While I don’t think we should be putting cheaters in jail, I wish bans could stick harder, even across games. VAC does this to a certain extent, but only for some games. A shared database of cheaters that companies could use would be nice, but of course the sticking point is identity.
The current setup is a bit like if getting DUI’s only suspended your driver’s license in the particular town or stretch of highway where you got the DUI, and you were free to continue driving anywhere else.
And are there going to be any limits to this? If you cheat on a game when you're 13 by downloading some aimbot and get caught should you still be banned from all gaming when you turn 50? And will there be any kind of halfway transparent appeals process or is this going to work like all the other corporate run Kafkaesque bans we see every other day on HN?
At least in the US I cannot think of any cheats that don't violate the CFAA/DMCA.
The sad thing is that in the professional scene you have a lot of players who are legitimately very good, but who still use the cheats to gain an edge.
The solutions to these problems are mercurial and at some point unless you get the players in one physical space with controlled/organizer supplied hardware it’s impossible to keep things clean but it is a real problem and it has real consequences for players who compete at that level.
What's the difference between that and someone who simply drives bad/slow? Do they get a pass because it doesn't have "purpose-built software"? Or is it because they're not acting as a group? If cheaters are not acting in a coordinated way, do they get a free pass as well?
Do you want to fine people for cheating? Whatever. But branding someone a criminal (for life!) over a game is ridiculous.
(A) General Rule.—Subject to the exclusions in subdivision (D), loss is the greater of actual loss or intended loss. (i) Actual Loss.—“Actual loss” means the reasonably foreseeable pecuniary harm that resulted from the offense. (ii) Intended Loss.—“Intended loss” (I) means the pecuniary harm that the defendant purposely sought to inflict; and (II) includes intended pecuniary harm that would have been impossible or unlikely to occur (e.g., as in a government sting operation, or an insurance fraud in which the claim exceeded the insured value).
World of warcraft at some point reached a required level of farming where it was assumed that you needed a bot to just participate in endgame content (lot of material to gather and side quests), or devote your entire life (16 hours) to repetitive actions.
How you manage that?
What about cheating in single player in games that do have also a multiplayer components?
How about monster hunter, many people cheated in that game because the end game farming is unsustainable, however once the equipment is cheated, it's possible to play and really enjoy the endgame content.
It would be so detrimental to ban cheating.
There are games that are made with cheating presumed (e. g. Ultima online)
Fining people who keeps on annoying others in a public context for no good reason (e.g. only for their own amusement) should be fine either they cheat in games, keep people awake at night by playing loud music in streets where this isn't common, harass kids playing on the playground etc etc.
Edits: yes. Mostly clarification.
When I pay $100 for a game, and cheaters make me stop playing, I have been harmed with a wasted $100 plus hours of frustration. If you're too shallow and emotionally unintelligent to pick this arithmetic up, it's on you I guess.