Customer Service seems to have no problem with my new ally. Should I?

[Magnifico]

I finally had a new recruit join my alliance. For those of you following the alliance recruitment debacle, this is a very rare event; a cause for celebration, even. And my new recruit's base looked good: IA in the process of upgrading to Global. Maxed IA offense but Medieval farms and caravans, indicating somebody who plays actively. Walls not extravagant: mostly level 7, with some level 8 in there. Mix of IA and EA defensive buildings. So, the base of a reasonably dedicated player with solid priorities. Except, down at the bottom of the base, a row of ELEVEN houses.

I try to run a squeaky clean alliance. As soon as I noticed the extra houses, I took a screenshot and dropped a dime on my new ally with CS. (I tried to attach the screenie, but the forum isn't letting me.) After a while, CS wrote back. They are "investigating" but due to privacy blah blah blah. Meanwhile, this player is still logging in and still playing away, all eleven houses still sitting brazenly in a row.

I have a very strong impulse to kick this player. There is obviously something not right about this base, and I do not want to tolerate cheating in my alliance. But I must admit morbid curiosity is staying my hand for now. I want to see if anything is ever done about the extra houses and, if so, how long it takes. Since you can only search by alliance and not by player name, I worry I won't be able to find this player again to check up if I kick him or her. Also, given how buggy this game is, it's not outside the realm of possibility that this player was offered the starter pack multiple times and purchased it multiple times in good faith. Maybe CS said "well, we've got your money, so if you're happy to have paid us more than you should have been able to we'll let you keep the houses". The base certainly doesn't look cheaty other than the extra houses. Or maybe I'm just trying to talk myself out of doing the right thing.

What would you do with a recruit like this?

 

[Azack.Gaming]

Have you asked this person how they got the 11 houses? What was their response?

 

[Brand Marrow]

Eventually I would kick them out but it would be interesting to see if Nexon actually takes action.....

 

[Guinevere]

I have questioned one of my players outright, and also reported them. CS seems happy as no action has been taken so Im just keeping an eye on things. Seem legit now.
Not that I can do much now, as since the update MY game wont load! LOL. Playing with an itty bitty baby base.

 

[Funks]

a row of ELEVEN houses.

(I tried to attach the screenie, but the forum isn't letting me.)

What would you do with a recruit like this?

Mags use iforce (http://www.iforce.co.nz) super easy, works everytime here

11 houses? Yeah thats weird. Ive got 8 and that with that bonus buy they had about 9 or so months ago to get extra workers and a house. Ask him dude, update here, would love to know why he has them

 

[nikki bella]

Oh, I'd leave the property tycoon exactly where he is! Perhaps he has a flair for interior design.

Seriously, I'm kinda wondering why a cheat would bother with extra workers when he can wave his magic wand. Put him in war perhaps, you'll soon find out if he has earned his stripes in blood, sweat and tears or not.

You're an honest man magnifico, another leader would just shrug his shoulders and do nothing.

 

[War Phoenix - David]

This comes down to personal choice. I don't agree with cheating, #1. However, things to consider. (In no specific order!)

1) Exploits vs. Cheating. If the game allowed this person to build this, because of an error in the game, then is that 'cheating'? Just because an exploit exists, it may exist for all players.. we just don't know how they did it. I think this is grey area... I'm not a fan of it though.
2) If you kick him out, what does it accomplish? Does he hit another alliance with people that will keep him?
3) You are not cheating. You are not cheating by keeping him, especially if you reported him. In that case, I think the burden of "fairness" has fallen on Nexon to balance the game equitably.

 

[Jo-jo]

If a player is going to cheat, having more builders has to be one of the absolutely worst ways to do it. Think of how far ahead defensively he would be early on and what that would do to him in wars.

 

[Mike09]

This comes down to personal choice. I don't agree with cheating, #1. However, things to consider. (In no specific order!)

1) Exploits vs. Cheating. If the game allowed this person to build this, because of an error in the game, then is that 'cheating'? Just because an exploit exists, it may exist for all players.. we just don't know how they did it. I think this is grey area... I'm not a fan of it though.
2) If you kick him out, what does it accomplish? Does he hit another alliance with people that will keep him?
3) You are not cheating. You are not cheating by keeping him, especially if you reported him. In that case, I think the burden of "fairness" has fallen on Nexon to balance the game equitably.

I think your #3 hits this one right on the head there David. You did the right thing Magnifico and now it's just a waiting game.

 

[Magnifico]

Have you asked this person how they got the 11 houses? What was their response?

Has not said anything in chat ever, including in response to my query about the houses.

I entertain a thin sliver of hope that maybe when the BHG folks get back to work after what is a long holiday weekend here in the US maybe they'll take a look at the extra houses.

 

[Azack.Gaming]

Hmm. I'd kick if I were you, but I share your sentiments - I'd want to know what CS has to say about the extra houses. Good luck.

 

[sponge]

The fact that he hasn't said anything and doesn't respond to your queries qualifies him to be kicked.

 

[Magnifico]

UPDATE: I was getting ready to take the advice of sponge when one of my allies pointed out that the base in question is down to 7 houses now. I guess my new ally hadn't bought the Starter Pack 2 even once. . .

Sadly, I still have my doubts about whether anything would have been done absent a forum thread, but it nice to see some action taken at least in this one case.

 

[Brand Marrow]

hmm, are you sure he didn't decide to cover up his cheaty ways? Either way I would definitely kick him.

 

[BV123]

UPDATE: I was getting ready to take the advice of sponge when one of my allies pointed out that the base in question is down to 7 houses now. I guess my new ally hadn't bought the Starter Pack 2 even once. . .

Sadly, I still have my doubts about whether anything would have been done absent a forum thread, but it nice to see some action taken at least in this one case.

Did nexon take action or did the guy just hide the 4 houses under bigger buildings? Cover the hack with another hack.

1 way to find out is to monitor the no. of workers he has working on upgrades.

 

[Magnifico]

Did nexon take action or did the guy just hide the 4 houses under bigger buildings? Cover the hack with another hack.

1 way to find out is to monitor the no. of workers he has working on upgrades.

Sadly, no way to tell if Nexon did anything, because of privacy, etc. As far as I can tell only a legit number of workers are being used right now. Of course, if there are also forests being cleared, traps upgraded, or other stuff I can't see happening, all bets are off.

 

[BV123]

I don't know about kicking him/her just yet. You know the saying.... Keep your friends close, keep your enemies closer.

 

[zaphod]

All you needed to do is to keep track of the amount of buildings being upgraded.

 

[zaphod]

All you needed to do is to keep track of the amount of buildings being upgraded.

 

[Magnifico]

Like I said, there are ways to employ workers that I don't think are possible for observers to detect, e.g. upgrading traps. So it's more complicated than just keeping track of buildings upgrades.

But, anyway, it's a moot point, because after all this agonizing we kicked him for a more mundane reason: he requested hundreds of troops but didn't donate. Good riddance.