Blatant cheating going on in Ark Nova

[JDansp]

<<Note for clarity; this post was heavily moderated after posted, if you want the full story I suggest joining the EMU ark nova discord. Bga has taken swift and just action against the accused.>>

This is not the first season this has happended and there is a group of 4 people ruining the competition for everyone, but let's focus on this season.

*, has had multiple games were opponent concedes or "disconnects" in a winning position.
Despite me being a fairly known player since the start of ark nova on bga and with hell of a ton more games than <certain person>, I have never had an opponent concede to me or mysteriously disconnect in a winning position. So I find it hard to believe this is by coincidence.

<Certain person> also has a suspected second account, "<redacted>" which is 0-4+1 abandon in a winning position against <certain person>, with only 28 games ever played.

Some of the games in question, there is more;
*

I really wish BGA would take immediate action, but despite a lot of reports, nothing has happended yet.
Also noteworthy, he seems to block everyone looking for an explanation instead of providing one.

*Moderation Edit: please do not use the Forums to call out specific tables or players by name, this is what the Moderation Reports are for. The Forums should remain a general discussion.

[korosif]

Well, in this one :

*

On a more serious note, another piece of evidence is the frequency of conceding as soon as the 50% mark is reached, and the conceding is allowed, however winnable the game still is.

*Moderation Edit: please do not use the Forums to call out specific tables or players by name, this is what the Moderation Reports are for. The Forums should remain a general discussion.

[Superbowl Peafowl]

Completely agree. Sam (from sorryimlikethis channel) made a video on the subject.

Considering the amount of time, effort, dedication from best arena players on such a demanding game, it is an absolute shame BGA does nothing about this situation.

@BGA : Do you intend to take position at some time ?

[Wolfstar50]

Very disappointing!
Would be great to see BGA take action before yet another Arena season is compromised.

[Jellby]

If you have evidence against a player, report them. If no action is taken, find more evidence and report them.

In any case, calling out the player in the forums is NOT the right thing to do, and may get you moderated.

[JDansp]

If you have evidence against a player, report them. If no action is taken, find more evidence and report them.

In any case, calling out the player in the forums is NOT the right thing to do, and may get you moderated.

I have reported them and I know plenty of people who has done the same. I solely made this forum post, since the last 3 seasons has been compromissed by the same group of friends, with no action taken from BGA.

Sorry if this post was not appropriate by me, I just think it's very important to highlight for the competitive integrity for BGA's most popular game and I did not know it was against the rules.

[GTSchemer]

I agree, but unfortunately mentioning their name will get you moderated due to the technical rule.

You could mention "the same individual" and I guess it's legal to post, but if the same person has been doing it for multiple seasons, I would assume BGA is not willing to take action on it.

[yazavats]

As much as I hate getting involved and taking sides in this drama, having seen sorryimlikethis's video on the matter of potential collusion, I think the evidence presented is pretty compelling, just short of being a smoking gun. You have a player contesting the arena victory playing against an obvious smurf account, which has the exact same playstyle like them (as indicated by stats), plenty of victories against high elo opponents (master assassin badge with under 30 games), and yet a 0-5 record against the player in question. Including a late game abandon which was a clear win. Even if the account doesn't belong to the same player, there is no doubt this is a case of kingmaking. And the player doesn't respond with any sound explanations when inquired about this. All of this is causing friction in the community and warrants more than just a canned response of "make reports, present evidence" as there has surely been enough of both. A lot of players invest a lot of time and energy into Ark Nova arena and consequently care about the integrity of the contest. JD is convinced enough to call this blatant cheating, and he is one of the most experienced and successful players, so surely the name-calling is out of frustration toward apathy of those who should regulate. I understand BGA staff is swamped with work and thus comes off as detached and uninvolved about things like this, but if you've got multiple top players pointing something out and asking for an inquiry maybe that merits more than being waved off.

[Boisey]

Fully support for JDasp, Observed similar behavior. Seems to be a group of Chinese players, despite them changing names
and country affiliations frequently. It's also very suspicious that many cancellation came from accounts that only existed shortly yet had
high Elo within short time. Another coincidence?
Suggest someone/BGA writes an analysis script for the top 100 and plots the early ending of games vs top players.
Statistics don't lie!
I personally had enough of it!

[Propaganda Panda]

If you have evidence against a player, report them. If no action is taken, find more evidence and report them.

In any case, calling out the player in the forums is NOT the right thing to do, and may get you moderated.

In a perfect world, this would be the way to go, but I can ensure you that the respective player has been reported numerous times already, and no action has been taken despite convincing evidence. The issue has been known and reported many weeks ago, and yet it is still ongoing