[Admin] Spectate mode

[LiamFrazer 15]

Before I explain in detail about what spectatorship mode actually is and how it can be used againsts Hackers or Exploiters on your server, I'll tell you how I've used it in previous games.

Before becoming extremly addicted to DayZ, I was part of quite a big SAMP (San Andreas Multiplayer) community for a good four to five years, after playing on the server for around five to six months I was then asked to become part of the admin team, not anyone could just be admin, you had to be chosen by the head admin himself. In our SAMP server, there was a command called '/spec ID' and when used you would be able to spectate anyone in the server just by using their ID.

I've uploaded well over one hundred videos myself, for evidence, using this spectate mode which was scripted in, I'm unsure if it would be possible in Arma. The video links below are just a few examples of how I've used the spectate mode to ban hackers from the SAMP server.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHqjAI0Xsoc&list=PLACC1207ADE6DAF63&feature=mh_lolz

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgdTMYTrQbU&feature=BFa&list=PLACC1207ADE6DAF63

The Good points.

• This is a perfect way to eliminate hackers from the server, you can spectate them, record and then provide the evidence on the forums.
  
• You don't have to spend ages attempting to de-cypher what the logs actually say, you can record the actual event from the over-the-shoulder perspective.
  
• This can also be used against exploiters, you could potentially record someone within a fight, and then if they disconnect you've got the evidence against them.
  
• This would fix our current issue of hackers that bypass Battleye itself, meaning nothing will be logged.
  
• The hacker would have no knowledge of you spectating them.
  
• If a hacker/exploiter was specced and then banned from the server, there is no excuse not to evidence against him.
  

The Bad Points.

• On any popular SAMP server, you have to play for months before you can even be considerd for an admin position, they need to see that they can trust you and that you're mature. Unfortuantly, anyone with a little bit of money can basically purchase admin on DayZ.
  
• If there is an abusive admin online, they could use the spec command to find out every location of the player online.
  
• Not every admin is mature or can be trused, it will be likely that this will be abused.
  
• This whole idea of having a spectate ability might not even be possible within the Arma2 engine.
  
• An admin could use communication devices, such as Teamspeak or Ventrilo to tell his friends the location of where the spectated player is.
  

The issue here is that to normally have access to such commands, you would have to be a trusted and mature member of the community, you had to gain the trust of the head admins. It would be such an easy command/script to abuse that there should be some restrictions to who actually has access to this command/script, if it's even possible. The ideas I had was either to have some sort of application process, multiple questions on how you would react to a certain situation etc. To be honest, I don't think this would be suitable for DayZ currently, but might be a possible addition in the future when the server admins are actually instructed on what to do, where to look and how to provide evidence and why evidence is crucial. Currently, anyone could easily grab a Paypal account and just simply buy themselves a server, this needs to be restricted in some way. This was just an idea that DayZ isn't ready for yet, but it would be a great addition to the standalone version.

What are your thoughts? Would you want this on DayZ for the good points and what would you suggest to prevent the bad points from happening?

Edit: Another feature of this would be to possibly remove any HUD features and access to the map when in spectate, this wouldn't prevent the admin reporting the location of the player if he has local knowldge but it would prevent him from knowing exact co-ords.

Edited July 20, 2012 by LiamFrazer

[Togasa 5]

I think there would be too much abuse of this, especially among the less trustworthy parts of the community. (i.e, people hosting their own servers who don't understand why they cant lock the servers / password etc.) For the small amount of gain I beleive it is not worth the possibility of abuse.

[LiamFrazer 15]

I think there would be too much abuse of this, especially among the less trustworthy parts of the community. (i.e, people hosting their own servers who don't understand why they cant lock the servers / password etc.) For the small amount of gain I beleive it is not worth the possibility of abuse.

That's exactly the issue, to be honest it shouldn't be an issue but the way in which character stats are saved and how anyone could buy a server makes it one.

[leodimas 31]

Not a bad idea, but like you said, many admins are not admins, they are guys paying 50+ € a month and expect to play god.

[razzi 25]

Just hop between players untill you see L85A2 and tell his location to your clanmates. Nobody would never know. Or spectate a player and find his camp. Good idea in general, just not going to work in an environment as hostile as Day Z. Maybe if it could be locked that you can't play in a server where you have the admin rights.

Edited July 20, 2012 by RaZzi

[donpeppo 1]

maybe its possible to put a delay on the spectate mode, like 10-20mins. That would make it harder to stalk players and give some time to the admins from the report until they can see the "hack" in action.

Edited July 20, 2012 by donpeppo

[xDIx Revenge 51]

i wanted spectate purely for video purpose. I see so much potential in DayZ for online series, and web series and such. But without the tools to do it (private servers with no saving, spectator mode, and much more) we can't do much but gameplay stuff. What if i wanted to do a full-on cinematic video of a fly in to NWA, a loot run, where u run into a bandit and have a faceoff, and then u fly back out. That would make a very awesome video, if it could be filmed from a spectate camera, and all the items and vehicles just spawned in for the purpose of the video.

In that sense i am for spectating, and private servers (that dont save characters). But for this purpose, it will not work in DayZ, and they should focus more on protecting script injection in the stand alone instead of reporting mechanics that can be abused.