Board Game Arena

What does everyone think of playing with people using the same IP? (hotseat feature I assume)

The first time I had an encounter with them, it was in a 2v2 Innovation. And it felt like they had an advantage. I think there was another time I ran into 2 people from the same IP helping each other in a multiplayer game(?) and a couple of times I would join a game then at the last second someone from the same ip joins then the host automatically starts the game and this would be a red sign that something is wrong here.

Probably it is just my bad luck. I guess, since people who have the hotseat feature are people who support BGA by spending money, so doesn't make sense to cheat?

The same IP is not always the hotseat feature, by the way. It could easily happen with two people at the same office, or a computer lab at school. Therefore the premise that it is people who are therefore members and therefore supporting BGA (and therefore less likely to cheat) is incorrect.

That being said, I have had little experience with same IP play. I do think a warning at the table is justified, as if people are wanting to cheat it is easier to communicate and share information if they are in the same room. However, I don't think that same IP play should be forbidden (like I've seen on some other sites). It's just another flag, more red than others.

Hi,
I don't play a lot on BGA, but I once played a game against 2 players with the same IP. I could chat a bit with them, they were a sister and a brother playing from the same room, and they were nice. It was a Stone Age game, so the problem could have been kingmaking more than other forms of cheating, but I didn't notice any kind of kingmaking. One game is not enough to have a general idea, so feedback from other players is welcome. But I think it's nice that BGA allows playing from the same IP, and a warning is enough.

It depends on the game.

I've had horrible experiences playing Love Letter and Colt Express with same IP players. They don't target each other and are at an unfair advantage because of that.

I played Dice Forge and Can't Stop with same IP players and didn't notice any kingmaking or cheating.

The same IP warning is absolutely necessary, and I'm glad that BGA has it.

Intentional or not, people who know each other will generally favor those they know compared to a stranger.

N_Faker wrote: ↑23 May 2019, 19:39 Intentional or not, people who know each other will generally favor those they know compared to a stranger.

Not necessarily. My wife doesn't play here, but in real life gaming she targets me more than other players.

I appreciate the same-IP warning and watch out for cheating, but I've also had games where it was all quite above board. For example, I remember some games against 3 people from the same IP - turned out to be a parent and two children, which seems like a good way of safely exposing teenagers to the interactive online gaming.

If someone looks like they're cheating but it's not clear enough to report it, you can always red-thumb them. Even if you're worried about ELO, one bad game isn't going to kill it forever.

I have no issues playing same IP - have been playing with my kids and would be a bad parent teaching them to cheat. After all also in non same IP games there are "suspicious" moves and coincidences. Had a good laugh when in Love letter first move was played out Baron with Bishop and there was a Princess dropped from hand. Poor Bishop's holder also laughed about odds.

N_Faker wrote: ↑23 May 2019, 19:39 Intentional or not, people who know each other will generally favor those they know compared to a stranger.

That sounds like poor mentality to me, not only does "going soft" on the people you know keep them from enjoying a fair game and replaces it with a game that is skewed in their favor, which would give them wrong impressions about the game and make them much worse in it, it is also quite childish because someone really wants to win even by cheating. Unless you're playing with super casual players who have only played a few games in their lives. Then it is different.

The vast majority of the people I play with online, I do not see favoring players they know. From my experience I can say that there is a minority who do that. Especially on BGA.

Edit: Appreciate all the positive feedback about "same ip".

Did you write both of these posts?

nmego wrote: ↑19 May 2019, 21:56 The first time I had an encounter with them, it was in a 2v2 Innovation. And it felt like they had an advantage. I think there was another time I ran into 2 people from the same IP helping each other in a multiplayer game(?) and a couple of times I would join a game then at the last second someone from the same ip joins then the host automatically starts the game and this would be a red sign that something is wrong here.

nmego wrote: ↑25 May 2019, 13:33

N_Faker wrote: ↑23 May 2019, 19:39 Intentional or not, people who know each other will generally favor those they know compared to a stranger.

That sounds like poor mentality to me, not only does "going soft" on the people you know keep them from enjoying a fair game and replaces it with a game that is skewed in their favor, which would give them wrong impressions about the game and make them much worse in it, it is also quite childish because someone really wants to win even by cheating. Unless you're playing with super casual players who have only played a few games in their lives. Then it is different.

The vast majority of the people I play with online, I do not see favoring players they know. From my experience I can say that there is a minority who do that. Especially on BGA.

Not only do you make my statement out to be far more than it is, at the end, you refute it all by claiming that being 'super casual' is a valid reason to do what you say is cheating.

N_Faker wrote: ↑25 May 2019, 15:32 Not only do you make my statement out to be far more than it is

Edit: Sorry for the huge wall, but I think I understood your statement better that I've reread it a couple times

Edit 2:I agree there is some degree of "favoring" or "anti-favoring" that is present when playing with people you know due to human nature, in most scenarios. but with people who have a relatively large gaming experience the amount of "favoring" is negligible or non-existent most of the time, especially in competitive scenes. Also the fact that in most games you're trying to "go after the leader" or "trying to play the best play" it is hard to find situations where favoring even happens. So I think that even though your statement is true generally, on paper there are a lot of exceptions present everywhere in which favoring is non-existent.

at the end, you refute it all by claiming that being 'super casual' is a valid reason to do what you say is cheating

I guess I should've elaborated more on "then it is different" because It seems like it could be misunderstood quite easily.

When I'm talking about "people who haven't played that many games", they are new to this world, so they don't really know the rules or the etiquette. That's why favoring other players and the like might not sound as big as it should. It might not even sound as cheating. They might treat this as "just a game" etc... That's not a valid reason to cheat at all. Cheating is horrible, no matter who does it.

By "super casuals" in my previous paragraph, I specifically meant "those who haven't played many games", there are probably some super casuals who have a lot of experience, so I have used the word inaccurately there.

To avoid "generalizing". I should add that I'm talking about the "most", and it logically follows that someone "new" or "inexperienced" might not know all the etiquette or be familiar with the world of gaming as a whole.

Did you write both of these posts?

This is a rhetorical question that suggests to me that my two posts have been contradicting each other. But you haven't really mentioned the contradiction, so I'll have to work extra hard to find it.

So the first post talks about my experience with "same ip players" And shows that I'm paranoid in that regard. I've talked about only 2 games + a buncha special scenarios where "someone from the same ip joins at last minute"

The second post talks about how "favoring whoever you know" is a bad mentality. and then I add at the end that I do not see a lot of players do that. I said that the vast majority don't "favor other players" on BGA

So how does the 2 posts contradict each other? To put things in perspective keep in mind the sample size, I've played 3000+ games on BGA. I've only mentioned my experience with "same ip". I haven't mentioned anything else, but I did mention that my experience with them is quite limited. T "2 games + a couple" is tiny compared to 3000 games. So It doesn't contradict my statement that "the vast majority does not favor other players". Heck, this was even supported by all the positive feedback I got from this thread. And I learned that my limited experience with "same ip" players wasn't as accurate as I thought it was.