Board Game Arena

Good morning. First of all, I apologize if my English is bad. I am using ChatGPT to translate this since my native language is Spanish.

I would like to report a player who is using multiple accounts to boost their ELO in the game TICHU. Below, I am providing links to both accounts so you can check their game history, creation date, etc. It is evident that they always play together and win every match.

I still don’t understand how people can cheat like this just to gain ELO. I expected it in video games, but not in board games.

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Apologies if this is not the right place to report this.

Have a great day!

*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.

First, please use the “Report Player” buttons on both player pages if you have a genuine concern. The forum is not the place to name individual players and you could edit your post to remove their account links. A forum moderator may ask you to do so or edit the post for you.

Second, Tichu is only ever a four player game, so to cheat it would likely require four players to collaborate?

The two players you mention may be friends who joined BGA at the same time and enjoy playing (and winning) Tichu together. And to win those games they have to beat a wide range of opponents.

JohnnyCyclops wrote: ↑28 February 2025, 14:31 Second, Tichu is only ever a four player game, so to cheat it would likely require four players to collaborate?

Two players are enough to cheat the system.

Paired in the same team - share hidden information
Otherwise - intentionally play badly while sharing hidden information

Tichu is one of the worst offenders, because colluding players can gain massive advantage by card passing.

If you wanna report them (through the report player button), you need to build a case. Played 11 games together and won them all is worth nothing.

If you have enough evidence (a pattern of many suspicious actions), you need to present it in your report clearly and easy to follow. I don't think moderators are going to replay games without knowing what turn number the suspicious moves are happening and why it is suspicious. Just saying look at these players isn't gonna do anything.

I have done this in the past and the player got moderated. Unfortunately IMO the penalty wasn't adequate (only elo reset and karma reduction but they kept the achievements) so it is unlikely I'll ever do it again. Too much effort for small effect. No hard feelings towards the mods - they work voluntarily and can only do some stuff. I think they should be given more options.

Silene wrote: ↑28 February 2025, 17:34 If you have enough evidence (a pattern of many suspicious actions), you need to present it in your report clearly and easy to follow. I don't think moderators are going to replay games without knowing what turn number the suspicious moves are happening and why it is suspicious. Just saying look at these players isn't gonna do anything.

Adding to this, mods don't necessarily have *any* expertise in a given game to tell if something looks suspicious.

Some things are simple like Connect 4 where it's obvious that one "player" is continually losing to another by never blocking the three discs all placed in a single column at the beginning of the game (a real example of a very sloppy and lazy cheater). Anything slightly more nuanced than that and it's a judgment call by someone who most likely can't tell (no one can know all 1000 games well).

Silene wrote: ↑28 February 2025, 17:34 I have done this in the past and the player got moderated. Unfortunately IMO the penalty wasn't adequate (only elo reset and karma reduction but they kept the achievements) so it is unlikely I'll ever do it again. Too much effort for small effect. No hard feelings towards the mods - they work voluntarily and can only do some stuff. I think they should be given more options.

Can't agree more. The moderation penalty for multiaccount abuse honestly doesn't make sense.

Serious question to BGA - how many people are actually looking at reports?

Does it even matter?
Many reports I submitted ended up with 'Give a simple warning (no penalty)'.

Edit: Challenging the moderation to petition an effective penalty actually worked.

forget about elo
it's only exist like treasure loot in android games to pray on weak people and make money out of them
forget about this player and stop playing with them
forget about report, there's been enough of those during war time

and there's already enough "reporter" on BGA

superpancho wrote: ↑12 March 2025, 08:34 forget about elo

This I agree with.

superpancho wrote: ↑12 March 2025, 08:34 it's only exist like treasure loot in android games to pray on weak people and make money out of them

Explain how BGA makes money off ELO?