The issue with the fake "bot" pings would probably have become more of an issue now that bots are becoming more available. Malicious server operators could disguise the valve tf2 bots as real players.
Combine that with fake players in queries and you have one more problem to deal with. I've seen some of these servers actually disable the status command so you can't see their "BOT" steamids as well. With the creation of blacklists hopefully some people come up with a decent blacklist. I would have liked to see the blacklist option be able to import IP's from a website (even if it's just a txt file on the website) like PeerGuardian, perhaps it can be in a future update. -voogru -----Original Message----- From: hlds-boun...@list.valvesoftware.com [mailto:hlds-boun...@list.valvesoftware.com] On Behalf Of Dislexsick Sent: Wednesday, January 06, 2010 6:44 PM To: Half-Life dedicated Win32 server mailing list Subject: Re: [hlds] Team Fortress 2 Update Available The update states it is people changing the word BOT in the ping column on the scoreboard... This does not address fake player counts, a far more widespread and malicious tactic imo. Cheers, Joshua Bost -----Original Message----- From: Andy C <grossk...@flotgaming.net> Sent: Thursday, 7 January 2010 09:37 To: Half-Life dedicated Win32 server mailing list <hlds@list.valvesoftware.com> Subject: Re: [hlds] Team Fortress 2 Update Available The bot issue you are refering to has to do with server admins running "fake clients" plugins. These report more players in the server than there actually is. Apparently Valve has come up with bots that actually play the game, just like in L4D/L4D2. On Wed, Jan 6, 2010 at 5:18 PM, Josh Bost <dislexs...@dislexsick.com> wrote: > "Tuned scoreboard logic to guard against malicious server operators > spoofing > bot pings to hide the "BOT" tag." > > As a follower of the SPUF I have seen threads about servers with bots with > simulated pings, one just yesterday, in-fact. After reading this, > the consensus seemed to be that although some people felt 'ripped off' it > made a better experience for a few people. After reading about it I was > curious, so I done a quick google search and sure enough there was a single > plugin with something like 3 replies on the alliedmods forums. > > I don't really understand - Clearly this was not a completely widespread > issue, and calling the server owners malicious is a little bit wrong I > think. Personally, I wouldn't mind a server with a few bots as hosting a > server locally, even with a fairly beefy CPU (Core2 Q9550) my game grinds > to a screeching halt with 15 bots (9fps ftw). > > Anyway, since this is a controversial topic I realize this is not going to > change, as it is for 'the better of the community' but really, I still > think > people are going to find a way around; I also think Valve would have been > better off spending their time fixing a *real* problem, such as fake client > counts - after all bots still contribute to the game. > (For the record I don't even host a TF2 server [I used to help run one, now > I have a L4D2 server], so my points are not coming from a bias pov) > > Cheers, > > Josh Bost > > On Thu, Jan 7, 2010 at 8:09 AM, Jason Ruymen <jas...@valvesoftware.com > >wrote: > > > A required update for Team Fortress 2 is now available. Please run > > hldsupdatetool to receive the update. The specific change include: > > > > Server Browser (for TF2 and DoD:S) > > - Added a client-side server blacklist: > > - Supports blacklisting of specific servers, all servers on an IP, > and > > all servers on a class C range. > > - Saves the server list to a file, and has an Import button to allow > > easy sharing (cfg\server_blacklist.txt) > > > > Balance changes: > > - Reduced the health penalty on The Sandman. > > - The Force-A-Nature knockback on target now: > > - Only applies to hits that deal more than 30 damage and are in > close > > range. > > - Factors in the firer's angle of attack when determining the > > knockback direction. > > - Has less of an effect on grounded targets. > > - The Dead Ringer now: > > - Reduces cloak to 40% when uncloaking early. > > - Has a 35% cap on the amount of cloak it can gain from an ammo > pack. > > - Has a quieter de-cloak sound. > > > > Changes / Fixes: > > - Fixed a performance & stability issue with AMD processors. > > - Improved the stability of the game server -> item backend connection _______________________________________________ To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives, please visit: http://list.valvesoftware.com/mailman/listinfo/hlds _______________________________________________ To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives, please visit: http://list.valvesoftware.com/mailman/listinfo/hlds
