Dan Argent wrote:
> Now, if two players were suspected of muliplaying, a watch could
> be kept on imcoming commands, and although it doesn't prove
> anything, if commands from both characters are recieved within a
> certain time limit, i.e. < the time to change windows and type,
> then you can be reasonably sure that the two characters are
> separate. Of course if the characters have different IP's then
> it's a little less conclusive.
Different IPs or not, it's a telling statistic. If you want to wage
an all out war against multi-playing, implement various methods for
keeping detailed data for any two (or more?) players you want to
ensure aren't multi-playing. When the two characters are logged in
simultaneously log if they group together, if one is idle while the
other active (especially in the group situation), they never talk to
one another, etc. Any one of these things won't tell you for
certain that they are breaking the rules, but coupled, they narrow
down the field considerably. Any problems can be solved by not
instantly executing a sentence on the players: have two immortals
teleport them to different rooms and talk to them about it. Even
the best of multi-players won't be able to keep both characters in
an active conversation.
Requiring the client computer to be running 'identd' so that you can
automatically retrieve their e-mail address is helpful, as well. It
doesn't completely eliminate multi-playing, since people can have
multiple accounts, but it does pretty good stand-alone. It's maybe a
little redundant with the above checks, though, and it does mean that
people without an e-mail address can't play unless you provide some
type of solution for them, which will open a backdoor for people who
want to multi. It's imperfect, at best.
Of course, there's no foolproof, 100% guaranteed method. It takes a
bit of ingenuity, perceptiveness, and, on occassion, intuition. But
if catch one or two, make a public example of them to deter others.
Even if you know your system has flaws, that doesn't mean you can't
tell your players it's a 99% sure way of detecting multi-players.
Some might not know better...
-dak
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