video showing it:


It's also (sadly) possible since launch.
I suspect the Beta and Alpha on PC made it very easy to code something for the game launch
 

D65

Member
Oct 26, 2017
6,862
True Play will come out soon and specifically target these apps, but in a game like SoT I don't mind.

Anti cheat in Gears is as good as you will get for cross play.
 

sirap

Member
Oct 25, 2017
8,210
South East Asia
Sucks that UWP doesn't protect against hacking.

TBH being able to mod Sea of Thieves actually sounds great given how content starved it is right now.
 

shanafan

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
847
Ypsilanti, MI
Generally, Xbox players have been immune to hackers due to the closed-nature of console gaming, but as console players are now discovering, thanks to cross-play with PC, hackers are beginning to appear on Xbox One.

Sorry but that is untrue. COD on Xbox 360, specifically the older titles like MW and WaW especially are hacked to hell. Virtually unplayable for those that want an authentic experience.
 

Stalker

The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
6,726
Pretty sure this modifys the game at run time. Basically something possible on every single PC game cross play or not UWP or not.

UWP is shit but this feels like a none issue here.

Also as mentioned Xbox games have been hacked to shit in both OG Xbox and 360. The Xbox One is somewhat free from this because the system is still for the most part unhacked but given time it will be like anything else.

Even outside of the Network/Packet manipulation is still possible on current gen systems. See the N Sane trilogy time trails for evidence.
 

tapedeck

Member
Oct 28, 2017
7,976
Yeah as others have said, just make crossplay an option that can be disabled or invite only if you want.
 

rusty chrome

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
8,640
This is why we can't have nice things, because there will always be shitty people in the world that ruin everything they touch.
 

derFeef

Member
Oct 26, 2017
16,354
Austria
There is no compelling case against crossplay as a feature as it's a great feature.
Now how that feature should be implemented and handled is a different, much more difficult question.
 

Bear

Member
Oct 25, 2017
10,861
This isn't a compelling case against cross-play. This is the case for increased investment into systems that identify and remove people using cheat programs.
 

ResetGreyWolf

Member
Oct 27, 2017
6,425
I think Fortnite handles crossplay well, since it only activates if you've invited someone else. It's probably the way forward.

If you're just matchmaking you probably don't give a shif about who you're matching with, whereas being invited means you know what you're getting into.

Hmm, but what if a console gamer invites a PC player with aimbot cheats? Doesn't sound like it solves the problem.