Another Fleet Mafia
So I've read many threads on this topic on both Reddit and here and tbf I'm likely to say the same thing but it is very disappointing that CG does not appear to care about this issue and appears more than happy to turn a blind eye, ignoring it's own positive play charter. Specifically and I quote from your own charter;
- Any act to harm, intimidate, or coerce others is prohibited. We do not allow any content or behavior that promotes, glorifies, or engages in harassing behavior including bullying, sexual harassment including sharing non-consensual intimate images, trolling, stalking, insults, or slurs.
- Don’t perform disruptive in-game actions, such as intentionally killing teammates, purposefully losing, blocking a teammate’s ability to move, harassing players during live streams (such as stream sniping), or blocking access to an item or access point that is affecting gameplay for other players.
- Don’t collude with other players to manipulate matchmaking, matches, or results unfairly.
To be clear these are you rules not mine but seemingly they only appear to apply selectively. So it is very hard to take any of your comments I have that that "We are serious about fair play" well....seriously.
In my specific case I am on a 2015 fleet shard and recently finished off leviathan. I entered the top 10 and immediately began to be harassed by a group of players, 3 specifically exploitin g game mechanics to lock me out of progression.
Now I am fine with fair competition in fleets and that's what i have expected. But what isn't fine is 3 players exploiting timers and the 5 battle limit to harass another player by deliberately blocking them from fleet payouts and progression. Sadly it isn't even subtle as they are clearly aware there is no consequence for this behaviour.
The general pattern is they push you down as far as they can and then occupy the top 4 spaces. When you attempt to climb during your payout they use a number of exploitative techniques to block you, these include;
Attacking you but then stalling out the timer to prevent you attacking back or progressing.
Waiting for the last 10min then one of them occupies the top position, another attacks them but doesn't actually win. The attack is simply to lock them into a battle to prevent them being attack and then stall out the timer long enough that you can't achieve the payout.
Then occasionally they will use another player to battle you to prevent you attacking back. I am literally watching them do it right now. The same three players collude to block others out and specifically are targeting my account in this instance. Server logs would clearly show this and I have collected evidence of it with screenshots and timings. Server logs would likely be more conclusive.
The usual player advice is to reach out and join their fleet chat but these players are overtly hostile and appear to just enjoy blocking you at every chance regardless. This is bullying behaviour that CG and EA clearly support.
Reporting in game does exactly nothing, I don't really know why the button is there as no action gets taken. Reporting it on a form gets no response and so like many others before me I feel the need to say it again on their forum. I don't expect action as CG and EA seem quite happy to let this behaviour continue. They seem quite happy to ignore their own fair play charter as well for some reason.
What I would like is for new players to consider whether spending on this game to progress will ultimately be worth their money. I have spent perhaps between 6 - 7k since playing and have enjoyed the game upto this point. But it seems pointless to pay any money to progress (And that is what you are paying for), when can easily be blocked by colluding players exploiting timers and harassing your account.
I personally will not spend anymore on this game until CG actually deal with this problem. It is a strange business strategy to alienate paying customers in this way. But I don't see any reason to give CG any more money when I can be blocked my exploitive mechanics. New players should consider this when deciding whether to buy anything as the game does not support fair play and certainly you will become frustrated and angry at the unfairness of the system.
I'm sure other players will come out in support of this system by stating you should reach out, be annoying to them until they engage etc etc. Unfortunately some bullies can't be reasoned with and when the company supports there behaviour you really can only vote with your wallet as I am.
Such a shame as this has been a great game, but i don't wish to spend my money supporting a company that allows this behaviour and ignores it's own charter.
If you are in a similar position then you have my sympathy, I'd actively encourage you to post your experience so others can see it in the hope maybe someone at CG can actually be bothered to do something. Else don't give anymore money and support this.
For CG it should not be hard to fix, you removed crystals from Squad and it is long past the time that it was done in fleets to stop this behaviour. GAC might be long but it is fair and cannot be exploited in this way. Until you do something you will just lose paying customers and that really is a shame as the game is great.
As I say I don't expect anything in response to this as it has been going on for years and nothing has ever been done. Quite happy to funnel the money into better companies products who stand by their word. Maybe one day they will do something and then I can reconsider but until then that's another customer lost. As i say, strange business strategy.....
