In an effort to block cheaters from entering its massively multiplayer online game, Lineage II, NCsoft integrated the anti-hacking software, nProtect GameGuard into the Lineage II client late last week.

For Lineage II players this should be a welcome relief, as GameGuard will cut down on the number of automated bot farmers that plague players. Bot farmers are automated programs designed to access game clients and run a character in the game that collects loot, usually for personal gain for its designer. The bots often will inhabit an area of the game where monsters frequently spawn in order to kill and take the currency or items the defeated monster drops. However, frequently, bots do not differentiate between monsters or the average player wandering through the area. So many legitimate players are killed by unfairly buffed up bots.

"This has been a problem for just about every massively multiplayer game that has ever been published," said Aaron Rigby, NCsoft's North American producer for Lineage II. "But with the introduction of this protecting software, NCsoft has taken a big step forward to protect players and end the nuisance that bots create, as well as keeping cheaters out of the game."

GameGuard works by detecting and blocking hacks and botting tools that are commonly used to farm or cheat in MMOs like Lineage II. When a player logs on to Lineage II, GameGuard verifies that no hacking scripts intended to modify the game are running, and verifies the data stream to the Lineage II servers. If a hack is found, the client is not permitted to run.

nProtect GameGuard has been implemented in NCsoft games in Asia with positive results.