Re: Mechanisms to combat multiple-entry by a player

From: miteke@yahoo.com (Michael Kelly)

Date: Thu, 12 Jun 2003 16:39:48 +0000

wavey@parcelfarce.linux.theplanet.co.uk wrote in message news:<bbv1hm$51l$1@parcelfarce.linux.theplanet.co.uk>...
> A player can join a turn-based game multiple times, and co-ordinate his
> entries to gain an unfair advantage. Have any mechanisms (other than cost)
> been developed to help inhibit a player from doing this?
>
> I'm thinking especially in terms of an Internet game. Identifying such
> players by IP address wouldn't work, for many reasons, including NAT
> firewalls and dynamic addressing.
>
> Does that leave us with only goodwill or a prohibitive cost-of-entry?
>
> Apologies if this isn't really the appropriate place to discuss this.
>
> wavey

To summarize the other posts...

1) Design a game that makes multi-play pointless.
This works in many cases, though I would be more inclined to say that
for the most part they discourage it rather than make it pointless. A
nice approach but with the major limitation that people want to play
games that are not designed like this. Poker was one example. The
actual game is not important, just the fact that there are fun games
to play that are not designed this way, nor can they be. Most of the
time a game designer has a great idea for a game that came without any
regard to whether it is multi-player abusable or not, and chances are
they are not going to just pitch the idea because it can be abused.
They may try to incorporate some deterrents into the design as they
go, but that changes the game, for better or worse, and it is a
different game. Anyone want to post there favorite multi-play
resistant games here so the original poster can check them out (please
provide an explanation why they are resistant and what their
weaknesses are)?

2) GM puts forth work to catch multi-players.
Nothing beats a diligent, hard-working GM. Not only for catching
multi-players but for making a game just plain fun. Kudos to all you
GMs listening who care about their games enough to put work in, in
whatever fashion, to improve the game. And the honest players
appreciate it. But they are people and do not have more than 24 hours
a day, and then only if they skip sleep. GM approaches include:
checking IP addresses, timestamps on actions, and using cookies to see
if the same computer is being used for multiple accounts. But
intelligent players can find ways around these obstacles, though many
are caught. Any other 'tools' you GMS out there have come up with for
finding multi-players that I missed?

3) The player community polices the game.
If you have a good game this will develop naturally. Of course it
still requires that the GM responds when a player notices an anamoly.
But this method is the most satisfactory, bringing the community
together, and discouraging players from even considering attempting
it, while minimising the amount of work the GM has to do. But players
can be fooled too, and they don't have access to the information the
GM has. Their advantage is that there are many more of them than there
are GMS or cheaters, and they have good reason to provide the police
action. Just wondering. Are there any games that encourage player
policing and if so how? Feedback web-pages? Encouragement from the GM
to police?

4) Cheating has a real world cost.
If a new position costs money or will cost money before it becomes
useful, the cheaters don't prosper. Unfortunately this will not
dissuade the rich or those who don't mind paying for two positions if
the gain is enough. And the gain from playing two positions may be
greater than just doubling. Other real world costs include
blacklisting the player so that he can not join any other games.
Unfortunately many games are played via the internet and disguising
oneself is simple. Any other ideas how to provide a real world cost?

All of these 'solutions' have drawbacks which is why multi-play will
continue to be a problem for as long as I can see. But it is a
manageable problem which is why games are prospering and providing fun
in spite of the occasional abuse.

References

Mechanisms to combat multiple-entry by a player
wavey@parcelfarce.linux.theplanet.co.uk
Sun, 08 Jun 2003 10:01:26 +0000