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Gathering suggestions for new server

Glovacky

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Hey everyone,

I want to let you all know that I'm working on a new OTS using TFS and protocol 8.0.
I've seen a lot of issues in the current servers, and I want to create a fun, fair, and engaging server that we can all enjoy.
But I need your help and suggestions to make it awesome.

Tackling Bots and Cheaters

Bots have been ruining the game for everyone, and I'm determined to stop them. Here's what I'm planning:
  • Tracking Player Actions: I'll be monitoring activities like sending mail and trading. This way, I can catch not only the bots but also the accounts that receive items and money from them.
  • Banning Accounts: Not just the bots, but also those accounts who benefit from them will be banned.

Community-Driven Ban System

To make sure the bans are fair and fast, I'm setting up a system where you can help vote to ban suspected bots:
  • Voting: If you see something fishy and report it, you'll get to vote for a ban within the hour.
  • Tutor Approval: A tutor will need to approve the ban to prevent abuse. Tutors will earn premium days for their help. Tutori approving the ban needs to record a video showing bot in action
  • Tutor payment: tutors will be payed monthly/weekly by premium or other items

Keeping the Staff in Check

I'll be keeping an eye on the staff to make sure everything stays fair:
  • Staff Monitoring: I'll track staff commands to make sure they're not misused and the game stays fun for everyone.

Premium Accounts and In-Game Purchases

I want premium accounts to be fair and accessible:

  • Premium Accounts: You can buy premium accounts with points obtained for real money.
  • Tradable Item: I'll introduce a tradable item for premium accounts, so you can buy it from others using in-game currency. This way, everyone can enjoy premium features without spending real money.
  • No Pay2Win: No game experience-altering options will be available. No pay-to-win here!
  • Other Purchasable Items: The only other things you can buy will be cosmetic or convenience items like sex change and addons.

Player-Based Economy

I think a strong player-based economy is essential for old style community building:
  • No NPC Rune Sales: NPCs won't sell runes. Instead, players will make and sell them.
  • Trade Channel and In-Person Trading: Emphasizing the importance of the trade channel and in-person trading to foster community interaction and engagement.

Server Features

Here's what I had in mind:
  • Rates: x1 rates for a challenging gameplay experience.
  • Global Map: The full 8.0 Tibia world with all its adventures but also adding some RPG-style quests and new spawns
  • Extended Rookgaard: Added houses, quests, spawns, and mysteries, including new monsters and Sword of Fury-like quests - I would like to make it cool for rookstayers

Technical Progress and Call for Suggestions

I've set up all the needed Docker containers for compiling the server sources, database, and website account manager. The server is up and running, and now all that's left is to make the necessary changes.

Before I make important decisions, I want to ask the community what you'd like to see and whether the ideas I've presented are appealing.
Feel free to criticize and share your thoughts!

When I'm done with some basic features, I'll be hosting a server for testing, creating a Discord for suggestions and community discussions, and setting up a small forum for players. I'm planning for this server to be a global-like long-term server.
 
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isn't that obvious? voting can be tricked by leveling multiple accounts, tutors can get more money from someone else to approve something they shouldn't have. If it gets taken over, then new players that are potential threads will get voted off from the server.
 
That's alot of work to level up multiple accounts. I understand your concern about tutor approving something he shouldn't.
I still think it would be a step in a right direction. Do you think there is something we could do to prevent this? Except of course monitoring tutors because that's not something we can do 24/7...
---edit:
how about tutor should record a short video of the botter in action?
 
That's alot of work to level up multiple accounts. I understand your concern about tutor approving something he shouldn't.
I still think it would be a step in a right direction. Do you think there is something we could do to prevent this? Except of course monitoring tutors because that's not something we can do 24/7...
---edit:
how about tutor should record a short video of the botter in action?
It's an easily corruptible system and doesn't solve anything that isn't already solved by just having gms ban botters.

If you pay staff to ban botters you will never hear the end of corruption claims. They cry bad enough even when they cheat, i can not imagine how hard they would cry if they found out their ban was a payday for a gm.
 
It's an easily corruptible system and doesn't solve anything that isn't already solved by just having gms ban botters.

If you pay staff to ban botters you will never hear the end of corruption claims. They cry bad enough even when they cheat, i can not imagine how hard they would cry if they found out their ban was a payday for a gm.
as long as proof in the form of video is provided they can cry as long as they want. Like you said, that's what they do :)
also I would pay tutors not per ban but on a weekly/monthly basis
 
as long as proof in the form of video is provided they can cry as long as they want. Like you said, that's what they do :)
This would work on a custom server, but if it's realmap or even a proper serious custom lowrate server unfortunately the "cries" are in the form of misinformation campaigns, griefing and ddos.
I just don't think paying staff for bans is healthy for anyone. There's too much that can be corrupted and there's no real benefit. Dedicated players will ban botters for free, happily.
 
sorry, i added edit saying it wouldnt be a payment per ban but on a weekly/monthly basis
 
as long as proof in the form of video is provided
There is no need to ask for videos (which you need to record them first, then upload somewhere and share the link) when you can simply add a cam system on the server side and have access to each player's gameplay (specifically, the packets they send to and receive from the server). I created such a system a long time ago (I shared part of it here Feature - Cam system (https://otland.net/threads/285399/)), I added a very, very simple system that checked the player's behavior and if the behavior was not natural, the system marked which it happened in a second. Then I could simply replay a given gameplay, rewind to a specific moment and verify it, and for anyone who filed a complaint/appeal, I prepared proof on a public playlist - AFK verification (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwGkOisgt0UPKmJiNJvNp2BmQAw55Z1Bi)

Now you could even go even further, because there are tools for automatically generating video files straight from packet files (Feature - Tibia Recordings Renderer (https://otland.net/threads/287928/)), but I haven't had the pleasure of testing it yet.

Let me know if you would like to test such a system yourself, so maybe I could help.
 
There is no need to ask for videos (which you need to record them first, then upload somewhere and share the link) when you can simply add a cam system on the server side and have access to each player's gameplay (specifically, the packets they send to and receive from the server). I created such a system a long time ago (I shared part of it here Feature - Cam system (https://otland.net/threads/285399/)), I added a very, very simple system that checked the player's behavior and if the behavior was not natural, the system marked which it happened in a second. Then I could simply replay a given gameplay, rewind to a specific moment and verify it, and for anyone who filed a complaint/appeal, I prepared proof on a public playlist - AFK verification (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwGkOisgt0UPKmJiNJvNp2BmQAw55Z1Bi)

Now you could even go even further, because there are tools for automatically generating video files straight from packet files (Feature - Tibia Recordings Renderer (https://otland.net/threads/287928/)), but I haven't had the pleasure of testing it yet.

Let me know if you would like to test such a system yourself, so maybe I could help.
Very valuable contribution. Sounds like a perfect solution to the problem we are discussing!
This would make it much easier for tutors to provide evidence of botting but also would eliminate possibility of tampering with evidence.
Thank you for great suggestion. I will contact you about it when I will be implementing it.
 
As someone who has banned over 400 people in the past few years I am a bit worried on how you want to handle support regarding bans.
Each ban can take from a small 5 minutes to a few hours, depending on how "smart" the player is in hiding their macro's. Taking lots of time from you and your team already, working through different loops can be quite challenging, especially if you want tutors to take part in it as well, the "lowest" support rank.

I do like that you want to create a hierarchy for reporting, but I'm afraid in the end it will cost you more time to consistently check the bans and your staff on their progress.
Next to that it is not very smart to constantly ban players whenever you catch them, most game studios do this every 3 - 6 months with a ban wave, this way the creator of the bot has no idea how we have caught the bot, and cannot patch it, or at least it will be harder.

There are so many aspects regarding cheaters that you want to think a bit before implementing certain rules and their enforcements.

------------------
"Banning Accounts: Not just the bots, but also those accounts who benefit from them will be banned."
To ban all accounts involved is a very good thing but can also be a double-edged sword, for example, someone who sells their account for 50 euro, will walk away with 50 euro but the buyer will walk away with a ban.. There are many, many scenarios that can screw up your rules on what is fair and not, also the reaction time of the staff in such a situation must be done quick in order for the seller to be punished and not the buyer. It should be prevented rather then enforced after.

Also out of experience on every OT actually, you must be careful who you trust with responsibilities on your server.
Mostl developers "hire" new staff in order to lighten their workload, which can sometimes be done hastely because content has to be pushed out and the admins cannot handle the support load with it but everybody wants to gain something out of their time, which can lead to corruption and all the fun stuff..

Remember, one Gamemaster can ruin your whole server for years to come.
------------------

There are however tools you can give your support team (mostly GM's) that could help identify cheaters manually, like a rune that gives or takes HP/Mana in order to check if they are running a spell on x mana, or have auto healing on x HP, this enables you to check for cheaters that are using a bot super easy within seconds.

In order to catch a Macro user, you have to deal with patterns, every Macro is a pattern, catch the pattern, and you catch the cheater.
If Player A says Exura every 9 minutes, for 4-5 times, on the exact second, cheater alert!
----------------

A voting system against cheaters is kind of okay but eventually it's better to have a place where your support group can actively discuss about possible offenders and report suspicious characters. A Discord channel would do pretty well since everything gets archived and easily to look back.
----------------

Every ban must also be absolute, meaning you are a 101% sure the person that got banned is a cheater, therefore anyone who wishes to report a cheater should provide video evidence, on any case really, screenshots can easily be edited while a video takes hundreds of editing frames and nobody is going to take that energy.. If you cannot be sure about a ban, the player should not get banned.
 
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As someone who has banned over 400 people in the past few years I am a bit worried on how you want to handle support regarding bans.
Each ban can take from a small 5 minutes to a few hours, depending on how "smart" the player is in hiding their macro's. Taking lots of time from you and your team already, working through different loops can be quite challenging, especially if you want tutors to take part in it as well, the "lowest" support rank.

I do like that you want to create a hierarchy for reporting, but I'm afraid in the end it will cost you more time to consistently check the bans and your staff on their progress.
Next to that it is not very smart to constantly ban players whenever you catch them, most game studios do this every 3 - 6 months with a ban wave, this way the creator of the bot has no idea how we have caught the bot, and cannot patch it, or at least it will be harder.

There are so many aspects regarding cheaters that you want to think a bit before implementing certain rules and their enforcements.

------------------
"Banning Accounts: Not just the bots, but also those accounts who benefit from them will be banned."
To ban all accounts involved is a very good thing but can also be a double-edged sword, for example, someone who sells their account for 50 euro, will walk away with 50 euro but the buyer will walk away with a ban.. There are many, many scenarios that can screw up your rules on what is fair and not, also the reaction time of the staff in such a situation must be done quick in order for the seller to be punished and not the buyer. It should be prevented rather then enforced after.

Also out of experience on every OT actually, you must be careful who you trust with responsibilities on your server.
Mostl developers "hire" new staff in order to lighten their workload, which can sometimes be done hastely because content has to be pushed out and the admins cannot handle the support load with it but everybody wants to gain something out of their time, which can lead to corruption and all the fun stuff..

Remember, one Gamemaster can ruin your whole server for years to come.
------------------

There are however tools you can give your support team (mostly GM's) that could help identify cheaters manually, like a rune that gives or takes HP/Mana in order to check if they are running a spell on x mana, or have auto healing on x HP, this enables you to check for cheaters that are using a bot super easy within seconds.

In order to catch a Macro user, you have to deal with patterns, every Macro is a pattern, catch the pattern, and you catch the cheater.
If Player A says Exura every 9 minutes, for 4-5 times, on the exact second, cheater alert!
----------------

A voting system against cheaters is kind of okay but eventually it's better to have a place where your support group can actively discuss about possible offenders and report suspicious characters. A Discord channel would do pretty well since everything gets archived and easily to look back.
Very good insights. I will take your advice seriously. I also like the idea with rune for manipulating hp and mana. Thank you for your contribution!
 
Combine any Cam System ex. @kor cam system - you will probably need to extend it to collect 'incoming packets', not only 'outgoing packets' - and application to analyse these .cam files.
That's what I did. Cam System generated up to 60 GB of .cam files per day (with 2000+ online), which PHP script could analyse in less than 1 hour, reporting 'too fast un-paralyze after getting paralyze' or 'equip of SSA/might ring just after HP went down'.

Anyway, if you want to block 'exp bots', it's pretty easy. If GM finds any exp bot, delete account, not ban it.
It reduced number of bots from 500+ to few within 24 hours.
If you just ban someone and then he can collect looted items X days later or start normal game 'after ban', it won't stop anyone.
 
Combine any Cam System ex. @kor cam system - you will probably need to extend it to collect 'incoming packets', not only 'outgoing packets' - and application to analyse these .cam files.
That's what I did. Cam System generated up to 60 GB of .cam files per day (with 2000+ online), which PHP script could analyse in less than 1 hour, reporting 'too fast un-paralyze after getting paralyze' or 'equip of SSA/might ring just after HP went down'.

Anyway, if you want to block 'exp bots', it's pretty easy. If GM finds any exp bot, delete account, not ban it.
It reduced number of bots from 500+ to few within 24 hours.
If you just ban someone and then he can collect looted items X days later or start normal game 'after ban', it won't stop anyone.
Yeah, that system sounds awesome. I think I will probably make it priority to implement it. Thank you for the useful hints.
 
Combine any Cam System ex. @kor cam system - you will probably need to extend it to collect 'incoming packets', not only 'outgoing packets' - and application to analyse these .cam files.
That's what I did. Cam System generated up to 60 GB of .cam files per day (with 2000+ online), which PHP script could analyse in less than 1 hour, reporting 'too fast un-paralyze after getting paralyze' or 'equip of SSA/might ring just after HP went down'.

Anyway, if you want to block 'exp bots', it's pretty easy. If GM finds any exp bot, delete account, not ban it.
It reduced number of bots from 500+ to few within 24 hours.
If you just ban someone and then he can collect looted items X days later or start normal game 'after ban', it won't stop anyone.

I remmember when gms used to "jail" botters
Like wtf he made so much profit to be just "jailed" :D
Good old times
 
Combine any Cam System ex. @kor cam system - you will probably need to extend it to collect 'incoming packets', not only 'outgoing packets' - and application to analyse these .cam files.
That's what I did. Cam System generated up to 60 GB of .cam files per day (with 2000+ online), which PHP script could analyse in less than 1 hour, reporting 'too fast un-paralyze after getting paralyze' or 'equip of SSA/might ring just after HP went down'.

Anyway, if you want to block 'exp bots', it's pretty easy. If GM finds any exp bot, delete account, not ban it.
It reduced number of bots from 500+ to few within 24 hours.
If you just ban someone and then he can collect looted items X days later or start normal game 'after ban', it won't stop anyone.
60GB a day whut

I remmember when people used to "jail" botters
Like wtf he made so much profit to be just "jailed" :D
Good old times
Jails are fun, the only thing they can do is participate in being Online and cry complain in chat about how unfair it is
 
60GB a day whut
Cam System .cam files are just all packets received from players and sent by server to every single player.
2000+ active players generate 20-60mb/s of network traffic. It's 216-648 GB of data every 24 hours. Luckily it can be compressed pretty good using ZIP and takes only around 60 GB on disk.

On that server we used cheap (15$) dedic with 2TB HDD to store cams (no RAID ex. https://eco.us.ovhcloud.com/?display=list&range=kimsufi KS-2 for 11$/month). If that dedic go down, we lose all cams, but we didn't care. These are only used to track bots/offer extra service (Cam Player) to players (almost none use it).
 
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