Hypocrisy of the situation - kingmaking, cheating

[Ricky2017]

I made a report.
I had tried clicking on the other types of report, and BGA would only tell me that all I can do is red-thumbing them. But the first option (they face each other to climb elo, something like this, the top-most option) allowed me to actually write a report. One problem I had with selecting this option is that they rarely get much elo out of it, since the games always end on a quit.

Yes me too. I don't know why so many dunces want to game a system that provides no monetary reward. It seriously ruins the enjoyment of the game and there is nothing you can do about it. Anyway due to the moderating framework is broken. I will check again in 3 months time. I don't think Catan, the only game I enjoy playing, will ever be fixed. Certainly no reason for me to subscribe to this service.

[PCWX07]

The flip side of this though is players calling double teaming or Kingmaker if they are being targeted because they have the strongest position and likely to win the game. I have had this numerous times. they feel entitled to cry kindmaker just because they are getting targeted with the robber because it is clear that they have the strongest position, but they don't see this and threaten to report. in my last game the player who cried kingmaker influenced the other player to not even steal from them, ended up not stealing at all and the the kingmaker crier ran away with the game. It had gotten so bad that I reacted to this behaviour as juvenile in another game and got report and docked 50 karma points.

When it has happened to me recently. A player targeted me only, my wood resource, from the get go. I was their biggest threat to winning. instead of cyring kingmaker or playing together against me, I appreciated that the player was intelligent on what the board was showing, as it should be. Too many player whining kingmaker or double reaming. If you are in a strong position or leading you are the target. Simple

[Serbona]

looks like i will start playing 2 vs 1 too. i don't want to waste time on a game i already lost and if i try to leave the game i lose elo
lately I see that mostly such accounts create the game, probably because there are less and less players who do not do such things. the moderators do nothing about it, none of the ones I reported were sanctioned
if the moderators read this post let them know that they made me do such a shameful move because they are not doing anything about it !

[euklid314]

looks like i will start playing 2 vs 1 too. i don't want to waste time on a game i already lost and if i try to leave the game i lose elo
lately I see that mostly such accounts create the game, probably because there are less and less players who do not do such things. the moderators do nothing about it, none of the ones I reported were sanctioned
if the moderators read this post let them know that they made me do such a shameful move because they are not doing anything about it !

The two players you are probably talking about have indeed been systematically cheating for all of their 33 games in the last 2 months.
They have a total win rate of 29+11 wins out of 33 games - many of the wins are shared since their opponents quit in frustration.

I have just reported them and I have included all their 33 games in the report. This is important since one game can never be a proof of systematic cheating. Since one of the players has already reached ELO top100 with their cheating I am absolutely sure that they will be moderated.

Serbona, look at those accounts in 2-4 weeks and you will see that they have been moderated and have lost all their ELO.

[LightKnight]

I can confirm that we do see some action from the moderators, and for instance the ones I brought up about a few comments ago have been banned.
The biggest problem to me is how non transparent this all is. And it's also not really realistic to make players report all the kingmakers' / cheaters' games. Though, to be fair, the moderation does need enough material to judge it, and I guess it's also not really realistic to have moderators check all of a player's games after they received a few reports.
I don't know... As a matter of fact, it seems that Catan overall, on the whole internet, always attracts a toxic community. I really wonder why that is, I don't see what in the rules or in anything makes this more likely than in other games. Maybe the fact that it's both a popular game and one where you can target other players and kingmake (and other issues) (other popular games like 7 Wonders don't bring you as much cheating potential, and games like BattleSheep are not as popular)
Overall it's a complicated situation...

[euklid314]

I can confirm that we do see some action from the moderators, and for instance the ones I brought up about a few comments ago have been banned.
The biggest problem to me is how non transparent this all is. And it's also not really realistic to make players report all the kingmakers' / cheaters' games. Though, to be fair, the moderation does need enough material to judge it, and I guess it's also not really realistic to have moderators check all of a player's games after they received a few reports.
I don't know... As a matter of fact, it seems that Catan overall, on the whole internet, always attracts a toxic community. I really wonder why that is, I don't see what in the rules or in anything makes this more likely than in other games. Maybe the fact that it's both a popular game and one where you can target other players and kingmake (and other issues) (other popular games like 7 Wonders don't bring you as much cheating potential, and games like BattleSheep are not as popular)
Overall it's a complicated situation...

I am glad that your moderation request was successful. The one I did approx. a year ago was successful too and the one I did less than a week ago was successful as well. One of the cheating players is now blocked (from chatting?) at the moment, and the other player lost 170 Elo points and was reset to 200. Since they seem to continue their cheating strategy I might have to report them again in some weeks and their accounts will be deleted...

I agree, LightKnight, that the way to report such cheaters is far from obvious. But if it were more clear how to report and which offenses trigger a moderation there would be more (false?) accusations - perhaps overwhelming the moderation team - and the cheaters would also be able to adapt and refine their strategy to avoid moderation...

Since you wrote earlier that cheating is not happening in most games, I think that we can live with the options we have: Play on or simply quit the game if you think cheating is obvious and you cannot stand being teamed on (the Elo and Karma penalty is small anyways). And then either react with red thumbs or a moderation request - as is best appropriate to the situation...

[eraform]

You are not the only one who has reported the inadequacy of the team that manages this website, or of the reporting system. I am kind of disgusted by the excuses made in favor of those who commit the fault. Especially those who use "friendship" to do so. As if being friends with someone is a pass justifying antisocial behavior. It is not.
Most probably the management team does not want to deal with the issue because subscriptions are involved. In that case, you are right not to buy one, but you will most certainly have to settle with the red thumb system.