TAS'ing, cheating and the Future of TM (easy fix)
With the recent cheating news coming out, I consider quitting. I've had enough of cheaters in other games and now that this is a thing in trackmania, there isn't much holding me back. Will take a break and wait what's happening, while enjoying other games with other flaws. I'll try to keep this thread very objective, please do so aswell.
There should be an offline practice mode, where everyone can change their game speed or inject TAS for practice purposes, but times aren't counted as records aswell as an online solo mode, where you can play maps as long as you want and hunt records, while connected to some anti cheat program (*passive agressive cough*) and in real time only. If people are able to cheat replays offline, don't make them upload offline replays. It's really that simple.
When I first saw TAS run I was like: "Wait, is this legit?" I'm against the use of TAS and this is why: People are certainly TAS'ing more than they admit. Many people probably made their own program, when donadigo decided not to release his. But if it's done, it should be done in a "safe environment", meaning you can't get any records with this tool.
Now you migh ask, what about the record times that have been set by those who either admitted or were proved (?) to be cheating?
I suggest Nadeo should wipe all record times of anyone who cheated, no matter how frequently they cheated. You can't give them the benefit of a doubt, maybe they "only" used 80% game speed on their "legit" runs, therefore it's not detected. That's why I argue all their records should be deleted from trackmania history, if Nadeo indeed conclude that the report is true.
I think an official statement from nadeo about how to adress cheating in the Future is overdue.
Should we even be talking about this before anything official comes out?
I'm just afraid people do stupid things, that's why I try to give good advice. Let me know what you think!