The Black Box Feature: A Powerful Tool for the DayZ Community

[datubaman 4]

For those of you who don't know what a black box is, click this link: http://en.wikipedia....t_data_recorder

There have been several occasions in recent days where I really wanted to report a player for hacking, but didn't have any screenshots or video evidence, or wasn't sure and would have liked to have been able to review the encounter to make certain that it actually was a hacker and not a goof on my part. I believe all of us have been in this sort of situation before, and it is frustrating. Knowing that, right now, there could be hackers out there who got off scott free because we either didn't get any evidence or lacked the capabilities to do so. Granted, while the days of being catapulted into the air, sudden sever-wide deaths, and the Thunderdome are seemingly done and over with for the most part, hacking is still a problem and the community needs a tool to fight it. I propose the implementation of a black box feature to DayZ.

This is roughly how it would work. The game would automatically record what the player sees and hear continuously from the time that they log on to a server to the time that they log off of the server (a session). The video would not include times when the game is minimized, showing a black screen instead, But the audio would include things from outside the game, like in TS or Vent so that if that sort of setup is used that audio is still there. Once the session is over, a temporary, time-stamped, video file is created and placed into a folder that the player can access at any time they so choose within the next ten days (240 hrs), after which the file will be automatically deleted (if the player wishes to keep the file, there will be an option to do so). If the player finds a hacker, all he need do is take the file, put it in an email, give the player;s name and the time they need to skip to and let the Admins get down to they Admin-ey business and smite the poor hacking bastard like the scum of the earth they are. Note that the files are not sent directly to the admins, but are sent at the discretion of the player.

What this would do is give every player a tool that they can use to help fight hackers. All they need do is take the file and send it to the Admins. But it also has some other uses, too. Since the player can access and review each session, so that if they die, they can easily look and see where they derped up and learn from their mistakes. Thus, a tool to fight hackers becomes a tool to help players improve their skills. And for those of you who are utterly amazing at DayZ or just want to share something funny that happened to you, you can share your experiences with much greater ease with this. Just take the file and upload it to YouTube so that all of us can stand in awe of your skills / laugh at your misfortunes.

This is a feature that the DayZ community needs, not just to help push back the hackers, but also to help the DayZ community grow, both in number and in closeness. It is a tool that we can use to protect this game that we enjoy so much, and at the same time, celebrate it. I believe we need this sort of tool, and I hope that you agree with me on that. Thank you.

Edited October 28, 2012 by datubaman

[rata487 9]

what??? to much for me to handle!

[person915 345]

So what is Black Box? Is it free? If so, why is it free? Who published it? Need more information (more than just answers to the questions provided) before I follow a link to somewhere I've never been and download something I know nothing about. Granted, I'd be happy to help with this kind of thing.

Edited October 28, 2012 by Neko-san

[indominator 95]

lol, bot! Also wall of text, reporting tools is a must. But the problem is that for each report you must analyze it and use wisdom to know what to do if you are a GM, for bugs we have a section in this forum that functions perfectly.