Suggestion - Minimizing sync errors/hacking in Gwent (server-side)
We've all been there. That moment in a multiplayer session when you or your team are on the verge of victory, and your opponent(s) suddenly ceases all actions. The game pauses for several seconds .. and all of you are booted back to the post-match results screen.
I've been playing the Closed Beta for awhile now, and there were many occasions when my opponent suddenly disconnects when things aren't going their way... and hurray I get the: "Game out of Sync - An Inconsistency between the server's state and the local client's has been detected. Ending the game." This has happened several times during key moments to be mere coincidence and it is simply irritating.
I understand that during the length of the closed beta that there have generally been connection issues with the servers, especially during the release of the latest major patch. However, the connection is more stable recently. That being said, players are intentionally sync hacking when things aren't going their way. Understandably, they get frustrated when they've been dealt a shitty hands or their play didn't work out, but they're cheating their opponent of the time they spent in the match.
This sort of abuse can slowly destroy a community. What's the point in playing/investing in Gwent when every other players intentionally forces a sync errors because they're sore losers? The last time I saw so much sync hacking was playing Company of Heroes 1/2 .. this summary fits it best.
Players I've encountered are generally polite and don't resort to this, but there are some that do, and it will likely get worse once Gwent moves onto open beta. CDPR, I sincerely appreciate the investment and time you've invested in Gwent, and hope that you will take appropriate measures to ensure that sync/drop hacking isn't abused. It's my understanding that other games have a 'trust system' in place to identify abusers and not award them when they hack.
We've all been there. That moment in a multiplayer session when you or your team are on the verge of victory, and your opponent(s) suddenly ceases all actions. The game pauses for several seconds .. and all of you are booted back to the post-match results screen.
I've been playing the Closed Beta for awhile now, and there were many occasions when my opponent suddenly disconnects when things aren't going their way... and hurray I get the: "Game out of Sync - An Inconsistency between the server's state and the local client's has been detected. Ending the game." This has happened several times during key moments to be mere coincidence and it is simply irritating.
I understand that during the length of the closed beta that there have generally been connection issues with the servers, especially during the release of the latest major patch. However, the connection is more stable recently. That being said, players are intentionally sync hacking when things aren't going their way. Understandably, they get frustrated when they've been dealt a shitty hands or their play didn't work out, but they're cheating their opponent of the time they spent in the match.
This sort of abuse can slowly destroy a community. What's the point in playing/investing in Gwent when every other players intentionally forces a sync errors because they're sore losers? The last time I saw so much sync hacking was playing Company of Heroes 1/2 .. this summary fits it best.
"Sync hacking is just corrupting the game data so that it becomes out of sync with everyone else.
The thing with sync hacking is it's possible that a bad or corrupted packet from Relic's server could cause a sync error, so it's not as simple as detecting the source of the sync hack error message and flagging that player as a hacker. Furthermore, it's likely difficult to reliably detect the source of the errors since a sync error simply means two sides disagree, so you don't necessarily know which side's data is actually corrupted and which side's data is perfectly fine. Because of this, you can't use the source of the error as a means of determining a winner and a loser. There's just too much uncertainty, so the game has to resort to the trust system.
Sync hacking is just like maphacking in that it's impossible to prevent without adopting a pure client-server model, which is impractical for an RTS. This is because each player's game state is stored on their own computers, and Relic has no control over what happens on a user's machine. Sure, they can implement memory restrictions and add integrity checks and stuff like that, but at the end of the day they really can't stop a user with physical access to a machine running their game from accessing elements of it held in memory. Detection, rather than prevention, is the key here.
https://steamcommunity.com/app/231430/discussions/0/364039785157151990/The thing with sync hacking is it's possible that a bad or corrupted packet from Relic's server could cause a sync error, so it's not as simple as detecting the source of the sync hack error message and flagging that player as a hacker. Furthermore, it's likely difficult to reliably detect the source of the errors since a sync error simply means two sides disagree, so you don't necessarily know which side's data is actually corrupted and which side's data is perfectly fine. Because of this, you can't use the source of the error as a means of determining a winner and a loser. There's just too much uncertainty, so the game has to resort to the trust system.
Sync hacking is just like maphacking in that it's impossible to prevent without adopting a pure client-server model, which is impractical for an RTS. This is because each player's game state is stored on their own computers, and Relic has no control over what happens on a user's machine. Sure, they can implement memory restrictions and add integrity checks and stuff like that, but at the end of the day they really can't stop a user with physical access to a machine running their game from accessing elements of it held in memory. Detection, rather than prevention, is the key here.
Players I've encountered are generally polite and don't resort to this, but there are some that do, and it will likely get worse once Gwent moves onto open beta. CDPR, I sincerely appreciate the investment and time you've invested in Gwent, and hope that you will take appropriate measures to ensure that sync/drop hacking isn't abused. It's my understanding that other games have a 'trust system' in place to identify abusers and not award them when they hack.