Bot “Player” cannot be reported to BGA

[brdgrgg]

Hello,

Earlier, I played against an opponent who is very likely a bot. BGA seems to have no way to report this, so I’m posting it here in hopes of a mod to see it. This account is four months old, has a 92% win rate, has Japanese text for their bio but lists their language as English, and most convincingly averages only three of thinking time per game of Ark Nova. They were impossibly fast and played an absolutely perfect game with every turn taken instantly. Below is the link to their stats page for AN.

https://boardgamearena.com/playerstat?id=***

Please, BGA mods, add an option to let people report obvious matches against inhuman opponents.

Naming a player, even if it is only by linking to a table or a profile, is not something we want to see here. Whatever the reason may be.

[yazavats]

It's likely a smurf account, not a bot. If you're not familiar with the term, a smurf is an experienced player who creates a new account to quickly elo farm. This one has their animation speed set to instant, and if they make their decisions during your turns that's how their speed of play can come of as botlike. A turn average above 30 and an elo below master suggest their gameplay isn't "absolutely perfect" or optimal. Smurf accounts are common in Ark Nova and you can report them as such but unless you can link them to someone as a secondary account or prove the account has been used to elo boost another BGA is unlikely to take action.

[lefalaf]

Or instead of a smurf, it's just someone who innocently just started playing Ark Nova here, but has played enough IRL to be quite good.

[yazavats]

Or instead of a smurf, it's just someone who innocently just started playing Ark Nova here, but has played enough IRL to be quite good.

Sure, but you can give that benefit of doubt to anyone who checks all the smurf boxes like this player does. They shot up straight to a certain elo. So there's a minor probability it's someone with a lot of competitive over the table experience who knows the game's meta, and a much larger probability it's a smurf since they're common on Ark Nova BGA. If it quacks like a duck etc.

[BlueSwan]

Or instead of a smurf, it's just someone who innocently just started playing Ark Nova here, but has played enough IRL to be quite good.

Link doesn't work, so I can't check this specific case, but generally I would say that is highly unlikely. Even if you play Ark Nova IRL constantly, the level is very unlikely to be even close to the level of top BGA players. Especially when you know how prevalent smurf accounts are.

[lefalaf]

Or instead of a smurf, it's just someone who innocently just started playing Ark Nova here, but has played enough IRL to be quite good.

Link doesn't work, so I can't check this specific case, but generally I would say that is highly unlikely. Even if you play Ark Nova IRL constantly, the level is very unlikely to be even close to the level of top BGA players. Especially when you know how prevalent smurf accounts are.

Is there actual proof of there being a lot of smurf accounts or are you all just making baseless claims? Rare I could believe. Being a major problem sounds doubtful.

Maybe I'm just unable to see the benefit in giving up one's elo to play weak players for an unsatisfying win. I don't see the point, but then again popular games seem to bring out the worst people (in addition to good ones).

[lefalaf]

To the OP, report the player with the button at the top of their profile, if you haven't found it already. And provide any evidence you have. It is definitely against BGA policy to smurf.

[yazavats]

Is there actual proof of there being a lot of smurf accounts or are you all just making baseless claims? Rare I could believe. Being a major problem sounds doubtful.

Maybe I'm just unable to see the benefit in giving up one's elo to play weak players for an unsatisfying win. I don't see the point, but then again popular games seem to bring out the worst people (in addition to good ones).

I have neither implied it's a major problem nor quantified smurf prevelance. I used the term "common" because it's relative enough to explain that you're bound to run into one every once in a while if you play the game here competitively for long enough. I'm not gonna pull figures out of my a** as to how prevalent they are.

An inexperienced player made a post about runinng into what they thought was a bot and I gave my feedback in the form of an assessment made on the basis of experience.

As to why people smurf, reasons vary I suppose. They like padded stats, they like anonymity their previous account didn't provide anymore, their previous account got banned cause of collusion, and so on. They don't noob stomp forever, just until they get into elite arena.

It seems you read my initial response and assumed the position that smurfs aren't a thing because of idealistic notions. Anyone who's played this game here long enough knows they're a thing and how to recognize them. It doesn't affect the game experience as long as they're not fresh in their smurfing process and their elo/ranking corresponds to their skill. If they're underrated, then it sucks cause it's not a fair points exchange.

And that's it. I didn't respond to OP to campaign against smurfs, I just filled them in on what I think their experience was.

[FrankJones]

Actual evidence of this player being a smurf is non-existent. What exactly is there to report?

"Hi BGA admins, I am repotting this player because this player is very good at the game" ? Most likely, whoever reads that report will be more inclined to punish the person making the report for wasting their time with a baseless accusation.

Why are some people in this thread being so dismissive of the notion that the player just might have already been very good at the game before playing on BGA?

Most of the games I have played on BGA are games in which I had a lot of experience before playing on BGA.

[yazavats]

Actual evidence of this player being a smurf is non-existent. What exactly is there to report?

Something I mentioned in my first reply. Unless you have proof it is someone's secondary account or is being used for collusion, BGA won't take action.

Why are some people in this thread being so dismissive of the notion that the player just might have already been very good at the game before playing on BGA?

Something I elaborated on in my second reply. There is possible and there is probable. The account passes the duck test, is all.

Again, this thread was started by someone thinking they've played an inhuman opponent. I merely pointed out what I think is likely the actual case. I don't know why that bit of feedback was interpreted as me calling for an anti-smurf crusade.