Another update, still no action against cheaters

And will continue to wait.
No game in history has every 100% stopped cheaters. Maybe a bandaid or something but they will always present

Sure, cheats will never hit 0%, but some actual effort would still be nice. After the update cheaters can still fly onto ships or freeze mid-air immortal, so what exactly changed?
And honestly, dropping these generic one-liners just to farm forum reputation is kind of sad. At least pretend you’re adding something real to the discussion.

@gandalf-wht what do u want from them, they are obviously working continuously on cheat prevention and boosting anti-cheat. There are less cheaters in my personal experience and i understand that they will withhold information to prevent cheaters from getting a leg up.

@itzeggward What I want is at least one of these OP cheats to actually disappear after a major update. That’s literally the only moment we can realistically expect progress. But nothing changed... cheaters can still fly onto your ship or freeze mid-air completely unkillable.
If even one of these long-standing cheats got fixed, it would show that someone is actively working on it. Instead, we’re told to wait for the next update and hope something maybe gets addressed. I honestly don’t see any visible improvement, so what am I supposed to think?

@gandalf-wht

Sadly there will always be cheating software. Even a multi-billion dollar company like Blizzard, has issues with cheaters that they still deal with, despite the fact they sued a major developer, and now that developer is no longer. They still have cheaters, and they're not the only game who suffers.
The moment I encounter a cheater, after I get video evidence, I either dive to another server (if I can) or just quit and start a new server. This game has infinity amount of treasure. Nothing I lose is irreplaceable.

@gandalf-wht said in Another update, still no action against cheaters:

@itzeggward What I want is at least one of these OP cheats to actually disappear after a major update. That’s literally the only moment we can realistically expect progress. But nothing changed...

Exploits can be fixed during an update; Anti-cheat is seperate - those updates are not necessarily in sync with game updates.

I assume you do report cheaters - Rare (and anti-cheat) can't fix if they're not aware.

@burnbacon companies have sued cheating software makers, there could definitely be simple fixes to help against common cheat clients and tactics, and rare support (from my end) has not been helpful when I report cheaters.

@gandalf-wht said in Another update, still no action against cheaters:

Sure, cheats will never hit 0%, but some actual effort would still be nice. After the update cheaters can still fly onto ships or freeze mid-air immortal, so what exactly changed?
And honestly, dropping these generic one-liners just to farm forum reputation is kind of sad. At least pretend you’re adding something real to the discussion.

There is nothing to be added to this "discussion". Simple search shows 100+ more of the same type on this forum, where both OP and people who commented put more effort than you did.

It's also super funny coming from you after starting a topic with a one-liner. Lol.

Forum rep means nothing, not even affecting forum ranks. You couldn't write a weaker argument after getting mad about truth 😂

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@karminiumsot said in Another update, still no action against cheaters:

@burnbacon companies have sued cheating software makers, there could definitely be simple fixes to help against common cheat clients and tactics, and rare support (from my end) has not been helpful when I report cheaters.

Yea, that happens when you don't have evidence and/or report people that were just better than you and are not cheaters.

So next time, be more prepared to record an actual cheater.

PS. was this too generic for OP? At least it wasn't a one-liner, made sure to make it two lines. Three actually, if you count this one 😁

@lem0n-curry "I assume you do report cheaters" - No, I don’t anymore. And honestly, I don’t think anyone who understands how the reporting system works still does.
Having to record a cheater actively using a visible cheat, make sure their name is clearly shown, upload the clip somewhere, and waste 20+ minutes, only for support to potentially dismiss the evidence anyway is just unreasonable. That process discourages everyone.
And even if a cheater does get banned after days of cheating, they can make a new account in minutes and keep going. I get that Rare then lacks accurate data on how often players encounter cheaters, but that’s on them for setting the system up this badly.

@R3vanNS There’s not much point in writing long essays here when these threads usually get locked by moderators anyway. That’s why my post was just a heads-up, realistically, that’s all you can do.

As for Burnbacon, I mentioned it because I’ve noticed the same pattern multiple times: a generic, low-effort reply on basically every new thread. If that’s not about farming something, then I honestly don’t know what the goal is. Maybe just the satisfaction of commenting blindly. Either way, it adds nothing.

And no, I’m not ‘mad at the truth’, that’s a misunderstanding. If my post somehow offended you, that wasn’t the intent.

Also, regarding the "be more prepared to record an actual cheater" I think the real issue is that the people reviewing player-submitted evidence need to be better trained to recognize obvious cheats. I’m speaking from direct experience where I’ve seen clear, well-documented cases not get accepted, even though it was obvious cheating and you could later verify the player never got banned.

@mopwieldinghedgehog Understood. I’m not trying to discourage reporting, and that isn’t my intent. I’m only sharing my perspective based on repeated personal experience and what I’ve observed from other players.

From that standpoint, I don’t believe the process is working as effectively as described. I’ve seen cases where evidence appeared clear and well-documented, yet no action followed, which naturally leads players to lose confidence in the system over time.

I respect that there are internal guidelines and review processes in place. However, from a player’s point of view, the lack of visible outcomes makes it difficult to trust that the current approach is addressing the problem adequately.

“I assume you do report cheaters" - No, I don’t anymore. And honestly, I don’t think anyone who understands how the reporting system works still does

It is very tricky and difficult to but if your truely wanting to help the problem and such. Take the time to report them properly.
Even if it takes a couple hours to find all the required info.
Like most cases in crime, need to spend time finding evidence that will stick and be used. Otherwise your reporting just a name/username

There are a few YouTube videos that explain and show how you can record 15-30 second clips up to the point of clicking the button.

@mopwieldinghedgehog A critical vulnerability in any player-reporting system is its reliance on visually obvious cheating. Sophisticated cheaters intentionally use subtle, less detectable hacks—such as soft aim assistance, discreet wallhacks, or information overlays—specifically to avoid being captured in manual video evidence. This allows them to bypass community reporting and operate undetected. To counter this, an automated evidence system must be proactively triggered by the anti-cheat's own detection algorithms. Instead of relying on players to press "report," the system should automatically generate a secure evidence packet—containing key game state data, metrics, and a video clip—the moment the server or client-side protection flags anomalous activity (e.g., impossible statistics, packet manipulation, or unauthorized memory access). This shifts the burden of proof from the player's observation to the game's technical data, capturing violations that are invisible to the naked eye and building a far more robust and actionable log for enforcement.

@rafaxf7429 said in Another update, still no action against cheaters:

@mopwieldinghedgehog This is extremely outdated compared to other games. In many games, there are report systems that automatically create clips and save PVP combat logs, sending everything automatically through the system.

That would take some dev time to create I'd think. And if "no-one" is reporting, Rare might think it's not worth the effort...

@gandalf-wht said in Another update, still no action against cheaters:

Sure, cheats will never hit 0%...

It's almost as if they're using software manipulation to overcome preventative measures that the Rare team tries implementing.

You seem to understand that by acknowledging that cheating will never hit 0%.

Would it be great if we saw more consistent squashing of cheats? Yeah. But, to imply that Rare isn't trying when we have literally zero visibility into what they are actually doing behind the scenes to prevent cheaters is just silly.

@burnbacon I understand the point you’re making, and I’ve already mentioned this earlier. Even if I learn to create video reports faster and more efficiently, I don’t see why it should be the player’s responsibility to do the work of systems and teams that are already in place and paid to handle this including anti-cheat solutions used in the game.

That still doesn’t change the core issue. The cheater goes through the support pipeline, which usually takes days. If everything goes perfectly and the evidence is strong enough, they might get banned on day two or three. At that point they can create a new account within minutes and continue.

So the question remains what is the actual outcome of all that time and effort? From a player’s perspective it doesn’t meaningfully reduce the problem in-game, which is why many players stop reporting in the first place.

The reason you might not see immediate action is that developers tend to favour doing banwaves every couple of months rather than individual bans, as that usually hits the cheatmakers with a ton of chargebacks at the same time.

The anti-cheat may not seem effective but it can't be judged as you never see those cheaters that do get stopped by it. (I've been on record as being against kernel-level anti-cheat for security reasons, and I still am, but this is what we have and I don't see them ever removing it.)

We don't know enough about their other strategies (for good reason), but I would be surprised if Rare's enforcement team don't also have people undercover in the communities of these cheatmakers. In this case, they would probably be collecting data while trying not to be sussed out. This is also a longer-term strategy and one where they are unlikely to play their hand too soon - especially if they're gathering intel for legal action. (Yes, I realise this may be "cope".)

Rare could ban individual accounts but we all know that the cheaters just keep creating alts, so that's not effective at all. It's just a game of Whack-A-Mole at that point. The best course is playing the long game and trying to hurt the cheatmakers.

The devs are also working on gates for content, which was mentioned in the latest Dev Update video. If I have one criticism of Rare, it's that they work at a glacial pace when it comes to adding features like this. Given it was originally mentioned in September 2024 that they were working on it, I had hoped we would already have it in the game by now.

@sollimino said in Another update, still no action against cheaters:

@burnbacon said in Another update, still no action against cheaters:

And will continue to wait.
No game in history has every 100% stopped cheaters. Maybe a bandaid or something but they will always present

And that is why I advocate - If you can't stop it 100% don't have an anti-cheat. Now you're just gatekeeping for the ones that do cheat and it's still more frequent than not.

I don't get this reasoning, as long as not all cheaters that are getting caught and banned via anti-cheat create another account and ban-evade, it decreases the number of cheaters.
Also, ban-evading is also bannable, so if they found out, you'll be banned even if you're not reported because of cheating (again).

Creating new accounts by ban-evaders is out of Rare's hands, it's on MS &c or they should opt-out of being able to play it on game-pass and such.

@gandalf-wht

In my opinion, one of the worst incidents of cheating I've ever witnessed, was when I was watching PeiRei in hourglass with a streak of 109. The next opponent he faced, was a cheater, using fly-keg-hacks. PeiRei sunk, and that type of cheat doesn't happen anymore. The amount of rep and gold lost is more than I can imagine. PeiRei just shrugged and said, "That's how it goes sometimes folks!"

I don't know what type of encounter you've had with a cheater recently or what you lost, but with cheaters in every game, this is how it goes sometimes. We all deal with it. Rare knows there's always an issue with cheaters, and could use your help in recording and submitting the clip. Yes- they know the player is probably using an alt. Yes- they know all they have to do is make another alt and log on. But your clip shows them what areas are being affected so the team can look at that specific code. By not reporting it, you're not helping to make certain cheats (like the fly-keg) a thing of the past. You took the time to come here and create this thread and reply to a certain few. You could've submitted a clip to help clean up our seas.

Be part of the solution, or part of the problem. It's your choice.

@europa4033 I think you may have missed what I already explained above. I created this thread precisely so it’s visible that cheaters are still present in the game. For me, this is the most realistic way to do that. Writing a forum post takes a couple of minutes. Creating video evidence that meets all requirements does not.

In many cases, the cheats I encounter are extremely hard or even impossible to prove on video. For example, wall-banging through ship walls. If I don’t clearly capture the cheater’s name and a perfectly obvious moment of cheating, support can easily conclude that I was simply shot from another angle or through a grate. From a player perspective, that makes reporting feel unreliable, even when the cheat itself is well known and has existed across multiple updates.

If those same wall-bang locations have been accessible to cheaters for several updates and nothing visibly changes in-game, I can only conclude that no effective mitigation has been applied. I’m not seeing situations where those shots suddenly stop working or become inconsistent. That lack of visible change is exactly what fuels player frustration.

I’m well aware that hourglass streaks will eventually be broken by cheaters, and when it happens, we usually just resupply and move on. That’s not the issue. The issue is that the only practical way I can contribute is by speaking up here rather than spending significant time on video reports that may not be accepted anyway.

Normally, my threads like this get removed or locked quickly. Since this one is still open, I’m simply responding and sharing my perspective when I check in. That’s all.

It's interesting that the cheaters haven't gotten bored yet.

With the amount of Posts about cheaters. Your basically patting there egos and boosting them to keep at it, knowing Rare "Wont do much about it"
It all psychological battle now. As long players continue to make threats openly about cheaters, and those cheaters see it with no real danger of being caught, they will continue. "Adding fuel to the fire"

I almost wish arena was back and they would get rid of hourglass. Hourglass being part of the shared world means more likely to deal with cheaters on both fronts right? With arena they would all be off in their own little cheater servers.

Memory serves, arena was plagued with cheaters, but since it was larger groups, nobody noticed or cared since, you were likely to have a cheater on your own team.

@gandalf-wht they have removed cheats before, including teleportation multiple times. Cheaters find a different way to do it and then rare bans that way. Report and move on man, you yelling at the devs is not gonna give them any superpowers.

@itzeggward I’m not yelling at the devs. As I’ve already explained, this post is meant to be informational. I’m sharing observations and opinions I’ve gathered over time based on my own experience. That’s all this thread is meant to be.