First off I would like to thank everyone attending especially the staff members of Punkbuster

Question #1: What do you guys do for Punkbuster?

<[PBSTAFF]Bjoern> well, i'm basically the cheat researcher and do the cheat detections. that's my main job right now (apart from maintaining the website)
<[PBSTAFF]Ken> I do mostly cheat research.
<[PBSTAFF]Stuart> I'm Tech Support, Technical writing, PR, Testing, some research...um..a little bit of everything

Question #2: What made you want to work for Punkbuster?

<[PBSTAFF]Stuart> I joined PB when Tony needed some documentation help back in CS days
<[PBSTAFF]Bjoern> i was addicted to CS - and I hated cheating. then I heard about PB from a friend, and used it on our server... the client/server aspect fascinated me. a few months later i was part of the team :)
<[PBSTAFF]Bjoern> that was back in 2001 I think
<[PBSTAFF]Bjoern> or was it 2000?
<[PBSTAFF]Stuart> think 2000
<[PBSTAFF]Bjoern> yeah
<[PBSTAFF]Bjoern> december 2000
<[PBSTAFF]Ken> I used to run a game server, just a public only server for fun. I started to notice all of the odd things that happen when cheaters show up to a game. It was quite annoying, I ran into PunkBuster and liked the idea. So I joined up

Question #3: How does the Punkbuster system work?

<[PBSTAFF]Stuart> Heh, this isn't a quick answer
<[PBSTAFF]Bjoern> well, pb is basically a client/server system. the pb client runs at the players PC, and sends data back to the PB Server which requests data from it
<[PBSTAFF]Bjoern> the pb servers then kick the players which are reported to cheat
<[PBSTAFF]Bjoern> pb is auto-updating
<[PBSTAFF]Bjoern> we have master servers for every game. once we have a new update ready, we put it on the masters. the pb servers download it, and then distribute it to the clients
<[PBSTAFF]Bjoern> the pb client checks the clients PC for cheats - but only what is running in memory, we don't search your hard disk for stuff (unlike what some people believe)

Question #4: What games does Punkbuster currently support?

<[PBSTAFF]Stuart> PB currently supports Q3, RtCW, SoF2, ET, Raven Shield, Far Cry, Splinter Cell: PT, BF1942 and BFV, and AA:O, with CoD arriving soon

Question #5: Do you know the timing of when the support for CoD will be available?

<[PBSTAFF]Bjoern> "When it's done" (tm) :)
<[PBSTAFF]Stuart> It's really up to activision to release PB

Question #6: Is there a database where cheats who have been caught is located, such as their ip?

<[PBSTAFF]Stuart> We don't have any kind of public data base of caught cheaters
<[PBSTAFF]Bjoern> except of course about cheaters that are globally banned by us
<[PBSTAFF]Stuart> There are admin communities like pbbans.com and punksbusted.com that create their own public ban lists
<[PBSTAFF]Bjoern> but we dont care about the IPs, not reliable
<[PBSTAFF]Bjoern> as we do global banning, we store the GUIDs of course
<[PBSTAFF]Bjoern> but, this is not for public viewing of course

Question #7: With Punksbusted.com new Auto-MBL, Did you guys work closely with them on this project?

<[PBSTAFF]Bjoern> not really - we work closely with punksbusted, but in this case they basically did everything themselves :)

Question #8: Just have one question.. why didnt u guys ever think about api dll game hacking.. see u should create something that reads the only things that should be loaded for cs and if theres an external dll or a dll that shouldnt be supose to be loaded making the game not start?

<[PBSTAFF]Bjoern> well, this is a question about CS that we don't support since more than 2 years now ;)
<[PBSTAFF]Bjoern> but if you're asking about new games as well that we support
<[PBSTAFF]Bjoern> then something like that could be an option, but we cant really comment about these things - we're surely gonna add more things over time, but right now we're very happy with how PB catches the punks

<[PBSTAFF]Stuart> #8 : any dll's loaded that are known hacks are easily detected by PB. We go for the detection, vs a wide "we don't know what it is so we kick you" approach.

Question #9: What games in the future would you support? Is this decision based by you or the company?

<[PBSTAFF]Stuart> #9: PB is contacted by the game developer, and we go into talks with them.
<[PBSTAFF]Stuart> We then integrate PB into the game code and a patch is released, or it's on the release
<[PBSTAFF]Stuart> First and formost is the fact that we have to work with the developers and put PB right into the game
<[PBSTAFF]Stuart> we tried the 3rd party method in CS, and it failed. So now we require full dev support

Question #10: How does Even Balance research cheats? do they just go d/l them and lurk in cheat forums and the like?

<[PBSTAFF]Stuart> We get cheats from MANY sources, lots of cheats are mailed right to us
<[PBSTAFF]Stuart> from people who hate cheating as much as we do
<[PBSTAFF]Stuart> It's a good bet that if you see a cheat for download, we already have it.
<[PBSTAFF]Bjoern> if you find any cheats though: send them to research@evenbalance.com in case we missed them :)

Question #11: Do Even Balance staff play the games they prevent cheating for?, If so, What games do you enjoy the most?

<[PBSTAFF]Bjoern> sure we play the games we support :)
<[PBSTAFF]Stuart> yeah, gotta test the product...or something
<[PBSTAFF]Bjoern> just started playing BF:Vietnam a few days ago, i like it a lot... but I also like all other games we support of course
<[PBSTAFF]Stuart> I'm an ET freak, love that game. I can spend all day...
<[PBSTAFF]Ken> Yes we do play- testing of course ;)
<[PBSTAFF]Ken> Probably I play Quake3 insta the most, but I like all the games
<[PBSTAFF]Stuart> I prefer team based games. You might see me in BF as well, I play with this name

Question #12: PunkBuster started out on Counter-Strike, if I remember correctly, but left the scene (rightly so) when they found out that there would be no cooperation from VALVe on the anti-cheat front. Since then, you've moved on, and have become the de-facto anti-cheats for a bunch of big-name titles. Do you ever have moments, though, where you look back and wish VALVe had been a bit more cooperative?

<[PBSTAFF]Bjoern> as i said right at the start, I LOVED CS
<[PBSTAFF]Bjoern> played it from beta 1 up to the point where PB left the CS scene
<[PBSTAFF]Bjoern> so yeah, i regret that it didnt work out
<[PBSTAFF]Bjoern> but i didnt see any point in playing a game that doesnt have pb support :)
<[PBSTAFF]Stuart> I missed CS, but leaving that market allowed for the opportunity with id, and RtCW. And our real first break
<[PBSTAFF]Ken> I would have liked to see it work out as well.

Question #13: Are you going to continue to update for certain games like sof2, or any type of "old" games?

<[PBSTAFF]Bjoern> we will continue to support the games that have pb integrated until the contract ends

Question #14: Are you planning to add any more admin functionality in to PB for Americas army?

<[PBSTAFF]Stuart> AA has all the standard pb server commands, and the web admin tool
<[PBSTAFF]Stuart> There are some features we are looking at because of the nature of the leased servers
<[PBSTAFF]Stuart> mainly in the ability to do some remote admining that is easy on other servers, but we have no date on when this might be released

Question #15: People say that PB does little damage to cheaters, what is your view?

<[PBSTAFF]Bjoern> pb is a big problem for punks
<[PBSTAFF]Bjoern> i dont know of any public cheat that still works and has been around for a few weeks
<[PBSTAFF]Bjoern> we sometimes let cheats work for a while and then bust the punks using it
<[PBSTAFF]Bjoern> again, if you find any cheats that are said not to be detected email them to research@evenbalance.com
<[PBSTAFF]Bjoern> if you check the cheater forums for example, you'd see that most of the punks are really upset about pb...
<[PBSTAFF]Bjoern> so it works just fine :)
<[PBSTAFF]Ken> I think the results speak for themselves. There are some cheat makers that have up and left after several attempts to make a cheat that can stay undetected.

Question #16: Is the PB team going to make it so BF1942 players or any other players on slower connections can play for extended periods of time without losing connection due to PB refresh?

<[PBSTAFF]Stuart> BF is hard in the fact that the game is very high bandwidth
<[PBSTAFF]Stuart> pb has to biggyback on that connection. at MAX, pb transmits at 1k/sec

Question #17: Is punkbuster going to scan for bugs with Battlefield Vietnam (specifically drivers) that help a person see through walls and make models glow white/purple in some cases?

<[PBSTAFF]Bjoern> Bugs in the game are a problem - the best thing is always if they are fixed by a patch, but in some cases pb can be used to detect the usage of exploits
<[PBSTAFF]Bjoern> concerning drivers: if we find that such drivers are available/used, then we'll look into that. and we'll take the appropriate messures to counter this. Back in the CS days one big company made drivers that allowed for cheating, and this was also advertised - if that happens again today, we'll consider banning such drivers on PB supported games

Question #18: How do you guys make your money? Do the game makers pay you in some cases or is this just something you do out of good will?

<[PBSTAFF]Bjoern> Even Balance, Inc. is contracted by the game companies - they pay us money, yes
<[PBSTAFF]Bjoern> but
<[PBSTAFF]Bjoern> that does not mean it's all about the money - we also do it because it's fun, and all of us started as volunteers back in the CS days and did it for free
<[PBSTAFF]Bjoern> and as I love the games we support, I'd even do it for free :)
<[PBSTAFF]Stuart> We offerd to integrate PB into CS for $1, same for RtCW. Valve said no, id said yes, but we're paying you a real amount. And it went from there

Question #19: I hear that PB has a lawsuit pending in Texas over a user who was supposedly falsely accused of cheating by your software. Care to comment?

<[PBSTAFF]Bjoern> No comment :)
<[PBSTAFF]Stuart> yeah, that one we really can't talk about, sorry

Question #20: There were a lot of rumors flying around that PB was already ready for CoD but IW had a problem with the net coding can you comment on this?

<[PBSTAFF]Bjoern> no comment

Question #21: How much of the detection code is reusable between games?

<[PBSTAFF]Bjoern> basically, every part of the detection code is reusable - when we improve detection in one game because it is needed there, it will also be available in the other games. so we're continuously improving PB cheat detection

Question #22: How would someone go about applying to voluntarily help program, etc..?

<[PBSTAFF]Stuart> Programing is kept very close, only Tony has access to the full code
<[PBSTAFF]Stuart> most work is done in cheat detection and research/testing
<[PBSTAFF]Stuart> With new games coming out, and possibly more in the future, there may be options avilable
<[PBSTAFF]Bjoern> however, you can always mail support@evenbalance.com and let us know what you're interested in - we may get back to you at some point. but this would most likely not be for pay...

Question #23: I was wondering if Punkbuster is considering any options that will check for console command cheats in Raven Shield?

<[PBSTAFF]Bjoern> yes - we hope to have more info there in the very near future

Question #24: From my understanding PB is rather system intensive in general. After connecting and doing the initial authentication, is further scanning performed to an extent that it influences game performance? If so is continued work being done on optimization, or is it felt time is better spent adding PB support to other games (such as COD)?

<[PBSTAFF]Stuart> We are always trying to improve the sacnning techniques when we can
<[PBSTAFF]Stuart> a few of our latest patches have improved system scanning, and people having instability problems said it fixed some of them
<[PBSTAFF]Bjoern> pb scans all the time while you play
<[PBSTAFF]Stuart> PB scans memory like Bjoern said, the biggest problem that PB can cause is if the swapfile is big
<[PBSTAFF]Bjoern> but as stu said, we'll improve pb all the time, and also the scanning, yes

Question #25: How often do you guys update punkbuster? Is there a certain schedule you guys have?

<[PBSTAFF]Bjoern> there is no schedule - pb is updated as required

Question #26: How do you feel with Punkbuster being compared to other online anti-cheats? Such as programs being made by United Admins?

<[PBSTAFF]Bjoern> We think it's a good thing that other anti-cheat software exists - but we can't really comment on these products as we dont compare them to our software (I never used anything from UA upto this date)
<[PBSTAFF]Bjoern> and i've also never played CS again so I don't know much about VAC either for example

Question #27: Will Punkbuster ever make a Program for X-Box live and/or Ps2 online?

<[PBSTAFF]Bjoern> maybe, you never know what the future gives :)
<[PBSTAFF]Stuart> Again, if the devs want it, we'll talk

Question #28: Do you plan on releasing an easier to use manual update system, maybe some type of PHP integration into the website.

<[PBSTAFF]Stuart> We can certainly try to do something like that
<[PBSTAFF]Bjoern> Actually, PB is auto-updating - there should never be a reason to manually update PB. Since several PB Versions, the client has a built in (mini) PBWEB . The problems start when PB servers are not using the latest versions, which can cause severe problems. But if the PB Server is fully up to date, and the client pc is properly configured, the problems with auto-updating will be very very rare
<[PBSTAFF]Bjoern> so, we hope that pbweb will be obsolete in the near future for nearly all users

Question #29: Ever considered two versions of PB? One that allows pretty much stand protection and another that cracks down on your PC and doesn't allow you to run hardly any programs that could be a cheat. Something leagues could use but not public servers (make it easier for people to play and pub)?

<[PBSTAFF]Bjoern> well, we have something like that already. "PB Restrictions"
<[PBSTAFF]Bjoern> if these are enabled on the pb server, the pb client checks a lot more
<[PBSTAFF]Bjoern> i guess that is similar to what you're asking here
<[PBSTAFF]Bjoern> the restrictions currently kick for passthrough drivers in Q3 based games for example
<[PBSTAFF]Bjoern> but we'll be expanding that over time
<[PBSTAFF]Stuart> the command is pb_sv_restrictions 0 or 1 with 1 being on

Question #30: I have heard that some hacks aren't really hacks but more of Spyware&Viruses, Does this cause a problem to the team when researching it

<[PBSTAFF]Stuart> We have to be very careful about incoming attachments
<[PBSTAFF]Stuart> we scan all files for virii and such before testing
<[PBSTAFF]Ken> Ys, thats why we tell people not to test any of these hacks, just send them to us insead, much safer for the user

Question #31: will PB use md5 checking to combat against cheaters?

<[PBSTAFF]Stuart> Right now PB has a beta MD5 file check tool in PB servers
<[PBSTAFF]Stuart> http://www.evenbalance.com/index.php?page=md5tool.php
<[PBSTAFF]Stuart> You can find the commands there, but be careful, as a wrong MD5 hash will kick every used out of your server

Question #32: How do you plan on stopping cheats that use hacked drivers, for instance if they hex edit the OpenGL drivers so as far as Punkbuster knows is using the right drivers but then gets redirected to a hacked driver from the edited OPENGL driver?
<[PBSTAFF]Bjoern> we will add detection for it - but we won't say how of course

Question #33: How does pb for ET work GUID wise when someone gets banned from a server, the reason i ask is I banned someone from my server but they game back on with a different GUID. as ET is a free game, how does the guid work ?

<[PBSTAFF]Bjoern> we can't really comment on that - all i can say is that the system will be adapted and changed over time

Question #34: On the subject of updating - Why in the battlefield engine players are kicked literally every 15 minutes or 2-3 times a map for update failures, when the server is 100% updated?

<[PBSTAFF]Bjoern> this issue is being looked into by us and EA. We hope to find the reason soon

Question #35: Honestly, how accurate would you say you're software is?

<[PBSTAFF]Bjoern> very accurate - there have been only a few false detections in the last few years since PB became available, and if there ever is a false violation (we call these false positives) we make a news post about this on our website
<[PBSTAFF]Bjoern> if anyone believes to be kicked and that there is a bug, please contact us at support@evenbalance.com
<[PBSTAFF]Bjoern> and we'll find out what is happening
<[PBSTAFF]Bjoern> and correct this if needed
The next one will be our last question for this session:

Question #36: Why did you choose the name Punkbuster?

<[PBSTAFF]Stuart> We got the name Punkbuster with the root of punk
<[PBSTAFF]Stuart> we got a little flamed at that from some certain social groups...
<[PBSTAFF]Stuart> but we use the dictionary meaning, a Deviant
<[PBSTAFF]Stuart> cheaters are nothing but punks to us, and we take care of them
Ok that concludes our chat session, I would like to thank Bjoern, Stuart, and Ken for sparing their time to anwser a few questions. If you would like more information of punkbuster you can visit it at www.punkbuster.com
<[PBSTAFF]Bjoern> or www.evenbalance.com :)

Last Revision: 04/03/2004