PingPing

[HTM|Minion]

This thread was created to move this conversation from the chat box to the forum. HTM members held a vote and it was decided to remove PingPing from the Solitude server and associated TS channel. It was also decided that his tag should be surrendered. For the record PingPing was never proven to cheat, although HTM members were very suspicious of some of his shots, this led to an uneasy environment in the servers.

Our servers are here for members and the public to have fun. Once the game is no longer fun the point of the clan's existence is questioned. To rectify this type of situation a player/member may be asked to leave (by HTM member vote as done in the past). Sometimes this is not because of any cheating violation, but that the player is so far above the skill level of the clan that it makes the game less fun for the other 99%. These players in my opinion should seek out servers that host other players that are equally skilled.

The text below was removed from the chat box and inserted here for further discussion if the HTM members choose to do so.

I am aware of the vote. Not being allowed in solitude doesnt bother me. What does is my friends think differently of me and I dont want any of you being thinking negatively towards me. The only competitive DM I played was when I was in d7s^ clan. I went by d7s^lascivious. crazyhorse and jerkoid are the only names i knew/remember because they went by aliases like sloth, lust, pride, greed, etc. It was years ago. I went by RUSTY for awhile...OUNI in fancy accented letters...Its been so long.
2:20 AM From PingPing i just dont want any of you to think that I cheat. You guys got me a computer. Took me in. And made me feel wanted. I wouldnt cheat in the first place especially to any of you. I can get over not playing with you guys, but I would like to still stay in contact w/o any of you thinking im a liar/cheater. i dont think its fair for you guys to think you were decieved in any way and/or taken advantage of. I'll do anything.

[HTM~YourImagination]

I actually remember you playing as the name RUSTY in both the NBK and HTM servers.

[PingPing]

It is the principle of being called a cheater and a liar that I am here. I don't mind being banned. If any of you have the decency and just ideologies then you would read this. You don't even have to accept it. Putting it in a separate forum will probably not be read (being the point), but I am making the effort to prevent this from happening again to other possible members in the future. All you have to do is talk to the individual being accused. It's that simple. If I knew I was making everything not fun then I would have spectated sooner. The funny thing is that I asked on several occasions if anyone didn't like me playing and that I would just spectate. That I was here for the community. Even after hearing that someone didn't want to come anymore I felt awful...so I spectated for a week straight and would have continued to do so just as I said I would have. That I would spectate until someone ASKED me to join. Even after that I was still kicked. So clearly it wasn't a matter of skill or cheating, rather an attack to see me gone. As I said I'm here for you guys. I liked chatting and goofing off. Listening to Lunch laugh at his own stupid jokes when he's high as shit and hearing the "hey! Fuck you" every other sentence from Skank. I have lost interest in UT because of this incident and am going to lose a lot of friends in the communities as well. Its just not fun anymore. Why cheat on a 10 year old game against 10 year old friends? The demo even clearly showed nothing. I am here to prove my innocence if any one of you are Decent or just then you wouldn't back out of something that you were sure of right? I mean why not test me? You wouldn't have anything to lose other than to rub it in my face and humiliate me more. I don't want to come back to play with you guys unfortunately, but I want to assure you that I never did cheat in any way and still want to trade recipes, try fantasy football, get good beer recommendations, and stay in the loop as far as everyone's lives go. I don't know how else to make a more sincere, yet not too frustrated plea. Thank you if you actually read this. And Minion you were right to make a vote through the community because I know you were pressured to do so. You had to choose me or other members and I understand. I just wish it would have been dealt with better.

[PingPing]

Also I have to admit another thing. I played in the way I thought would be the least annoying. I jumped in the middle of everyone, never camped or sniped, but always in the open. I fought Lunch with his best weapon, up close with flak, and adjusted to the others as well. I only went into try hard when we were either losing or someone was kicking everyone's ass. And yes 80-100 points "every" game came from rez. takes 13-17 pts to get rez and 20 pts to cast it. My accuracy was never really impressive upon viewing my stats. And Minus always kicked my ass, non kicked it half the time, and brian beat it most the time as well. I never came into a game wanting to get the highest score, but just to have fun, relax and forget about my day. Please, the next time you have suspicions talk to the person. With a game like this that has a dying community, it is worth the effort. Thanks again for allowing me to rant.

[HTM|Minion]

For the record PingPing was never proven to cheat, although HTM members were very suspicious of some of his shots, this led to an uneasy environment in the servers.

I never said you cheated, and I don't appreciate you asking "if we had the decency...". I think this whole ordeal was handled in the most decent manner possible considering the circumstances. I would like to think HTM is among the top clans in UT when it comes to class, decency and attitude toward others in the servers.

This is also not a full ban as you are welcome to play in Sanctuary and are only restricted from Solitude and it's TS channel. You do not need an "invite" to play in Sanctuary. I think your spectating and constant chatting in Sanctuary the other night is what set Cuz off, you should have just joined the server and played instead.

Solitude was created to allow us a place to play where there is no threat of "Leet" players ruining our game, by them "cheating" or not. When we feel like dealing with Edge, Taker and the such we will join Sanctuary and give it a go.

I too have no idea why people would want to cheat in a 10 year old game, but people continue to do so. As a server admin it is a very frustrating time because the hacks have surpassed the anti-cheat protection available leaving it up to trained eyes and what little tools are available to detect cheating. This lack of server-side assistance will indeed lead to false accusations from time to time. Your decision was based on many factors over several months including multiple admin and HTM members. You did have a number of members who voted against your removal if it makes you feel better, however the majority vote took the opposite stance.

Arguing your point at this time will not benefit you. Chill out and enjoy the holidays and let a little time pass. Have a Merry Christmas.

[HTM~KHaN]

Not true you better believe members will read this.

I know you are upset ping, but calm down. You are still here and the fact that you are posting here means that obviously you are not banned from this group.

What you really need to take away from this, as an adult, is how serious we take cheating, Minion is the founder of this group and you better dam well believe all of us are going to pay attention when he brings up the subject. You would too and you know it, if you were an old timer playing UT.

Minion and Lunch and OT (and many others you don't even know) have spent years keeping our servers running and popular with players, because they run a tight ship and we have honest and fair games. Even with that we've let people play with us that are questionable. It's about having fun with as many friends as possible.

OT made me aware a while back that people (like anarchy) are using things like 'rollovers' that help you hear focused areas better. Says it is not cheating, but an exploit. I don't see a difference but whatever. If you use something like that, just say it.

If something is legal in the game, then fine I will adjust to it. We use brightskins which is not standard nor is the dbl jump - however this is modified team DM.

I have no idea if you cheat or not. I have no idea if you use exploits or not. I DO know that netcode makes a lot of difference sometimes all the difference in the world.

When I played UT99 I kept a 74% career record for K/D ratio on a 56k modem with a 350 ping I will never be that good on UT2k4. I had people complain that it wasn't fair, but without netcode I would never have played UT99 for 10 years.

My problem with you isn't really a big deal, you go to spectate mode if I start whipping up on you. You did that as rusty and even cursed me for it. Now you just sit in spec mode and complain. You already pissed off Mark. Calm down man.

I am sorry this is so upsetting. Nobody wants to do this, none of us. Lets chill out some, you are right we didn't help you get a PC just to accuse you of cheating. However out of curiousity on my part - if you use a 'rollover' admit to it. If it is legal it is legal. I'm just now coming to understand that some of you play with wide POVs. Which I think is crazy.

Okay, enough of my babbling. Khan wants you to have a great holiday. All of you. Rusty, I expect you to be back in server playing against me when I get back on.

Otherwise I will go into spec mode and taunt you with zounds.

[Chovah]

So the UTComp netcode is turned on in the server?

[HTM|Minion]

So the UTComp netcode is turned on in the server?

We are running a version of 3SPN that was re-coded by a fellow named Void. This modification was done for the "Slice of Life" clan and "combowhore.com". This version includes "Newnet", a modified version of netcode. Yes we have it turned on.

[JuSTa]

On a side point I don't think antitcc allows you to use rolloff even if you have adjusted rolloff in your ini. Any server with antitcc will only use what the server is set at if i understand correctly. Rolloff is a huge help with player location but being blocked by any server with antitcc its pretty much useless now. I used wide pov to see more of the map which translates to a better chance of seeing an enemy player, but my vision is not so great so now i use a normal pov. When i use a wider pov it really feels like i am playing faster which is another reason i really like it. anyways like i said its a bit off topic.

[ANARC][Y]

OT made me aware a while back that people (like anarchy) are using things like 'rollovers' that help you hear focused areas better. Says it is not cheating, but an exploit. I don't see a difference but whatever. If you use something like that, just say it.

WTF is a rollover?

[HTM~ZenEye]

Here's an idea. Anything that is not official game software features or hardware. Is cheating. I have a 5.1 soundcard, which the game was designed to use, SB 5.1 surround + EAX, anything more than that is cheating. IF it ain't official from epic or from a hardware manufacturer, it's a cheat.

bturn_up_opponents_footsteps=true
bturn_down_everything_else=true

Play fair. Buy the damn hardware. Win.

Hand. Eye. Coordination.

[HTM~KHaN]

You will have to ask OT. Something to help with sound

OT made me aware a while back that people (like anarchy) are using things like 'rollovers' that help you hear focused areas better. Says it is not cheating, but an exploit. I don't see a difference but whatever. If you use something like that, just say it.

WTF is a rollover?

He told me that you and par use it, no idea where he found that out you will have to ask him. AGAIN, if it is legal then it is legal I've never heard of such stuff either.

If you don't use it then I apologize, I don't usually question Bill when he tells me something about UT.

Where have ya been BTW? It's been months since I've seen you playing UT, that is unusual for you imo.

[HTM~Cousin_Itt]

I have changed my rolloff rate in the past but I now own a SB card that has a built in scout mode plus I use the SBXF UT patch that changes most weapon sounds. I do not use the scout mode option as it makes the game sound dull. The rolloff rate is an "enhancement" that can be changed in your INI just like turning off your own footsteps or even pipe switching. If someone wants to change their sound settings its fine with me but all for not when you are on TS every night due to any advantage is gone when your talking with peeps and can't hear half the game anyways.

[HTM|Minion]

WTF is a rollover?

I think Khan is referring to "Rolloff", not "Rollover". I posted the setting tweak below from an article I found at Unreal North HERE. Evidently they have a limit to the amount it can be tweaked for their tournaments.

I have made the ini change and it does help my old ears hear the enemy a little better. I don't think at 0.40000 I would consider it a cheat though. To me a "cheat" is anything that provides firing assistance (aimbot, trigger bot) or allows you to see things (IE: enemy position) you should not normally see (wall hacks, radar etc.).

[ALAudio.ALAudioSubsystem]
MusicVolume=0.00
AmbientVolume=0.00
Rolloff=0.400000 [COLOR="DarkRed"][SIZE="3"][B]#Increases volume of distant sounds. Useful in duels. <0.4 is not allowed.[/B][/SIZE][/COLOR]

[HTM~ZenEye]

I think Khan is referring to "Rolloff", not "Rollover". I posted the setting tweak below from an article I found at Unreal North HERE. Evidently they have a limit to the amount it can be tweaked for their tournaments.

I have made the ini change and it does help my old ears hear the enemy a little better. I don't think at 0.40000 I would consider it a cheat though. To me a "cheat" is anything that provides firing assistance (aimbot, trigger bot) or allows you to see things (IE: enemy position) you should not normally see (wall hacks, radar etc.).

[ALAudio.ALAudioSubsystem]
MusicVolume=0.00
AmbientVolume=0.00
Rolloff=0.400000 [COLOR="DarkRed"][SIZE="3"][B]#Increases volume of distant sounds. Useful in duels. <0.4 is not allowed.[/B][/SIZE][/COLOR]

As a person who has argued about this in the past, I have no problem with .4000. Any more however... lets talk