I can fully understand why users who give their points away to their mate end up getting banned. But what I don't understand is why users who benefit from this unfair inflation of rank (to the top of leaderboards) also do not get banned. As we have seen in the past there are repeat offenders out there

The norm is for the donator to be banned and the receiver gets their stats reset.

Repeated offenses usually leads to a ban for the receiver too.

If you have specific cases you think needs attention, do not hesitate to contact staff about it, but no naming in public please.

Thanks for quick reply jan. Yeah I'm aware of the current rules regarding points cheating, all I'm saying is I don't quite understand why the receiver shouldn't also get banned since they are equally to blame. Just trying to get the rules changed that's all . I will continue to be vigilant to all recent results of those 9 ball virtuosos who come out of nowhere .

Personally I agree with you, but I do think I understand the rationale behind the current system too...

The loser does so actively and knowingly, and is ALWAYS to blame. Giving away points is a bannable offense in its own right.

Being at the receiving end of this gets a little more complicated. You ARE required to stop playing against an opponent when it becomes apparent that he is losing deliberately, but if and/or when you reach that point is obviously more debatable.

I'm sure admins can elaborate a lot better if needed.

Yes, I can see that it is a grey area if the receiver is not aware that the other person is knowingly giving points away. However, I think common-sense should prevail as it is obvious in some cases that the receiver is trying to boost his/her score, and therefore he/she should be banned.

I think that's what happens most of the time too... There are clearly cases that can slip through the net, but those are rare exceptions and all are caught eventually

am sorry but how can they prove that it was a mate,any one can sit front of there desktop and laptop simultanously,so the so called reciver gets reset and the so called mate gets a ban, a cheat is cheat there is no grey area imo

You and I both buddy

Could not agree more Dave, I think it should be a double ban for both players,both are cheating the one giving and the one receiving.

True - there was one such case where a keratinous recidivist eventually got banned after a couple of stats resets did not deter him. They do get found out!

It's been answered correctly by Janmb above.

We give no leniency to the "donor" account because it is clear that they do not care about that account, often because it is created for just this purpose.

True, but guilt is a bit less black and white in the case of the receiver, where you may or may not be aware the other user is losing on purpose - until a certain point.

Although it's usually the case, we can't assume it's two players who know each other or the same player on both accounts. Unless we know this from other sources, we have to assume the players don't know each other and hence give the receiver the benefit of a certain amount of doubt. To a point.

Precisely, a few missed blacks here and there wouldn't raise suspicions if the 'reciever' was unaware, so it is only fair to warn that individual rather than ban them, just incase they were genuinly oblivious.

Yeah but in cases where it is playera 15-0 playerb, all in the space of 5 minutes, and all by fouls on the black/3 consec fouls both accounts should be banned. At present there is no deterrent for people getting "5 minutes of fame" at the top of the rankings

Walker mate but surley it wont bother you that much, because each time this has happened recently the people do end up getting caught! I do see what you mean thou!

Not being a top rank player myself, it would also drive me mad too, see some cheat being at the top without working hard like the normal rank players! but i cannot see how they are both not banned, whats happens if the same person has more than one account?

I for one dont like the current rank system anyway for this reason, you can pick who you play so for me this takes out the edge off the skill. but going back on topic im sure they will be caught inthe end!






Edited at 01:36 Sat 21/03/09 (GMT)

Since those 5 mins is all they achieve before getting reset, I fail to see any problem here. It's not something we condone, but I feel we react sufficiently.

While I realize it's necessary, I also wish we had a better option than stats reset - not because it's not deserved, but because players on too low rank compared to skill are far worse for the health of the ranking system than players with too high rank.

what a shame anyone has to cheat.

it is a shame that people do cheat i just wish that there was zero tolerance regarding this as its clear to me that just resetting the stats is not going to deter anyone from cheating in the future,there was a recent member who did and then complained that this should be allowed and that he wanted the rules changed to allow him to cheat and after two resets he still was not band