WoWS: Anti-cheat measures on all clusters
Posted by Sebastianul
NA:

Good day, Commanders,

Please take a moment to read this message, it’s actually quite important!

We’re happy to inform you that we’ve taken another step in our struggle against unwanted exploiting of our game mechanics through client modifications and outright cheats. A group of players was banned earlier today. These players have been identified by us as using forbidden modifications, including aim assist mods.

These players have been banned for 7 days. After this punishment is over, they will be unbanned and receive amnesty. However, should a player be caught by the system a second time, the game ban applied to his/her account will be permanent.

Please don’t ask us about the details of the system’s operation – we won’t tell!

At this point, we would like to remind everyone that cheating sucks. Cheating only makes someone appear to be good at the game, it doesn’t actually make them good at the game, and it lessens everyone else’s enjoyment. If you’ve been using such modifications and were not caught this time, or have been considering using them, please stop now. You will end up losing your account entirely by continuing to use these.

I also want to stress that we are now and will continue to take steps to improve gameplay and fairness for everyone. I know some folks disagreed with the TK bans. I know some folks will also disagree with these bans.

BUT – The majority of our players have expressed disappointment that we have not taken action against these blatant offenses in the past. We wish to work towards improving that, and NOT disappointing our players in this manner. I don’t think what we are asking is unreasonable. We’re simply asking that you do not take actions that inherently cause other players to be unhappy. Everyone has the right to play a game without another player ruining their experience.

Please feel free to ask questions or give feedback in this thread. If you have been affected by this or the TK ban, and don’t feel that it has adequately been explained to you, please send a support ticket. Feel free to even mark my name on it, and I will instruct the other folks in support to send them to me, if they have my name on them. Most of you know that I’ve been around awhile, and I think of myself as pretty fair and pretty responsive to the needs of the community. If you feel that you got the short end of the stick, I am happy to look in detail at it, to ensure it was done correctly.

Action Stations!

ASIA:


Good day, Commanders.

Please take a moment to read this message, it’s actually quite important!
We’re happy to inform you that we’ve taken another step in our struggle against unwanted exploiting of our game mechanics through client modifications and outright cheats. From today onwards, it might happen that a player you meet in battle will have his name written in the color brown. Those brown-colored players have been identified by us as using forbidden modifications, including aim assist mods.
Making those cheaters visible to the community is one of three punishment layers. Players caught cheating by our system will turn to brown for a period between 24 and 48 hours and receive an email to the address linked to their game account. As long as a player is brown ALL of his damage, dealt both to allies and enemies, will be fully mirrored onto his ship (he will receive the same amount of damage as he deals). At the end of the brown color period, such a player will be banned from the game for 7 days.
After this punishment is over, a cheater will be unbanned and receive amnesty. However, should a player be caught by the system a second time, the game ban applied to his account will become permanent.
Please don’t ask us about the details of the system’s operation – we won’t tell.
At this point, we would like to remind users that cheating is not cool . Verbal abuse in or outside the game is also not looked kindly upon. If you see a brown-colored player make sure to tell them they are not cool in a polite way, both in chat and on the forums. At the same time, if you’ve been using such modifications please stop now, before we turn you to brown colored too!
If you encounter any issues you think are related to the operation of this system, please visit our Support Center!

Action Stations!

EU:

Greetings Captains,

We have an important news bulletin for you that you will surely enjoy!

We are happy to inform you that we have taken the next step in our struggle against the unwanted exploitation of our game mechanics through client modifications and outright cheats.

Thanks to our new detection mechanism, we were able to ban all players who were detected using forbidden game client modifications. The ban is only temporary, as we believe that people can change for the better. These bans will however serve as a final warning.

Should a player be caught by the system a second time, the game ban applied to his account will become permanent.

Please understand that we cannot disclose any details about how the system works, for obvious reasons.

At this point, we would like to remind all players that cheating is not cool. Verbal abuse in- or outside of the game is also not cool. If you have been using illegal modifications, please stop immediately, or risk losing access to your account.

As always, we welcome your feedback on this and other topics – leave it on the forums! If you encounter any issues you think are related to the operation of this system, please visit our Customer Support Center!

We would also like to mention that some other server clusters have decided to implement a 24-48 hour “punishment” on top of the ban, during which players are turned brown and all damage they do in battle is mirrored on them. In Europe we decided that this is not beneficial for the general team spirit of World of Warships and could potentially alienate those players in case they decide to stop cheating and go straight.

Action Stations!

Seb: I don’t know what made WG behave like this. WoWS is not cheater-infested and the only good aim marker was removed long ago. But I guess it’s for the best.