Unfounded accusations of cheating

[redrob]

HI all,

I have just received my first neg feedback, stating "I think he is a cheat." The player leaving it also left neg feedback for the person they accused me of cheating with, gerry22, which read "either a cheat or is just stupid".

Now surely neither of these meet the rules for neg feedback. No proof at all for a start, and as for the "cheat or stupid", well, surely if she thinks he is stupid, then she has no right to then accuse me of cheating.

I tried to explain to her in the game chat why i felt the third player was playing as he was, that player left messages in the chat telling her why he had done what he did (which was basically not attack me when i held a whole continent) and yet she then stillleaves neg feedback, without a single shread of evidence.

I have so far not left her feedback, as i know it would be retaliation, although i have been tempted to state that she ruins a game by making false accusations, which is true as the game chat will show.

If someopne wants to investigate me and gerry22 and then hopefully get the feedback removed id be happy. Or maybe the feedback can simply be removed on the grounds it breaks the rules, as it says "thinks" on mine and on gerry22's it says "cheat or stupid", where are the facts in either of those.


On a similar point, in my feedback there is also a neutral stating

he was good-but it seemed obvious they joined the game same time so they were a team,otherwise-good

Now as this was a doubles game and my doubles partner is the person i generally play with, surely this feedback is unfair. But as its a neutral i cannot leave a comment with it. However to a casual viewer it could read that he is accusing me of cheating also and i do feel that we should have the right ot reply on neutral feedback as well.

What makes this neutral feedback more annoying is that he gavce my doubles partner positive feedback for the same game? I feel picked upon by idiots

[wicked]

Yeah, baseless accusations are really annoying. I've deleted both yours and your teammate's. Thanks for bringing it to our attention.

[lackattack]

Hi redrob,

I agree that you should be able to leave feedback on neutrals (and even positives) and I'll be making this available soon.

However you do not have to *prove* your accusations. "I think" is good enough, if it is sincere. It is often impossible to prove collusion in a game - does that mean we should do nothing about it!?

But even if you don't have to prove your rant, it would be nice to provide some information to back it up. "I think he is a cheat" doesn't say much and frankly looks stupid. I would think something intelligent like this would be more credible:

"Jack and Jill never attacked each other and left their mutual borders undefended for the duration of the game, without announcing any alliance."

Since "stupid" feedback has less influence on the reader, I don't think we need to moderate it. I'll ask wicked to give her professional opinion on this as well.

[wicked]

Man Lack, you are slow... get some breakfast already...lol.

I looked at the game and saw no reason for a cheating accusation. All players were attacking each other. The accuser never said WHY she thought they were cheating, just came out and called them cheats first thing. Sorry, but unless people explain WHY they think someone is cheating, with DETAILS, then it's baseless.

[lackattack]

Okay.

Wicked's right, I'm gonna toast a bagel now.

[AAFitz]

lack wrote:

"Jack and Jill never attacked each other and left their mutual borders undefended for the duration of the game, without announcing any alliance."

or what about Jack and Jill went up the hill, each had a buck and a quarter....

Jill came down with two fifty

sorry, just cant help it...

i also suggest explaining to the other person in full detail your actions...leaving him a positive feedback about how he played well despite his suspicions of cheating, and try to resolve it this way

i have had to explain my actions in this game many times....sometimes all i can say is it was a bad move, but seemed right at the time...but almost everyone ive made the effort to show my intentions has been assured that they didnt get cheated, or ganged up on or targeted, and they then get to enjoy the game a little better

it wont work all the time, but it will work with the people that matter, and if you explain your intentions in the response, thats enough for me to believe it...assuming youre not in 40 games with the other accused player....then you may just be ignored

[gerry22]

Thank you. It was an unwarranted accusation.