#enforcing a rootkit to ban a few xerath mains was not on my 2024 bingo card

[kassandras-one-braincell]

I'm no longer gonna be able to comfortably play my special interest, which fucking sucks. Rant under cut. It's about League of Legends and Riot's anti-cheat software, Vanguard, if you're interested.

Riot Vanguard (vgk) is a kernel-level software that scans all of a system's processes to detect cheat engines, which itself is fine - industry standard - except it boasts a particular effectiveness due to how it's run. Vgk runs on start-up so that it's running before a user has the chance to launch a cheat engine, and it can ID hardware so that if a player is caught cheating, they won't be able to play again on the same device. Unless it is disabled manually, it will run 24/7, whereas other AC software will start and stop in line with the game's execution.

It's more effective than other AC software, but it absolutely bricked some PCs back upon its initial release when Valorant dropped in 2020. This was a new game, fresh code, but the anti-cheat borders on a fucking rootkit - a term I'm using liberally, because vgk isn't malware, but it works in the same way on a systemic level. Equally as invasive, and can potentially be equally as destructive; one of those is intended, and the other is an unfortunate by-product of invasive software being developed by a video game company.

League of Legends is a 15 year old game with some pretty tragic code. If vgk caused people to bluescreen after exiting Valorant, then even more people are going to encounter issues with the shitshow that is LoL's code base.

Three weeks ago, an attempt to fix a bug regarding an in-client feature fucked over a far more significant API in several major servers. Every time a particular game-mode called "Clash" launches (every other month or so), it bricks the servers. This is currently a running gag in the community: that whenever the client acts up (embarrassingly often for such a well-funded game) Riot must be dropping Clash early. But when you introduce a bloody rootkit into the mix that runs in tandem with spaghetti code and beyond the closing of the game app, this is going to undoubtedly fuck some computers up.

I'm not someone who cheats at games, but I care about my system too much to risk this. Something that relies on the BIOS, that is known to have caused permanent damage to systems while running alongside a much better programmed game, that continuously scans your system while it's active (and always activates upon start-up until disabled) is obscenely risky. With a 24/7 invasive software, it can disable drivers regardless of what you're playing and when; the worst cases - plural - I've read about anecdotally were people's cooling systems being disabled erroneously by vgk, causing gpu melting. You bet any antivirus software you have installed is going to scan without pause because of it, which will cause more system-wide performance issues, too.

There's also the (albeit minor) risk of other scripts triggering the uh-oh alarm and leading to unfair account bans, and I've poured almost 7 years into this game. I mod some of my single-player games and write scripts. No thanks.

And while I'm lucky enough to have a decent system, the TPM 2.0 and secure boot requirement for Windows 11 users means that vgk will effectively - while the phrase is crude, I haven't seen a concise alternative - "class-ban" League players. Similar to the release of OW2, where a unique SIM was required for every account, including existing ones until that got changed after enough backlash - except buying a phone number is far cheaper than buying a laptop or PC. Even with the requirements, the performance issues will tank low-end systems, which would already be at higher risk of hardware fuckery from increased and extended cpu usage. And the game is currently designed to be comfortably playable on low-end rigs, so it will force-out a good number of players.

If you play League and intend to continue playing after vgk is made mandatory in Jan/Feb 2024, give it a few months after it goes live before you play. That's enough time for any catastrophic issues to unfold, because if the testing period was anything like it is for game features, it won't be sufficient, and the number of cases of system damage will be worse than it was for Valorant upon release.

This rant does read like I'm trying to dissuade people from playing post-vgk, and I'm not, but I am urging people to be cautious and informed on the legitimate controversies surrounding Vanguard, especially anything hardware related. Familiarise yourself with how the program works and assess whether your system will likely be affected, and how permanent any damage could be to your hardware. Read forums (that aren't moderated by Riot employees where possible) and verify the information you're reading. Including this. It's 3:30am and I'm writing this angrily, so my limited explanations of the software could stand to be more thorough.

I'm hoping that there will be enough of a reduction in League's ~200m monthly player-base to spark a reversal in the decision to implement vgk. Not out of consideration for people who don't want to install a rootkit for a video game, but because Riot would lose money and shit their corporate britches.

Having to say goodbye to my favourite game, a universe I love and one of the more significant outlets to socialisation in my life absolutely sucks, though. The actual season changes looked super cool too, and I was stoked about Ambessa coming to the game. I'll enjoy the game while I can, but yeah this feels like a bitter breakup lmao.

#enforcing a rootkit to ban a few xerath mains was not on my 2024 bingo card #i think i've encountered two cheaters in my 7 years of playing #rant post #league posting