Earlier quoted context omitted.
On a counter-strike 1.6 server I help with moderating, we have the occasional cheater roll by, surprisingly often "ragehacking" with no attempt at subtlety (e.g. making noscope sniper headshots in mid air). Since the server owner insists on allowing non-steam accounts (pirated copies) to connect we can't rely on SteamID bans, similarly to GUID in Unreal. It's a bit trickier to change the spoofed ID as I assume it's b…
It seems to me that what is needed is a "provisional" server that grants you access to the "good" server. So an GUID accumulates reputation after some amount of play in the provisional server. If you get enough reputation by not cheating, the GUID gets whitelisted for the "good" server. You can have multiple tiers, so the really good/fun people get to the third of fourth tier of demonstrated non-cheating. If they che…
The VIP system somewhat works for this anyway, regulars who hang around long enough to become familiar to admins, as well as everyone playing through steam, get a couple extra seconds grace in anti-camp areas, reload their guns in 250ms instead of 1800ms, and get green chat text and a "VIP" tag.
Plus, some of our regulars have played the game since release and are so good it's suspicious sometimes. Several regularly have cheating accusations leveled at them cause they're so good. The server automatically records a demo every game and gives admins ESP in spectate mode, so it's simple to spot cheaters, and easy to prove innocence in the case of a false ban.