Complaint towards TW Staff.

[Stabwound]

I'd have to agree that something needs to be done because IP bans are useless with all the people that have dynamic connections, and barring extreme circumstances machine ID bans are just too widespread and risky.

It is all fine and dandy to suggest that, but how do you suggest it be fixed? What other identifier do you suggest should be used to base bans on? There really isn't much else.

[Marduke]

I'm confused here, and I'mt abit worried this might happen to other innocent players.

So when a Bang Op bans someone do they go by 3 pieces of info?

ip address
machine-id: There C:\ serial #
macid: their lan card 56 bit Id

or they just use IP Address and thats it?

So some players might be on some IP Provider with dynamic ip addresses, and might get onto an banned address.

Sort of a bit unrelated, but there is another problem that occurs in TWD. I see sometimes players giving other players their profile password, so they can log in and play a twdd for them. Half the time you don't know who you are actually playing. Is their a solution for this problem?

I wish for each Continuum client installed they have a registration encrypted key and only that install can play under that name. But this would cause other problems, some players may want to play at work/school.

[Stabwound]

I'm not going to go into details, but the banG documentation is freely available if you want to look it up.

Also, it would be pretty ridiculous for the ban system to go only by IP.

I've suggested a system that would let you only play TWD from 1 computer, but yes, that would cause problems for people that play from multiple computers. I guess it might be worth it in the long run, though.

[Fit of Rage]

Yo, drow: We gotta chill if I visit Arizona while I'm out west.

[PH]

It is all fine and dandy to suggest that, but how do you suggest it be fixed? What other identifier do you suggest should be used to base bans on? There really isn't much else.

There's probably nothing that can be done, I just felt like bitching because the same thing's happened to me twice. :P Overall I do think the ban system does its job, and when things like this come up they're handled well enough.

[death row]

Also, when a situation happens like death row's, it's not a mistake on the moderators fault, so don't complain about that. It's just one of the nuances of the banG system. As far as the way Subspace bans work, it seems to me pretty unlikely that 2 players would have the same ID, although it is not impossible. This isn't an issue of of people making mistakes or not knowing how to use banG correctly. It's just the way bangG works-- sometimes incorrectly. I don't think there is really any way to fix it.

Point taken. I admit, I don't know how this ban system works. All this mac-id, etc. Thats not speaking my language lol.

But seriously, my concern is if these things happen, if they can't be predicted, then what does staff do about fixing it when it does? As I mentioned earlier, I was turned away two times being told only this or that person can help me. No offense, but thats annoying.

If a false ban is made, I'm hoping you guys can find a better solution to fixing that problem on the spot. Instead of turning the person away.

[Rudy]

Hi.

Perhaps I need to bring some things into the open as to avoid these angry encounters in future. As I've told the countless number of other people caught in bans, there is often something minute linking you to the person the ban was targetted at. These minute things may differ but nine times out of ten it is usually machine ID. I can't be sure why, since there is no documentation on any of this (such is the level of secrecy PriitK places on this system).
My theory on this is that there is some hardware in some people's systems that continuously spit out the same generic ID for machines that are literally all over the globe. I have a list of some of these frequent IDs that pop up which I've nicknamed TARDISs for their apparent ability to negate time and space.
The system is as it always has been and those who use BanG are possibly more knowledgeable of how it works than ever due to recent advancements. Moderators are also now under strict instructions to inform me of any changes they may make to bans in case it upsets anything. So if anyone at all is at fault, it's PriitK for not documenting every aspect of BanG. I guess he's paranoid that someone would turn into a bad apple and use that kind of info to exploit the system.

So your situation as it stands is that if you think you are caught in a ban, email bans@trenchwars.org and I'll get around to fixing it. Alternatively talk to me across zone and I'll be happy help out where I can, unless your name is Espon. My hours vary depending on my shift from week to week but you can expect to see me some time of my day during 0830 - 0100 GMT+10

[Scoop]

I was there when "scoop" was banned so either you are lying or someone else was on your name.

Also, when a situation happens like death row's, it's not a mistake on the moderators fault, so don't complain about that. It's just one of the nuances of the banG system. As far as the way Subspace bans work, it seems to me pretty unlikely that 2 players would have the same ID, although it is not impossible. This isn't an issue of of people making mistakes or not knowing how to use banG correctly. It's just the way bangG works-- sometimes incorrectly. I don't think there is really any way to fix it.

i genuinly have no clue what i was banned for, someone had to have gotten on my name i was at a restruant for 2 hours during the time of ban :/ .

[tahkis]

Hah, Izor got once netbanned for 4 months under someone elses banid. If I don't remember wrong, it took month until he was able to play again - and only in TW. Netban never got lifted.

[Barton]

and only in TW. Netban never got lifted.

that is why ppl have to evade there netbans....

[Ephemeral]

Hi.

Perhaps I need to bring some things into the open as to avoid these angry encounters in future. As I've told the countless number of other people caught in bans, there is often something minute linking you to the person the ban was targetted at. These minute things may differ but nine times out of ten it is usually machine ID. I can't be sure why, since there is no documentation on any of this (such is the level of secrecy PriitK places on this system).
My theory on this is that there is some hardware in some people's systems that continuously spit out the same generic ID for machines that are literally all over the globe. I have a list of some of these frequent IDs that pop up which I've nicknamed TARDISs for their apparent ability to negate time and space.

Ethernet mac address are supposed to be unique (I can show cases where they are not), every Ethernet chip carries them in firmware. My company regularly buys large runs of these Ethernet numbers and we program the mac addresses into every networked device we sell. Processors and hard drives also carry unique serial numbers in their firmware. Processor serial numbers can sometimes be turned on or off via a setting in the motherboard BIOS. Changing the processor serial number takes even more know-how and equipment. Hard drive serial numbers are also stored in the drives firmware.

As far as I know, there are no other ‘machine ID’s’ or unique low level serial numbers that could be used for identifying a particular PC. The short-coming with any security system that ties to these low level numbers is the situation where a user changes his NIC, hard drive, or processor.
There is a way to calculate the unique amount of clock drift that each motherboard has. You can do this looking only at TCP/IP packet timestamps, basically identifying every single PC on the internet. But I am sure that SS security isn’t based upon anything that advanced. I would say it is a blend of IP address/user ID/and possibly MAC address.

So Drow, to get back into the game simply use another name, a different network card, and a dynamic IP. This sounds easier than trying to get the mistake fixed.

[Kuukunen]

I don't know how exactly the machine id is calculated on Continuum, but if it uses processor serial number, HD serial number, and NIC id, wouldn't it be more effective to check if only one has changed and two stays the same, it gets noticed? I'd guess those numbers are unique enough that no one has same processor id and HD serial number etc?

[RascaL]

dRow for prez

[Doc Flabby]

mac ids can be cloned my router has an option for it -_-

[D1st0rt]

This is all the information that gets sent with the Registration form when you first create a name on SSC, I don't know how much of it is actually used:

C2S 0x17  Registration Form Response

Offset      Length      Description
   0           1           Type Byte 0x17
   1           32          Real Name *1
   33          64          E-Mail *1
   97          32          City *1
   129         24          State *1
   153         1           Sex *2
   154         1           Age
   155         1           Connecting From: Home (Boolean)
   156         1           Connecting From: Work (Boolean)
   157         1           Connecting From: School (Boolean)
   158         4           Processor Type
   162         4           ? Unknown
   166         40          Windows Registration: Real Name
   206         40          Windows Registration: Organization
    
The follow are registry entries and can be found in the following key:
   System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Class\

    246         40          Display\0000:DriverDesc
   286         40          Monitor\0000:DriverDesc
   326         40          Modem\0000:DriverDesc
   366         40          Modem\0001:DriverDesc
   406         40          Mouse\0000:DriverDesc
   446         40          Net\0000:DriverDesc
   486         40          Net\0001:DriverDesc
   526         40          Printer\0000:DriverDesc
   566         40          MEDIA\0000:DriverDesc
   606         40          MEDIA\0001:DriverDesc
   646         40          MEDIA\0002:DriverDesc
   686         40          MEDIA\0003:DriverDesc
   726         40          MEDIA\0004:DriverDesc

    *1 - Real name, E-mail, City, State are null-terminated strings
    *2 - Sex is either 'F' or 'M'