Cheating detected, we're at Defcon 1
January 17, 2005 12:10 PM   Subscribe

Some of you (and clearly the bad guys are among them) don’t always remember that this game, and all accounts and derivative products, are the property of the United States Army. America's Army is the Official US Army Game. Funded by the military, the game is free to download and play online. As of this posting, the game has 1741 servers and 8318 players online. In a post to the game's official forums (the post itself required registration to view and now seems to be gone), a developer warns cheaters "The Army is angry, and we’re coming for you."
posted by ludwig_van (33 comments total)
 
I thought someone else would post this, but I haven't seen it, so here it is.
posted by ludwig_van at 12:10 PM on January 17, 2005


Ha! That'll never run on my crappy old machine. Along the same lines, I think that AOL finally started sticking games on their promo cds.

I think the Army should go the popcap route, pushing smaller java games that focus on one task.

[insert toilet scrubbing joke here, or obligatory reference to Iraq]
posted by mecran01 at 12:12 PM on January 17, 2005


More:

PC gamers have virtually experienced life as a U.S. Soldier since July 4, 2002.
Now, thanks to this agreement between Ubisoft and the U.S. Army, console gamers will be able to join the experience beginning in summer 2005. The PC version of America's Army has consistently ranked among the most popular PC action games played online. Since its public release, more than 3.3 million players have joined America's Army, completing more than 600 million missions logging over 60 million hours of gameplay. America's Army is rated T for Teen. The Army will continue to develop America's Army for the PC with free distribution to end users at local Army Recruiting stations, ROTC Detachments and Army events, and free downloaded from various partners listed on the www.americasarmy.com site.
posted by ludwig_van at 12:13 PM on January 17, 2005


Now, thanks to this agreement between Ubisoft and the U.S. Army, console gamers will be able to join the experience beginning in summer 2005

Ubisoft? A French company? Why do the army hate America so much?
posted by ZippityBuddha at 12:17 PM on January 17, 2005


So they release the video game to promote recruiting, and then when confronted with the natural behavior of this system, they start shitting on it and spewing threats. Great. Go Army.
posted by effwerd at 12:19 PM on January 17, 2005


Now, with Abu Ghraib mod!
posted by RockCorpse at 12:23 PM on January 17, 2005


Previously discussed here, here, and here
posted by graventy at 12:24 PM on January 17, 2005


This is nothing; one of these days John Romero is going to make us his bitch.
posted by cortex at 12:29 PM on January 17, 2005


graventy, I'm not sure if you were just providing more background, but read the main link, which was not previously discussed.
posted by ludwig_van at 12:30 PM on January 17, 2005


I'm considering downloading this just so I can cheat and make the army angry.
I wonder what I would have to do to make the army cry.
posted by Zetetics at 12:39 PM on January 17, 2005


Why can't the peace corp do this? Heh.
posted by mecran01 at 12:42 PM on January 17, 2005


I'm amazed that there's been no Ender's Game reference so far...
posted by thedevildancedlightly at 12:50 PM on January 17, 2005


I can handle having the US Army come after me. It's the American contractors driving empty lorries around my back yard afterwards that worries me...
posted by i_cola at 12:55 PM on January 17, 2005


It's a very good game, well developed, well done..basically well anything. Just remember kids, reality is not a videogame you DIE if you're luckly or you're stuck in a wheelchair or without some limb...and you will be quickly forgot no matter what they say because a destroyed soldier is bad for morale (rationale behind not showing coffins pictures)
posted by elpapacito at 12:59 PM on January 17, 2005


It's a very good game, well developed, well done..basically well anything.

This is unrelated to the content of the FPP, but I never enjoyed the game. The graphics were never cutting edge, and I always thought the interface was clunky and the gameplay slow and bland. I used to get constantly TKed by grenades, too. And the Army-sponsored nature of the game has made for a weird atmosphere in the past, one which is clearly visible in the linked post. But hey, it's free.
posted by ludwig_van at 1:04 PM on January 17, 2005


When are they going to release Clamdigger for the PC?

"...and the object of the game is to find parking."
posted by dirigibleman at 1:17 PM on January 17, 2005


I used to get constantly TKed by grenades, too.

Good realism, then?
posted by Jimbob at 1:25 PM on January 17, 2005


Well, some in the Army say if you aren't cheating you aren't trying.
posted by atchafalaya at 1:30 PM on January 17, 2005


I think that someone needs a timeout. It's only a video game.
posted by Bag Man at 1:37 PM on January 17, 2005


Not a good way to recruit creativity and courage.
posted by sled at 1:46 PM on January 17, 2005


When you cheat at America's Army, the terrorists win.
posted by NewBornHippy at 1:57 PM on January 17, 2005


From the site: In the early 1940’s, Japan learned an important lesson – “let the sleeping giant lie.” We may not react swiftly, but when we do it’s with unstoppable force.

Holy Shit, did they just compare cracking down on video game cheating to dropping two atomic bombs on civilian cities?
posted by Arch Stanton at 1:58 PM on January 17, 2005


In a world with liposuction and America's Army, why am I taking meds to feel normal?
posted by alumshubby at 2:11 PM on January 17, 2005


I'm a recently retired beta tester for this game and I think a lot of this just comes out of pure frustration. Basically, with every release, the cheaters and creators of wall hacks and aimbots, come out of the woodwork and create something even more insidious to use. As with any online game, it becomes a game of cat & mouse. Some people take that waaaay too seriously (devs, other testers) while others take more of a tolerant view.
posted by KevinSkomsvold at 2:16 PM on January 17, 2005


Tired of kid scripters ruining your AA and CS games?

Developed for the USMC,VBS 1 is the milsim out of reach of most kids pricewise, and almost... well anyone really.

You can always play the poor man's version of VBS, Operation Flashpoint, which is what VBS's developers were doing before they busied themselves with contractual obligations to the military. Flashpoint released in 2001 is a bargain bin game and still has a very talented player, editor, mission maker and modder community behind it.

And the graphics engine despite it's age, is still chugging along beautifully.
posted by JGreyNemo at 3:55 PM on January 17, 2005


I don't believe this is even real. Yes the post is real but not necessarily from the "Army", I think its a spoof.
posted by angrynative at 4:03 PM on January 17, 2005


The army is "coming after" these guys? It makes it sound as if they too are terrorists. Maybe they'll make the bad guy avatars in some of the levels computer "enthusiasts". That would be entertaining, but i doubt that it will happen about as much as I doubt they'll ever include sound effects or animations that convey what really happens when someone is shot with an 5.56 mm M4 assault carbine in the chest. Not that the game designers would get it right, even with all of the help the army I'm sure is giving to make every other aspect of the game realistic, not to mention fun.
posted by butt_floss at 4:10 PM on January 17, 2005


I don't believe this is even real. Yes the post is real but not necessarily from the "Army", I think its a spoof.

The slashdot article says: "Executive Producer Phil DeLuca posts a message updating the community on a recent anti-hacking campaign they've initiated, and has a clear message for would-be wrongdoers."
posted by ludwig_van at 4:20 PM on January 17, 2005


Phil DeLuca: DMCA violation! DMCA violation! Back away from that keyboard or it's Guantanamo for you, joystick-monkey!

Kinda like that, Ludwig? :)
posted by kaemaril at 4:58 PM on January 17, 2005


hehehehe....surely the army could have seen this coming, seeing as how it's an unfortunate problem for most multi-player games at one time or another...

or are they somehow suprised that trivializing war and military service by turning it into a GOD DAMNED VIDEO GAME results in the kids not paying "proper respect" to their creation...

(as an aside, i found it suprisingly hard not to drop the f-bomb right there....it seemed pretty justified)
posted by es_de_bah at 6:56 PM on January 17, 2005


Now if they could just do something about those damned campers.
posted by grimcity at 7:01 PM on January 17, 2005


surely the army could have seen this coming

They did, but Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz said it wouldn't be a problem.
posted by crazy finger at 5:27 AM on January 18, 2005


well, i tried playing the game, but i guess i'm just not good enough to beat it the fair way. on mission 6 i couldn't find the goddamn WMDs without cheating no matter how hard i looked.
posted by caution live frogs at 6:06 AM on January 18, 2005


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