The simple way to prevent smurfs and easily identify people.

With all the talk of people not being unique, and people not knowing one common name from another, here's one idea I haven't seen in any thread yet. A client side tracking of player IDs that's stored into a database file on your computer. With the game allowing you to customize the names of people with certain IDs at will, and control how they show up to you.

If I lost you up above, I'll throw out an example. If you're on a server, and see ZProtoss on it. You can mark my name as "always show up as ZProtoss". So if I join the game the day after using the name "Smurf", it won't show up as smurf to you, rather it'll show up as ZProtoss. Likewise, as to prevent conflicts, if someone with a different id than me uses ZProtoss, it'll show up as ZProtoss.1 so you know that it's *not* me, and rather an impersonator.

So this idea has two main merits. Preventing smurfing via a smart in game tracking system that doesen't put the burden on you in manually identifying players, and additionally it weeds out imposters. All within the power of the individual clients, and not of anyone else.

hey this is tw. how dare you say something intelligent and not a flame.


(but would T:V recognize such a client side script?)

Is this even possible?

I'd use it to make a demo showing you cheating

Excellent idea. It would be cool if you could set it so it automatically defaults every new client to no smurf mode, then you have a cache of real players. The only foreseeable problem is if someone beats you to the name, like someone takes absolute before me, then I show up as absolute.1, however, as ZP described, this could be manually changed with ease.

Good suggestion, I like it.

Sure. It's all within the realms of client side interpretation. If I see Makasuro, ID 4714 join the server, my client can autoassign the name to Makasuro to ID 4714 every time it sees it from then on out . You could also edit it so that ID 4714 shows up as something completely different as well. I should also add, that you can make the client not display any other id than 4714 show up as Makasuro, and rather Makasuro.1 or something indicating that it isn't the original Makasuro.


Is this even possible?

How about a guid logger...

Logs all the Player names/GUIDs to a text document or something, and you can match them if you care :o

Like Assfudgeer #1. Do you think you could have a script automatically change every player name into "Assfudgeer + " a successive number?

I wasn't just kidding with my post. I mean, people tried to do it in t2, and without the unique names from t2 it will be even easier. Not to mention the fact that you want to allow people to set the name displayed for any id? I wager it would be abused.

Yeah, with something like this it'd be possible. This is also something I'd have on off by default, with a few varying options for logging player GUIDs and attaching perm names to them. As it would be a more advanced option that might confuse some people that don't care about perm names.

Like Assfudgeer #1. Do you think you could have a script automatically change every player name into "Assfudgeer + " a successive number?

If it's easy to create and implement, I'm all for it.

What? Tycho you entirely misunderstood my post. This is simply client side interpretation. Without it there'd still be nothing stopping someone from going on a server as Tycho and cheating even if its not you. Again to throw out another example to clarify what I'm talking about.

I see Tycho with ID 8901 join the server. My client binds ID 8901 with the name tycho, and will only display ID 8901 with the name Tycho from now on unless I edit it. So if you join the server as absolute, it'd still show up to me as Tycho. This isn't some type of system that'd make fraud easier, it'd make it much harder.

I wasn't just kidding with my post. I mean, people tried to do it in t2, and without the unique names from t2 it will be even easier. Not to mention the fact that you want to allow people to set the name displayed for any id? I wager it would be abused.

Oh, and let me clarify something as well since you're worried about demos. Demos wouldn't be effected by this interpretation, since it's only on your client. Demos would be recording *true* names, and IDs. So a demo sent to anyone else would show the actual names if they wanted, and not your client side names you have for people.

:shrug: I suppose you're right. It's been a while since I had to consider the whole "going into a server with someone else's name" thing :D . So I guess it would be a pretty good idea.

I like the idea.. its just to late in dev cycle for such a thing to be added to the list :(

Well, I don't have any clue at all of the dynamics of a dev team and its time managment schedule, but if there really is no dev time, it doesen't seem like something that'd be too complex to create as a user created add-on. Since in theory it would be a simple interpretation script that keeps a log.

How would it identify said players though? CD key? Some other form of identification?

Auto naming would not be good IMO. I think you should be able to make so CERTAIN people get showed only as their name, but not all people.

What if you join a server for the first time, a newbie server, and 5 ppl have the same name as populare/elite tribes players.

You end up with 5 n00bs always named that, and the good players are named shazbotty numbers. Also, this makes discretion between clients. If you're on TS2 with somebody playing, and you see <so and so> but they see <that and that> then it would be confusing...

IMO just use a GUID logger, not an elaborate system like this which is overly confusing and not necessary.

CD-Keys when used have a certain ID number that goes along with them that gets communicated to the server and other players in the normal course of play. At least that's my understanding of it. So only one player has the ID 47147151, and its unique to his cd key.


How would it identify said players though? CD key? Some other form of identification?

This sounds just about perfect.

From what I got out of it:

I join a server as "VaporTrail," and Zprotoss marks me as "always show as VaporTrail". From then on, I show as "VaporTrail" to him, even if I change my active nick to "Runs With Scissors".

The only real problem is when someone changes tags or nicks. They'll retain thier old nicks unless the person in question "relocks" that name to thier GUID.

This will definately stop people from jacking around and being assholes in popular servers without buying two copies of the game... and then a GUID ban on thier "smurf" account is enough to end thier reign of terror...