Server Hopping Fix

[Hydranix 6]

Definition of Server Hopping: The act of changing servers continuously at a high-loot location to acquire loot from multiple servers.

 

Current legality: Legal, frowned upon by at least some players.

 

 

I play on only a few public servers and I've found that every police station and high-loot residential is looted, with all other locations mostly untouched.

 

This is a bit disappointing, as there is little if any worthwhile loot at the better locations.

 

 

Over the course of the 3 hours I've played today, on my usual local San Jose server, I closely watched the player list.

 

I typically open the player list after each building I loot. Sometimes a bit less often.

 

At its peak there were 6 players, myself included.

 

 

With a pen and paper I started tallying how many people joined the server after I noticed a trend.

 

41 confirmed, 2 unsure.

 

Only 1 other player played on this server for the whole time I was on.

 

These 41 players joined the server. Stuck around for a couple minutes, and left.

 

 

 

I believe they were server hopping for loot.

 

If this is something the devs intend, please let me know.

 

 

 

Otherwise I might have a solution. Though it's probably not a new idea by any means, I'll still share.

 

 

When rapidly changing servers, players should be struck with increasingly severe hunger and thirst.

 

One hop within 15-30 minutes shouldn't really effect the player.

 

Two hops should take the bar down a color. And reset the 15-30 minute timer.

 

Three hops should start the be more severe.

 

By the fourth and fifth hop, the effect should be severe enough to require immediate intervention on the players behalf to avoid blood loss.

 

Beyond that is suicide.

 

 

 

 

I feel like this will force players who server hop, to stock up on food and drink, if they choose to take this journey. Or stay near a water supply, and either scavenge or use the wilderness for food. Further discouraging them from rapidly looting multiple servers.

 

If they choose to stock up prior, they'll need to balance the loot they acquire with the amount of supplies they carry, reducing their efficiency.

 

They will need to spend more time on a server replenishing themselves which make the timer less noticeable in the first place. This will also expose them to the dangers of other players.

 

 

 

I'm going to think about this more. Please show me why this is a bad idea, so I can improve upon it.

Edited June 11, 2015 by Hydranix

[hekeetsu 86]

Not a bad idea, but what about crashes or admin kicks?

[cash81 506]

Not a bad idea, but what about crashes or admin kicks?

That's the age old question.

I know sometimes ill log in and have it hang at the waiting screen, forcing me to exit and try another server. Im sure im not the only one who has issues sometimes when logging in, so punishing people with a debuff for nothing would be pretty lame. Bad enough you get a 59 second punishment now in the same situation.

Basically the only cure is to play on private server to avoid that kind of thing.

[Evil Minion 943]

Please show me why this is a bad idea, so I can improve upon it.

Such confidence... It's not a bad idea at all introducing a cost to using inter-server connections. But I think it might not be enough:

• You could also server hop for food so you should lose enough to make this unviable as well.
• You could hoard food and water and then go into a hopping spree using the resources amassed while still getting the fast, low risk travels between high loot areas.

So by just draining energy/water server hopping might be less viable for most players but still completely viable for clans or as some kind of "endgame" feature. I can see it work as part of a switching system though. In general server hopper do it because:

• it is fast
• it is low risk
• it has low resource costs

Your idea only counters the last part which becomes less important if the player in question has the resources to spare.

 

I know sometimes ill log in and have it hang at the waiting screen, forcing me to exit and try another server. Im sure im not the only one who has issues sometimes when logging in, so punishing people with a debuff for nothing would be pretty lame. Bad enough you get a 59 second punishment now in the same situation.

Basically the only cure is to play on private server to avoid that kind of thing.

I really don't get this argument. Private servers force you to start a new character every time which seems like much more of a debuff or punishment to me. Why do people complain that counter measures for server hopping would also hurt "innocent server switchers" and then argue in favor of private servers that do not allow "innocent server switching" at all?

 

I can see that the timer prevents you from playing but here you have other options:

1. Join a private server for the time being and return to the public hive when your punishment has expired.
2. Implement an option where people can skip the punishment completely at the cost of losing their character and having to respawn.

[Hydranix 6]

Personally, I like the single server private shards more than public.

 

 

I feel like the waiting screen hang wouldn't be much of an issue with my current idea because 3 server hops still wouldn't be terribly noticeable. It's when it becomes excessive that the punishment would be bad enough to cause problems.

 

 Admin abuse is also toxic to the game and doesn't really factor in very well. It's kind of like saying hackers should be considered in current penalty implementations. My game also hasn't crashed more than 5 times in 200+ hours. I don't know if that is close to the average crash frequency but, I typically rejoin the same server when it does crash.

 

 

On a less serious note, I've taken matters into my own hands. Every police station I come across I booby trap. I grab all the morphine and leave a bear trap, or a land mine. In a few when in had no traps, I left a PET bottle or canteen of gasoline in upstairs storeroom. :)

 

Beware :P

Edited June 11, 2015 by Hydranix

[Chaingunfighter 917]

On a less serious note, I've taken matters into my own hands. Every police station I come across I booby trap. I grab all the morphine and leave a bear trap, or a land mine. In a few when in had no traps, I left a PET bottle or canteen of gasoline in upstairs storeroom. :)

 

Beware :P

That's probably killed more people just running around and looting than it has server hoppers...

 

I like it, you sadistic fuck :P

 

When the new trap systems are added I'm gonna have such a fun time rigging up a popular building spot and watching from afar as someone goes in. Maybe I'll even do some kind of obstacle course where the things aren't impossible to avoid, and if you get to the end there's some loot waiting.

[phoboss 224]

I made a pretty long post a while back

http://forums.dayzgame.com/index.php?/topic/159568-combatlogging-what-it-is-and-how-to-prevent-it/

 

My fix for serverhopping is this:

 

The normal logout: The player wants to quit, goes into the menu, gets a 15 second timer and then hits "Exit". This has been proven functional in many DayZ mods and is, in my opinion absolutely reasonable. After that, your character just normally disappears. And you can switch the server if you like. But after the switch you get a 1 minute delay, which gets multiplied by the factor 2, before you can switch again. Which would mean you can switch once without a delay but after that every server switch the timer would get multiplied by 2. Adding up to a total of 15 minutes. (Also gets reset every 30 minutes. Meaning if you play on a server for 30 minutes your timer gets reset)

You can rejoin the last server as often as you like, as long as you didn't change the server in between. After that, you're banned from your last server for 15 minutes. (This is to prevent ghosting while still allowing you to take a break for what ever reason)

[sneakydudes 278]

I can confirm your totals, from remembering past logs and admin tools.

approx. 3-5 minutes a person stays then logs off.

 

On a server that is private, but open to the public sometimes the numbers can grow as much as 50 in a 30 minute span. If not a lot more.

This shows you the approx. number of players that double click the servers so fast they don't read if its private.

[scriptfactory 620]

• When spawning players can choose to create a new character or load an existing character.

Players can use flares in-game to call in a chopper and get "rescued" after a minute or two.

These rescued characters can be loaded in a random spawn location with all of their gear on any server within their hive. Both 1PP and 3PP. 1PP and 3PP public servers should belong to the same hive.

After rescued characters spawn they become normal characters on that server. You have to use another flare to switch servers.

[jESUSfISTUS 4]

Meine Idee dazu war.

Wenn mann auf einen server kommt ist mann nicht an der selben stelle sondern immer 2 kilometer weit weg.

Und schon kann mann das Serverhoppen vergessen.

Aber leider ist dann ein sehr wichtiges Element in DayZ zerstört.

Meiner Meinung muss es aber so kommen weil ich selber auch server hoppe und es nie lassen würde.

 

Darum kam mir die idee.

Dann wenn mann 5 mal in einer std den server wechselt...das dann eine mittteilung kommmt ind er es heisst...

wenn sie nun nochmal einen server wechseln wird ihr account gelöscht.

aber sowas kann mann dann bestimmt umgehen so wie die megavideo downloadsperre und was mann so kennt.

 

darum ist die einzige lösung fuer server hopper und im haus hinter einem einlogger....

wenn mann immer wnen mann spawnt woanders spawnt aber nie da wo mann war....und am besten weiter als 5 kilometer weit weg damit auch keiner auf dumme gedanken kommt.

 

und ich würde dann solange spawnen bis ich da bin wo ich hinwollte.

und dann joinen alle wie die weltmeister und das kann auch nciht der sin n der übung sein.

 

es giebt viele pros und auch contras zu diesem thema.

es ist schwer hier das richtige zu entscheiden.

 

eine idee von mir war das mann halt 500 meter weiter weg spawnt....

damit kann mann dann nur die im haus hinter einem spawner erwischen...

aber für serverhopper...

 

oder wie ich es mache.....ich lege mich auf vollen servern hinterlistig auf die lauer und wenn da nix iss nach 30 mind ann gehe ich auf der selben posi auf nem anderens erver in stellung.

ich lauere nur auf volllen servern und laufe nie rum...

und wenn ich sammel bin ich auf einem leeren server und sammel da wo ich weiss das dort was kommt.

zur zeit in jedem dorf oder stdt an so einem schuppen wo fette waffen droppen...

 

ich lege dnan die überschusswaffen auf einem server der gerade neugestartet iss ab und gehe dann auf einen vollen server auf die jagt...

ich hab schon so viele ausm hinterhalt erledigt und es wird und wird nicht langweilig....weil wenn ich sterbe dann will ich rache und meine abgelegten waffen sind dnan aufm anderen server ja da...dann hole ich mir die und komme zurück.

wenn ich nun schon ein lager hätte würde ich am strand so viele waffen finden und imemr wieder...ohne ende....

das ich tag und ancht nur auf der lauer liegen könnte und leute wegballere..

zur zeit habe ich so viel das ich imemr froh bin wenn ich wen finde dem ich es schenken kann...

 

iss also ganz traurig in dayz....und dann kommen noch auslogger....serverhopper...ts aushorcher die einen dann killen wollen...oder vermeindliche freunde die einen in eine falle locken und killen lassen...und selber überleben...

also dayz zeigt echtdas schlimmste im menschen...

heute kam einer angerannt...dann wollte er michs chlagen...dann hab ich geschossen und bin weggelaufen...er tat so als sei er mit team da....ich killte ihn und lief extra rum weil ich dachte soll das team kommen ich hab 2500 std dayz gesammt...und was war...nix kam...

die verlogenen kinder und jugendlichen in dayz wissen garncihts...

wer mir vor die flinte rennt ...den ballere ich eh weg...und er griff mich an...also hatte ich sicher keine skrupel..

schweissausbrüche oder angst sind bei mir seit 6 monaten nciht mehr weil es zu viele cheater tode gab....ich denke imemr cheater....oder er geht gleich down...und so iss es auch offt..

 

ich kille jeden tag so hart und ich verliere bestimmt nciht dielust daran...

bestes spiel...

 

bald mache ich auch dayz videos bei youtube.....dann zeige ich euch wo der frosch die locken hat und warum ich dayz spiele...

um leute zu killen und sicher nicht um zu leben xD^^

[Parazight 1594]

I'm a troll^

Really dude?

Terrible trolling. 99% of the community on this English forum doesn't understand you anyway. 100% won't take you seriously.

Please try the appropriate forum.

[scriptfactory 620]

Really dude?

Terrible trolling. 99% of the community on this English forum doesn't understand you anyway. 100% won't take you seriously.

Please try the appropriate forum.

 

He basically said your spawn location should be random every time you login, at least 5km of your logout position. It was a terrible idea.

[doctorbadsign 645]

Not a bad idea.

 

I thought of one a couple a while ago;

 

1. They could spawn someone in the middle of nowhere if they repeatedly server hop.

 

2. Server hoppers could have a specific server that they get locked in to for 24 hours after a certain amount of hops (obviously has to be higher than the amount you are likely to make due to shitty servers etc.) This server would have some food, drinks and cosmetic items, but nothing else.

[jESUSfISTUS 4]

EDIT....

 

sry for my english

Edited June 25, 2015 by jESUSfISTUS

[FlimFlamm 509]

There are some interesting ideas in this thread but they all seem to suffer from the same main drawback: potentially causing penalties to players who are switching servers for reasons other than loot.

 

We want a mechanic that directly prevents loot hoppers, but inevitably this mechanic will affect people who are not loot hopping, so whatever mechanic we put in place it needs to somehow prevent loot hopping while not messing with regular player behavior.

 

- If we identify server hoppers by number of server changes, then we are going to misidentify players as loot hoppers who might just be looking for a lag free server.

 

- If we use time delays to slow down server hoppers then players who are switching servers for natural reasons will be unfairly delayed in some instances

 

- If we use physical location displacement against server hoppers (an idea I was initially interested in) then people might learn to exploit this mechanic to gain a form of free travel by server hopping.

 

- If we use loot invisibility for newly spawned in players then we are going to create a whole lot of delays for players who are not in fact hoppers.

 

With these setbacks in mind, here is me idea:

 

After 5 server hops within a certain amount of time, the system will flag you as a server hopper. This flag will vanish after 30 minutes of not joining a new server (other than the one you currently might be in). The reason for 5 hops is to try and weed out the players who aren't actually server hoppers.

 

- Stage one of server hoppers syndrome is that your character spends two minutes logging in instead of only one minute. Inevitably at some point this will piss someone off, but it will piss off more server hoppers than regular players. This is meant to be a light system because the dilemma of harming normal players is unavoidable.

 

- After five more hops, the system flags you as a stage two server hopper. At this point the mechanic becomes more severe. I was thinking either a 5 minute log in timer or possibly 5 minutes of invisible loot.

 

The key to success is that it needs to be a very light system, and we are going to need things like 5 hops before being identified as server hopping and therefore penalized in order to pull it off without raising a big stink.

[doctorbadsign 645]

There are some interesting ideas in this thread but they all seem to suffer from the same main drawback: potentially causing penalties to players who are switching servers for reasons other than loot.

 

We want a mechanic that directly prevents loot hoppers, but inevitably this mechanic will affect people who are not loot hopping, so whatever mechanic we put in place it needs to somehow prevent loot hopping while not messing with regular player behavior.

 

- If we identify server hoppers by number of server changes, then we are going to misidentify players as loot hoppers who might just be looking for a lag free server.

 

- If we use time delays to slow down server hoppers then players who are switching servers for natural reasons will be unfairly delayed in some instances

 

- If we use physical location displacement against server hoppers (an idea I was initially interested in) then people might learn to exploit this mechanic to gain a form of free travel by server hopping.

 

- If we use loot invisibility for newly spawned in players then we are going to create a whole lot of delays for players who are not in fact hoppers.

 

With these setbacks in mind, here is me idea:

 

After 5 server hops within a certain amount of time, the system will flag you as a server hopper. This flag will vanish after 30 minutes of not joining a new server (other than the one you currently might be in). The reason for 5 hops is to try and weed out the players who aren't actually server hoppers.

 

- Stage one of server hoppers syndrome is that your character spends two minutes logging in instead of only one minute. Inevitably at some point this will piss someone off, but it will piss off more server hoppers than regular players. This is meant to be a light system because the dilemma of harming normal players is unavoidable.

 

- After five more hops, the system flags you as a stage two server hopper. At this point the mechanic becomes more severe. I was thinking either a 5 minute log in timer or possibly 5 minutes of invisible loot.

 

The key to success is that it needs to be a very light system, and we are going to need things like 5 hops before being identified as server hopping and therefore penalized in order to pull it off without raising a big stink.

 

The issue with having non-severe punishments for server hopping is that it is not enough of a deterrent.

 

It has to be a punishment that is more severe than having to run anywhere to find the loot that they need. This is what the player is trying to avoid by server hopping, they are cutting down the time spent running around and searching. 5 minutes doesn't outweigh hours searching the map therefore server hoppers will still do it, and just get a coffee in the meantime.

 

The deterrent needs to be more severe than that; say losing gear, being spawned far away from any loot, or being forced onto a cheaters server with no high value loot. Any small punishments will be tolerated by server hoppers because they are still less hassle than running the map. So long as the developers issue the mechanics of the punishment system legit players will know what to avoid.

[scriptfactory 620]

The deterrent needs to be more severe than that; say losing gear, being spawned far away from any loot, or being forced onto a cheaters server with no high value loot. Any small punishments will be tolerated by server hoppers because they are still less hassle than running the map. So long as the developers issue the mechanics of the punishment system legit players will know what to avoid.

 

But why? It seems that people are like "don't add artificial mechanics to enforce a playstyle" but with server hopping they are all like "magic is cool". I think a method to legitimately change servers is needed but characters also need to be bound to one server by default. Just like in ARK. It works pretty well, to be honest.

[doctorbadsign 645]

But why? It seems that people are like "don't add artificial mechanics to enforce a playstyle" but with server hopping they are all like "magic is cool". I think a method to legitimately change servers is needed but characters also need to be bound to one server by default. Just like in ARK. It works pretty well, to be honest.

 

Server hopping is not a playstyle. If I had any say so I'd classify it as a form cheating and punish it severely. No legitimate player would change servers as frequently as a server hopper, so it doesn't take much of a stretch to imagine a system that would be able to tell the difference. 

[OnionOfShame 138]

But why? It seems that people are like "don't add artificial mechanics to enforce a playstyle" but with server hopping they are all like "magic is cool". I think a method to legitimately change servers is needed but characters also need to be bound to one server by default. Just like in ARK. It works pretty well, to be honest.

That's what private servers are for. Personally I use private hive most of the time to avoid server hoppers and the like. And besides, people seem to be more friendly/willing to not KOS overall on private servers, which is definitely a benefit IMO. Edited June 26, 2015 by OnionOfShame

[Hydranix 6]

A few points were made about legitimate players being penalized by the ideas I put forth in the original post.

 

I tried to address by allowing a small number of rapid server changes, which seems perfectly reasonable.

 

Also we need to understand every legitimate reason that a player would have for changing servers more than once or twice in a 15 to 30 minute period of time.

 

 

Searching for a lag free server. (which typically can be determined by server ping)

Unintentionally joining the wrong server several times. (a weak point really)

Being disconnected for reasons outside the control of the player. (very rare at best)

 

 

Could anyone help add things to this list? Even if they're weak arguments, designing a proper system should still at least consider every legitimate reason before being suggested.