CATAN CHEATERS

[euklid314]

If you have an argument that it is only one person that is cheating on a regular basis (!) then you can report and the account will be moderated and probably even be closed. I have done that before - it works.

You don*t have to discuss that here in the forum, though. Actually you are not even allowed to, if you name players or game numbers. Just report the player, nothing easier than that.

You have not told us how many games you have already replayed and seen suspicious behavior therein. I am interested but please do not quote the suspicious games here but only give me a total number. I have replayed 2 games and 1 of them had suspicious behavior, the other did not. I am too lazy to look further.

Again: Playing always with the same opponents is not against the rules. Playing with your partner on the same IP is not against the rules. I know several couples from real life that play from the same IP and often play with each other. You cannot know if it is one person or two persons. Actually it does not matter. If two accounts ELO cheat as a team then they will be punished anyways - independent of the fact that there is 1 person or 2 person sitting behind the computer.

[Paxdrago]

I have played over 600 games and not have not seen what I would call kingmaking. I have been accused of it when I and another player were being massacred by a third party and started asking each other for help. But that was well into the game and the third party won anyway. The other player and I had never met before and I don't believe we have since. That is not Kingmaking it is simple desperation.

[holomaniac]

I can agree to this. Ive seen 3 teams (same country, elo, kept robbing me despite me being average or lowest victory point player) in the last 10 ish matches... It just makes me not want to play this game, but i dont see any other online alternatives sadly. Once i do see one however Im out of here. I had plans of buying premium and even got the 1 month free offer but i cancelled all of it since clearly they don't care for the players. Very sad indeed

[Suoivax]

I can agree to this. Ive seen 3 teams (same country, elo, kept robbing me despite me being average or lowest victory point player) in the last 10 ish matches... It just makes me not want to play this game, but i dont see any other online alternatives sadly. Once i do see one however Im out of here. I had plans of buying premium and even got the 1 month free offer but i cancelled all of it since clearly they don't care for the players. Very sad indeed

Did you red thumb them?

[HerrVatter]

Guys, this is supposed to be a fun place. And yes sometimes I do play with friends here. But we always try to play fair and not as a team. Sometimes there will be little moves of 'sympathy', though. Just as on any real game table, people have friends, and don't want to hurt them too much. I don't think that's a crime.
If people are blatanty unfair, that's another thing, but that's not a common thing, and that's what the thumbs down button is for.

[Theana]

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

[goldfinger0303]

I think some nuance here is desperately needed to describe what we have a problem with. Cheating is collusion between two players from the start. But "Kingmaking" as people call it here is perfectly fine behavior under the right circumstances. Because there are lots of bad behaviors I've witnessed here compared to in person play.

For example, constantly robbing last place/not checking resources before you rob. It has happened numerous times in my few games on here. I'm talking "last place is the only one with settlements on the tile" robbing. Trying to get a resource from me without realizing that number hasn't been rolled in ages and I never traded.

Second, consistently denying trades with a player and trading with one with more vp instead. Similar vein as above with punishing last place.

Third, completely blocking someone in and taking them out of the game from the start. If someone has no chance of winning (capped at 3 settlements, for example) then they have nothing to play for and it's a * experience. All you're doing is making an enemy.

These are what I'd call "revenge Kingmaking" scenarios and I think its perfectly normal to develop a healthy playing culture. But there are some other ones that come up due to the site's format, and I don't see a way around.

For example, I noticed I was not going to win my game. 1st place was miles ahead, I was in 2nd place (think 5vp vs 8vp with poor resource production). I was probably going to lose my 2nd place spot if the game kept going and drop elo. I was never going to get 1st. So helping 1st place was the best decision. If this was an in person game with good communication between players, yeah the board could've rallied earlier and blunted 1st place's lead. That's ideally how it would go. But the communication just isn't there online, so I don't see a way around it. I suppose it depends on how we define "playing optimally". Is it for the most vp? Or the best ranking?

*moderator edit: please use family-friendly language on BGA.

[LordAnger]

Things are not always as they appear! I was accused of king making a few days ago with a person on the opposite side of the globe. Needless to say, we were not cheating. Alternatively I was playing 2 players from Japan and they appeared to be cheating 5 points each in. However, by the end of the game I was certain they were not.

Point being - don't be too fast to judge!

[holomaniac]

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

[BusterVA]

I am not sure this is as rampant a problem as people think. I have seen cases where I suspect people are "kingmaking" but really have no way to know for sure.

I have also been accused of "kingmaking" several times yet it is not something I have ever done. In fact, I don't know a single person that uses BGA aside from myself. Sometimes one person becomes a target for a variety of reasons, perhaps they are a jerk so people just focus on them, maybe they simply have the right resources, or maybe they are a huge threat.

I beat a person once with an ELO of 400+. One of the best. I did so by getting lots of knights and robbing them to oblivion. I also got lucky with dice rolls. I did not target them for any other reason than really wanting to beat them, and I did.

Sometimes honest strategy comes across as cruel targeting and king making, but it does not make it so.