way to identify a computer

[perkeyone]

in online games sometimes people misbehave and get their accounts banned
but they make new accounts.

so in order to prevent people form making new account and continuing to break rules, sometimes the player is IP banned, but an ip address can be changed.

if the game requires a cd, sometimes cd keys are banned, but the player can buy a new one.

so i have a question.
are there identifying characteristics of a computer which are unique and unchanging? such that a player's computer could be banned? or something similar?

i would like to know because i want to have a career in game design

 

[Prometheus]

Nothing that couldn't be optained w/o some hacking on the users computer, I believe.

You hack, you get banned. Moving on.

 

[Slapshot136]

require the game to activate(each time they want to play online), and then deactivate the game and ban the cd-key from reactivation when someone misbehaves

the next best thing would be to look for the mac address of a computer as well as the IP address

 

[perkeyone]

Nothing that couldn't be optained w/o some hacking on the users computer, I believe.

do you mean that it would be illegal for the game-maker to obtain certain identifying information about the player?

You hack, you get banned. Moving on.

what's this supposed to mean?
i hope youre not under the impression that i hacked on a game and got banned.
thats not the case. im trying to think of ways to protect a hypothetical game i would like to one day design.

require the game to activate(each time they want to play online), and then deactivate the game and ban the cd-key from reactivation when someone misbehaves

im not sure what you mean by activation, but i already mentioned cd-key banning.

the next best thing would be to look for the mac address of a computer as well as the IP address

whats a mac address? i already know about banning ip addresses
EDIT i wiki'ed mac address and maybe im confused but it seems like a mac address is a unique physical identifier for an ethernet card?
so it wouldnt change unless you buy a new card, right?
thats a good one, is it possible and legal to find out someone's mac address though?
maybe i could put it into the terms of use that the player would agree to let me see their mac address before they can play the game?


the reason i want to know if there are more ways to ban people is because
if you ban an account they can make a new one
if you ban an ip address they can get a new one
banning a cd key only works if they game uses a cd, but browser based games and downloaded games cant do this, they can also buy a new one

so i see that banning a cd-key is very effective but i would like to know more ways for other scenarios where a cd is not used

 

[Slapshot136]

mac addresses are generally unique per computer(actually per network adapter), although they can also be changed (usually, depends on the hardware)


and cd-key isnt limited to a cd, it's just a code they get when they buy it, that the program sends to a server to verify before running
(probably saved in a cookie or something for web-based programs)
and yes the player can buy a new cd key, isn't that good business for you as the developer? and then if they misbehave again they need to by yet another one?

 

[perkeyone]

hmm that sucks that it can change.
would a mac address ban be more effective than an ip ban?
if so why?

yeah making them buy new cd-keys is good, but i was just trying to explore all my options, and there are a few reasons why i might want to just ban them completely, such as how in some games there are gold farmers and stuff. if they can make more money from gold farming than it takes to buy a new cd-key they might just keep buying new keys, and farming. i dont know for sure how i would handle a situation like that yet.

im still hoping that there are some unique unchanging identifiers for computers
almost like a serial number

 

[Slapshot136]

like I said, it can be changed only if the hardware supports it or by changing the hardware

mac address would be more effective for a single computer because it's less known about, and you can combine it with the IP address and computer's specs to make it more unique in case they change it (like get the computername that used it and the username and etc. and see how many of those match)

or you can go about doing it the other way: only allowing certain IP's or mac addresses and disabling everyone else, and having an installer that sends a "request for new safe IP/mac address" when a person enters a key

 

[perkeyone]

great ideas.

it would definitely be useful for detecting if a person has had their account hacked or if someone is sharing their account with other people (like if they are using a power leveling service)

 

[Tru_Power22]

You could also check their Mobo serial number. This is also hard to spoof, so it is an effective counter measure.

 

[ertaboy356b]

You can identify the Network Card's MAC Address..

 

[Xienoph]

if the game requires a cd, sometimes cd keys are banned, but the player can buy a new one.

Isn't that good? You get more money. Ban that person again, and you'll get even more money!

Unfortunately, as with all security problems, there is no perfect solution. You need to draw a line where you would stop caring.

 

[Slapshot136]

You could also check their Mobo serial number. This is also hard to spoof, so it is an effective counter measure.

is that possible to get via software?

 

[Duwenbasden]

You could also check their Mobo serial number. This is also hard to spoof, so it is an effective counter measure.

I don't think security people will like that.

Your best bet is a combination of CD key + IP ban. There is a fineline between good effective security measures and pissing off your customers.

 

[perkeyone]

thanks for all the feedback guys

haha motherboard serial would be pretty hardcore
i dont know if this is the best place to ask about legal documents but, can a terms of use document for a game include a clause which would allow the game client to access things like a player's motherboard serial?

im very curious about this topic because not only would i be able to prevent bad players from being disruptive in the game, but also keep track of how many different locations a player is logging in from, and if for example their ip address is in new york then suddenly they log in from china, that would send up red flags that they might be hacked or they might be paying for a power-leveling service. then i could effectively ban the service

i guess i will have to determine the type of punishment/ban on a case by case basis.