Invisible Planes First Real AH Gameplay Crisis

[GRUNHERZ]

Basically I just got shot down by one of these and I don't like it. Many other people say they they have been killed by nameless invisible people as well. There have been posts and threads in in the connectivity forum about this as well, with some techincal specifics about how this glitch occurs.

We all know that very soon, if not allready that people will try to recreate this advantage for themselves on purpose. In effect they will be attempting  to cheat. Say what you will about AH mature community but in my experience the option of cheating is often irresistable to many people.  Cheating will become more common, and will poison the atmosphere of the game. We must not let this happend.

It seems this issue of invisible planes has gone by somewhat quietly and without drawing much scrutiny. It is in fact happening and is very real. We cant just hope it stays quiet and doesnt get noticed by those willing to cheat. We must confront the issue.

Im somewhat concerned by HTC's apparent silence on this matter and would love to hear from them as soon as possible.

Are you aware of this?  
Can it be fixed?
If so are you taking any measures?

For all my squeaking and complaining from time to time on this BBS I have always supported AH and HTC because you guys and gals prove your abilty to kick butt and do computer toejam well. So Im sure you can kill this thing, but your silence is a concern.

Thanks!

[Grayarea]

My thoughts exactly.

[KG45]

maybe a 1000 perk cloaking device?

[CyranoAH]

It has happened to me as well. At first I thought it was due to poor SA, but I happened to film it...

During the whole film, I had a plane at my 6 but, during the actual fight, every time I checked 6 I didn't see it... connection problem for sure, but it sure is annoying as well.

Daniel

[ccvi]

If it's recorded on film your FE knows the plane is there. Why doesn't it display it in flight?

It either is a real bad cheat, or just a bug. Or a bug that usually doesn't have any effect but can be exploited. Willingly or by bad connection.

But at least it looks like it can be fixed, at least in theory.

I think 1.10 should be postponed till this issue is resolved.

[scspook]

Sounds more like a lag issue than a cheat.   In my short time of return to this game, I havent seen the slightest evidence of cheating. Nothing that cant be explained in any one of the 100 misnomers that begrudged us on a daily basis in any online game.

Unless im horribly mistaken, id venture to guess that AH is in reality pretty much cheat free.

[CyranoAH]

The guy that shot me down is a fair player, and I would never accuse him of cheating. I know it was lag (or momentary server saturation, dunno), all I said was that it is annoying

Daniel

[AKWarp]

Someone (can't remember who) had an ordeal the other night where an invisible plane was blowing up a town.  Several people saw the event and I understand it was filmed.

Rocket exhaust was appearing out of thin air and the town was taking damage, but no aircraft or GV was visible.

Did whomever filmed this post the films?????

[Hwkeye]

I have experienced these 'ghost kills' at least twice now in the last two weeks.  The first time was in a GV at a "V" base about two weeks ago and the second occurred last nite in a PT Boat.  It is possible that I have experienced these ghost kills in flight but to date my 'deaths' have come in furballs and with so may cons around I could be missing the fact that I was killed by a dot!

In both cases there were absolutely no cons around me.  I confirmed that icons were in the default 'normal icon mode' after the first kill by the 'ghost'  Upon re-spawning I was killed immediately, again with no tracers or icons (only the sound of rounds hitting me) to indicate the presence of an enemy con. The nice thing about GVs is that things happens slow enough were you can do a little investigating when something like this occurs.

This whole deal with the Linksys routers sucks (see other posts on the issue).  What sucks even more is folks using it to their advantage. They know it is happening because all they see are dots.  IMHO it does not say much for them as individuals.  

Obviously some will say 'it's your connection hawk' and I will tell you now that I run AH through Roadrunner (I don't use a cable router btw) and have had excellent ping times in the Main Arena.

I hope that HiTech et al are able to resolve this issue to everyone's mutual satisfaction because really for the first time in AH I am hearing more and more about AH being compromised and that the game has been hacked.  In the past (both in WB and here) I have always deemed such talk as unfounded and without merit, but after these recent experiences I am beginning to have my concerns too.

Hawkeye
"The Original Flying Tigers"

[Widewing]

Originally posted by scspook
Sounds more like a lag issue than a cheat.   In my short time of return to this game, I havent seen the slightest evidence of cheating. Nothing that cant be explained in any one of the 100 misnomers that begrudged us on a daily basis in any online game.

Unless im horribly mistaken, id venture to guess that AH is in reality pretty much cheat free.

Lag issue? Not a chance. I had my radiator shot out by something using the Klingon Cloaking Device last night. No one flying in my immediate area (and there were about 12 others) saw anything within 6k of us. Nothing, nada, zippo.

Likewise, I saw a B-17 disappear into thin air and reappear 5k further along. This Buff was on my side, so it wasn't a risk to me. Nonetheless, it happened. It didn't warp, it disappeared.

Let's not ignore the problem with discos. My squad had more discos this week than it did last tour. I have 9, seven of them in fighter mode, one in a 262. These have killed my K/D. It should be at 5.2/1, instead it's at 3.8/1. That simply won't cut it.

Ever since the router change, things in the MA have gone to crap for a great many of us. I don't have a problem in CT, or the TA. Nor do most others. It sounds to me like a classic case of fixing what wasn't broken, with the usual adverse result.

I hope they get a handle of this soon, 'cause like some others I've spoken with have stated, before I get seriously annoyed, I'll spend my time and money doing something else. When it ceases to be fun, it's gone......

Now, if you're not having a problem, I'm happy for you. However, I don't want to hear the robot apologists running out to say that this is a user problem. It isn't. Obviously HTC recognizes something is wrong or they wouldn't have polled us in the MA. BTW, everyone I talked to in my squad checked "poor" on the survey.  

A quick edit to add something I had forgotten about. Last evening, I killed an Arado 234. It was pathetically easy, I rolled onto his 6 from the merge. There was no effort to avoid me, despite the fact that I had been at his 12 O'clock, easily seen before the merge. In the message buffer, the unfortunate 234 pilot asked me where I had come from. It just dawned on me that my Yak must have joined the invisible aircraft in the MA twilight zone. He didn't see me, because there was nothing to see. I'd rather not get kills THIS way. Please, HTC, get a handle on this.

My regards,

Widewing

[hazed-]

yep set up a mission the other night and during take off at least three aircraft were dissapearing and then reappearing without warp.they didnt zip about they just plain vanished.

[Oddball]

The invisable plane issue is one of lag or server overload in which case the server temporary sheds players to handle the load of the entire game.  It's a pain in the arse despite which on-line game you are playing.

[Voss]

Originally posted by AKWarp
Someone (can't remember who) had an ordeal the other night where an invisible plane was blowing up a town.  Several people saw the event and I understand it was filmed.

Rocket exhaust was appearing out of thin air and the town was taking damage, but no aircraft or GV was visible.

Did whomever filmed this post the films?????

DJ111 and I both posted a bug report and sent the film(s) to HT. The film viewer does not show any enemy in the area.

I also have film of a pilot talking on open channel about how to do it, but this has already been reported to HTC (also in bug reports).

As far as disappearing and reappearing aircraft goes I don't believe it is related, but is instead a connection issue. I made six passes on a Spit last night (hitting each time) and he finally disappeared in a cloud of smoke. It was five minutes later that I got the kill. Gunnery was not effected, but it is unusual in that one pass is normally plenty.

[Yeager]

Ive never seen an invisible plane.  

Ive never been shot down by bullets coming from nowhere.

[Maverick]

Yeager,

It has happened to me in the MA. No where esle. Was flying along, no cons in icon range then boom back into tower. Was watching the area pretty well and scanning constantly. Also wasn't just straight and level as I'd check below by rolling.