Disconnect, change server, flank, reconnect. Simple solution.

[hulkingunicorn 20]

Ctrl+alt+del = win. I care about that. When a character d/c's his player should stand there atleast 30 seconds and take damage. This is extremely easy to put in the game, it should have already been there. Every single person gets a bad taste in their mouth for this game when they run into it. I am sick and tired of people ctrl+alt+del'ing their game when someone shoots at them. So far 9 out of 10 times it has been done to me in every fight. This is the number one problem with this game that needs to be fixed. Packet injection I dont even care about, admins can easily ban for it.

Extremely easy? Take a look at Build 1.7.1 Rolling Update:

* [NEW] Player body exists for five seconds after disconnect (UNCONFIRMED IF WORKING)

[...]Bug #2

Item duplications because of the 5 sec delay when disconnect. (i'm not going into details but duplicating anything is as simple as 3 mouse clicks)

Then at Hotfix Build 1.7.1.1 Rolling Update:

* [REVERT] 5 second delay for disconnecting (will need to wait till new method developed)

Still think it's an easy thing to implement?

Edit: Quoted MrLiNk as well

Edited July 18, 2012 by HulkingUnicorn

[willieredneck 8]

So, the first spotted players are heading west into a forest, then you are tracking 4 players east out of a forest. Then your eastern most player is killed (you do not clarify by whom), and you spot 4 players heading in your direction (zig-zagging across a field). You take cover, and wait for them but they don't pass by so you assume they disconnected (no proof stated on how you came to this conclusion). You also assume that they disconnected to flank you, but you do nothing to counter that measure. Then you see another player running east and you pursue him until he disconnects for whatever reason (no way to know this). Then you move to a hill overlooking Starry before getting killed by another team. And finally you are making accusations about players disconnecting during combat, when by my recollection, the only shots fired were not from your team but by those that killed your squad.

I guess I am trying to figure out what it is exactly that you are so upset about here. First you are near a town that is a very high danger zone for sniping, PVP, etc. Next, you are trying to pursue "enemy" players, although you do not mention whether you actually engaged them with gunfire or not. Then you fail to take out anyone, and get killed. What am I missing here?

[Junos 57]

What am I missing here?

What are you missing? Um...everything? Do I need to draw you a picture?

THEM

|

\/

FIELD

US

They disappeared. They didn't go to our left; they didn't go to our right; they didn't retreat; they didn't run into us. There was nowhere for them to hide. They vanished.

So, the first spotted players are heading west into a forest, then you are tracking 4 players east out of a forest.

On a server with about 15 players, it's reasonable to assume that they were the same players who had entered the forest one minute earlier.

Then your eastern most player is killed (you do not clarify by whom)

How am I supposed to know who killed her? It says "player was killed," not "player was killed by player." We don't play on servers with nametags. It's reasonable to assume she was killed by the people who were running toward her position a minute earlier.

and you spot 4 players heading in your direction (zig-zagging across a field). You take cover, and wait for them but they don't pass by so you assume they disconnected (no proof stated on how you came to this conclusion).

Proof? How can I even prove that I played DayZ last night? This is a strawman. I said that there was no concealment near their position, that we watched all directions, and that they disappeared into an open field. Take my word for it or don't. Why are you here?

You also assume that they disconnected to flank you, but you do nothing to counter that measure.

Reading comprehension fail. From my first post: "We figure they disconnected, switched servers, and were flanking us. The lone player with the pistol was their scout, feeding them intel as the rest of them repositioned on another server. We move to the south onto a higher hill overlooking Stary. We go prone and watch our sectors. We see nothing, hear nothing." Again, why are you here?

Then you see another player running east and you pursue him until he disconnects for whatever reason (no way to know this).

The player was running through an open field from the last known position of the 4 players who were zig-zagging toawrd us. He was last seen in the middle of the field. He was not seen again. Draw your own conclusions. Take my word for it or don't. Again, why are you here?

Then you move to a hill overlooking Starry before getting killed by another team.

The team that was zig-zagging toward us, and the lone scout, was last seen running toward the hill we moved to. In hindsight, we should have moved toward and past their last known position, rather than in the direction they were headed. We probably ran into their trap. This was our mistake. However, it does not excuse their cowardice.

And finally you are making accusations about players disconnecting during combat, when by my recollection, the only shots fired were not from your team but by those that killed your squad.

Combat is more than just shooting. Combat is about outmaneuvering and outsmarting your opponent before any shots are even fired. Do you really not understand this?

I guess I am trying to figure out what it is exactly that you are so upset about here. First you are near a town that is a very high danger zone for sniping, PVP, etc. Next, you are trying to pursue "enemy" players, although you do not mention whether you actually engaged them with gunfire or not. Then you fail to take out anyone, and get killed.

Your lack of basic reading comprehension astounds me. Don't accuse me of lying or being stupid when you can't even understand what I wrote.

Edited July 18, 2012 by Junos

[Inception. 9443]

5 minutes.

What if someone has to do something and they like this server? They have to wait 30 minutes to get back on it?

[Junos 57]

They cant add a login delay for logging onto different servers because all the so many stupid server admins are unable to tell the time. GMT -8 server connecting at midnight GMT and its pitch black? wtf

That is completely irrelevant.

This one of the absolute main reasons why i stopped playing this game. I am a sucker for Zombie games and i really enjoy this mod. But a good 35-50 hours of gameplay shows the real fatal errors of this mod. This one being one of the worst. Im not giving up on this mod but i am also not playing it in its current state.

I got my eye on this one. :)

Peace all.

Sadly, I am beginning to feel the same way. We had an exciting adventure today that started when, while constantly scanning 360 degrees as far as I could see, I barely picked out an enemy player running across open terrain with my eyes--I didn't even have binocs at the time. My constant vigilance paid off. But the adventure came to a preposterous ending brought about by cowardly, cheating griefers.

Time spent on this game is like an investment. It takes a lot of time to rendezvous and to acquire gear. If cowards like these can so easily ruin the game, my time ends up being wasted. All they have to do is cheat to gain an unfair, unauthentic advantage, and they win and get all our gear. Why should I invest time into being careful and vigilant when it's all for nought?

I look forward to these issues being addressed. I've never played any other game (or anti-game) that provides a similar experience.

5 minutes.

What if someone has to do something and they like this server? They have to wait 30 minutes to get back on it?

So what? Boo hoo. There are thousands of servers. That's why there's a central database that keeps your character the same across all servers.

5 minutes is simply not enough. Between the time we saw four players running at us, and the time their scout disappeared, it was more than five minutes. That's plenty of time for them to do their dirty deeds.

Ideally this wouldn't be necessary, but because of evil people, who abound, this is a necessary measure. Because of a few bad apples, we all suffer. But having to change servers with a few of your buddies is a small price to pay for never having to worry about such cowards again.

Edited July 18, 2012 by Junos

[Acix 132]

totally agree with a 30 min cooldown if there is another server in between, ie On server A, leave to server B to flank then return to A, if they were to just disconnect or have some legit issue and come back to the same server right away i would say 30 is too much but if there is connection to a second server prior to returning to the initial server... fuck em 30 min is a minimum in my book... bog them down for an hour for all care

[zap44 40]

Server hopping isn't the biggest issue at play here. Time and energy should be directed at those hiding in passworded and locked servers (almost 100 as I post) gearing up then I suspect hopping to an open public server to pull off cappers like this. Passworded and locked servers need addressing first!

Edited August 8, 2012 by ZAP44

[Junos 57]

There's no way to discern if a player intentionally disconnects or not; the game could crash or he could suffer a power outage. I'd rather see it that disconnecting from one server, connecting to another and then reconnecting to previous server within a time limit should be enforced, while allowing you to reconnect to recover from a game crash etc.

Certainly there is. When the player disconnects, the client tells the server. If the game crashes or the connection is interrupted, there will be no more data from the client and the connection will timeout.

Of course, those who know much about computers will realize that even this allows abuse, because one could simply interrupt the connection manually (pull the Ethernet plug, power cycle modem, etc)--and there are plenty of people who will go to that much trouble to cheat. So, really, whether a disconnect is intentional should be irrelevant. With the multitude of servers we have to choose from, you should just find another server.

Then you could pile on additional restrictions, such as killing you outright if you disconnect shortly after firing a shot or someone else shoots at you/near you (while rather harsh, it's unlikely the game will crash just then, and the victor can keep the spoils).

That might be helpful also. It might be extreme, because if you shoot a zombie and then have to quit the game, you'd be punished. It'd be nice if the server could measure the distance between the shot's impact and other players, and only punish shots that were directed at players, however this would be much more complex to code, and might add unreasonable load to the servers. Only Rocket could say for sure.

I often disconnect when I have to go AFK for a short period. Normally I just go to the group screen, but all too often I exit the server accidentally. Leaving and not being able to rejoin would be an annoyance for myself and anyone in my group.

Sad but true. But it's not nearly as big of an annoyance as cowardly cheaters.

This. PintOBass brought this up in the suggestion forums some time ago. A cooldown timer for A-B-A server hopping IMO is the best option. The only down side is if you are re-gearing from a stash on server B and trying to re enter server A, you would be affected by said timer. Personally i have no problem with that.

That's fundamentally no different than a simple reconnect timer. All that matters in this case is server A.

Rocket has, however, stated PRECISELY that he will not spend much time fixing issues that will be instantly fixed once the game is standalone. If you don't want to believe me you can continue to live in your little world of ignorance.

I'll just ignore your ad hominems, since by using them you undermine your own credibility.

Assuming that a "standalone game" will fix anything instantly highlights your naivete. A standalone game has to run a client engine and servers, just like this does. Problems don't magically disappear if it's a "game" instead of a "mod." In the end it's all software.

Why are you vehemently arguing against a simple fix to an egregious exploit? Methinks thou dost protest too much. I can't help but wonder if you're one of the ones who likes to take advantage of it and want to protect your way of playing. There's no rational reason to argue against fixing it.

But 30 minutes is too much. 5 is good. That'd give you ten minutes as they'd have to wait 5 to connect to the new server and then another 5 after they move back and relog into yours, so you could get 15 or more minutes to prepare for the ambuse, and attempt one yourself due to this.

5 minutes is not enough, as I've explained several times already. That gives them plenty of time to reposition and reconnect, and if their non-cowardly opponents don't realize that the enemy has changed servers, they will likely still be vulnerable. This is doubly true if the cowards leave a scout on the first server to feed intel over voice chat.

The only true solution is a timer long enough to make it utterly pointless for them to try to exploit server-flanking.

[Junos 57]

=.=; Jeez... all that coordinated effort just to flank you guys. They seriously have no life. It's really hard to stop something like this unless you're hosting a private game yourself.

I think a simple reconnect timer like I've suggested would put a definite stop to this kind of abuse. Once they leave the server, they'd have totally left the engagement. It wouldn't stop cowards from changing servers to retreat, but it would definitely stop cowards from changing servers to flank.

Due to how simple it is to log out, enter another server to change position and log back in again... I have this proposal instead.

If you log out from a server, you have a 30 minute timer before you can rejoin that specific server again. You can, however, join whatever other server in the meantime... just not the same server you just left.

...

...That's exactly what I proposed.

Why invent the wheel again ?

- Disconnecting to avoid death ?

Make characters stand still for 10 seconds in order to log out (before they disappear). You could always interrupt the logging-out-process if u saw a zombie comming to eat you or such...

10 seconds? So all I have to do is run behind something before I log out? What good does that do?

-Flanking / Server hopping ?

Force ppl to log out in "safe zones", like forrests for example. Nobody should be able to jump off the server in busy zones, where loot and zombies spawn etc.

That is fundamentally flawed. There is no such thing as a "safe zone" in DayZ. Any part of the map can become a combat zone. What you're proposing is like playing tag: "Nyah, nyah, can't touch me, I'm touching the base."

All those mechanice have been successfull in different games. And there´s alot more to be found in other games...

DayZ has become as phenomenally popular as it is precisely because it's so different than any other game. Let's not ruin that.

[Junos 57]

totally agree with a 30 min cooldown if there is another server in between, ie On server A, leave to server B to flank then return to A, if they were to just disconnect or have some legit issue and come back to the same server right away i would say 30 is too much but if there is connection to a second server prior to returning to the initial server... 30 min is a minimum in my book... bog them down for an hour for all care

Sadly, this is not good enough. Cowards like these could disconnect all but one player, have a scout tell them when it's safe or advantageous to reconnect, and then come back, appearing out of nowhere. All they'd need to do is wait until their prey gives up and turns around. Then, pop, they're magically behind you again.

The only solution is a reconnect timer that prevents any player from reconnecting to a server within 30 minutes of when he last disconnected from it.

If they want to be cowards and leave the fight, then they leave the fight. Period.

[Xiroth 191]

How about this:

When you leave a server and reconnect within say, an hour, you spawn in the location you logged out on that specific server.

You would probably be able to abuse the feature by being able to backtrack etc, but at least it can't be used to flank others.

[hulkingunicorn 20]

Server hopping isn't the biggest issue at play here. Time and energy should be directed at those hiding in passworded and locked servers (almost 100 as I post) gearing up then I suspect hopping to an open public server to pull off cappers like this. Passworded and locked servers need addressing first!

That's a rather annoying post, seeing as your chosen font color blends with the default forum background. Are you even sure those servers are connected to the hive?

Certainly there is. When the player disconnects, the client tells the server. If the game crashes or the connection is interrupted, there will be no more data from the client and the connection will timeout.

Of course, those who know much about computers will realize that even this allows abuse, because one could simply interrupt the connection manually (pull the Ethernet plug, power cycle modem, etc)--and there are plenty of people who will go to that much trouble to cheat. So, really, whether a disconnect is intentional should be irrelevant. With the multitude of servers we have to choose from, you should just find another server.

My point was that we don't know whether the player somehow incited the application crash or packet loss or not, other than that we agree. I only brought it up due to your last section of the post where you specified intentional disconnects.

That might be helpful also. It might be extreme, because if you shoot a zombie and then have to quit the game, you'd be punished. It'd be nice if the server could measure the distance between the shot's impact and other players, and only punish shots that were directed at players, however this would be much more complex to code, and might add unreasonable load to the servers. Only Rocket could say for sure.

Might be tricky and expensive, but most could be handled on the client side.

That's fundamentally no different than a simple reconnect timer. All that matters in this case is server A.

The big difference is that it allows people who genuinely crashed/lost connection can rejoin their friends immediately, provided they don't enter another server in the mean time.

Assuming that a "standalone game" will fix anything instantly highlights your naivete. A standalone game has to run a client engine and servers, just like this does. Problems don't magically disappear if it's a "game" instead of a "mod." In the end it's all software.

A standalone game based on the same engine doesn't nescessarily have modding support or all of these nifty scripting commands that makes ArmA so vulnerable to begin with. While clients can still be modified, there might be less holes for Battleye (if used) to plug.

Players sending code for the other clients/the server to compile is normal for ArmA missions, but something one could avoid with access to engine source.

I think a simple reconnect timer like I've suggested would put a definite stop to this kind of abuse. Once they leave the server, they'd have totally left the engagement. It wouldn't stop cowards from changing servers to retreat, but it would definitely stop cowards from changing servers to flank.

Yeah, I like your idea.

...That's exactly what I proposed.

Except his refinement allows disconnecters to instantly rejoin the same server, for good and bad.

Sadly, this is not good enough. Cowards like these could disconnect all but one player, have a scout tell them when it's safe or advantageous to reconnect, and then come back, appearing out of nowhere. All they'd need to do is wait until their prey gives up and turns around. Then, pop, they're magically behind you again.

The only solution is a reconnect timer that prevents any player from reconnecting to a server within 30 minutes of when he last disconnected from it.

If they want to be cowards and leave the fight, then they leave the fight. Period.

Yes, but... It seems too strict to prevent reconnecting to the same server after a glitch if they come straight back to that server. Perhaps having a different mechanic for those? Such as keeping them defenseless for a short while and forcing them to cough/shout or something?

How about this:

When you leave a server and reconnect within say, an hour, you spawn in the location you logged out on that specific server.

You would probably be able to abuse the feature by being able to backtrack etc, but at least it can't be used to flank others.

That would indeed open a horrible can of abuse. While it's harsh on those who simply loses connection, Junos has a good solution.

[lamesaint 14]

So here is your solution applied to a non-cheating player: myself.

-Login to my home server, where me and several friends store our important gear in our tents.

-Get kicked due to high ping.

-Realize I left Six Launcher open, which auto refreshes the server list every 30 seconds and causes my ping to skyrocket.

-Launch my home server again, this time closing Six Launcher before getting in.

-Can't log in for 30 minutes.

Here's another situation:

-Playing with friends

-Find a bush to hide in and disconnect to the lobby so I can take a piss.

-Come back 1 minute later.

-Can't log in for 30 minutes.

The time you have put (30 minutes) is simply too long. There are exponentially more legitimate disconnects (disconnecting so you can go afk for a few minutes or even seconds, etc) than there are disconnects for illegitimate (cheating) reasons. This solution would frustrate legitimate players far more often than actually stopping cheaters.

I think that a simple disconnect timer would be quite sufficient (as long as they could somehow fix the duplication bug). For example, in your scenario where the people logged out to flank you, they would have had to stand still for anywhere between 20-30 seconds before they left the server, giving you plenty of time to realize what they were doing. Same with the scout who was providing information on your whereabouts.

The disconnect timer would not only warn you as to their intentions, but also give you the chance to attack them before they could finish disconnecting. Of course, the people disconnecting would be able to interrupt the timer at any time to defend themselves, but you would have successfully prevented ghosting.

Now, there are probably other solutions to this, and some of them will even be BETTER solutions, but this one would be a pretty simple one to implement, and would probably cut down on the number of ghosting incidents.

A solution I favor though is this one: Have your character data stored in the hive (what you are wearing, what you are carrying, etc), but have your character's LOCATION saved on a per server basis. This would stop ghosting entirely. If you logged out of server A, and logged into server B, your character would be in a different spot, and moving your character on server B would not affect where your character is on server A.

Edited July 19, 2012 by LameSaint

[tarquinbb 28]

imo this is the biggest issue in the game... cross server meta-gaming.

it's cheating, plain and simple.

the best solution i can think of would be to put your character into a 'pacifist mode' for ~2 minutes after logging in. the pacifist mode would basically disable your weapons for the duration. if you're a legit player, you're also going to be effected - but 99% of the time you won't need to use weapons in that time period.

Now, there are probably other solutions to this, and some of them will even be BETTER solutions, but this one would be a pretty simple one to implement, and would probably cut down on the number of ghosting incidents.

A solution I favor though is this one: Have your character data stored in the hive (what you are wearing, what you are carrying, etc), but have your character's LOCATION saved on a per server basis. This would stop ghosting entirely. If you logged out of server A, and logged into server B, your character would be in a different spot, and moving your character on server B would not affect where your character is on server A.

you have your camp and vehicles on your home server as mass storage... your suggestion means you could farm on other servers and just server bounce to instantly 'bank' your loot. that's probably even more detrimental to the game than 'ghosting'.

Edited July 19, 2012 by tarquinbb

[lamesaint 14]

imo this is the biggest issue in the game... cross server meta-gaming.

it's cheating, plain and simple.

the best solution i can think of would be to put your character into a 'pacifist mode' for ~2 minutes after logging in. the pacifist mode would basically disable your weapons for the duration. if you're a legit player, you're also going to be effected - but 99% of the time you won't need to use weapons in that time period.

That's just a not very good idea. So whenever someone logs in, they have to stay away from any area with zombies because they can't use their weapons to kill a zombie? That, or have to crawl very slowly around/through the zombies. And even then, you can still aggro zombies and would be screwed.

Edited July 19, 2012 by LameSaint

[Übermensch 5]

So here is your solution applied to a non-cheating player: myself.

-Login to my home server, where me and several friends store our important gear in our tents.

-Get kicked due to high ping.

-Realize I left Six Launcher open, which auto refreshes the server list every 30 seconds and causes my ping to skyrocket.

-Launch my home server again, this time closing Six Launcher before getting in.

-Can't log in for 30 minutes.

Here's another situation:

-Playing with friends

-Find a bush to hide in and disconnect to the lobby so I can take a piss.

-Come back 1 minute later.

-Can't log in for 30 minutes.

The time you have put (30 minutes) is simply too long. There are exponentially more legitimate disconnects (disconnecting so you can go afk for a few minutes or even seconds, etc) than there are disconnects for illegitimate (cheating) reasons. This solution would frustrate legitimate players far more often than actually stopping cheaters.

I think that a simple disconnect timer would be quite sufficient. For example, in your scenario where the people logged out to flank you, they would have had to stand still for anywhere between 20-30 seconds before they left the server, giving you plenty of time to realize what they were doing. Same with the scout who was providing information on your whereabouts.

The disconnect timer would not only warn you as to their intentions, but also give you the chance to attack them before they could finish disconnecting. Of course, the people disconnecting would be able to interrupt the timer at any time to defend themselves, but you would have successfully prevented ghosting.

Now, there are probably other solutions to this, and some of them will even be BETTER solutions, but this one would be a pretty simple one to implement, and would probably cut down on the number of ghosting incidents.

A solution I favor though is this one: Have your character data stored in the hive (what you are wearing, what you are carrying, etc), but have your character's LOCATION saved on a per server basis. This would stop ghosting entirely. If you logged out of server A, and logged into server B, your character would be in a different spot, and moving your character on server B would not affect where your character is on server A.

I support this ^^

But also maybe a 2-5 minutes of stasis if someone disconnects normally to avoid aggro or to exploit the game will be perfect I think..

Also this: "* [NEW] Player body exists for five seconds after disconnect (UNCONFIRMED IF WORKING)" but for more longer time, if u crashed, you should disconnect imediately, but if u do it by yourself, it should take 30 seconds at least to your body dissapear.. and if you disconnect when you are in aggression, your body should stay 2 minutes at least before dissapear, something like Eve Online mechanics..

btw, FUC*ING exploiters always ruining a game using cheesy tactics, god damnit.. IDIOTS!

[zq7 67]

So here is your solution applied to a non-cheating player: myself.

-Login to my home server, where me and several friends store our important gear in our tents.

-Get kicked due to high ping.

-Realize I left Six Launcher open, which auto refreshes the server list every 30 seconds and causes my ping to skyrocket.

-Launch my home server again, this time closing Six Launcher before getting in.

-Can't log in for 30 minutes.

Here's another situation:

-Playing with friends

-Find a bush to hide in and disconnect to the lobby so I can take a piss.

-Come back 1 minute later.

-Can't log in for 30 minutes.

In both those examples it's just you reconnecting to the same server, not going from server A to B and then back to A. As long as you don't connect to a different server you should be fine.

We can also always play the 'what if game' and make up endless scenarios where this is may not be ideal because people tend to fuck up and do stupid shit.

However, I think we all agree that this is far better than letting dickwads server hopp and snipe people in the rear end.

As for the whole '30 seconds disconnect delay', I think it will never work. People will just hide and wait. Besides, it takes people normally about 30 seconds to join a game and that doesn't stop them as it is.

The other idea you had was that you had your location stored on the server and not the hive, I think that won't work either. That will only encourage spawn sniping even more. E.g.

-Logs in to server, runs around and gets decent items.

-Logs off and goes to bed.

-Logs in to different server, spawns at the beach with said gear.

-Gets sniped from a spawn camper.

I'm in favor of the A-B-A delay 100%, 15 min or 30 minutes is fine by me either way.

[KrystoferRobin 67]

So here is your solution applied to a non-cheating player: myself.

-Login to my home server, where me and several friends store our important gear in our tents.

-Get kicked due to high ping.

-Realize I left Six Launcher open, which auto refreshes the server list every 30 seconds and causes my ping to skyrocket.

-Launch my home server again, this time closing Six Launcher before getting in.

-Can't log in for 30 minutes.

Here's another situation:

-Playing with friends

-Find a bush to hide in and disconnect to the lobby so I can take a piss.

-Come back 1 minute later.

-Can't log in for 30 minutes.

The time you have put (30 minutes) is simply too long. There are exponentially more legitimate disconnects (disconnecting so you can go afk for a few minutes or even seconds, etc) than there are disconnects for illegitimate (cheating) reasons. This solution would frustrate legitimate players far more often than actually stopping cheaters.

I think that a simple disconnect timer would be quite sufficient (as long as they could somehow fix the duplication bug). For example, in your scenario where the people logged out to flank you, they would have had to stand still for anywhere between 20-30 seconds before they left the server, giving you plenty of time to realize what they were doing. Same with the scout who was providing information on your whereabouts.

The disconnect timer would not only warn you as to their intentions, but also give you the chance to attack them before they could finish disconnecting. Of course, the people disconnecting would be able to interrupt the timer at any time to defend themselves, but you would have successfully prevented ghosting.

Now, there are probably other solutions to this, and some of them will even be BETTER solutions, but this one would be a pretty simple one to implement, and would probably cut down on the number of ghosting incidents.

A solution I favor though is this one: Have your character data stored in the hive (what you are wearing, what you are carrying, etc), but have your character's LOCATION saved on a per server basis. This would stop ghosting entirely. If you logged out of server A, and logged into server B, your character would be in a different spot, and moving your character on server B would not affect where your character is on server A.

So i could find a super low population, laggy server (undesirable otherwise) to camp a good spawn for gear..

swap to a hot server where i'm stationed for action... shit hits the fan or I need ammo/food i swap to my laggy, but generally safe server and regear/heal

return to hotbed for more action.

Great idea!

/logout command is probably the best way to go. Server doesn't drop you for 30 seconds/1 minute. You either wait it out, able to interrupt it should the need arise, or you alt-f4 and pray. Solves a plethora of problems, but may not be possible with Arma's current design.

[jetao2008@hotmail.com 175]

So what? Boo hoo. There are thousands of servers. That's why there's a central database that keeps your character the same across all servers.

5 minutes is simply not enough. Between the time we saw four players running at us, and the time their scout disappeared, it was more than five minutes. That's plenty of time for them to do their dirty deeds.

Ideally this wouldn't be necessary, but because of evil people, who abound, this is a necessary measure. Because of a few bad apples, we all suffer. But having to change servers with a few of your buddies is a small price to pay for never having to worry about such cowards again.

So assuming my phone rings, i want to answer it but i just can't leave my character out there in the open, so i log out for a few seconds just to answer it, then i need to wait 30 minutes to enter the server again just because you say so? Nice. Just think harder to find a solution that will only punish the griefers without including the honest players out there.

Edited July 19, 2012 by Fenrig

[lamesaint 14]

In both those examples it's just you reconnecting to the same server, not going from server A to B and then back to A. As long as you don't connect to a different server you should be fine.

We can also always play the 'what if game' and make up endless scenarios where this is may not be ideal because people tend to fuck up and do stupid shit.

However, I think we all agree that this is far better than letting dickwads server hopp and snipe people in the rear end.

As for the whole '30 seconds disconnect delay', I think it will never work. People will just hide and wait. Besides, it takes people normally about 30 seconds to join a game and that doesn't stop them as it is.

The other idea you had was that you had your location stored on the server and not the hive, I think that won't work either. That will only encourage spawn sniping even more. E.g.

-Logs in to server, runs around and gets decent items.

-Logs off and goes to bed.

-Logs in to different server, spawns at the beach with said gear.

-Gets sniped from a spawn camper.

I'm in favor of the A-B-A delay 100%, 15 min or 30 minutes is fine by me either way.

A way around that is to have more randomized location spawning for people with character data already in the hive (meaning you aren't starting a new character). The spawning for a player with no location data but character data in the hive could spawn you anywhere essentially (barring the middle of cities and towns and such, and probably avoiding the beach). This would prevent people from being able to camp for people with geared characters. However, the more complicated this idea gets, the less it sounds like a good idea.

Anyway, I must admit: I made that post before fully reading the rest of the posts made before mine (I only fully read the first one), so I missed the A-B-A idea. I could actually get behind that one, because I see little to no reason for a person to go from server A to server B and back to A again within a short period of time.

Someone mentioned going back to server B if you need to rearm at a tent or whatever, but I don't think that is a situation that happens very often.

However, the two situations that I listed in my original post are things that happen to me often enough that a 30 minute ban from the server would be a huge annoyance, especially since my friends and I only play on one server that we chose to be our home (unless that server isn't updated/ is down/ is full).

So i could find a super low population, laggy server (undesirable otherwise) to camp a good spawn for gear..

swap to a hot server where i'm stationed for action... shit hits the fan or I need ammo/food i swap to my laggy, but generally safe server and regear/heal

return to hotbed for more action.

Great idea!

/logout command is probably the best way to go. Server doesn't drop you for 30 seconds/1 minute. You either wait it out, able to interrupt it should the need arise, or you alt-f4 and pray. Solves a plethora of problems, but may not be possible with Arma's current design.

The second idea I posted was meant to be in conjunction with the logout delay. I apologize for not clearly stating this in my original post. If you were able to stay safe for 30 or more seconds in your "hotbed" scenario for that long, then good on you. You can essentially do the same thing right now anyway, so your argument is invalid.

Edited July 19, 2012 by LameSaint

[jovial 17]

This. PintOBass brought this up in the suggestion forums some time ago. A cooldown timer for A-B-A server hopping IMO is the best option. The only down side is if you are re-gearing from a stash on server B and trying to re enter server A, you would be affected by said timer. Personally i have no problem with that.

+1. No legit player would have a problem with that.

[Cupcakefury 6]

to stop this all we need is a Dc timer like 20-30sec go bye then you dc. even if ur alt f4 it ur toon will stay there for the allotted time frame for dc from serever.

[jovial 17]

They cant add a login delay for logging onto different servers because all the so many stupid server admins are unable to tell the time. GMT -8 server connecting at midnight GMT and its pitch black? wtf

This is however also true, we need to be able query server time through the ingame browser. Often a servers timezone in description actually says nothing about ingame time, they change it too often.

A related issue to this is the propensity of people to only play on day servers. I do it myself of course, because I know that chances are at least half of that low pop on the night server has NVG's. IMO NVG's should just not be ingame. They might be too common due to duping though, because I've never seen a single pair and I've done my fair share of looting military buildings.

But I digress. Ghosting, real douchebag move, needs a fix along with the logoffski when shot.

[Übermensch 5]

So assuming my phone rings, i want to answer it but i just can't leave my character out there in the open, so i log out for a few seconds just to answer it, then i need to wait 30 minutes to enter the server again just because you say so? Nice. Just think harder to find a solution that will only punish the griefers without including the honest players out there.

If you are not in some kind of "aggression timer" -this should be implemented in DayZ like the example I always like to say "EVE Online"-, you should disconnect without any penalization, but if you were shooting, your body should dissapear after for example 1-2 minutes, but without any stasis period time to log back, unless you disconnect the server A and change to server B and then you decide to come back to server A, That is the situation when you must get a 15-20 minutes of stasis penalty for prevent exploiting..

edit: of course eve online solves this issue having one unique server for everyone.

Edited July 19, 2012 by Übermensch

[hulkingunicorn 20]

The time you have put (30 minutes) is simply too long. There are exponentially more legitimate disconnects (disconnecting so you can go afk for a few minutes or even seconds, etc) than there are disconnects for illegitimate (cheating) reasons. This solution would frustrate legitimate players far more often than actually stopping cheaters.

Which is why it has been suggested earlier in this thread to deal with those who do A-A in a separate way from those who go A-B-A.

I think that a simple disconnect timer would be quite sufficient (as long as they could somehow fix the duplication bug). For example, in your scenario where the people logged out to flank you, they would have had to stand still for anywhere between 20-30 seconds before they left the server, giving you plenty of time to realize what they were doing. Same with the scout who was providing information on your whereabouts.

The disconnect timer would not only warn you as to their intentions, but also give you the chance to attack them before they could finish disconnecting. Of course, the people disconnecting would be able to interrupt the timer at any time to defend themselves, but you would have successfully prevented ghosting.

They run behind a rock/house and disconnect. With the engagement ranges in ArmA 2 you won't often have time to close in time to stop their bodies from despawning (especially if you try to move in carefully). Then they could server flank you at will. It might work relatively well in CQB.

Now, there are probably other solutions to this, and some of them will even be BETTER solutions, but this one would be a pretty simple one to implement, and would probably cut down on the number of ghosting incidents.

A solution I favor though is this one: Have your character data stored in the hive (what you are wearing, what you are carrying, etc), but have your character's LOCATION saved on a per server basis. This would stop ghosting entirely. If you logged out of server A, and logged into server B, your character would be in a different spot, and moving your character on server B would not affect where your character is on server A.

The OP idea is simple. Your last idea is a farmer's dream - have servers dedicated to warehouses, military loot and bases for storing loot - all accessible with a server switch.

the best solution i can think of would be to put your character into a 'pacifist mode' for ~2 minutes after logging in. the pacifist mode would basically disable your weapons for the duration. if you're a legit player, you're also going to be effected - but 99% of the time you won't need to use weapons in that time period.

This could be in effect for reconnecters only, to be a bit less punishing. Then again, having it for everyone might enforce a good behaviour (not logging out in risk zones).

That's just a not very good idea. So whenever someone logs in, they have to stay away from any area with zombies because they can't use their weapons to kill a zombie? That, or have to crawl very slowly around/through the zombies. And even then, you can still aggro zombies and would be screwed.

If they play cautiously and log out in the woods, they're unlikely to need to fire within two minutes. Also, you really don't have to kill many zombies to get around (yes, I move slowly most of the time if zombies/players are in sight).

If they log out in a control tower and hope to shoot a looter in the back upon returning, they might deserve being slapped on the hand by the game in that way.

Also this: "* [NEW] Player body exists for five seconds after disconnect (UNCONFIRMED IF WORKING)" but for more longer time, if u crashed, you should disconnect imediately, but if u do it by yourself, it should take 30 seconds at least to your body dissapear.. and if you disconnect when you are in aggression, your body should stay 2 minutes at least before dissapear, something like Eve Online mechanics..

You didn't mention that he removed it in the next hotfix because it caused duplication issues and that it would have to wait until a new way to implement it was developed.