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Cheating… what’s TP doing about it?

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  • IceCatIceCat ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited January 8
    IceCat wrote: »
    The answer just came in the TP discord page 👏🖖
    Greetings <@&amp;1199035359326130299>s,

    We want to inform you about a recent decision taken to maintain a fair and enjoyable environment for all players. After thoroughly conducting an internal investigation, combined with team and player reports, we have identified a situation where a player was found using tools in a way that disrupted the competitive balance within our community and events.
    As a result, we have issued a suspension of this player's account until further notice. This decision was not taken lightly and reflects our ongoing commitment to ensuring fairness and integrity in gameplay, especially during the holiday season.

    We want to emphasize that any attempts to exploit or undermine the integrity of the game will result in appropriate penalties, as outlined in our guidelines. This is essential to maintaining the standards of fairness and respect that define our community. Additionally, today we would like to share some updates to our anti-macro system have gone live today. These improvements are designed to strengthen our ability to detect and address actions that could compromise the competitive experience for others.

    We deeply appreciate the support and vigilance of our community in helping us uphold these standards. If you have any further concerns or observations, please reach out to our Customer Support, Community Team, and Moderation.

    Thank you for your understanding and continued dedication to making this community a fantastic place for everyone.
    Best regards,

    Team at Star Trek Timelines
    LLAP

    Once again, this shouldn't have to be posted here by a player. Thank you, @Tsunkatse Siete , but this is still hard to understand why they aren't posting on their official forum 😒

    @STT Community , why aren't you not making these posts here or in-game?

    I still feel like this doesn't go far enough. Cheating goes not just against fair play principles, but the very principles of Star Trek, on which this whole game is based on.

    A potentially temporary suspension (until further notice) is unacceptable for blatantly cheating. A permanent ban should have been given. There should be zero tolerance of this kind of behaviour.

    Also, there are several questions left unanswered, including:

    ● Who was the cheater? We can probably guess based on some of the accusations made, but multiple people were accused. The player should be named and shamed IMO.

    ● Were any other people found to be cheating or just the one? Were any others even investigated for cheating?

    ● Was the cheating happening during only one event (unlikely) or multiple? Which event(s) were found to be unfairly engaged in? Were any others investigated for similar issues?

    ● What is being done to ensure that there isn't a lapse in observation/oversight for a long period again? Holidays shouldn't be an excuse. What steps are being taken to prevent a similar situation from escalating like this one did?

    If you want players to forgive, move on and accept this resolution, full and complete transparency is not just good protocol, but absolutely necessary. A lot of faith was lost and a lot of (justified) anger has been caused by this situation.

    Not to mention that we lost the Big Book (possibly permanently) because this situation was allowed to happen.

    I've been around a long time, but this incident is possibly the most damaging to the game yet. You've lost good players and resources that will probably never return.

    This is a good start, but far from enough.

    ib8mssbr5828.gif

    I am glad to hear they suspended the account of someone found engaging in dishonest gameplay. I’m curious if that will be reflected in the final places for the event in question? While it would not necessarily impact everyone, for some players it might be a significant change (for example, anyone who fell short of a specific threshold). Will any individual found to have “cheated” be removed from the final leaderboards (some of which are still accessible by players).

    Personally, I agree that a ban should be given instead of a suspension. There ought to be no place for dishonest gameplay in STT. Why a suspension? I think that can be answered with violating anyone’s privacy.


    f8q44sup9d0o.jpg

    Based on this, if the person who was publically accused was the one found guilty, then no, they haven't been removed from the leaderboard.

    Also, to put it bluntly, who gives a tribble about "violating" their privacy? They forfeited that right when they violated our right to fair play.

    They belong in Gre'thor with the dishonoured Klingons.
  • ~peregrine~~peregrine~ ✭✭✭✭✭
    46cql2ng045b.png
    "In the short run, the game defines the players. But in the long run, it's us players who define the game." — Nicky Case, The Evolution of Trust
  • DScottHewittDScottHewitt ✭✭✭✭✭
    I miss the"look ahead" from the Big Book presenting upcoming Crew. And DataCore was very helpful for both FBB and clearing useless Inventory for me.

    "DataCore was very helpful..." — why past tense? DataCore is still up and running, and has been since Big Book was taken down (albeit not at 'full strength' since it relied to some extent on information gleaned from BB). But I am still using DC daily.

    Because the other day, at the same time frame as Namer's decision, it was not loading. So, I thought it was down, too. Like a "solidarity" thing. I forgot to add an edit to my post when it was working later.

    My bad.

    "The truth is like a lion; you don't have to defend it. Let it loose; it will defend itself."
  • Thank you, TP! This renews my hope and excitement for this game.
    -= SoF =-
  • Its more than i thought they would do. Must have been some pretty hard evidence.

    Similar note, im surprised that callimachus hasnt come to the forums to plead their case
  • SoupKitchen RikerSoupKitchen Riker ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited January 8
    Its more than i thought they would do. Must have been some pretty hard evidence.

    Similar note, im surprised that callimachus hasnt come to the forums to plead their case

    That information is in a thread on Discord from prior to TP’s decision (but only from fleet mates I think).

    “A committee is a cul-de-sac, down which good ideas are lured and quietly strangled.” —Mark TwainMEMBER: [BoB] Barrel of Bloodwine... We are recruiting and putting the “curv” in scurvy! Best Event Finish: #3 Honor Debt: Inconceivable...Honor Bank Account: Slowly building...
  • SoupKitchen RikerSoupKitchen Riker ✭✭✭✭✭
    Seen this a couple times now.

    jajbb2nm39lu.png
    “A committee is a cul-de-sac, down which good ideas are lured and quietly strangled.” —Mark TwainMEMBER: [BoB] Barrel of Bloodwine... We are recruiting and putting the “curv” in scurvy! Best Event Finish: #3 Honor Debt: Inconceivable...Honor Bank Account: Slowly building...
  • Yep. Its time to let this one go.

    They did something about it. Thats all that anyone was asking.

    Thanks for listening and making an effort to fix the problem tp. Keep it up, please.

    Thanks in advance.
  • weakinteractionweakinteraction ✭✭✭✭✭
    Seen this a couple times now.

    jajbb2nm39lu.png

    I've failed it a couple of times - it seems to want a higher level of precision than I can consistently manage on my little phone screen.

    bb6oxbcqor7d.png
  • IceCatIceCat ✭✭✭✭✭
    Yep. Its time to let this one go.

    They did something about it. Thats all that anyone was asking.

    Thanks for listening and making an effort to fix the problem tp. Keep it up, please.

    Thanks in advance.

    That may be your perspective on it, but it's not mine. They've left a lot of things unaddressed.

    So, I'll ask again, @STT Community :
    IceCat wrote: »
    The answer just came in the TP discord page 👏🖖
    Greetings <@&amp;1199035359326130299>s,

    We want to inform you about a recent decision taken to maintain a fair and enjoyable environment for all players. After thoroughly conducting an internal investigation, combined with team and player reports, we have identified a situation where a player was found using tools in a way that disrupted the competitive balance within our community and events.
    As a result, we have issued a suspension of this player's account until further notice. This decision was not taken lightly and reflects our ongoing commitment to ensuring fairness and integrity in gameplay, especially during the holiday season.

    We want to emphasize that any attempts to exploit or undermine the integrity of the game will result in appropriate penalties, as outlined in our guidelines. This is essential to maintaining the standards of fairness and respect that define our community. Additionally, today we would like to share some updates to our anti-macro system have gone live today. These improvements are designed to strengthen our ability to detect and address actions that could compromise the competitive experience for others.

    We deeply appreciate the support and vigilance of our community in helping us uphold these standards. If you have any further concerns or observations, please reach out to our Customer Support, Community Team, and Moderation.

    Thank you for your understanding and continued dedication to making this community a fantastic place for everyone.
    Best regards,

    Team at Star Trek Timelines
    LLAP

    Once again, this shouldn't have to be posted here by a player. Thank you, @Tsunkatse Siete , but this is still hard to understand why they aren't posting on their official forum 😒

    @STT Community , why aren't you not making these posts here or in-game?

    I still feel like this doesn't go far enough. Cheating goes not just against fair play principles, but the very principles of Star Trek, on which this whole game is based on.

    A potentially temporary suspension (until further notice) is unacceptable for blatantly cheating. A permanent ban should have been given. There should be zero tolerance of this kind of behaviour.

    Also, there are several questions left unanswered, including:

    ● Who was the cheater? We can probably guess based on some of the accusations made, but multiple people were accused. The player should be named and shamed IMO.

    ● Were any other people found to be cheating or just the one? Were any others even investigated for cheating?

    ● Was the cheating happening during only one event (unlikely) or multiple? Which event(s) were found to be unfairly engaged in? Were any others investigated for similar issues?

    ● What is being done to ensure that there isn't a lapse in observation/oversight for a long period again? Holidays shouldn't be an excuse. What steps are being taken to prevent a similar situation from escalating like this one did?

    If you want players to forgive, move on and accept this resolution, full and complete transparency is not just good protocol, but absolutely necessary. A lot of faith was lost and a lot of (justified) anger has been caused by this situation.

    Not to mention that we lost the Big Book (possibly permanently) because this situation was allowed to happen.

    I've been around a long time, but this incident is possibly the most damaging to the game yet. You've lost good players and resources that will probably never return.

    This is a good start, but far from enough.

    ib8mssbr5828.gif

  • weakinteractionweakinteraction ✭✭✭✭✭
    I do think there are limits to how much they can tell us due to privacy and lega considerations, so we're unlikely to get answers to some of those questions.

    However, I do think the point about the ship apparently having no one on the bridge or even on call for bridge duty for ... what, two weeks? ... is one that I would appreciate @STT Community weighing in on. What would have happened if there had been a game breaking bug during that time?

    I know the first line Support is outsourced and I assume not all on holiday themselves - would they have been able to get hold of anyone at TP/WRG if they had to escalate a problem? (If so, perhaps those of us with cheating concerns should have been flooding them with tickets about it ...)
  • So they're saying one person cheating gets suspended while the other 50 or 100 a year that have been manipulating the system for years just get to go about their business as usual? This set no example. I don't often but have wondered how many legit supply or skirmish event winners there have actually been in the last 5 years.

    In my opinion they shouldn't have been suspended at all. Implementing changes to avoid this in the future would have been fair. Kick all of them or none of them. Also I don't blame TP. These are the big spenders. They keep the lights on. If you're going to sit and cry because somebody wants to invest money into pushing for a number one I got news for you. Look at the world around you. It's brutal.

    So far as the Big Book I think this was a good bs excuse to shut it down. Seems like it was taking a lot of time and effort to maintain and Namer got as good of an out as any. The whole I want to shut this down because of integrity is garbage to me because this stuff was going on before he even started it up.

    Oh well y'all. This was just my opinion and like all others it's just shouting into the void and won't change anything that's transpired. I hope you all have a great week and LLaP.

    Rome wasn’t built in a day. We know cheating happens, and if it’s suspected, send in a ticket like TP stated.

    This doesn’t set an example? IMHO it seems to mark a shift from indifference to accountability. And yes, we can blame TP for that indifference which allowed those “…other 50 to 100 a year” to prosper without fear of repercussion. Will these current actions toward dishonest gameplay continue? Hopefully this shift is lasting, and not just done to placate.

    No one is crying about money spent on the game, as that does help to “keep the lights on” as you put it. However, just because someone spends, doesn’t mean he or she gets a free pass (and plenty of people spend without cheating). Dishonest gameplay doesn’t belong, and TP needs to act on it when reported (and use tools to search it out). And, this isn’t an issue of someone “paying to win”, it’s about “cheating to win”. Spending money is allowed, bots and the like are not. And because the world isn’t fair, doesn’t preclude a game from trying to uphold some of the ideals of Trek.

    As far as your comments about Namer, you’d have to ask him. It seems like we’ve all known cheating happens, and in this instance the cup was full, so someone said enough.

    Every once in awhile we all need to shout into the void, and sometimes, the void answers back. LLAP 🖖.

    IMHO they need to be banned for life, and anyone else who is caught and proved of cheating.
  • ~peregrine~~peregrine~ ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited January 11
    I think it was the third-ever Skirmish event when I was made aware that some players were using mouse-recording to automate their play. That is cheating.

    I was unaware that some players could do the same in Galaxy events, but that is also cheating.

    I have known for 8+ years that some players use dilithium or money to win Faction and Expedition events. That is not cheating.

    Given the above, my hope was to win a Hybrid event & thus claim that achievement. Now, I am unsure if I want to bother, because the repeated failures in communication by the company have me questioning their commitment to the game.

    Your mileage may vary. 🖖
    "In the short run, the game defines the players. But in the long run, it's us players who define the game." — Nicky Case, The Evolution of Trust
  • IceCatIceCat ✭✭✭✭✭
    I do think there are limits to how much they can tell us due to privacy and lega considerations, so we're unlikely to get answers to some of those questions.

    However, I do think the point about the ship apparently having no one on the bridge or even on call for bridge duty for ... what, two weeks? ... is one that I would appreciate @STT Community weighing in on. What would have happened if there had been a game breaking bug during that time?

    I know the first line Support is outsourced and I assume not all on holiday themselves - would they have been able to get hold of anyone at TP/WRG if they had to escalate a problem? (If so, perhaps those of us with cheating concerns should have been flooding them with tickets about it ...)

    At this point, I would be happy to get answers to some of those questions.

    I don't think legal or privacy considerations prevents them from responding at all, yet they still haven't done so.

    If there had been a game breaking bug, they probably would have only noticed well after the fact. Given some sorrytons and thought that was sufficient.

    I swear this company can't get out of their own way, and just do the bare minimum sometimes. Communication really isn't that hard.
  • ~peregrine~~peregrine~ ✭✭✭✭✭
    IceCat wrote: »
    I do think there are limits to how much they can tell us due to privacy and lega considerations, so we're unlikely to get answers to some of those questions.

    However, I do think the point about the ship apparently having no one on the bridge or even on call for bridge duty for ... what, two weeks? ... is one that I would appreciate @STT Community weighing in on. What would have happened if there had been a game breaking bug during that time?

    I know the first line Support is outsourced and I assume not all on holiday themselves - would they have been able to get hold of anyone at TP/WRG if they had to escalate a problem? (If so, perhaps those of us with cheating concerns should have been flooding them with tickets about it ...)

    At this point, I would be happy to get answers to some of those questions.

    I don't think legal or privacy considerations prevents them from responding at all, yet they still haven't done so.

    If there had been a game breaking bug, they probably would have only noticed well after the fact. Given some sorrytons and thought that was sufficient.

    I swear this company can't get out of their own way, and just do the bare minimum sometimes. Communication really isn't that hard.
    I miss Shan. <heavy sigh>
    "In the short run, the game defines the players. But in the long run, it's us players who define the game." — Nicky Case, The Evolution of Trust
  • IceCat wrote: »
    I do think there are limits to how much they can tell us due to privacy and lega considerations, so we're unlikely to get answers to some of those questions.

    However, I do think the point about the ship apparently having no one on the bridge or even on call for bridge duty for ... what, two weeks? ... is one that I would appreciate @STT Community weighing in on. What would have happened if there had been a game breaking bug during that time?

    I know the first line Support is outsourced and I assume not all on holiday themselves - would they have been able to get hold of anyone at TP/WRG if they had to escalate a problem? (If so, perhaps those of us with cheating concerns should have been flooding them with tickets about it ...)

    At this point, I would be happy to get answers to some of those questions.

    I don't think legal or privacy considerations prevents them from responding at all, yet they still haven't done so.

    If there had been a game breaking bug, they probably would have only noticed well after the fact. Given some sorrytons and thought that was sufficient.

    I swear this company can't get out of their own way, and just do the bare minimum sometimes. Communication really isn't that hard.
    I miss Shan. <heavy sigh>

    Shan is gone because of the ego of one person. If you don’t know who to blame, you weren’t around for the “buy again” calamity.

    One persons ego purged a significant amount of revenue from this game. And the community has never been the same.
  • #BanNamer
  • It's always been concerning that this Namer guy had access to unreleased data and could use it in a live environment. Everyone wants to overlook his past cheating because he did bigbook stuff but he doesn't hide his abilities. For example he posted this. This character would not even be in the vault until the day after his post and you can tell from the countdown that he had access to hit claim almost 11 days before it would be in the vault. Namer not being banned and being viewed as a hero by trying to gaslight and point to other players is frankly embarrassing in it's show of favoritism by the employees of developers of TPG.
    itw3wz024r2d.jpg

  • Congratulations to the player ranked 4th for doing 55 second skirmish rounds! 5 battles 11 seconds each for 12 hours a day is impressive with this new bot system in place! The 3 and 9 hour marks being so close to the same is impressive:)

    521aiba0omf6.jpg
  • Sulu's HusbandSulu's Husband ✭✭✭✭✭
    IceCat wrote: »
    I do think there are limits to how much they can tell us due to privacy and lega considerations, so we're unlikely to get answers to some of those questions.

    However, I do think the point about the ship apparently having no one on the bridge or even on call for bridge duty for ... what, two weeks? ... is one that I would appreciate @STT Community weighing in on. What would have happened if there had been a game breaking bug during that time?

    I know the first line Support is outsourced and I assume not all on holiday themselves - would they have been able to get hold of anyone at TP/WRG if they had to escalate a problem? (If so, perhaps those of us with cheating concerns should have been flooding them with tickets about it ...)

    At this point, I would be happy to get answers to some of those questions.

    I don't think legal or privacy considerations prevents them from responding at all, yet they still haven't done so.

    If there had been a game breaking bug, they probably would have only noticed well after the fact. Given some sorrytons and thought that was sufficient.

    I swear this company can't get out of their own way, and just do the bare minimum sometimes. Communication really isn't that hard.
    I miss Shan. <heavy sigh>

    Shan is gone because of the ego of one person. If you don’t know who to blame, you weren’t around for the “buy again” calamity.

    One persons ego purged a significant amount of revenue from this game. And the community has never been the same.

    Are you Princess Uhura?
  • DScottHewittDScottHewitt ✭✭✭✭✭
    IceCat wrote: »
    I do think there are limits to how much they can tell us due to privacy and lega considerations, so we're unlikely to get answers to some of those questions.

    However, I do think the point about the ship apparently having no one on the bridge or even on call for bridge duty for ... what, two weeks? ... is one that I would appreciate @STT Community weighing in on. What would have happened if there had been a game breaking bug during that time?

    I know the first line Support is outsourced and I assume not all on holiday themselves - would they have been able to get hold of anyone at TP/WRG if they had to escalate a problem? (If so, perhaps those of us with cheating concerns should have been flooding them with tickets about it ...)

    At this point, I would be happy to get answers to some of those questions.

    I don't think legal or privacy considerations prevents them from responding at all, yet they still haven't done so.

    If there had been a game breaking bug, they probably would have only noticed well after the fact. Given some sorrytons and thought that was sufficient.

    I swear this company can't get out of their own way, and just do the bare minimum sometimes. Communication really isn't that hard.
    I miss Shan. <heavy sigh>

    Shan is gone because of the ego of one person. If you don’t know who to blame, you weren’t around for the “buy again” calamity.

    One persons ego purged a significant amount of revenue from this game. And the community has never been the same.

    Are you Princess Uhura?

    That is the consensus.

    However, even a stopped clock is right twice a day.

    Not saying is an 11:37. No one but Shan knows how "voluntary" her "downsizing" was from her standpoint . So, it could be 11:57. Or PU might be off a few hours.

    ======================

    As far as the "bot check" puzzle, it worries me that people who probably have better dexterity than a 57 year old disabled dude are reporting they cannot do the puzzles.
    "The truth is like a lion; you don't have to defend it. Let it loose; it will defend itself."
  • IceCatIceCat ✭✭✭✭✭
    6io1clugjcly.jpg

    r0dviknj2ug2.jpg

    7sdgp0a332yo.jpg

    Congrats on somehow making the game worse. Repeatedly being booted from the game because of "failed" checks (that were nearly impossible to line up exactly), along with connection issues, made the event frustrating and unplayable at times.

    For bonus points, having my skirmish setup cleared when I came back into the game after being booted, and having to waste time to reset it was extra awesome 🙄

    After allowing rampant cheating to happen for too long, you've now overcorrected and swung it in the opposite direction. Punishing players who weren't cheating, by making extremely precise checks that were unfair, was not the answer.

    Bravo 👏🏼

    chsqmf7nge92.gif
  • DScottHewittDScottHewitt ✭✭✭✭✭
    Congratulations to the player ranked 4th for doing 55 second skirmish rounds! 5 battles 11 seconds each for 12 hours a day is impressive with this new bot system in place! The 3 and 9 hour marks being so close to the same is impressive:)

    521aiba0omf6.jpg

    What set up are they using? How many times did they get the bonus Event Points after a Battle?

    Details matter.

    With the issues the last part of the Event, FIVE puzzles {three of which required two tries}, and the game flat up crashing and needing to restart, I still did almost forty runs in the last forty minutes, using my normal Skirmish set up. The Arty with one Event Crew and three Sledgehammers.

    xe36o61xq16v.png

    Most actual Battles take a couple of seconds with the speed up option. So, an average of 55 seconds a Run does not seem impossible.
    "The truth is like a lion; you don't have to defend it. Let it loose; it will defend itself."
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