[Important information] The truth about ALI213

[Пивная стратегия]

Dear devs and all the other community!

While I was thinking that the biggest problem about the online multiplayer was the scoring system and its' abusers, actually at this moment we're having a much, MUCH bigger problem about that. And the name of this problem is ALI213. Nope, it's not about some Steam user, but it's all about VIDEO GAME PIRACY AND CRACKING.

Yes, I'm sure there's a lot of players who dueled against ALI213 at least once. The fact is - ALI213 is a name of a video game-cracking group that probably already cracked our little humble game into non-Steam version and somehow found a way to connect to the official multiplayer servers by using their cracked version of this game.

So, to the main intrigue - who is ALI213 in Steam and why does he/she always have a different win/lose score? The answer is - although there is about a dozen accounts which have ALI213 nickname, it's very likely that neither of them is THAT ALI213. Because, perhaps, it's hundreds of people using this nickname. Why is that? Because all the players who use a pirated, non-steam version of the game will automatically obtain the SAME default nickname - ALI213.

For the additional information about this I would recommend you to look at these discussions on another 2 Steam games which have exactly the same problem with ALI213 team:
http://steamcommunity.com/app/326410/discussions/0/617336568065592790/ (especially posts 3, 8, 9 and 13)

http://steamcommunity.com/app/236370/discussions/0/43099721626632769/ (especially posts 4, 8, 15, 18)

To the "Oh... Sir" devs:
It would be great if you would be able to contact the devs of these 2 games I've mentioned in the links above: "Interstellar Marines" (same problem since 2014) and "Windward" (same problem since 2015). Maybe they could help you with the solution of this problem.

To the community:
If, by chance, somebody knows more about all of this, please tell us more in this thread.

Let's exile all of these pirating, hacking sc**bags out of our online multiplayer!

P.S. Special thanks to |x|SiriuS|x| who told me what actually ALI213 is.

[Miami Mystery]

Just a little feedback from me on this.
I play quite a bit, am currently #8 and have a record of 200 wins and 25 losses, I used
to see the ALI names a lot when this came out, but I did not see a single ali123 user
in about 2 hours of play last night nad cannot recall the last time I saw one, think it has been
at least a week.

[Пивная стратегия]

Oh, it happened to me again 5 minutes ago, he lost in just 3 turns and ran away before I delivered a finishing blow. And yeah, once again interlocutor's position is #1.
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=801847177
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=801847250
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=801847268
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=801847291
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=801847313
Actually, this guy wasn't so bad, it's just me who was really lucky with combos.

[Пивная стратегия]

Początkowo opublikowane przez Vercinger:

Początkowo opublikowane przez Desert_Walker:

Let's exile all of these pirating, hacking sc**bags out of our online multiplayer!

To be honest, I'd rather exile scumbags like you out of our online multiplayer!

It's fair to exclude multiplayer from the pirated version, but that's about it. Calling people "pirating, hacking scumbags" is way out of line. It's clear you're pretty far up your own arse if you think pirates and hackers are the same people. And before you whine some more about people pirating a €2 game (was it cheaper before?), do keep in mind that making online payments is impossible for the majority of people with access to the internet. Online banking is still a luxury, you nincompoop!

OK, I think you're right, I overreacted about that. And still, what really bothers me is:

Początkowo opublikowane przez Desert_Walker:

Using the pirated version means that you didn't pay for the game properly, which means that devs will suffer the financial losses because of all those pirated copies of the game.

Honestly, I don't feel bad for the large video game corporations such as EA, Capcom, Ubisoft etc. But when some indie devs, while not having such a big budget, put their hearts into their game and trying their best to make their community happy, I really feel bad for them when something like this happens. This is it.

[RagingRowen]

Can't they make it so that you can't play multiplayer when you have the name ALI213?

[Ichmag 🔑🌙]

Początkowo opublikowane przez iwannarock_dj:

Can't they make it so that you can't play multiplayer when you have the name ALI213?

The name 'ALI213' can easily be changed

[NeuralStunner]

Początkowo opublikowane przez Desert_Walker:

Honestly, I don't feel bad for the large video game corporations such as EA, Capcom, Ubisoft etc.

That's a pretty poor mentality. Firstly, if it's wrong then it's wrong. Piracy is bad for larger businesses, for a few reasons:

• They survive on profit, the same as anyone else. Poor sales can result in major losses. (E.G. The Dreamcast's failure resulted in Sega dropping out of the console market.)
  
• Real people work on AAA games, too, and they can't afford to have failed projects on their resume. Enough of a flop and they may even end up out of work, or reassigned to mundane projects. (E.G. After Singularity did poorly, arguably because of apathetic marketing, Raven Software was gutted and now exclusively works on Call of Duty titles.)
  
• The publisher doesn't receive all the profits. A smaller developer being shorted just because they've managed to get a contract with the bigwigs? That's definitely going to hurt the studio. (See point 2.)
  
• It reinforces the "more DRM" reaction. Worse DRM annoys paying players, pirates enjoy their cracked version mere days after release, and the vicious cycle starts all over again.

There will always be pirates, because some people are awful and are silly, but here's to Vile Monarch for focussing on making the game better, rather than agonizing over a few mingers who can't drop a few quid on some hours of quality entertainment. (And let's be honest here, such stingy buggers never intended to purchase regardless, and thus should not be considered lost sales.)

[Van.Horstmann]

Now you have to add all the RDL! Players.

[Пивная стратегия]

Początkowo opublikowane przez NiRiDa ! Van.Horstmann:

Now you have to add all the RDL! Players.

Excuse me, but what does RDL mean?

[Ichmag 🔑🌙]

Początkowo opublikowane przez Desert_Walker:

Początkowo opublikowane przez NiRiDa ! Van.Horstmann:

Now you have to add all the RDL! Players.

Excuse me, but what does RDL mean?

pirated version aswell, reloaded.

[Miami Mystery]

I just ran into the ALI213 again, here are a couple of screenshots, the rank#1 thing is weird
since they always have very few games played.
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=802967424
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=802967397

He left after first 2 rounds lol.

[NeuralStunner]

Początkowo opublikowane przez Ace:

the rank#1 thing is weird since they always have very few games played.

Since it's hacked and not connected to a valid account, this is probably spoofed. Perhaps it would help if you could pass on a particular opponent during the match-up, and be offered another. You could skip anyone with obvious signs like this.

[Dimmersim]

I came across one yesterday. I just left match. I'm not playing against these people even though they probably deserve some quality insults.

[Vile Herald]

Początkowo opublikowane przez NeuralStunner:

Początkowo opublikowane przez Ace:

the rank#1 thing is weird since they always have very few games played.

Since it's hacked and not connected to a valid account, this is probably spoofed. Perhaps it would help if you could pass on a particular opponent during the match-up, and be offered another. You could skip anyone with obvious signs like this.

Yes Sir, this is just in-game. Look at the Steam ranking - there is no such a player on top of that list.

Best wishes,
VM

[Marie]

You know
I've played against some people named RLD or something like that, they were all #1 and I think ran away too. Is this another hacker system?

[Vile Herald]

Początkowo opublikowane przez Mr. L:

You know
I've played against some people named RLD or something like that, they were all #1 and I think ran away too. Is this another hacker system?

Sir L,
this #1 rank is only in-game, it does not affect Steam ranking. Gentlemen, it is annoying for us just as it is for you. There is not much we can do :(. Every update will stop them just for a few days. We will try talk to Steam or our publisher but please note that we are only small indie studio that published DRM-free game.

Sincerely,
VM