Board Game Arena

boardgamesmue wrote: ↑28 August 2026, 01:41

FrankJones wrote: ↑28 August 2026, 01:24 What do you mean "slow action and no action"?

Reporting bots and smurf accounts, even with proof, rarely results in a ban or suspension. Or it takes ages. So you will run against those often enough again.

I doubt this very much.
Most likely, the reason BGA staff responds slowly or not at all is because BGA staff doesn't see any actual evidence.

Most claims I've seen of playing against a bot had no supporting evidence other than "this player is playing fast and playing well."
Which can be immediately dismissed as nonsense. Good players can play fast and play well.

The Smurf account is mostly nonsense too. Usually reported by players who cannot fathom that someone might already be good at a game before playing it on BGA.

I've played a lot of games on BGA, and I have run into zero bots and one Smurf. (The Smurf player admitted it in the chat for some reason.)

The notion that this is a widespread frequently occurring issue is not really supported by much evidence.

What does likely occur often enough to be annoying:

1) Multi-accounters playing at the same table.

2) Players cheating the arena system by using red thumbs to block the top-rated players and pick up cheap wins against low rated players, thereby competing with the actual good players despite not being on their level.