Re: WAR CHEATS! HELP

We know they are cheaters because they expend more energy than is possible at the beginning of the campaign.  It's not possible for one player to use 7 or 8 Magnetism attacks in the first 15 minutes of the war.

Hi lelik19900,

You have touched on 2 major issues in the war games and contingent where you are at the moment dictates which one is more important. The bubble issue is frustrating but it is legal, our intent is to propose a “shot clock” that is fair for all parties which is why I press for 18 hours. 

As far as cheating is concerned, it is illegal - it’s a liability to the the game, it creates dissolution for active players and it’s just plain wrong. Until you have faced teams that take shots and immediately hide in the bubble, who build energy at a rate that is well beyond normal, who shoot you while you’re conducting repairs inside the bubble, etc. it’s difficult to determine what is more important.

Simply put, the documentation that has been provided and subsequently removed from this forum has shown a clear picture of what’s taking place and the good news is EA is slowly and methodically addressing the issue one report at a time.This is about so much more than a club being upset because they lost. Good luck to you and your team.

(PS: I’ve played the game since the beginning as well and have actually won the Megalopolis level a few times prior to the exploits running wild in CoM).

Hi lelik19900,

I missed this, I’m sorry. I wish I had a good answer for you but with the “short cuts” folks are taking its not simple. The last time I invested the time and energy into trying to win the Megalopolis level I scored 108K and had a 4K lead with 15 minutes left - when I returned from work I still had a 4K lead on who was in 2nd place. The winning mayor put up 35k in the last 15 minutes and finished at 127k and the 2nd place finisher put up 30k to finish at 118K. To this day I don’t know how you can put up that many points in such a short time span...legally. Since that point I just play for the points needed to get the next level chest for the club.

I spent a year at Megalopolis level and never won.  Got close a few times, but honestly it was not worth the "stress" that is created.  I dropped CoM and I've never been happier.  Now we're on to a new set of problems with war and the cheaters there.  It's really a shame that EA won't do more.  I've been playing this game for years and this is the first time I can really say I feel like they truly are not listening.  I think I'm just about done with SC unfortunately.

Hi ttony1973,

I really hate to hear that, this is suppose to be relaxing and fun and not stressful and frustrating. The war games have brought in an element of players that quite frankly are in the process of destroying the game. Before the advent of the mayor’s clubs all you had to be concerned with were feeder cities and the consortium - it was a challenge but you knew every week you had an outside shot. Today, not so much if you want to maintain your integrity. There is an element of the game you enjoy, focus on that if you can. For me, it’s the sharing and the fellowship with the wonderful folks in our club, trying to honor the memory of our late President by keeping her dream alive, learning and sharing with the great folks in the forum, and with the stubborn resolution that economics will force this game to be cleaned up. Best of luck to you my friend on any decision you make.

Hi lelik19900,

As frustrating as it is for you guys it’s probably more frustrating for them. I don’t know how far in the battle you are but be cautious, you may have only seen the first wave...time zones can be tricky especially when competing with global teams. Good luck.

Another war, another cheater...our current opponent used 19 energy in the first fifteen minutes.  We reported them and EA will do nothing like they have the last three times now.  What other options do we as honest players have?

So far our only option is to deliberately lose enough wars to get back to an area that isn't filled with cheaters.  And then that's not fair to those lower rank clubs.

Hi tttony1973,

If you get a chance check out the thread unjustly sent to cheater server (it’s 8 or 10 down) - this information tells me EA is taking this topic seriously. I honestly believe economic factors will dictate this issue be addressed. Keep reporting the cheaters they will meet their demise in due time.Hang in there.

Thanks for the kind words.  Our team is in protest this round...we aren't fighting them.  This limits the cards the cheats can get....no one will earn more than 4k.  Hurts us a little too, but I feel better knowing they are just as frustrated with US right now! 

EA is doing VERY LITTLE to address the problem.  I see a team that was reported three weeks ago still in the top 100.  What really needs to be done is to turn off wars until they can get their hands around the problem.

In any case...they'll get the message when long time players start a mass exodus.  

It was one player...the rest of the club used the same Magnetism attack... as do all cheater clubs.

When 23 club members hit you for hours on end with nothing but Magnetism you can assume something is fishy.  And when they attack you using more energy than is possible to have at the outset of a war you KNOW they are cheating.  It's not possible to have 19 energy for one person at the beginning of a war.

Yes, it's a great attack...can you sustain an entire war with it?  I know I can't.  Can your entire club?

My personal take is EA is overwhelmed with the amount of cheating taking place from the simplest feeder cities to program hacks and don’t have sufficient resources in place yet to deal with it. They also have to deal with business and legal considerations when an accusation is made and have to conduct a thorough investigation to determine the merits (there are folks that scream cheating if they lose straight up) and once it is determined sufficient cause exists then they have to sort out the guilty from the innocent, I imagine it’s tedious and time consuming.

This game offers a healthy revenue stream with advertising, in game purchases and market penetration and they will take appropriate measures to protect that revenue stream. I really believe it’s only a matter of time...and it will be sooner than later.

Well, do yourself a favor and stay out of the top 100.  It's riddled with problems!

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@tttony1973 wrote:

When 23 club members hit you for hours on end with nothing but Magnetism you can assume something is fishy.  And when they attack you using more energy than is possible to have at the outset of a war you KNOW they are cheating.  It's not possible to have 19 energy for one person at the beginning of a war.

Yes, it's a great attack...can you sustain an entire war with it?  I know I can't.  Can your entire club?

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Couldn't agree more with Tony.

Two wars ago, we fought an opponent with full 25 members and every member was active and for the entire 36 hours EVERY member fired 3x magnets and 1x movie monster.  Might have been about 5% of the time that a disaster other than these two were used.  They scored about 400,000 points on us.  This is fine if they were using realistic resources, but to have had over 60 hydrants EACH means none of them were supplying each other with hydrants and I very much doubt that ALL 25 of them all saved up just for a battle with little ol' us.

I play this game non-stop.  I deliver war items like mad.  And by not firing any hydrant disasters for two entire wars, I've built up 21 hydrants.  I can fire magnets 10.5x next war.  Yet opponents fire 30x+ magnets at us, and not just a single player, not just a handful of players, but 100% of the full 25-member club!!

There is absolutely a problem.  Too bad, because magnets are an excellent disaster.  Too excellent, evidently.  The cheaters have orgasm'd on them in the extreme...

Why report? BECAUSE THEY ARE CHEATING!!! 

It's not sour grapes! 

We are playing [Edited by EA_Mai - naming and shaming] (mentioned in post above) and they use WAAAAAAY too many magnets than is reasonable to obtain (all those hydrants? Give me a break!) and they have at least one member who has used more energy than is possible.

What's the point of playing the War if this is what we are up against.

Last week we played a team with a cyrillic script name that was blatantly cheating using magnets over and over and some how scoring hit points whilst all our players were under domes.

We reported them and will be reporting [Edited by EA_Mai - naming and shaming] too.

It's pathetic. 

Hi everyone,

After reading this whole discussion I would like to clarify a few things.

First, and most important - definitely, yes, your experience in the game is very important for us. And I'm sorry to read you don't feel we are doing enough. We want you to have fun playing SimCity or any of our games - that's why we are always listening to your feedback and looking at ways to improve our games. And yes, we hear you, we know cheating behaviour is disrupting for the community, it's frustrating for everyone and it's something the team is focused on. We want the game to be fair.

That said, we really appreciate your reports through EA Help when you notice other players cheating. However, I would like you to understand each of these reports need to be carefully and thoroughly investigated. Otherwise it would be one Mayor's word against another's - and that wouldn't be fair either.

As you have noticed, many of the discussions related to cheating were removed from the forum because naming and shaming is not allowed. I understand your frustration and that this is important, and this is a place for you to talk to each other and give your feedback about what you are enjoying and what not. I wouldn't like to be forced to close this thread as well - please, keep it to the rules.

@doofthedoof If you want to report cheating, please, use EA Help - instructions here: https://help.ea.com/en-tr/help/simcity/simcity-buildit/how-to-report-a-player-in-simcity-buildit

Thanks,

-Mai

Thanks for your reply Mai.

And yes I have reported the team we are currently at war with.

The question is, you, EA, know that there is cheating going on. Specifically the magnetism weapon is the cheaters weapon of choice. And hydrants the cheaters war item to hack.

That doesn't need much investigation... you have seen all the complaints, very specifically mentioning these 2 issues. 

Does EA not have the ability to log all a Club's attacks? A simple check on the number of times the magnet is used will show you who is cheating and who is not. Your own algorithms restrict the number of hydrants so it can't be very difficult to see who is using (obtaining) hydrants illegally. 

Maybe I'm over-simplifying things, but really, it can't be that difficult for a company like EA surely? 

Mai,

I'm glad you joined the conversation and thank you for the perspective. 

Here's what is important to me:  how will you make me whole in this situation?  I paid money and got shafted by a cheater.  And then to boot, you relied specifically on my input to make it right.  It sounds like I'm paying you to be an informant.  How is that fair?  My gosh, at the very least throw something our way once you've identified and removed a cheater.  And would it hurt to follow up on those? 

"Dear Player, Your suspicions were accurate and corrective measures have been taken.  Thanks and here's some cards/SimCash for your trouble."

It's not exactly HIPA level data we're talking here.