Another cheater in Gotm 9 ?

[Green Light]

Sad to say, but it seems like there has been another cheater in GOTM 9 too

seems like JAMES who had fastest diplo victory in 1190 AD, has not been playing by the rules.

You can for example check the powergraph behind f8 key and choose "power" option : he has been OVERWHELMINGLY POWERFUL AT 4000 BC !

This should not be so in any case, especially not when ai has more troops than you at 4000 bc when level is emperor.
I compared it to few other games powergraphs and they were normal, like mine, so how can James be so powerful at 4000 BC ?
Maybe some sort of trainer program ?

Plus if you check out the cultural advisor, it says that he had built a research lab in thebes at 1325 _BC_ , seems bit strange ? Research labs so early, huh ?

I couldnt attach his save because its over 250 kb, but maybe those with fast connections can dl the whole 30 mb save package and check it out too.

 

[Kemal]

Oh no! not again....

I'm downloading the saves now, but have you already informed Matrix about this? As moderator he should know about this ASAP and I haven't seen him on the boards for a while.

 

[Green Light]

Wow found the "easy upload"
his game is now downloadable from here: http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads/James.zip

 

[Creepster]

Well, I just looked at the file and all I can say is Unbelievable!!!

How does anyone have that many battleships, rifleman and so on all over the place at that stage of the game? Looking at the culture page for Memphis he built a
library in 950BC
University 825 BC
Colloseum 775 BC
Temple 750 BC
Cathedral 730 BC
REsearch lab 670 BC

Now I know there are better players than me out there, and at higher levels the tech rate can improve drastically, but a reserch lab in 670 BC????

Also the power graph is off the charts very early in the game as Green Light pointed out. None of this makes any sense compared to any game I have played.

I can only come to one conclusion looking at the game file and it is not a good one

 

[Kemal]

Hmmmm, He's researching future tech 62 in 1160 AD, that seems to be a little too fast if you ask me. And indeed the power graph is unbelievably high in the early stages. Either he cheated or I'll humbly ask him to write a strategy guide for me.

 

[Green Light]

Originally posted by Creepster
Now I know there are better players than me out there, and at higher levels the tech rate can improve drastically, but a reserch lab in 670 BC????

If you wonder that, check out Thebes also, he had a research lab there already at 1325 BC.

Now watched his replay too, and something strange happens at the end of 4000 bc turn: his power goes literally trough the roof.

Very clear conclusion indeed.

 

[Creepster]

Kemal, I forgot to look at what tech he was researching. If he was on future tech 62 then he must have had 248 turns of research after he discovered all of the other techs. (there is a minimum of 4 turns per tech so 4 x 62 = 248turns).

The 248th turn occurs at 1290 AD which is after he already achieved a victory. It does not look good.

 

[Cruise]

Ohno, not again

What can be done about this?

 

[Creepster]

EEK,
We can do what is being done. I believe most of the players are honest and there are only a few who are trying this for what ever reason. Self policing the game is in our best interest in keeping people honest.

 

[pagh80]

His powerbar is just plain idiotic. I hoped the problem with valery Kouznetsov was one ot a kind but that does'nt seem that way.
What should be done then: First reveal their names and make sure they cant join a GOTM game again exept they post a good explanation.
I guess the staff on this site wont IP ban them for this(allthough it is irritating it is not something who would hurt the site anyway)

Some time ago i played diablo2 on bnet.. I know that many dont like the game because of the simplicity and the fact that the only thing you do is to kill monsters and then more monsters.
Anyhow.. i still like the game very much and are a big fan of that game also.
I dont play it anymore beacause of the cheating. Diablo2 has proved that a game can be totaly wrecked and no fun to play for other than the cheaters and scammers. Allmost everyone cheats, try to trick you and stealing your stuff. Many seems to abandon diablo2 because of that.

I know civ3 will not become a victim of massive cheating but if only 10% of the people that submit cheats will damage this tournament alot. Lets say one guy scores a great score. Many will question his score and some would even blame him for cheating eventhough he has'nt done it.
It has happened with all other games(cs, d2 and so on)
people get suspicious because someone allready have cheated and is known in the community.
I have tried to be banned in counterstrike because they thought i cheated. The only problem was that i had a great score but because there where many cheaters in cs they believed me to be a cheater also

Last thing i would have thought was cheating in civ3.. how fun can it be

 

[Matrix]

Alas, James will be deleted. Done for. Terminated. Nullified. Executed and permanently banned.

It's good that you all check all savegames now and then. This way cheaters will never have a chance.

Indeed it's sad. Pathetic actually. Ironically a few weeks ago there was a thread active "why cheat?".

 

[Franklyn]

Matrix: I'm assuming you gave this poor schlub a chance to explain himself? If not, you at least owe him that courtesy before you cast him to the lions.
Of course, if he refuses to explain or comes up with a lame reason, burn 'im at the stake!

 

[pagh80]

Originally posted by Franklyn
Matrix: I'm assuming you gave this poor schlub a chance to explain himself? If not, you at least owe him that courtesy before you cast him to the lions.
Of course, if he refuses to explain or comes up with a lame reason, burn 'im at the stake!

I can hear you have not looked at his savegame. If you had you would not write this

 

[Beard Rinker]

Maybe when he opened his hut he received every technology.

The second hut could have contained 5 settlers and 20000 gold.

 

[Bamspeedy]

That's it! We need to get serious here. We should get a group of players/volunteers to analyze all the top 10? 20? scores/fast finishes every month. They could be the 'Scotland Yard' of the GOTM.

There are probably too many games for Matrix to analyze every month, especially when he has other managerial things to do. But if we could get say, 3-5 people to each analze 5 or 10 games we can catch all the obvious and blatant cheats. If they come across a suspicious game where they think someone cheated they can e-mail the other 'judges' and come to a consenses before posting a thread about it for everyone to know about.

The two cheaters this month were obvious ones, that any reasonable person would know they cheated, but there may be some games in the future that are not so obvious and that is why I recommend a panel of judges take a look at it, before it gets posted in a thread and everyone jumps to conclusions and labels that person a cheater, when it might turn out later that he did not cheat. And also, to give that person a chance to respond/explain in private. If it's an obvious and blatant cheat and the player doesn't offer any reasonable explanation, than go ahead and do what you want.

 

[Thunderfall]

I suggest we check the saved games of all winners before posting the results. It's worth the extra time.

 

[Sirian]

I'm sorry to see GOTM plagued by cheaters. The silliest part is, these guys who have been caught are so blatant about it, they have to be morons. Did they really believe they'd get away with it??? Now instead of their names being praised as skilled players, they are and will be villified as lamers extraordinaire: weak, foolish, and dishonest.

I hope a couple of these guys getting caught acts as a deterrent to others. Cheaters go against the interests of all honest gamers and every Civ III community. I might say more, but I won't. I wish you the best in rooting out and stamping out the bad behavior.


- Sirian

 

[mauiduck]

I normally don't play the GOTM because I pretty much suck compared to the rest of you... ...but I think that Sirian, Thunderfall and Bam Speedy are all right in that:

1) Moderators should peruse the saves

2) Develop a law enforcement arm to assist them in these matters as well as an established protocol.

3) IP ban those who are caught cheating (banning the name won't stop a cheater from registering under another handle IMHO)

I don't know who these cheaters think they are fooling. One thing is for certain, I hope that the people at Firaxis make sure that PTW doesn't have any loopholes that could turn it into another Diablo2. If PTW is solid, then the people who cheat will be mutilated when they get into real games with other human players, so their antics are just setting them up for a bigger fall.

Anyway that is my two cents... ...

 

[pilferman]

That's the second in just a few days. I'm sorry to hear about it. I like BamSpeedy's idea of a few people checking a decent number of the top placers. Rather than designate a few people as a policing group, I would recomend opening a thread to discuss the results of the last games for the sole purpose of investigation.

While policing the GOTM results is not a fun job, knowing that there will be people looking into maintaining a fair GOTM will far outweigh the cost. Personally, the only reason I am reluctant to check other participants' saves is my internet connection. 56k. 25MB downloads take years for me. If a smaller "top 15/25" plus medal winners was offered, I could manage it. Policing isn't the only reason I'd download the games. I can also learn a great deal from others' successes.

From what I have heard thus far, Matrix (while doing an outstanding job with GOTM) can't check each and every submission each month (without a ~2 month waiting period before the results). That's my primary motivation for throwing out the ideas of devoting a thread for each GOTM where people can share their thoughts AFTER reviewing the saves, as well as a smaller "top" games file.

I tip my hat to those who finish their G'sOTM honestly each and every time. Keep it up.

 

[skaternate]

what a pity