For a while now I have been telling you all that we have ?Hacking Detection?. I hinted that we have been watching. I expressed how serious we are about getting rid of hacking in the game. It seems many people still have not gotten the hint. So, we have decided to adapt our methods a bit. For several months now we have been logging all hacking that has happened in-game.
Since these logs were implemented we have been running tests and scenarios to determine the accuracy of these logs. As of this time we have not found any false positives in these logs.
Additionally, we have run several control scenarios in which players during late hours were found in-game hacking. We waited to ban them until the next day during known work hours. This lead to several claims of ?Legit Bans? of course, this was wrong, as we had the evidence in hand.
Out of the thousands of accounts we have looked into at this point, I have only found a couple accounts that were actually wrongfully banned. And those were either related to KSing hackers, or leeching from a hacker, which we have informed players not to do in the past.
I think many of the members of the Maple community who read the forums can probably remember some of the effects of this. Yes, this is why we saw such a rash in ?Legit? claims, and also why we could prove these were false with videos. We have found that the "Legit" claims stem from bans that take place in any way different than normal. For example, when our weekend shifts ban people, when we ban on verified logs, and when we ban FM hackers. These all receive "Legit" complaints, because these individuals did not think they could have been caught as they weren't disconnected while they were actually hacking. Obviously, this isn?t the case.
On that note, I have a few announcements. Starting today we are banning out of our logs, almost exclusively. As all hacking in the game gets logged, there stands to be a great deal of players banned. If you are hacking, you are going to be banned. This will continue until the implementation of an auto banning system. Don?t think bypassing gameguard is going to save anybody, gameguard is not the tool used to log, this strictly server-side.
Unfortunately we can not implement permanent bans at this time. That time is coming soon as well, but we aren?t quite there yet. However we have adapted to this as well. From here on out we are also implementing hack severity ratings. This means, the more we see that you have hacked, the longer you will be banned. Many players received up to 90 day bans today. This is not the most severe penalty, only the most severe issued today.
I also need to announce that Rank Blocking has been put into place. All players banned for hacking will now be taken off the rankings permanently, regardless of severity rating.
Finally we would like to announce that we will be banning guilds in their entirety if we believe them to encourage illegal activity. This means, if a hacker is in your guild, and you are NOT a hacker, you need to kick them out immediately.
Guild leaders are responsible for the members of their guild in ALL activities. You are the role model and the authority figure. If your guild rules do not encourage fair play, you might want to implement that rule now. If your guild is a problem, it will be banned.
These bans will take place with or without warning depending on severity. This does not mean that just because one person got banned for hacking the whole guild gets banned. But it does mean that if we believe that the guild is a problem, it will be resolved.
We are committed to fixing this situation. While we have been focused on hackers, many players have taken advantage of our decreased presence when dealing with Community Standards, harassment and other in-game issues. This stops today.
KSing, holding maps (i.e. Zakum), foul language, harassment, scamming, mass defaming; these will all be met with 30 day bans from now on. Additionally, all accounts tied to your account will also be given a 30 day ban, as well as your entire guild in some cases.
Many players are expressing their frustrations over the hacking and general ?drama? going on in-game right now. We appreciate all of the suggestions, comments and constructive criticism. Not only does it help us focus, but it is always discussed, and often times used to determine priorities.
The Maple Community has been a strong force in our motivations on the decisions and policies implemented today. We have a lot of work to do, and we thank you for your continued support.
-The MapleStory Staff-
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"Logged and loaded"
Originally Posted by LonelyPker
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