[Guide] Anti-Hacker

[Juggertank]

Anti-Hacker Guide
By: Juggertank
Updated: 11/2/2013

Greetings Warsong.

Since Hackers have become such a widespread issue on warsong,
I've decided to give you some pro tips you can use to mitigate the effects of a hacker.

Table of Contents

Section 1- Hacker Knowledge
A. Who and Why
B. Why on Warsong?
C. What can they do?
D. What are they ACTUALLY doing?
E. Why not just IP-Ban?

Section 2- Reporting
A.Preparation for Hackers
B.Finding a GM in-game
C.Capturing Evidence
D. Uploading Evidence
E. Sending the Report

Section 3- Countering Hackers
A. Situational Awareness
B. Fight or Flight
C. Misery Loves Company
D. Doing the Right Thing
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Section 1- Hacker Knowledge

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A. Who and Why

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Hackers are usually the people who have either:
A. Played the game too much that even WoW has become incredibly boring.
B. Has been beaten so badly that they need to feel powerful.

The Type-A Hackers Are Trolls. You can't reason with them... they're just there to get a big reaction out of everyone.

The Type-B Hackers are the players who aren't from warsong, and simply can't adapt to the level of PvP it demands. These are the types of hackers who you can easily outsmart and beat.

B. Why on Warsong?

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Warsong is especially vulnerable to hacking because of the speed at which players can make a new account, get into the game, and hack again after being banned.

C. What can they do?

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This is VERY Important for you to know:
- Hackers are only capable of moving themself around in an odd way. it may be similar to lag, it may be an obvious speed hack. They're only in control of their client, nothing else.

- They Can't hack molten's database and spawn you coins.
- Hackers CAN NOT affect your account or anyone else's in any way. they can't trace you, or follow through on any threats.

Read Section 1-D for more info.

D. What are they ACTUALLY doing?

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When a hacker hacks, all they do is download a plug-in similar to EverMorph and editing the part of their client that decides what speed you move at.

How is this possible?
Blizzard designed WoW to be a smooth experience for the player, regardless of their connection. This means that their client decides where the person actually is, and the server just has to 'Accept' what the client tells it. However, Blizzard put in a double-check system to make sure nobody abused this privilege and, well, speed hack. Molten has not yet implemented this yet, because the game is not scripted enough to avoid false positives (Banning Innocent Players).

E. Why not IP-Ban?

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If A Staff member can give me a quote, I'll replace this section with their quote.

IP-Bans and Permanent bans:

IP Bans are not used because they can affect someone else who tries to log in from that IP, and players can possibly change their IP (a very simple task) and get back into the game.

Situation:
Someone goes to their friend's house and hacks on his own account. Gets his friend's IP banned, goes home, has fun.

Permanent bans are not used because players will likely make a new account, just as they do now. And the people who actually did it on their main account will most likely learn from the 30 day ban.

Section 2- Reporting

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A. Preparation for Hackers

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Get the addon Chatter (Click to Download). The addon gives Time Stamps, that gives the time (down to seconds) which everything happens. Game Masters LOVE this addon, because it makes their job much easier to ban people, because the time stamps do all of the detective work for them.

Below is a screenshot of the Addon in use:

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Also, get This Addon:World Map Clock, Which displays a live-updating clock where the minimap zone is, which will further validate your reports.

B. Finding a GM in-game

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So the Quickest way to Respond to a hacker is to get a GM into the game and watch it happen. then the gm will just enter the command to ban them, and everything's taken care of. However... Spamming global with

OMG GM HELP ME HACKER IN BG !!!!!!!

will not always work. in fact I've seen a gm laugh at spam like that. so here's what you do...

Enter this macro into your chatbox:

/who z-"GM Island" 1-90

OR

type /who, and modify the text at the bottom to search for people at GM island between level 1 and 90.



If nobody is found, you need to use the forum-report method. (See section 2-C)

C. Capturing Evidence

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If you need to send evidence to a GM to report a player, you need to capture a screenshot or video first.

1. Getting video evidence:

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- Download FRAPS

- Record your gameplay. Here's some help with the interface:

So, There's two ways to capture screenshot evidence.

1. Use this macro:

/run Screenshot()

Or you can do it the classic way...

EDIT: the "function" key is not the same as the windows key, that is a mistake on my part. Also, you don't need to use function in order for wow to screenshot, but it's always handy to know in case you want a screenshot outside of wow.

2.

D. Uploading Evidence

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- For videos, everything should be self explanatory.... I really hope nobody has an issue with this. seriously, just use youtube.

First you need to find the file, which may be difficult for some people who are new to reporting, so here's the way to find all of the screenshots you have taken:


The upload process is pretty simple, but I'll give you the easiest way to do it:

E. Sending the Report

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How to put videos in your report:

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Go to the Forum Home page, and Click "Contact a GM", and then select one of these two:
-Farthest to the left: Most recently active, most likely still online.
-Farthest to the right: Least recently active, most likely to get online and see your post quickly.

I wouldn't suggest sending reports to aldtharios unless you're reporting a game master for mis-conduct.

Title: Player Report

Player name:
Time/date of the incident:
Realm:
Explanation: - Tell them what's going on in the proof. when dealing with hackers, tell them to look at the time stamps.

Proof (Screenshot or Video):

Section 3- Countering Hackers

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A. Situational Awareness

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So If you Join a Battleground, you need to quickly identify what exactly is going on.

Here are the things that you need to know:

- How many hackers are there?
If there's more than one hacker, you need to speak up and announce it to everyone.

- How is the hacker Behaving? (pvping or hiding)
If the Hacker is PvPing, he will likely not carry the flag and end the game for everyone, so you can just focus on the objective and brush off that hacker.

- How geared is the hacker?
"The bigger they are, the harder they fall." NOTHING is more satisfying than getting to report and ban a full elite hacker that has obviously donated for his gear. BE 100% SURE to catch anyone who has put work into getting their gear, and then hacking on that character.

- Does the Hacker seem well set up with his keybind and hacking keybind integration?
Clumbsy hackers aren't much of an issue... you can make them look stupid by killing them...

- Does his team strategically support the hacker?
The most annoying thing ever is when a hacker gets a premade, and then the premade Turtles all game long, not allowing anyone to touch the flag. These teams are being just as low as the hacker.

B. Fight or Flight

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When team morale is low, due to the hacker, it's almost impossible to motivate them. This is when you need to check the timer on the Battleground. Twin Peaks and Warsong Gulch go for 25 minutes. If you are 20 minutes into the game, and your team is being farmed by 2-3 hackers and their overgeared premade, it's time to get out. Be smart... don't wait for 20 minutes to get back into the action when you can bite the 15 minute lockout and get back 5 minutes earlier. The same goes for the other way around. If the game goes sour at the very end, don't leave a battleground with 5 minutes left on the clock.

C. Misery Loves Company

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Misery definitely loves company, it's a proven fact.

Stupid (adj.) - (of a person) someone who could not find their A**hole, given three tries and a hint.

If you are against a stupid team being carried by a hacker, they need to be punished. they need to be reminded that you are the real winners of this fight, and that you won't let them forget that. Below are the ways to make the enemy team really feel the pain, while Crowd Controlling the Hacker.

In Base Capturing Battlegrounds:
ALWAYS ALWAYS Defend your bases. the hacker will most likely have all of the bases on a teleport key bind.
Corner the Enemy Team at one base or Graveyard, and DO NOT capture it. There you will continue to farm the team, while slowly winning the game. Frost Death knights are very useful here, because of the AoE Slow and DoT, they will reveal stealthed enemies who spawn and quickly entered stealth.

In Flag-Carrying Battlegrounds:
Have your Most geared player grab the flag and hold it, Even if the Hacker has Already scored. Farm the hacker's team Relentlessly. IF the hacker drops the flag, you need to do two things:

- Send the flag carrier and healers back to your base to capture the flag
- Send a Group to Pick up the next flag. DO NOT capture a flag without having someone ready to pick up the next one.

Situation:
Horde: 2/3 (in Alliance Possession)
Alliance: 1/3 (in Horde Possession)

Horde(hacker) Flag carrier drops the flag. Alliance flag carrier runs and captures the flag.

Horde: 2/3
Alliance: 2/3

Horde (hacker) Picks up the flag and captures it before alliance can even get to the flag.

D. Doing the Right Thing

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If a hacker is on your team... he's still not your ally. He's ruining the experience. You know what they're feeling. Do whatever you can to help them. Here's some things you can do:

- Take the enemy flag, and don't move. Let them bring your flag to their base, and drop their flag. You are helping the other team ONLY because there is a hacker on your own.
- Trash talk the hacker so bad he has to put you all on ignore. Spam /w him with harassment, and do NOT let up.

Paladins, LISTEN!

"This is the call of the paladin: to protect the weak, to bring justice to the unjust, and to vanquish evil from the darkest corners of the world."

I, especially, know perfectly well that you are capable of forcing a drop. If there is a hacker on your team, and the flags are in a stalemate, BoP the hacker if you get a chance, and hand-deliver the flag to the other team, to help defeat the hacker's efforts.

[rangerjmt]

Does this mean we can report people who play vanguards?

[Redfred]

Does this mean we can report people who play vanguards?

[RatedEdge]

Are you sure they can't trace you or determine your location or even open your webcam? i don't know much about hacking but I've seen a thread by someone on warmane saying that he's been hacked by players on warsong