No matter what, people will find a reason to kvetch.
Okay, so in the next update for SMITE, EAC [Easy Anti-Cheat] is being added to the game. What does this mean for you, the player? For the vast majority of people, more than likely nothing. It’s not the first game to add it to their system/run it with release, but what does it do? When you start up the game, EAC will load its latest version, and as soon as you finish playing? It will stop. It’s a myth from all accounts that it’s some spyware hacking system designed to steal all of your information and upload it to the Internet. Sure, it can record/take screenshots, but the information is solely being used to determine who is cheating and ban them. Sure, people have been banned who have done nothing wrong [drivers that aren’t recognized I imagine are the culprit], but Hirez already said they’d look into whitelisting drivers for things they don’t recognize, as long as it’s not a cheating device. The vast majority of times, for games I’ve researched, EAC only really takes screencaps of Competitive matches. That’s where cheating is serious and stressful. Lots of games use it without anyone being up in arms! Rust uses it! When was the last time you heard anyone complain about Rust using EAC? People who cheated probably. So people are going to only talk about EAC this patch. Not Valley of Victory, not the fun new mode [Capture the Flag] or the awesome skins. Instead, we’re going to talk about people getting punished for cheating. Want to see their official response? Click here.
A lot of people apparently got burned and banned in For Honor with their utilization of EAC, and are going around Reddit and fearmongering as vengeance. Not all companies are willing to reverse EAC bans. Some frankly, don’t care as long as they get your money. Hirez very clearly stated they will reverse bans that are incorrect/wrong, and some already have been in Paladins. From what I understand, they’re taking the EAC reports and verifying them, not simply just letting them ban straight away. Come on, guys. It’s not the end of the world. EAC only keylogs for Counter-Strike, guys. Is this Counter-Strike? No? Okay then. Sure, there are lots of unsigned drivers. I have four or five unsigned drivers on my PC. Most of them are audio-related, and I’ve never been tagged by EAC. You know why? I don’t run stuff that could be construed as cheating. Closest thing I’ve had on my computer is Xpadder or something for when I wanted to run my PS4 controller on Steam [which I don’t have to do anymore!] and so, no issues. Despite the howling and crying on Reddit, I know that if I got pegged, I could message Hirez and put in a request to get unbanned. They’re banning absolute tons of folks each day for cheating anyway. And to the people that say EAC is unfair, it’s awful, it’s going to ruin the game, how dare HiRez. . . Can you think of even one more-utilized Anti-Cheat software? Can you? I’ve done my own digging and don’t see a single one. There’s a reason EAC is the standard, folks. Besides, HiRez had this to say, and even offered a link to prove
“Any form of Anti-cheat on your computer will be somewhat intrusive. It needs to be to find cheats that are running on your machine. This includes other forms of Anti-cheat that are not EAC. There is no screenshot or key logging functionality at all in EAC for Hirez Games. That is simply not the case for our distribution. It is only with Counter-Strike tournaments, and details are found here: https://support.easyanticheat.net/kb/privacy/?lr=en-us. As mentioned there, there is no disk scanning as well by EAC. EAC is on the very low side of intrusiveness overall.”
So, no matter what Anti-Cheat software is used, it’s going to be at least a little intrusive. That’s the nature of playing a game that is competitive. It’s not like they turned on EAC, and are just ignoring it. And of course I understand, I worry about intrusive software too. But you know what? I’m not a guilty man. I don’t cheat, so I don’t really have anything to worry. SMITE will not run if you have unsafe unsigned drivers. So what will you do? Fix the issue! If it’s something that can be whitelisted, I imagine you can contact them over it. People who are crying over it, are crying over nothing. And it’s not because I enjoy HiRez’s games. It’s because I’m tired of people cheating too, and if it will help, I’m down for it. I’m not stressed over it, because I’ve never been falsely banned for “cheating”. I know it happens, and I’d be upset too in those shoes. However, I have no reason to believe HiRez Studios would just let innocent people stay banned. Besides, the Hirez community overblows every damn situation. Prices too expensive in Paladins? Of course they were. But is that a reason to demand someone’s head over it? Be a reasonable, rational human being. The end is that while I don’t like EAC, there aren’t any better options that I’m aware of. Do you want a better one? Better start coding! People who complain about EAC come in a few varieties:
- People who genuinely do not know what it does, and did not read HiRez’s statement.
- People who have been burned by it before [or have a friend who claim they were].
- People who are cheating. Of course they don’t want EAC!
I’m not a HiRez Shill. I may love their products, and play quite a few of them regularly, but at the end of the day, I’m a rational human being that can look at something from more than one point of view. I read all of the data and information I had access to. If I didn’t agree with something, I’m more than willing to say it. Instead of seeing “EAC” and figuring HiRez is selling my information or going to unfairly ban me, I’d rather do a little reading, and make a judgment call for myself. What EAC does is explained on virtually every forum for every game that uses it. It’s not going to be that bad; just wait and see. And sure, I don’t like EAC, but I’d rather have it, than have HiRez hire tons of people whose only job is to check for cheaters. I’d rather let the algorithm of EAC take care of it, and let their current team review any suspicious activity. I have five unsigned drivers, and my client just updated. Guess what? Logged in just fine! That’s my final verdict: It’s going to be fine, guys. Just bloody relax and play the game. If you’re cheating? Well, if it catches you, you only have yourself to blame. Instead of being butthurt, I’m going to go play SMITE now. I’d much rather see people be rational instead of hotheaded over something that will likely not hurt them ever.
