<HTML><BODY style="word-wrap: break-word; -khtml-nbsp-mode: space; -khtml-line-break: after-white-space; "><DIV><BR><DIV><DIV>David Jackson wrote:</DIV><BR class="Apple-interchange-newline"><BLOCKQUOTE type="cite"><P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">At it's very core, you have to be able to protect your program code and program data.<SPAN class="Apple-converted-space"> </SPAN>A good start would be to -not- use dynamically-linked libraries.</FONT></P> </BLOCKQUOTE><BR></DIV><DIV>Then there goes extensibility (mods, characters, map updates, etc) and with it upgrade revenue. That's commercially inviable out of the gate.</DIV><DIV>And even so, a clever hacker to document all entry points and patch the code anyway.</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><BR></DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "> <A href="mailto:mike@hobbshouse.org">mike@hobbshouse.org</A> wrote:</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><BLOCKQUOTE type="cite"><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">At the end of the day, I've always figured that the best cheat deterrent on-line is also the best cheat deterrent off-line: good identification.</DIV></BLOCKQUOTE><BR><DIV>I think that's why Microsoft uses more rigid identification regimes on Xbox Live. </DIV><DIV>They also cut down on cheating by keeping the hardware platform constant and unchangeable (mostly).</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>I am reminded by the parallels to freedom in society: the more individual freedom one has, the more responsibility to behave morally and the greater the temptation and opportunity not to.</DIV><DIV>Microsoft has instituted a more totalitarian police-stat of on-line gaming. It reduces cheating substantially, but carries with it many costs.</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>For my part, I think ultimately Mike has the right idea: the more community and publicity a game provides players, the less their anonymity and the better their behavior.</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>Even major league baseball players (not to single out baseball), who many (thought not I) view as heroes, cheat if they think their behavior is in the shadows (Sammy Sosa, Barry Bonds, Pete Rose, Jose Canseco, and many, many more). There will always be cheaters. Rather than try to create a system you can trust implicitly, keep everything public and banish the cheaters.</DIV></BODY></HTML>