!SX! stops Faking players and gets REAL

[noccer]

!SX! quits using fake player announcing and goes real.

For me, KIDVICIOUS, admin of !SX! couldn't be right more with this decision, and i think it is just fair to make an announcement hereover at ut99.org.

However, this is one of the best news topics i read in the last few months:

NO MORE FAKE PLAYER SHIT! SX is real!

[TheDane]

And you find it such great news that you had to advertise a server known for faking players?

How about listing all the servers out there that have never resolved to using fake players? In my book they deserve far more advertising than this pathetic server.

just my 2 cents.......

[Sp0ngeb0b]

Indeed, you consider this a reason to promote the server now?

[noccer]

It is not about advertising/promoting a fakeserver.

I just wanted to show that there are people that see the sense in what we are talking about and reconsider if they really need the crap.
Maybe other admins see this and take it as an example to reconsider also.
Only pointing at bad things does NOT have the best effect.

If this topic encourages other admins to follow, then i did a good job.

[Chamberly]

Indeed, you consider this a reason to promote the server now?

exactly... the guy just being too serious about the so called fake players mod. lol.

[noccer]

exactly... the guy just being too serious about the so called fake players mod. lol.

Oh Chamberly, are you mad?

You are very serious about me, i like to be your hero

[Wises]

hmm .. the whole fake players scenario IMO was not entirely a bad thing but rather a desperate attempt to populate server's - nothing more.
I know of several admins who use this method and most all have found it not to work.. cheers.

[Dr.Flay]

False advertising, is false advertising, and if it were a commercial server you would have clear grounds to sue.

Good behaviour does need to be rewarded however, but starting "WOOO-HA !" posts about it, is probably over the top, as you others will feel hard-done by if you don't shout loudly about their server also.
Save that post for the day the final fake players are removed by all admins.
I urge those of you that condemn KIDVICIOUS off-hand, and without reading his own posts, to go and read what he has to say.
If you use the server, go and say thanks. Show them you appreciate it. Say it in game or say it here, but at least show you approve.
Player approval is what counts.

Personally as a gamer I thank the admin for their wise choice in choosing to play fair
If I visit, give me enough time to say thanks before splattering me across the landscape.

Perhaps the community would like a "badge of honour" system like the web reputation sites ?
https://www.mywot.com/en/scorecard/sx.clanservers.com
Clean-stats, Clean-server, for sites with no lies and no cheating.

The lie: It is not selfish, it is done to save the community.
Seriously ?
If fake players genuinely served to help save the community by making things look good, then all server admin should immediately max-out the player count on all known UT servers.
Making things look good, does not actually make it good.
Like decorating st*rbucks coffee with froth and pictures (apology for using the "S-word" Paper).

If you are a newcomer to UT and your first experience online is a bunch of often empty servers showing people in a match , why would you think the others have real people ?
Why would you bother to continue looking for other players if you think the system just shows random info ?
You may as well roll dice to choose a server.
How do you trust any of the results you see ?
All it can ever do is damage what is left of the community, as potential new players leave in disgust after waiting to download a load of map and game files.

Any step forwards, is a step forwards and in the right direction.

[Wises]

^yep.. bit from an admin POV all you see is Time / Cost & no players.. which equates to a Liability.
And I understand the frustrations of the said admins which leads to ... this kinda thing.

Most have 2-3 fake players.. which apparently bring in some regs..

It would be better i guess to have finely tuned bots and register them in the browser as bots (of course)
Like higs bot thingies..

^_-

[Dr.Flay]

I see where you are going with that.
Some specifically configured regular house FerbotZ would be enough to mimic players.
If they became the "player to beat" they are a genuine challenge.
Some servers like bots as cannon-fodder, but I prefer them to vary and have specialist skills.
It makes no sense to just make them more or less powerful, but to make them feel like playing against a unique player.
You tend to remember which bots you can handle the way you fight, and which bots need you to change your tactics.
I think Captain Hooks, Hook bot should be more of a challenge than the others, but they all seem similar (hard to tell on a deemer server).

I know Grins will understand completely, as he also uses the various super-heros. They are easy to configure to behave very specifically, as you have a clear idea in your head what they behave like.

I would rather see some real named bots I recognise from past encounters, and join to fight them. I love bot matches, and I play with bots more often than players.
When Spiderman or Judge Dredd spawn into my maps, I know if they are on the opposing team, I will have big problems
Judge Dredd is brutal, direct and excellent at tactics, and Spiderman is very aware of you creeping up on him, and jumps and strafes like crazy.

Personally with the flexibility we have, I don't know why bots aren't generally better used.
If I saw a super-heros server populated with well crafted heros and villans, I'd be in it regularly.

[the kid]

hmm .. the whole fake players scenario IMO was not entirely a bad thing but rather a desperate attempt to populate server's - nothing more..

Yes,this is exactly all it was. when you are a 'new' server,no one knows you are there as there are 100+ servers on the masterlist. if people see players playing the server,it will bring in some players.
also,i won a bet with it...so i guess i fooled my friend too.

we really dont need fake players as we have a small following of real players,some of which,are friends ive known for many years from my old servers.
I removed the fake players at the request of many other players asking for it to be removed. I have not ever had any server admin contacting me to ask for it to be removed. I may have removed it then if it was such an issue in the UT community. I am not here to hurt the UT community,I am here to help keep it alive as much as possible. If i knew much earlier of the damage the mod would have caused i would have removed it much sooner.

I dont expect any thank you or anything for removing the fake players. I hope if anything,other admin jump on the bus and remove their fake players too.
there are many great people in UT that design stuff and help other people keep their servers going..they are the ones that deserve the thank you!

Dane you can call other poeple and their server names and such, and voice your open opinion as much as you want,but dont expect any respect back if thats the way you wanna play.

[Dr.Flay]

In general as I said, I follow Dane's opinion of servers that use this tactic, but as noccer provided a link I thought I would see what you had to say for yourself, on your own forum.
Many clan/server owners feel they can use the "safety" of the site they run, to gloat or say what they really mean.
I could see that you had no issue removing it, and did not try to defend it, and were even questioning it's use.

So I thank you for your consideration for fair-play.
...oh, and don't get pissy at the Dane, or by Odins beard you will suffer the wrath of the Vikings !
He has every right to be angry, at a thing worth being angry at, but I'm sure he can see you have done a good thing for the right reasons.

[JackGriffin]

Dane's not so angry as he is frustrated. This has been something we have campaigned against for a good while.

I've read everyone's opinions and I respect them all. One thing that gets a bit overlooked is that it's not an issue of "just fake players". When you join a UT server you are taking a risk by downloading the mods that the server is running. I've seen firsthand some of the things that can be done in the guise of ServerPackages, and not all of them are good. Dane knows this too and we have always taken the time to deconstruct cached items to check for nefarious things, especially after we found a couple of things and tested them to see if it was feasible. Guys like Anthrax and SpongeBob and some others were very helpful when we were trying the UTP service, showing us direct ways servers can steal information directly from clients.

So am I saying these guys are doing that? Absolutely not. In fact I think thekid should be lauded for making the decision he did and even more for coming and defending it via explanation. What I *am* trying to say is that there is an expectation of trust when I join a server, that they will not do anything negative to me or use my join in ways that I'm not aware of. Lying to me though about the state of the server, in effect "tricking" me into joining by showing players who aren't there, well that just sets a tone that compels me to stay far away. It's a much shorter hop to password stealing when you elect to go down that road. Fake players should serve as a road sign to public clients that there is a danger there, that this admin doesn't respect them in the way you should expect.

Damn, I need to pack another bowl. This is some good shit.

[UT99.org]

Yes Dane is right again. This is the same as those other guys who put NoFakePlayers in the server name, yet have a bunch of fake players servers as well. Who's to say this isn't just marketing and they have launched more fake player servers at the same time. Come on people

[TheDane]

He has every right to be angry, at a thing worth being angry at, but I'm sure he can see you have done a good thing for the right reasons.

I haven't followed the link to his forum to see what is said there, but the explantion here about "buhuhuuhuuuu it's so hard to start a new server so it's ok to add fake players to get it started" argument just doesn't justify anything for me? It's like saying "buhuhuhuuuu it's so hard to play against all these great players out there so it's ok if I use a cheat to do better - just for a while, then ofcause I will stop using it - if someone asks me to that is".

From what I can tell from reading this topic he didn't see anyting wrong with using fake players, and that he removed it by request. He also adresses me directly saying I won't get his respect. Funny thing is that I don't think he knows the true meaning of the word respect?

This topic has gotten far more attention that it should ever have had, if it was posted at my forums I would have moved the topic to the hall of shame.

I think it's a very bad move for you guys to try and defend him - thinking about the many many server admins and clan members who through the time have spended a lot of time and sweat to bring their server up the ranks by attracting REAL players, that have made their server well known and respected by players - then to read a topic like this.

And this is not the wrath of a viking - it's just the reflections from an adult who loves a fair game.