This is something that has been on my mind all morning. I want to get it out before the war even ends, because this isn't really about me or where my guild falls. This is about fairness, about GREE's policy, and the new guild war dynamic.
GREE's cheating policy is available in app, and reads as follows:
"We enforce a zero tolerance policy for cheating. If you feel you have come across a player that seems to have gained an unfair advantage in any way, please contact us...(etc)"
The link below discusses a cheating guild that has been uncovered, complete with screenshot evidence. Tickets have been sent. That's not the issue here.
http://www.funzio.com/forum/showthre...ip-please-read
The issue is this: Before guild wars, cheating was something that, while disgusting and wrong, didn't directly damage other players. Sure, it stirs resentment and encourages people to quit because people don't like to be treated unfairly. But their cheating didn't take something away from you aside from some gold in the odd raid.
Guild wars are different. Because this is a PVP environment with guilds in direct competition, their cheating DOES take something away from everyone else. If a cheating guild lands in the top 10, then the guilds and ALL of their players in places 11, 26, 76, 101 etc are all cheated out of rewards that they have earned with strategy and coordination (and lack of sleep) and paid for in gems. Other players suffer because cheating players take rewards they haven't earned.
Which means for gem spending players like me, dollars I spend don't get what I indirectly pay for because of cheaters. In LTQs and LTEs, if I pay for gems, I pay to benefit me. I compete against the clock. Nothing a cheater can do devalues what I have paid for, because they cannot take away LTQ items, or mess with my energy bar, or anything like that. They can't effect me in any way. In guild wars, their cheating directly devalues my investment. I'm competing directly against someone who isn't playing fair, and we can't both win the same prize.
GREE has, in my view, three basic approaches to deal with the problem of cheating guilds. There are some foreseeable consequences to these approaches. Since this is the first guild war, no precedent has yet been set.
1) They can do nothing. Fail to enforce their own policy, let the chips fall where they may. Obviously, there are some players who - if they find out about the cheating - will be angry that they have spent real world cash in vain and they will quit, and there are those who play for free who will also feel cheated and quit.
2) They can ban the player who was caught cheating. This is what they'd probably do pre guild wars, and pre guild wars this a functional solution. Problem's gone, and players who see the existing policy being enforced are encouraged to stay because they feel they'll be treated fairly.
But in a guild war context, this approach only serves to encourage cheating. People who have the knowledge and means to cheat can build throw-away accounts on extra devices, induct them into a guild and use them to power the guild into better positions and get better rewards for the entire guild. If they're caught, that account is banned, but the entire guild retains its benefits. Furthermore, with guilds encouraging online communication between members outside these forums, those cheaters can theoretically teach other guild members with multiple devices how to cheat - and then the whole guild derives more benefits from that cheater also.
3) They can disband the guild and remove war benefits as well as ban the cheater. This is the approach I'd favor. This punishes cheaters, punishes guilds who cheat openly, and gives guilds an incentive to police their own members. This also remedies the effects of the cheating on other, honest players. Guilds in positions 11, 26, 76, and 101 all advance and gain the benefits their organization, sleepless nights, and cash investments have earned them. Fairness wins out.
Being the first guild war, GREE has yet to make any kind of precedent here. I'm also sure they're swimming in tickets right now. They deserve time to make some kind of decision. They ought to make it a public decision, so that players know how guild situations will be handled, and players who have felt cheated can be satisfied - because satisfied players stay with the game and continue to spend money on it.
I know how this is handled will effect whether or not I continue to invest in this game. I've no doubt that this will be true of others. Lets see what happens.
Originally Posted by Rexhom
