dublication bug & server crashes (RE)

[Andreas Vogl <andi.vogl@gmx.net>]

Hi,

This is about the dublication bug again, a way to dublicate items.
Please read my original mail in case you haven´t done it yet.

Sat, 17 Jun 2000, Mark Wedel <mwedel@scruznet.com> wrote:

> The right solution is of course to fix the crashing of the server.
> If there really are hundreds of different ways to crash the server,
> that is pretty bad. I would really guess there are just a few that
> the players will continually exploit.

I would love to agree to that - but I´m afraid there are much
more ways than we can imagine. Here´s a list of all the
possibilities to crash a cf-server 0.95.5 I know.
Some of them have already been fixed, others are in discussion yet.
But they are still all present in the original distribution 0.95.5
and so they are on most online-servers like <voldsboks.pvv.org>.

how to crash a crossfire-server 0.95.5:

- enter "dumptag" in the commandline.
  (Btw - If this command still makes it into the next
  original distribution, it should at least be renamed
  to "crash_server" because that´s all it ever did) ;-)

- start a new char, equip it with a weapon that has
  attacktype "death", and hit a kobold-generator.
  (=> death: attackers level 0 - defender level 0 => floating
  exception => crash)

- with the windows client:
  enter some incredible long text into the chatline
  (like 50 ascii-chars) and press <say>.

- enter a buggy map like dragonhangar
  (a fix should already exist somewhere)

- talk to the thief in /city/anthony/prison
  (currently in discussion)


I believe there are many more out there, waiting for us
to be discovered. While there is one single bug left in the code,
players will find a way to crash the server, I guess. =(
And one single way is enough for the dublication bug to work.

That certainly doesn´t mean it wouldn´t be important to fix
those crashing-bugs too! Just that it won´t be enough to get
rid of this nasty dub-bug.

Sat, 17 Jun 2000, Mark Wedel <mwedel@scruznet.com> wrote:

> Right now, I'm more concerned with saving in treasure rooms and
> the like - a more honest/non destructive cheat if you like
> (as it still works even if you can't crash the server).  I would
> like to get that solved, and then see if that fixes/addresses
> either of the two cheats above [dub-bug] as side effects.

Sure, the "treasure room" bug is important as well (People
disconnecting in treasure rooms and reconnecting after map reset).
But the dublication bug shouldn´t be underestimated.
Solving the treasure room bug doesn´t improve the situation while
players are able to dublicate items at will.
And we shouldn´t forget that it is not only necessary to
concern about map resets. We must also concern about what
happens with the inventory of a player after a crash
(-> dub-bug version 2 in my original mail).

I think one of the main problems of crossfire is that it
gets too easy after a short time of play. And the dublication
bug is one of the major causes.

As everybody might have noticed, solving it is not all that easy,
but we could find a way, I´m sure.

					Andreas Vogl

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