Official statement of cheating on PBW.

[geoschmo]

I had originally resisted making an official announcment of this. I did not want to give anybody any ideas. However some things have happened that have made it clear to me it's important to get this out in the open.

If you don't already know, we caught a player cheating in multiplayer games on PBW. The exact method is still being investigated by Malfador, but it appears to be either data file manipulation that circumvented the data file checks, or actual hex editing of the player file. The result is that this player accquired technology in several games that they did not legitematly earn.

While we cannot currently prevent this cheat, rest assured it is fairly easy to detect and confirm that a player is doing it.

The player in question, Tankgirl, has ignored our requests for an explanation, and so is in the process of being stricken of playing privileges on PBW. Most of the games they were involved in have already been scrapped, or are in the process of being adjusted to remove them as a player.

However, a nasty sideeffect of this incident is a climate of distrust that is growing among players on PBW. I have had a few occasions of people suspected of cheating that were investigated and found to be doing nothing wrong.

I will do my best to investigate anyone suspected of cheating, but no action will be taken against players unless actual evidence of cheating can be found.

A player having more tech than you in a game, even several levels, is not eveidence of cheating. There are many legitimate ways to accelerate your research in game, ways that will suprise many people in their effectivness. These are not cheating.

Enhancments to your intelligence characteristic.
Rapid expansion and heavy empasis on building research centers.
Trade and research or better treaties with several players.
Technology trading with other players.
Prioritizing ruins in colonization.
Forcing AI or other players to surender.

All of these methods when employed to their maximum can result in a stagering variance in tech level with a player not doing them to their full potential.

Let's not let the cheaters ruin this great game. If you think someone is cheating, let me know. I will check it out. But let's not go on a witch hunt, and let's not assume that everyone who has more tech than you is cheating.

Geoschmo
PBW Admin Team

[disabled]

If you ever need help with stomping out cheaters and such in the PBW, let me know. I've spent a bit of time ensure a number of 'problem people' left SE before they ruined the entire SE community.

[Atrocities]

Fricking cheaters. The lowest form of life alive.

(me bad) My statement was over the top and deleted. What can I say, I simply think people who cheat in Multiplayer should not be playing. If they enjoy cheating, they should stick to playing against the computer. People who cheat against real oppenants do it because they enjoy the thrill and risk involved in it. They do it to be hurtful.

This is another reason to make a PBW subscription club. People who are serious about playing the game and who hate cheaters would more inclined to pay for a "special" area to play games out side of the public area. Subscription Members or whatever, often don't get nailed by cheaters.

[ 08 April 2002: Message edited by: Atrocities ]

[ZeroAdunn]

Wow, this thread is quickly degenerating into a hate thread, and not just of cheaters. Atrocities, man, you managed to insult and offend way more people than I think you intended.

And Hadrian, your comments really made you look like a powerhungry egotistical jerk. No offense, I don't mean that you are.

My point is that, yes cheating is a problem, and it is wrong, but how many of you can say you never cheated? I think you should all watch what you say regarding cheaters, you throw out words that catagorize and profile cheaters, which is stupid and wrong. I hope this thread dies, its sad to see such highly regarded members of the community lowering to this level.

[geoschmo]

I think every reasonable person would agree that cheating is wrong and should not be tolerated. The point of this thread was not to be a place for "I hate cheaters" rants. My intention was to steer people away from that kind of negative talk that always springs up whenever someone is caught cheating. I wanted to set the record straight instead of letting the rumor mill go wild, and to reassure people steps are being taken to prevent it in the future.

I was trying to point out that while there are cheaters that will break the rules, there are also players that just play very aggresive but completely within the rules. Sometimes these players will be labled as cheaters simply because they do well in their games. I hope everyone is smart enough to not fall into that kind of thinking.

If you have something to say, let's keep it civil.

Geoschmo

[Growltigga]

this may be a stupid question but do the cheat codes referred to in the SEIVG manual work on PBW?

my tuppence on cheaters is this, you set out the ground rules for a PBW game, anyone breaks them deliberately by cheating, kick them out of the game and slot in AI to replace them.

End of story, no need to debate

[Bman]

quote:

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Originally posted by Growltigga:
this may be a stupid question but do the cheat codes referred to in the SEIVG manual work on PBW?

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Only if the game owner sets the cheat-code checkboxes when creating the game.

quote:

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my tuppence on cheaters is this, you set out the ground rules for a PBW game, anyone breaks them deliberately by cheating, kick them out of the game and slot in AI to replace them.

End of story, no need to debate

---

The problem with this solution is that the cheating empire typically has an unfair advantage over the other empires. In this case, the cheater had insanely advanced technology. If you turn it over to the AI, then everyone will then abuse AI flaws in order to acquire the techs from the AI, giving them the advantage. The only way to keep the game going is to destroy the cheating empire, removing all traces of its existance from the galaxy

[Growltigga]

quote:

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Originally posted by Bman:
The only way to keep the game going is to destroy the cheating empire, removing all traces of its existance from the galaxy

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Bman, I agree this is what is needed if you want to set a level playing field

I think the way round this is for Geo to step into the game, take over the cheaters' empire, and try the Tesco Samoa roleplay whereby the whole empire disappears off to another galaxy

Removes the problem, is a bit of fun, and lets Geo practice his amateur dramatics

[Grayhorse]

Um,

I maybe stupid in my thinking, but doesnt PBW have checks and balances set to detect the cheats? When I was reading there faqs, i thought I read that.

[geoschmo]

PBW itself doesn't, but SEIV does. In this specific case the person devised a way to circumvent those.

Geoschmo