To whom it may concern

[ACE11]

To whom it may concern:

I'm writing this post today because I feel it is almost to the point where it's near impossible to play a fair game here at CC.

Let me start with ... I recently upgraded to a premium membership because I have had some good games here (CC) and I've been visiting the site for a while now .. (a year or two I guess) .. and playing live games (speed), seemed like it would be fun ... so I decided to upgrade. So obviously I have found at least some enjoyment ... I don't want my entire post to come off as negative.

To the point - as stated I've played here for a while and I've played other R*sk-like online games for many years (most almost exactly like Conquer Club). I've played the board game's Risk and Axis & Allies since I was in grade school.... So to any player who may look at my total games and think I haven't played enough games ... I'm not trying to gloat/boast/ whatever but I've many many more games then what my tally here shows... and I'm certainly capable of detecting cheating (in whatever fashion).
It seems like it's almost impossible to get a 'fair' live game. And regular games that are 'fair' are getting farther and farther apart. I've joined live games .. and every other player will make sure to attack at least one of countries each turn .. until I'm elim'd ... its obvious I'm the target .. I can't say it's definitely a multi or it's a secret alliance .. but it is something. If this had only happened once or twice .. I could easily accept that ... but it's not a once or twice thing ... if I play multiple live games in 1 day .. it would happen once or twice a day.

I really think the ranking system is the entire reason for the cheating. Yes, I like to be able to compare myself to other players here ... but when there are so many 'false' rankings it means nothing.. it's worthless. I can think of no other reason why players would want to allign.. or multi ... other then to try and boost an accounts rank.

Conquer Club is and can be a very fun game .. but cheaters are definitely taking from that . and hurting the fan base. ... if anyone thinks otherwise just imagine you were to ask me about the site .. before ever creating a profile. (btw .. already happened more then once).

[richardgarr]

This is a common complaint , many players come to realize that open games can sometimes be a lesson in frustration, and after awhile they tend to stick to private games...I will play the occasional open callout game, and I usually regret it. I know that I am not the only one to feel that people in callouts (not all of them) play different then a good player expects.
I suggest going through the private game list , and asking those players if you can play a game or two with them.....
Good thing about CC , is that there are many good players , just takes a bit of searching to find the ones that play your type of game. I wish you all the best in your future game searchs.

[rebelman]

This is a common complaint , many players come to realize that open games can sometimes be a lesson in frustration, and after awhile they tend to stick to private games...I will play the occasional open callout game, and I usually regret it. I know that I am not the only one to feel that people in callouts (not all of them) play different then a good player expects.

richard please keep visiting the public games, our only game together was one of those and the pts were appreciated thank you.

[jiminski]

Stick with it mate... there are lots of reasons that the public games can be frustrating. one of them and i really mean no condescension, i had the same problem, is that your tactics brought from the board game will often not work here.

Anyway keep an eye on who you are playing.
Wacicha for example starts up many public games and due to him being a respected member of the community they have a good mix of higher and lower ranks.
this means that the rhythm of the game is more consistent and i very rarely see bad or suspicious play in these.

[lackattack]

I'm concerned about your negative experience, ACE11. Please keep in mind the following:

If you suspect you're playing against multis, please report them in the Cheating and Abuse forum (using the form of course)

If you suspect collusion don't forget to leave negative feedback. We all should do our share to discourage poor sportsmanship. Furthermore, accumulated negative feedback serves as evidence of cheating.

[Herakilla]

hey ACE why dont you try getting in a clan, then you can likely play mostly, if not all, private games with a select few. the vast majority of my 3 or more players games are private right now. the only public games i play are mostly 1v1

[kalishnikov]

Yea, quitting isn't the proper solution to the problem here. Why give up something you like when you're not 'forced' too?

Granted, I wasn't there but I doubt that your constantly encountering cheaters (i.e., multis or collusion). I've played a number of games here (almost 200) and noticed very few instances of it (less then 3). It sounds more to me like your just ending up in games with people who use poor sportsmanship.

There are a few things you can do to help alleviate this problem:

-Find games in some other venue then just joining random public games (Callouts, Live Chat, clan, etc.). Join a league, there are a number of ways to do this. Check the tourney forum.
-When joining games, check the player's in the games feedback before joining. I join games almost exclusively by using feedback as criteria and rarely end up in a 'bad' game anymore.
-Find a good team to play with regularly.
-I see you're a SFC, join 1500 or 1600 + games, the quality of players tends to be better in them. Myself and a few others almost always have 1600+ games going, send me a pm if you'd like in.
-Make private games and have players pm you for the password, you can 'check them out' before giving it to them to see if they are up to your standards of fair play.

If you give up something that you enjoy doing when you have a choice, you'll regret it. I hope you find a way to continue playing and enjoying yourself; life is too short to give up hobbies you appreciate.

[AAFitz]

do keep in mind, some players see more cheating than others...

I only ever see cheating with very low ranks... Im always impressed with how many games Im actually able to win, when I get into games iwth good players... and i mean good players of all ranks

Ive seen great friends demolish each other and allow me to win... this game is based on choices, and I get an accusation every once in a while because of my current style of play, but there are many good players on here, and I am actually surprised how many good games without cheating there are...

I personally think its only a small percentage that outright cheat....

On the other site I played half of the games involved a secret alliance in open games... I cant even remember the last time I saw one in here

Well...you can read my feedback actually...youll see the last time

i reccomend you ignore Nuke's though...its not pleasant

Also, I think the only reason people cheat, is because they are cheaters...the ranking system, however settup, wouldnt change it... honorable players will be honarable, however its set up..and cheaters will cheat, for the sake of cheating....Its all about character

[wacicha]

hey ACE why dont you try getting in a clan, then you can likely play mostly, if not all, private games with a select few. the vast majority of my 3 or more players games are private right now. the only public games i play are mostly 1v1

unless herra plays in my open games. I myself never play live games I am old and not quick to think. But all my open games are fun. All enjoy taking my points and a few even leave me a few points....

[Herakilla]

hey ACE why dont you try getting in a clan, then you can likely play mostly, if not all, private games with a select few. the vast majority of my 3 or more players games are private right now. the only public games i play are mostly 1v1

unless herra plays in my open games. I myself never play live games I am old and not quick to think. But all my open games are fun. All enjoy taking my points and a few even leave me a few points....

im done with escalating after that last game though i did NOT see lance coming

[oVo]

I mostly join open games, usually with no cards and five or more players. On more than one occassion there are choices made that are certainly suspect and I tend to give people the benefit of the doubt.

When I encounter good players or people that just make a game fun I have a tendency to create private games and invite those players to participate. The resulting games have been occassionally epic, always competitive and a pleasure to be a part of and I highly recommend trying something similar yourself.

[ACE11]

thanks to all who responded ... and for the 'tips' on finding quaility people/players .. I'm sure these will help me avoid a lot of the 'cheaters'. Again thanks.

[cdnfireman]

I'm still testing the waters here before upgrading, and in the 48 public games I've played I have not yet encountered any form of cheating. There was one game where I questioned a secret alliance, which I did in open chat. I'm also involved in a game right now where two players are side by side building armies yet not attacking each other. I did bring this "alliance" up in open chat which they denied, sure no official allaince but they are playing like it is. So I'm playing harder against them because I like competition. My only beef is in the last week I've seen way too many players get booted for missing turns, and it's not new players but ones with rankings and many games under their belt.

Just my 2 cents.

BTW I love the fog option, I think I'll only be playing with that option from now on.