IP-Bans Are Counter Productive
 

Graal has been utilizing IP Bans for the worst offenders. However, if feel as if these do more harm for good. They're generally used for the worst hackers, the ones that attempt to circumvent bans by creating multiple accounts using device faking software.

First off, not everyone has a static IP. Many ISPs provide a dynamic IP via DHCP, which has a varying duration based on the lease. If you have a dynamic IP, getting a new IP address and circumventing a ban is as simple as restarting your modem or waiting for the next lease.

Even if you don't have a dynamic IP, you can either call your ISP and request a new IP, or you can utilize a proxy/VPN to play on a different IP. If someone is capable of hacking the game and digging through memory/game files, and faking device IDs through a program, they're likely capable of setting up a VPN.

Because of dynamic IPs, it can also effect innocent players as well. If one day I get leased an IP that was previously used by a hacker, my account may get banned as well for being on the same IP as someone else. As more people play Graal, this could become a problem-especially with IPV4 having such a limited amount of addresses.

Also, it can affect public networks. If someone was banned at a popular location such as a cafe, airport, or other public location, it can prevent other players from playing there, or even leak their ban onto innocent players.


As Graal Continues to grow, I feel like the decision to use IP bans should be reconsidered. They worked ok when Graal was small, but now that thousands of people are logged in at a time, I don't think they are a very good idea. They're good situationally for small thinks like Minecraft servers, but on a large scale game they aren't worth the problems they cause.

The fact Ban evading can be exhausting after while is what stops hackers. Graal security is getting more and more complex. The number of hackers that move from place to place getting ip banned is very small. Removing ip banns will just let script kiddies ruin things. Plus I like a challenge. What is your alternative to ip banns then?

Also
There are 4.3 billion ipv4 addresses.. Not to mention we have ipv6 now, the graal community isn't that big dude. Lol

IP flagging, flag the ip addresses of known hackers rather than just banning it. Send a message to mods when someone with a flagged ip logs in. Keep closer eye on flagged ips. That way they seem to get caught a lot, and they don't think to get a new IP since they don't get banned the moment they log in from a certain ip.

They do that already lol,

should ban the entire device, for example if someone hacks on iphone 4 we ban all iphone 4 users.

don't worry bro, of the 4,294,967,296 available IPv4 addresses, only 0.000004% of them play Graal, and only 0.1% of those are banned, so I think you're in good shape

we r runnin out of ip4 addresses thallen, we cant afford to ban ppl!!

It's not even worth it to ip ban, I could get around that in literally a minute.

No that's not enough. We need to ban evey single iOS device for evey server. Then move these servers to PC to ensure that those pesky hackers won't be able to hack iGraal again.

sweet idea bro solid

he sounds ready to move up the corporate ladder.

onion router ftw

Onion "router"

Actually, one time I was banned for a month over the dumbest reason so I set up a VPN and the iP it gave me was banned for account theft for a few thousand hours, it was pretty cool.

I'm starting to see how this could work.

Can't you ban device ID like ban that device from playing Graal or ban that PC from playing Graal?

there are many ways to get around this lol

Anyone who cares enough can get around any ban, that doesn't mean it's useless.

i wasnt saying that pcid bans are useless, it gets annoying after a while to get around them.

I appreciate Crono's satire.

Anyways, TOR would not work to play graal. The latency would be so unbearable you wouldn't even be able to maintain a connection.

a VPN or Proxy is your best bet for avoiding an ip ban. TOR is only good for anonymity.

(:

IP bans are a bit outdated but unless multiple people in your neighborhood play, I doubt you'd get false positives.

What needs to happen is the ability to allow Tig's method of marking a device's ID, much like they can on a PC. I could be completely wrong on this as I haven't used this **** in ages, but it's the thing that lets you know exactly what accounts on been on that ID. Or it could be what accounts have been on the IP. I don't quite remember now.

We should just reformat the drives of hackers on detection, use FAT32 for the ****s n giggles.

There is a reason that even the most DRMed and unethical game companies won't even do this...

Things don't work that way and even if it did it would place Graal well within the category of malware/viruses, be added to every virus/malware/spyware scanner and website blocklists.

The "hacker detection" would also have a very high false positive rate essentially wiping 90% of all GraalOnline players data. Not that I care since I haven't touched GraalOnline in many years and it would probably mildly amuse me to see hundreds of innocent kids raging about their mommies computer or iPhone being wiped.

It would open up Eurocenter to many more lawsuits which wouldn't actually be a problem for them as they would just hide in France and ignore them like they have with countless other lawsuits.

IP Bans are ineffective and effect many innocent people. anyone that wants to be a **** can just use a random socks proxy, vpn, dialup connection or other connection with dynamic IP assignment. Not practical for a major commercial online game or company.

With that said I personally IP ban whole class A blocks filled with the euroturds such as 80.*.*.* 81, ect... on my websites, private game servers and other things. They have very little people of value that speak english and most of them just spread malware, ddos attacks and forum spambots that and I simply dislike most French people.

Aren't you the guy that made the site that lists all of the bull**** Stephane and (possibly) Stefan has pulled?

Tor works fine for me, depends on how you configure it. any vpn/proxy has a chance of leaking the ip address.

You think I was serious?

I think you should just ban a face. If they look suspicious ban them

I say waterboarding and torture for getting reported once would be effective. Also thought police.

Wouldn't it get suck for you since you get reported like 20039024934 times a day

What about college campuses?

As if we needed more reasons not to tell anybody irl about Graal

ask Andrew, he's an expert on this topic :D

Playing Graal in public is riskier than having sex without a condom. I doubt many people on here would go out of their way to play Graal where people can see them. Especially in school.

Lel, I used to play Graal when I first started middle school. Not one person give a damn.

I sit in my school hallway the whole lunch period on my laptop doing graal related activities in front of everybody.

IP bans were very easy to circumvent back when everyone had dial up modems. Then static IP addresses via cable ISP offerings made the pain stick a bit longer, but these days it is very simple to get a new IP from ones ISP. Device-based banishment always worked out better for us, to say nothing of a script to search for and automatically jail certain account names.

Does anyone ever look over your shoulder or ask you what it is? I've played Graal once back in middle school, and it seriously was the most awkward thing lol. "It's Zelda, but it's not Zelda"

When IP bans were introduced the likeness of this was so slim, almost none. Still not a big deal though. I think pcid bans have been more effective...apart from a handful of people who actually know what it is and how to change/mask it.

I agree that IP bans are outdated and maybe less effective than they are expected to be, but I don't think they're counter-productive, at least not for a game the size of Graal and for the audience that Graal is targeted towards

Guri and I will actually be attending the same, small college (less than 4,000 students) in the fall, coincidentally. Not that we'll have a problem getting each other banned haha, but this is a reasonably valid point.

1. You guys will have fun partying, unless you hate each other, that would be pretty awkward

2. Can't you avoid IP ban with VPN?

3. You guys should play Graal and beat people up together

Yes, you most certainly can avoid IP bans with VPN. Although a college environment may frown upon such things, to speak nothing of those banning you.

Like Crono said, though, IP bans work well for their target audience; most people being banned are, ah... less technically proficient.

Im global banned on my campus all it does is disconnects you from all severs on all platforms. Thats it. Lol

They use to, I always explained things using really big and fancy words so I sounded extremely smart and they never understood anything I said so they sort of just let me do my thing.

Like this. But for PC

solid plan 10/10

wow bro u so cool

hah lame
 

Nice joke.

Yea, that's why Graal went from having 60-100 players online on iPhone at a time to 2000+ on both classic and Era. It's grown steadily over the past 4 and a half years. The game itself isn't improving much, but the playerbase is.