just played another game with a hacker in it, and what is remarkable is how much more powerful the new hacks seem to be.
you used to be able to reveal most hackers just by looking at the free units screen, but the new hacks seemingly spawn units anywhere on the map without requiring a shipment point or counting as free units.
now you have to go the economy tab and analyze the graphs. 3 instant vills in the first 15 seconds? 10 villager instant spawns? regularly going 260 pop and max villagers while only spending 1800 resources on 3 units total? 50+ pop armies in seconds from only 2 military buildings? upgrading units right before you finish aging up?
but what strikes me the most is how pointless all of this is. why even bother trying to hide it in an unranked lobby game. at the very least go bother the masochists that play the ladder in a game that constantly crashes without a reconnect button.
one of the things I was looking forward to the most was anti cheat measures being implemented. this was the number 1 thing that drove me to buy this game in the hopes of being able to grind the ladder after being driven away from legacy due to hackers. the disaster that was aoe3de launch with the constant crashes and the lack of reconnect quickly dashed those hopes, and the rising tide of the new hacker wave I don’t think ill ever start normal lobby games again, let alone ranked.
hackers more than anything are the number one threat to this games multiplayer. legit players despise these horrible people and they drive the community away, something I’ve seen myself with the death of so many clans and amazing players once they started infesting legacy.
I don’t want to play anymore.