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Palworld continues to be an incredible success seeing a 24 hour peak player count of 527,994 but cheating is causing problems, so the developers plan to address it with new anti-cheat.

Writing in a fresh update on Steam they said a player list will be coming at the end of this month for servers, to help people better deal with nuisances. Additionally though, they will also be adding "an external anti-cheat solution to take measures against particularly frequent fraudulent activities and cheating". However, fear not Linux / Steam Deck players, as it will be optional for community servers, single player, and co-op. Seems like it will just be for official servers.

So hopefully that means there will be no unexpected issues with it suddenly being unplayable like we've seen when other games have added anti-cheat in the past, and like the upcoming breaking update for Plants vs. Zombies Garden Warfare 2 with EA Anti-Cheat.

The game has, as games do, dropped down from it's ridiculously high release player count which peaked overall at 2,101,867. The drop caused some other gaming news sites to run articles about the drop in players. This caused the Community Manager at Pocketpair, Bucky, to write a long post on X (formerly Twitter) calling such articles "lazy". A snippet from the post:

This emerging "Palworld has lost X% of its player base" discourse is lazy, but it's probably also a good time to step in and reassure those of you capable of reading past a headline that it is fine to take breaks from games. You don't need to feel bad about that. Palworld, like many games before it, isn't in a position to pump out massive amounts of new content on a weekly basis. New content will come, and it's going to be awesome, but these things take a little bit of time. There are so many amazing games out there to play; you don't need to feel guilty about hopping from game to game.

Some wise words there.

Palworld is currently rated Steam Deck Playable and works great on Desktop Linux thanks to Proton. You can find it in Early Access on Steam.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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15 comments

williamjcm Feb 19
Quoteyou don't need to feel guilty about hopping from game to game.

Well, I'll keep feeling guilty especially when it prevents me from completing games I put on hold months/years ago.

*glances at games like Boneworks, Monster Hunter World, or WH40K Mechanicus, to name just three out of maybe hundreds*
soulsource Feb 19
QuoteThere are so many amazing games out there to play; you don't need to feel guilty about hopping from game to game.
From a (non-Ubisoft, non-EA) game developer's perspective that's actually pretty beneficial. If people play a lot of different games, they pay for a lot of different games after all.
Pengling Feb 19
Quotebut it's probably also a good time to step in and reassure those of you capable of reading past a headline that it is fine to take breaks from games. You don't need to feel bad about that.
QuoteThere are so many amazing games out there to play; you don't need to feel guilty about hopping from game to game.
How utterly refreshing to see a representative saying that it's ok to play video games as you want and not be suckered in by predatory "engagement" tactics/predatory monetisation that's literally unregulated gambling/etc..
Linux_Rocks Feb 19
Pokémon?

Nezchan Feb 20
Valheim went through the same character arc, I recall. A lot of attention all at once, which tapered off as people got through the early content and went to play something else for a while. Causing some folks to get weird about how there wasn't immediately new updates every other week.

Not unexpected to see the same thing here.
tohur Feb 20
Well hopefully they use a compatible Anti-cheat so we can use it on Linux as I run a server and have seen a few hackers/cheaters and would like to run the anti-cheat on my server and still be able to play on my Arch install.. if not guess Palworld will get moved to my Windows VM
redneckdrow 10 years Feb 20
I hate making generalizations, but most of those who cry about games not being updated daily/weekly tend to be of the generation that never grew up in an era before the internet was popular. The concept of a "finished" game apparently computes to "dead" in the minds of anyone under 30-35.

Explaining that patches didn't exist in an easy-to-obtain format back then is like trying to teach calculus to a neanderthal.

Never let a modern kid handle an 8/16-bit computer of any sort if you like your CRT. I found that out the hard way.

What's worse, children under ~10 expect every screen to be a touch screen. I still remember being shown one when they were a novelty in '94 and thinking "Who would use this when buttons and a keyboard are so convenient?" I still hate touch interfaces 30 years later.
Quoting: redneckdrowWhat's worse, children under ~10 expect every screen to be a touch screen. I still remember being shown one when they were a novelty in '94 and thinking "Who would use this when buttons and a keyboard are so convenient?" I still hate touch interfaces 30 years later.
Yeah. I mean, sure, if you don't have a mouse and you don't have a keyboard, then OK, I guess a touch screen. And if the interface is built with that in mind, it works OK. But for a normal computer I don't get the appeal. My laptop actually has a touch screen, because I bought a laptop that didn't have one, and it broke shortly after, and they replaced it with a different one, slightly newer model I guess, that had a touch screen, so here I am. And . . . I never use it, because why would I want to get finger marks on my screen? Plus mouse is just easier. But sometimes when a crumb or something gets on the screen and I go to flick it off, that does something and I'm like "argh, bloody touch screen!"


Last edited by Purple Library Guy on 20 February 2024 at 7:27 am UTC
Linux_Rocks Feb 20
Quoting: redneckdrowNever let a modern kid handle an 8/16-bit computer of any sort if you like your CRT. I found that out the hard way.
I'd beat the living shit outta the bastard if a kid did anything to my stuff. As it is I make my friends wash their hands before playing my stuff, and I flat out tell them that I don't know where they've been. lol

I don't have children and don't want them. Both cause of how I was a little shit as a kid, and also cause I don't want to condemn a child to this dystopian hellscape.

I don't even like my Dad and I still apologized to him for wrecking some of his stuff as a kid. XD


Last edited by Linux_Rocks on 20 February 2024 at 8:35 am UTC
TheRiddick Feb 20
We have seen this optional thing happen before then you have 99.99% of servers using it anyway forcing Linux users to play in their own little echo-system.

Still a major thorn in Linux Gaming's side, this kernel or even normal anti-cheat software.
LungDrago Feb 20
Quoting: TheRiddickWe have seen this optional thing happen before then you have 99.99% of servers using it anyway forcing Linux users to play in their own little echo-system.

Still a major thorn in Linux Gaming's side, this kernel or even normal anti-cheat software.

While we can all definitely agree that it sucks when we can't play something on Linux that otherwise runs great, except for the anti cheat, there's a lot to be said about anti cheat software being flawed on a fundamental level and fully supporting such software on Linux makes next to no sense.
What is most baffling is how quickly both developers and gamers adopt them, even though their effectiveness is questionable and they often end up hurting normal paying customers more than they hurt actual cheaters.


Last edited by LungDrago on 20 February 2024 at 10:02 am UTC
Pengling Feb 20
Quoting: Purple Library GuyBut sometimes when a crumb or something gets on the screen and I go to flick it off, that does something and I'm like "argh, bloody touch screen!"
That really threw me when I first got my GPD Win Max 2021 - and it's even more annoying there, because you still have to manually set display rotation for it in Linux (it's one of so many handhelds with a 1280x800 or 1280x720 display, where the panel is a mobile one bolted on sideways and of course reports as 800x1280/720x1280), and when you do that, the touch inputs don't rotate with it!

Luckily, there's usually an option to disable the touch, anyway, and that was what I did - might be worth looking for.


Last edited by Pengling on 20 February 2024 at 2:46 pm UTC
Quoting: PenglingLuckily, there's usually an option to disable the touch, anyway, and that was what I did - might be worth looking for.
I should have thought of that. I'll check it out, thanks!
Pengling Feb 20
Quoting: Purple Library GuyI should have thought of that. I'll check it out, thanks!
No problem. Sorry I didn't provide a clue as to where it is - I don't know what desktop-environment you're using, and it's been so long since I messed with it I can't remember right off where it is on my own, haha! (Something at the back of my mind is saying it's found in Settings > Mouse and Touchpad on Mint Xfce, but I'm not 100% sure on that!)
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