BF2S Forums Lame servers/server admins

Oh, dur to me. I should have gotten that.

Maybe I could hop on their server with my tag and get a screenie. Not that EA will do something, but if steelie's interested in raising havoc.

Which is the most Offensive form of server based stat padding?.....

Calling the server "Stat Padding Server" and encouraging players to deliberately pad?

Or banning higher skilled guest players so that the host players have easier targets?

Part of the problem with all of this is that the system discourages any checks and balances
against abusive admins who ban people without justification.

If you are banned, the burden of proof is upon you to show that you DIDNT do something wrong.
You must register with EA so that you can report the issue.
Of course, to be effective, such a report must include all pertinent information, screenshots, ips, nametags, etc.
EA then must "investigate" the issue...  I have no idea what this entails, but it sounds like a lot of effort on their part if it's done at all.
IF such an investigation ends up involving questions to the reported server admin (assuming he can be identified),
that server admin can say just about anything concerning your actions and his justifications. (i.e. "thats not why we banned him")

An effective solution should correct this massive inbalance without dramatically increasing the burden on responsible providers,
and should also discourage abuse of the new system.  Any additional burden upon providers should come with additional benefits.

Here is my idea:  SERVER BAN CHALLENGE SYSTEM

1.  A very simplified reporting mechanism should be established for players to "challenge" a ban.
The report form should be simple...  player's guid, date/time of ban, and server name and IP they were banned from.
The reported reason for the ban should be given, but screenshots should not be required.
Players cannot challenge bans of other players.

2. Once filed, the challenge is directly forwarded to the server provider without investigation by EA.

3. Once a challenge is received by the provider, a response MUST be filed with EA within 48 hours
to include screenshots, log files, PB screens, or whatever is sufficient to explain and justify the ban.
The provider must address the ban reason reported by player,  or provide evidence with support
that the real reason for banning differs from the challenge.
The banning admin's player name must be included.
The response goes directly to a public forum topic/thread which is closed for discussion.


4. EA may then render a decision based on response by the provider, and posts a
one line decision in the closed thread....  "Confirmed"  , "Unjustified", "Erroneous", or "False"

5. New statistics are generated for both players and server providers:

Player statistics:  # Ban Challenges  # Confirmed bans,   # Unjustified bans   # false reports

Admin statistics:  # Bans Challenged  # Confirmed bans,  # Unjustified bans  # Errors

Server statistics:  # Bans Challenged   # Confirmed bans,  # Unjustified bans  # Errors

----- Note:  A ban cannot be confirmed or deemed unjustified unless it has been challenged.

6.  Stiff Penalties should follow:

Three confirmed bans should get a player's stats reset.

Three false reports by a player = reset.  (i.e. challenging a ban that doesn't exist)
----- Notes:
----- player screenshot of ban message will prevent this from becoming an issue.
----- Server banlists should be filed with EA and made viewable to public to avoid accidental false reports.

Three unjustified bans should get a server delisted.

Three erroneous bans should get the server admin's rights revoked. 
(i.e. provider reports the ban was accidental or in error, and lifts the ban)

i really doubt ea would move on this.  while it's a good idea, it basically puts burden on the providers, who are the people paying the money to ea.  since the providers are in turn being paid by the people renting the server, they are going to give the renters a great deal of latitude on admin decisions regarding bans.  remember, you are one fish in a pretty big ocean, so ea's current reporting system, while inadequate, is probably the only system they will ever have.

Safr, I feel your pain but, you might want to beat the drums at home also. I'm using a ban from your clan as reference...

[url=http://www.equal-2-none.com/index.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=1194&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0]equal-2-none ban[/url]

E2N Azrael wrote:

With the hacks out there that clean and block pbss we can and will ban with beyond reasonable suspicion.

I am not an admin but will give you the facts that I have. HR makes every attempt to run a tight a ship as possible. The strict rule set was developed to make as fair a game as possible. You were not kicked because you were better than everyone else or for the purpose of "stealth padding". You were kicked because of what has been deemed as your "extra" ordinary tank gun skills. (extra=aided)

Again, I am not an admin or part of the HR command staff. I am a member that respects HR's attempts to run a clean and fair server.

jak wrote:

Safr, I feel your pain but, you might want to beat the drums at home also. I'm using a ban from your clan as reference...

equal-2-none ban

E2N Azrael wrote:

With the hacks out there that clean and block pbss we can and will ban with beyond reasonable suspicion.

I am not an admin but will give you the facts that I have. HR makes every attempt to run a tight a ship as possible. The strict rule set was developed to make as fair a game as possible. You were not kicked because you were better than everyone else or for the purpose of "stealth padding". You were kicked because of what has been deemed as your "extra" ordinary tank gun skills. (extra=aided)

Again, I am not an admin or part of the HR command staff. I am a member that respects HR's attempts to run a clean and fair server.

Is Jackerp a member of HR?  Is that you? that would certainly shed more light on my case.

Sorry Jak, but 58 player IDs under the same GUID is a little more convincing than 96 kicks/bans on player stats.
As for my (extra=aided) tank skills, that was the purpose of my movie... to show that they are NOT aided.
HR's response was that I somehow edited out all of the evidence from those first person views... Comon!... Over 30+ FPV clips???
That would take weeks of effort and would certainly be detectable by any editing professional worth his salt.
I certainly wish I had the skills to pull that off... i'd be a millionaire by now.

As for E2N's procedures, the player in question should certainly file a report with EA as I have. Let EA sort it out.  I'm not an admin either,
and I'm not going to spend time here defending their actions other than to say that
anyone who follows the link you provided will clearly see that we took that matter far more seriously than HR took me.

As for whether or not Heartbreak Ridge is a stat padding clan, maybe this will help...




Stat padding clans  CAN AND WILL BAN you if you are too skilled for their tastes.
And apparently, EA doesn't give a rat's ass about it.
So I guess this sort of thing does belong in public.
Hopefully the gaming community will step up where EA has stepped down.

HR plays extremely long games.  However, I have seen thier abusive actions on more than on occasion twards other players who they cannot defend themselves against.  Pretty weak in my mind.  They are definately one of the more odd clans out there in their views of right and wrong.  I got kicked from their server prior to a game starting about a month ago.  We had all been sniping on great wall, waiting for players to come in.  It was me and 4 HR players.  I ran commander to spot them, and decided to strike a few of them with arty.  BOOM insant kick prior to the game, lol. 
Definatley not a server I'll be visiting for the rest of BF2's life.  Besides, they name their clan after a shitty Clint Eastwood flick,  lol.  (Yes I know Heartbreak Ridge was a Battle in the Korean War)

Hm. A bit of an old thing for me to comment on in here, but there was a server mentioned in this thread maybe half a year ago that my Khan tends to have us play on. It apparently gets a bad rap, but it's a decent place to play in, usually. I had a rather recent unpleasant experience, but it really didn't affect my opinion much...

Well, apparently somebody said something insulting, I couldn't see a designated subject in the message that could be attributed to any specific user in the server, so I had no idea on the context. Suddenly, the guy gets called out by one of the server's owner's members, and soon after he was banned, and I was like, "Wait, what?" So I said the first (stupid) thing that came to mind...

"Wow, that was mature." To which I got no reply as I managed to finish my next statement, "How about kicking everybody in the server just because you're in a bad mood?" And just after, the member apparently managed to ask me a question about my first statement, asking me if I was talking about the guy that was just banned. Suddenly, my name was up for insult (something childish and immature, which I seem to recall was along the lines of 'people with paladin in their name = poop') and I was summarily kicked. That was perhaps the first time I've been kicked for a reason besides idling. Oddly enough, it gave me time to cool off, and by the time I had joined again, I finally realized that the insulting comment was actually directed towards a member of the server's group, who I now see is in the scoreboard roster. Oops. Well, at least I was just questioning policy, not being the guy who initiated the incident with an insult.

And... yes, it's Alien Anal Probe again. And apparently it was... Deth.. something.. Meh. Memory is failing me and it's only been a few days (Edit: Ah, I think it's BigDeth)... Anyway, I still like playing there, and they tend to run a good server. It's just sometimes levels of immaturity can leak through, and that's a bad influence on my usually-flexible attitude. (apparently the inflammatory remark of the guy who got banned had something to do with somebody with 'Ace' and 'Pilot' in the name, and I think I saw an Alien guy named 'AceChopperPilot' in the server when I rejoined, which was a definite, 'Oh, my bad' moment)

Anyway, hope that's enlightening - and not all that detrimental to Gaming Aliens reputation.

(EDIT2: I just felt I had to post the story somewhere or it'd be a nagging thought in the back of my head for ages - sorry if this is uncool)

Last edited by alexpaladinstorm (2007-12-12 10:44:02)

Same old thing again.
Owned a clan server for 3 rounds, then get kicked at the start of a new one.
The reason was, I jumped once.

This is the lamest reason I have ever see.

So the message to *Mine* clan from the UK,

LEARN TO FUCKING SHOOT YOU MORONS


Just in case you can't see it, the rule is:
No jumping to avoid being shot.
Not even one time.

I mean come on FFS, are you all really that shit at this game ?

Last edited by jamesb (2007-12-15 17:56:03)

I've run into that one myself on Karkand...Got warned because I jumped over a wall while under fire.  I think my next words were "BAN ME JACKASS!!!"  Damned if they didn't try to.   The admin screwed up my name 2 or 3 times and just as he got it right, the game ended...oops...No soup for you!

8.6.75.202:16567 (Gulf Of Omen 24/7)

Thats the IP of the server. Dont ever join it. It has the worst 12 year old admins ever..

Thats is all

Last edited by phil-12-12 (2007-12-21 20:15:06)