10,000 Overwatch Cheaters Banned in Korea (And Why it Doesn't Matter)

[Neverhoodian]

https://pvplive.net/c/blizzard-korea-overwatch-cheaters-ban-nuking-attac

Thing is, as huge of a ban wave this is, it probably won't make much of a difference. Many Koreans play Overwatch at "PC Bangs," internet cafes that offer cheap access (approximately $0.66-$0.88/hr depending on the service) to a wide selection of online games. It's such a lucrative business that Blizzard Korea offers access to Overwatch and other multiplayer titles with free account creation for PC Bangs.

Therein lies the problem; if a PC Bang patron is banned for cheating, all they have to do is create a new account. Blizzard Korea can't really fight this in a meaningful way either, as taking punitive action against PC Bangs would be legally questionable (not to mention running the risk of cutting off a significant revenue flow). Worse still, some cheaters are migrating to other regional servers as the Asian one gets more and more of these players.

TL;DR
Korean aimbotters and script kiddies are coming, and there's nothing we can do to stop it.

Suddenly I don't feel so bad about getting the PS4 version.​

 

[Godzillarich(aka tf2godz)]

the only thing I could think about fixing this is for Korean government to hold PC Bang legally for allowing this to happen but i don't think they will.

 

[Borty The Bort]

the only thing I could think about fixing this is for Korean government to hold PC Bang legally for allowing this to happen but i don't think they will.

I thought that South Korea was enacting a law soon related to things like this, am I wrong? I don't know what the particulars of that law were.

 

[Chareater]

Can't the Internet cafes just disable USB ports (fairly easy to do in the BIOS) and web browsing on the gaming computers?

 

[Neverhoodian]

Gotta love competitive online gaming.

 

[Borty The Bort]

Can't the Internet cafes just disable USB ports (fairly easy to do in the BIOS) and web browsing on the gaming computers?

Yes. And alienate a part of their customer base in the process. From a manager's standpoint, that means people will be a bit annoyed when you start cutting off their ability to cheat. It's a thin line, and it's hard to pull off without aggravating somebody

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

I suggest we build a firewall and make the Koreans pay for it.

Teehee

 

[Mcgeezaks]

I don't think I've met a single cheater in Overwatch. I would still never wan't to play competitive with a controller.

Also, wasn't South Korea going to make cheating in online games illegal? Or was that fake?

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

Why can't Blizzard just region lock the Koreans to only play with other Koreans, then they can all cheat to their hearts' content together without affecting anyone else?

 

[DeliveryGodNoah_v1legacy]

It's alarming to come across an aimbotter at first, but have you actually seen their gameplay? Even a moderately cooperative team of non-cheaters can still wipe a couple of cheaters. These aimbotters typically seem to think they're invincible and completely forget to try at all with horrible positioning and little to no movement ability. I've seen dozens of videos of shitty aimbotters still getting creamed by average players.

I'm not excusing the issue though. Cheating is still cheating, even if you're so bad at video games that cheating can't even help you.

 

[meiam]

The problem with cheater isn't the cheater themselves but the impact they have on the community, they make people doubt others. Every time something shifty happens (especially when lag is involved and you get shooter seemingly trough wall) it makes you think that the playing is balanced and that's just not fun.

For example I had a case where a Mei was spinning around herself like a ballerina and freezing a bunch of people at the same time (so she was rotating almost instantaneously just to stop perfectly in front of everyone to freeze them) is that possible for a human to do? Yeah with really high mouse sensitivity. Did it seems suspicious? Hell yeah! Do I honestly think it was a cheater? Probably not, but the loss still leave a bad taste in my mouth.

Or when you have Bastion that just nuke you instantly from across the map and who seems almost presciently aware of when your going to pass move out of cover. Or when Windowmaker have a suspiciously high scoped accuracy at the end of the game.

 

[wings012]

Can't the Internet cafes just disable USB ports (fairly easy to do in the BIOS) and web browsing on the gaming computers?

Yes. And alienate a part of their customer base in the process. From a manager's standpoint, that means people will be a bit annoyed when you start cutting off their ability to cheat. It's a thin line, and it's hard to pull off without aggravating somebody

When internet cafes were still a thing here, it was a common thing for them to do. People are bloody stupid and you don't want them getting malware, viruses and whatever onto your network. Some went as far as to have their own custom frontend which basically barred you from everything but the games.

Some places had separate machines for surfing the web at lower prices.