[Forum Suggestion] "WhoIs" applet or page

[InvaderDoom]

There's a function on Steam where you can see what other alias' someone has played under.

I'm sure that the forum logs everyone's IP in the server. So I guess my suggestion would be to create an applet that you could type someone's username and it would search their IP(in the backend), and show every account that IP has been attached too. It could help out everyone, limit trolls, and help out the mods.

[shadyg0d]

Good thought, but they'll just use vpns and give another false sense of security to unsuspecting victims

[InvaderDoom]

Good thought, but they'll just use vpns and give another false sense of security to unsuspecting victims

Well, if you wanna go so far as to dedicate a VPN to yourself for the purpose of trolling others, that's dedication. But pretty much waste of resources in my opinion, and something I bet one can only keep up for a limited time, before a slip happens.

And what exactly is meant by another false sense of security? For as long as I've been playing SeaTribe games, I've never had 1 True Sense of Security; so, if you have multiple then damn, you're doing pretty good

[shadyg0d]

I mean somebody can just whois the person they are thinking of recruiting, see that the person only has "one account" and suddenly they're trusted. So it basically makes it easier for the dedicated troll to fool somebody. The fact that you think using a vpn is such a setback just proves my point. Trust me, that's nothing difficult in the world of trolling/manipulation.

You're right it takes a bit more dedication and they could slip up eventually, but it's the really bad ones you need to worry about, not so much the average griefer. For every minor grief this prevents, the dedicated griefer gains another shroud of secrecy to commit the atrocious acts that can truly ruin a game/vilage.

So with that in mind, and the fact that implimenting this takes away from game development, I think it's a waste of time.

Also there is the issue of privacy and potentially legit reasons for hiding your identity, such as trying to get away from stalkers and trolls who are targeting you specifically

[MagicManICT]

As any good hack...err pirate will tell you, it's more about knowing social engineering than it is about knowing the code. (Not all hackers are pirates and scam artists.) No matter what tool were implemented to avoid the use of alts to fool people, someone would figure out a legitimate (or maybe not so legitimate) way around it.

I do recall Travian and Stronghold Kingdoms had a very loose banning policy, so loose it made even guild groups leery of sharing accounts, etc., outside of the provided means of trading and keeping an eye out for each other.... Doesn't mean it didn't happen, just was really scarce.

[InvaderDoom]

As any good hack...err pirate will tell you, it's more about knowing social engineering than it is about knowing the code. (Not all hackers are pirates and scam artists.) No matter what tool were implemented to avoid the use of alts to fool people, someone would figure out a legitimate (or maybe not so legitimate) way around it.

I do recall Travian and Stronghold Kingdoms had a very loose banning policy, so loose it made even guild groups leery of sharing accounts, etc., outside of the provided means of trading and keeping an eye out for each other.... Doesn't mean it didn't happen, just was really scarce.

I mean even still, there are always going to be ways around it. I guess from my standpoint is for someone proficient in web/forum coding, it can't be all that hard, and even if it only stops 40-50% of people from doing it because they don't have the resources/know-how, then that's an improvement...right?