Cheating concern

[bbcued]

I've always thought that someone with a bit of electronics and programming know-how could pretty easily whip up a Guitar Hero controller to PC interface device (i.e., software to control the guitar's button press signals) and then be able to essentially "play back" (think a really long, editable macro; or a console emulator demo recording) a perfect run into the game on any difficulty/song; a feat which has proven impossible to feeble human hands on a few songs.

Now, with Rock Band, cheating could potentially become a lot easier for the layperson (lame cheater ******* person?) within the singing game. By recording the isolated* vocal track from the game disc and playing it back into the microphone, one could achieve a perfect score on any difficulty/song -- the smart ones might even manufacture a few "mistakes" -- and thus destroy the integrity of the leaderboards. Personally, I couldn't care less about the leaderboards, or singing for that matter, but, for those that do care, I'd like to see them remain honest.

So, is this an issue? How could it be resolved? A quick thought would be random, minuscule tempo variations on every play through -- enough to lag a recording but not become distracting. Or perhaps just the whole song slowed or sped up between 0-2.5% (e.g. run 1: 0.38% slower, run 2: 1.72% faster, run 3: 2.15% slower). Of course, this then opens up a "Waaah!! You got that full combo guitar score on a slower run!" can of worms.

* This is all under the assumption that the vocal track is indeed isolated. For the game to function the way I have seen it displayed, I would have to believe it is.

[Phiromos]

I've always thought that someone with a bit of electronics and programming know-how could pretty easily whip up a Guitar Hero controller to PC interface device (i.e., software to control the guitar's button press signals) and then be able to essentially "play back" (think a really long, editable macro; or a console emulator demo recording) a perfect run into the game on any difficulty/song; a feat which has proven impossible to feeble human hands on a few songs.

Now, with Rock Band, cheating could potentially become a lot easier for the layperson (lame cheater ******* person?) within the singing game. By recording the isolated* vocal track from the game disc and playing it back into the microphone, one could achieve a perfect score on any difficulty/song -- the smart ones might even manufacture a few "mistakes" -- and thus destroy the integrity of the leaderboards. Personally, I couldn't care less about the leaderboards, or singing for that matter, but, for those that do care, I'd like to see them remain honest.

So, is this an issue? How could it be resolved? A quick thought would be random, minuscule tempo variations on every play through -- enough to lag a recording but not become distracting. Or perhaps just the whole song slowed or sped up between 0-2.5% (e.g. run 1: 0.38% slower, run 2: 1.72% faster, run 3: 2.15% slower). Of course, this then opens up a "Waaah!! You got that full combo guitar score on a slower run!" can of worms.

* This is all under the assumption that the vocal track is indeed isolated. For the game to function the way I have seen it displayed, I would have to believe it is.


you have a very good point there...the vocals would be probably harder to hack then the other instruments...but harmonix said that they had a top notch team of security working al day long on live when the game releases to stop hackers and cheaters

[lithiumkc]

Sorry to say but online leaderboards almost always get hacked one way or another. Every battlefield game has... Someone will always find a glitch or a way to do it. I used to care about leaderboards until this became so rampant.. I'm sure they'll have people watching it though and figuring out who's cheating and who isn't, but its safe to say there WILL be leaderboard hacking in one way or another when it comes out.

So just play for fun :)

[Knockout_King]

I know Harmonix is working on something, but it is a big obstacle to overcome.
My advice to Live players, use the feedback system! If you do a player review and claim they were cheating, and enough other people do too, they will be looked into, and possibly banned.

[S1NS71CK]

Sorry to say but online leaderboards almost always get hacked one way or another. Every battlefield game has... Someone will always find a glitch or a way to do it. I used to care about leaderboards until this became so rampant.. I'm sure they'll have people watching it though and figuring out who's cheating and who isn't, but its safe to say there WILL be leaderboard hacking in one way or another when it comes out.

So just play for fun :)

Agreed to play for fun but last time I checked bro, this ain't battlefield.

[Magnet]

I don't think there's anything that needs to be resolved. If it will be hacked, then it will be hacked. There isn't anything that's un-hackable.

I do think that idea about slowing down or speeding up songs on various runs is terrible though. I don't want the song to change every damned time I play it.

You can't stop cheaters. It's that simple. And trying to stop them by altering the game like you're suggesting just hurts everyone.

[benjamin]

It is a problem present in every single game. Harmonix will come up with a way to deal with the majority of problems and then the few that get through will be dealt with as they come.

[Coldplayer]

I don't get it, where's the fun in cheating like this?

[Tendoza]

I say, let them cheat. They arent having any fun, they are just wasting their time with an amazing game.

[bbcued]

I do think that idea about slowing down or speeding up songs on various runs is terrible though. I don't want the song to change every damned time I play it

Well, we're talking so minute a change here that it would be unnoticeable. Try and find a musician who doesn't stray a few BPM on occasion. And movies, for instance, when converted to PAL from 24fps film are increased in speed by 4% without catastrophic effect.

That said, I do agree that the game shouldn't be altered in a detrimental way to avoid leaderboard cheating. But I question the point of having a leaderboard at all if it's not going to be accurate.

Edit: Just realized I came up with a "feature" more than anything else: Think of the slighty slower/faster songs on each play through as a more realistic live band simulator. Zing.

[Dirge07]

Cheating's inevitable in any game. I'm sure the guys are working hard on ways to prevent most of it, but there's only so much programmers can do...


Edit: Just realized I came up with a "feature" more than anything else: Think of the slighty slower/faster songs on each play through as a more realistic live band simulator. Zing.

That's not a bad idea at all! As a performer, I know it happens all the time. If there's a way they could do that, that'd be awesome. They could somehow make a variable that changes the bpm faster or slower by like 10 on each run or something...

[MasterShake]

It's certainly possible. But why cheat like that? It takes all the fun out of the game. Only losers need to cheat to get a perfect score in a game like Rock Band.

[monstrado]

How about programming the guitars to add some meta data to each note which would let the game differentiate macro keys as opposed to buttons actually pressed by the guitar?

Edit:

Or even add some sort of an encryption process for each keystroke, the client (button) and server (xbox) . just have a basic 128 bit encryption that is harmonix proprietary that is randomized each song between the client and server to provide a non hackable guitar.

Now, if someone had hardware that pressed it for you...thats another animal all together lol.

[NiGhTmAr3]

yeah that is ridiculous that people are goin to cheat....i only play this game for fun...i wouldn't get serious like that...and plus, i don't need to cheat :D