Bots in Garden Blast

Yet still nothing happens. Detecting cheating in Garden Blast appears to be something EA/Pogo is not involved with.

So glad you posted this, Wolfny. I knew I couldn't be the only one noticing. And yeah, I tried reporting on this forum and just got an error page, so I was just posting everywhere. At least someone has finally taken notice.

I'm seeing this in almost every single tournament now. Today it's an impossible 91 rockets per minute - I really don't think anyone but a bot can 'save' and use that many rockets. Reporting players in-game just sends me to an 'Error 404' page at EA, so I've been reporting each time using the Submit a Report form.

Great. I'll follow developments. Thanks for taking this seriously. You're always good at your job, abbycattx. 

burnsbumble​ 

I understand your concern and confusion. Please be assured that this has been brought to the attention by other players as well and our Community Manager EA_Lanna​ recently made a statement and directions regarding this matter > Garden Blast - tournaments have major glitch | EA Forums - 12545391

"Does EA have anti-cheat detection? " Yes, 100%

Detection Features

• Real-time monitoring of suspicious behavior
• Automated and manual review systems
• Frequent updates based on community reports and cheat evolution
• EA Javelin article > Introducing EA Javelin Anticheat

With technology everchanging there are some bad actors that will find loopholes, this is why player reports are helpful in detecting these issues for the team.

Thanks for the reply, abbycat, and for the breakdown. I still can't reconcile the size of that gap. I understand time zones and power-up strategies, but when the top player has tens of thousands of points and second place has only a few hundred, that doesn't seem like a credible or creditably earned lead. Even if someone started the moment the tournament opened and used every booster they’d stockpiled for months, the math doesn’t work—especially given the points awarded per win. I’m not accusing anyone directly, but are there safeguards in place to prevent this sort of thing? I've also seen a top score of this magnitude suddenly appear in first place without visibly climbing the leaderboard. Does EA have anti-cheat detection? What would trigger a review? If these are real people, as you say, I can't imagine how they earn these kinds of scores.

I keep posting these in various places because I can't find a thread about it or open a new one: see this serious bot infestation on these Garden Blast tournament leaderboards. This is within a few hours of the tournament beginning: note the difference in scores, please. I've posted this five times now. Will SOMEONE PLEASE PAY ATTENTION and do something about this? What's the point of playing when cheaters/bots make winning these pseudo-tournaments impossible?

Another bot with thousands of points within hours of tournament beginning.