Re: Cheaters are already rampant in Apex

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@DontKnowDontKare wrote:

This game is really fun. But yeah the cheaters are out of control. Not only that but since its a free game. Cheaters just need to make another account to run hacks again. I have some suggestions once the comp play comes out that you have to have CC or paypal account tied to you username. That will cut down on some the cheaters. Also they need to region lock as well. Or maybe you pay like .25, .50, or 1.00 per   game to play comp. You know like old school arcade style! That could cut down on some cheaters as well. 

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Adding personal information like paypal accounts to your account may work to an extent. It takes a lot more effort to get yourself a new paypal account or a new credit card.
A problem is that a large fraction of players won't have things like creditcards or paypal.
There's also children playing this game that do not even have a bank account and will not get their parents' permission to use their information.

You can't use ID's/passport copies either because that is sensitive information that could leak. Many countries don't even allow it.

Region lock is always a good idea. Not just because of ping, but also because some regions have a different attitude towards cheating compared to others.

As I said in a previous post, associating a mobile phone number with the account will make it much harder for cheaters to keep changing numbers and creating accounts. If that is not enough, they should consider IP/Hardware bans on top of account bans. 

I hear you about making the game paid, and I would gladly pay for it on the spot without even thinking, but the problem is that it will reduce the number of players online by a significant amount, many of which will be normal non-cheating people, and lead to increases in queue times and might decrease the casual interest and following of the game, which is quite important in the early stages in order to establish Apex as the leading shooter+BR available.

Respawn should consider harsh bans with no regret or mercy, because think about it - what kind of a low level scum bag person would cheat? How could you get satisfaction from playing knowing you haven't done anything? You might as well install Godlike-AI, turn it on and sit there in front of your computer watching the AI destroy the server. Such people really need psychological help and support in all honesty, but for the sake of the community, ban and ban harshly provided that evidence threshold is achieved.

Probably the best long-term solution would probably be to create a third party, high level blacklist service which would share information between major titles and developers.

So for example, not only do you get banned from Apex Legends, but you get banned from all Respawn/EA titles in which multiplayer cheats exist, and the email of the account is shared under the hood between other companies like Valve/Blizzard/Rockstar etc., who could also ban you from accessing their games, which might be the ones that cheaters actually care about. This is obviously very hard to implement and would probably clash with some privacy/other agreements, unless you're made to sign a special kind of waiver that, in a specific situation of blatant use of hacks, you consent to your email being blacklisted for cheating-prevention purposes.

Cheating is even worse than taking steroids in a professional sport - for that you not only get suspended for years or indefinitely, but you are named and shamed, and no-one wants anything to do with you. You lose sponsorship, respect and income overnight. Some of this should leak into eSports and multiplayer gaming in general.