mosquito7777 and tallcraigcs[noted]SN

[stealth99]

Accused:

mosquito7777
tallcraigcs

The accused are suspected of:

Other: Playing as a team

Game 12789473

Comments: The collaboration effort from these two players seems over the top and above and beyond everything I've ever seen. It seems more than a simple truce between players, particularly when you consider one of the two players is riding this thing to his grave.

All of this occurred after another player in the game inadvertently posted a msg to himself that i commented on in obvious humor (at least i thought obvious). Both these players interpreted the exchange as a secret alliance where I guess we were communicating in code (it's even funnier when you see it). They then had a sensitive moment with each other and one asked the other to play team games together and unfortunately they started with this singles game.

When i saw this comment by mosquito7777 in the game chat, i became concerned about a collaborative effort ".I wonder if any of the other players are watching our conversation, waiting for the outcome...something like an East-West meeting...after all, we are the most powerful players, what we decide will no doubt affect them..." He pretty well makes it clear they are working together to take us all out.

These two players are talking their way through every single turn with multiple posts for each, with multiple arrangements made and the like. Every single turn, as they systematically eliminate each one of us. It has been quite obvious for some time that one clearly has the upper hand, but the second guy continues.....adding to my concern for their collaboration.

If no rule has been violated I apologize in advance and will gracefully swallow the loss. I didn't know how else to find the answer without going through this very intimidating process.

[tallcraigcs]

Stealth99

First, sorry for such a long message, but as a long time player of online games I take cheating very seriously and when I am accused of it I always want to respond openly.

1) Thanks for notifying us within the game about this post because it gives us the opportunity to respond.

2) I knew that at the beginning of the game you were not involved in secret diplomacy. My post was a joke. I can't speak for mosquito on this point but I believe you actually referenced my joke in your response to mosquito's accusation.

3) mosquito and I have played two games together (including 12789473). Both were 8 player games on USA 2.1, although the first was not a trench game. In the first game I got off to a fantastic start, taking most of the southeast within 7 rounds or so. Mosquito then began a collaborative effort amongst three or four other players to take me out of the southeast. This proved too much for me to defend against and I was defeated shortly after. The first game ended just about the time that this game started. In fact, I joined this game because I wanted to take a crack at mosquito (he was the creator and when I saw his name I knew I wanted in). In the game chat you may remember him asking, "Is this the Dun Dun Dun coming from the north?" This is because I ended the first game with a message, "I will have my revenge Dun, Dun, Dun". (Dun, Dun, Dun being the sound that accompanies foreshadowing in old movies).

4) You may have a legitimate beef with the alliance in this game so let me explain my reasoning. Yellow (Swifty) and Red (mosquito) proposed an alliance because i was hitting Yellow in New England and Red and my borders were getting closer, with me playing out of the Midwest. While Red was considering this I correctly stated that hitting me in Chicago or NY (would not remove any bonus) would not be a good strategy because it would mean a bloody battle between the two of us. I believe I also referenced his battles with you and black as a reason he did not want me as an enemy. Red did hit me in those two airports but only left one troop, so i obviously retook them and continued my progress against yellow in NE. I also stated that my offer for peace between us was still on the table and that I hoped black would not miss another turn so that he could continue to pressure red from Florida. Clearly I wanted black to continue playing because it would focus red's attention elsewhere.

That brings us to the night (here in China it was night) of the alliance. Black's time was running down on his second missed turn, so I sent a message that i was watching the time tick down and awaiting red's decision. As luck would have it, red was also looking at the game and as black's time ran out we began to discuss what a truce between us would look like. It was a very lengthy and friendly discussion which was done entirely on public chat. I posted an awful Chairman Maosquito pun. Again, I can't speak for red but any reference I made to other players during this chat was in reference to how silly I thought it would seem to another player reading such a long negotiation... with such terrible puns. I in no way harbored any hard feelings or malice for other players in the game, and it certainly wasn't SECRET diplomacy. I ultimately decided to take the alliance because I could take Denver and Los Angeles airports thus winning the race out west and then probably winning the game (the game is still ongoing).

After the first round of our truce I notified him that I had attacked pink in Maryland. My moving into Maryland was a violation of our truce but I didn't want pink to put his full deployment there and try to take me out of Pennsylvania. I explained to him (red) that I had no intentions of taking Maryland as a whole, and I only left one troop there.

The next communication we had was red asking if he could attack me in Albuquerque. This is where I think you're claim of a sustained partnership loses some credibility. As he has twenty troops west of Albuquerque and his main force is East of Albuquerque, I thought that he would be able to gain a strategic advantage by linking those. So I denied his request. And that brings us to now.

As I said in game chat, if the truce between red and I never happened I would have approached you with an offer of help for your fight against him. (Probably hitting him in Atlanta, and sustaining the attack until you solidified your place in the southwest). Your reference to our wanting to play a team game together (which I had forgotten to set up, and we never actually played) doesn't really strike me as relevant, but I think that was just a set-up for your comment that we decided to make this a team game (nice burn). In both games I have played with red he has talked a lot. This is something I tend to like in MMOs and other online games, and I try to be a friendly and talkative player as well (I have only been playing CC for a short time and am usually too amazed with other player's smart strategies to have anything intelligent to say). I hope that I have addressed your concerns about my intentions and honestly hope that I haven't violated any rules, written or otherwise. While it may be frustrating that such a low ranked player will (probably [hopefully]) win this game, I do want to stress that there hasn't been any intentional collaborative effort on my part. I hope that nothing in my message came off as sarcastic, I'm an honest guy. I hope red will respond with an equally understanding message and not let this devolve into trolling. As a new player I don't know how actively the overlords (OK, I'm a little sarcastic) view these complaints, but I hope we can get an official response.

Craig Johnson

[mosquito7777]

I wasn't going to even bother taking time to view this forum, but after some consideration have decided to, anyway. It does no harm to listen to what others may have to say on a particular matter; in this case, the general negativity that you have towards Tallcraigcs treaty with myself, and, more accurately, directed at me.
Firstly, to echo the comment by Tallcraigcs that we have not been involved in any secret diplomacy, and, secondly, we have not broken any rules, written or unwritten. That is the main point, and one which you vehemently claim has been the case.
As for our treaty, one that has had seriously hindering implications on you in the game we refer to; you were at will to make a treaty with any player in the game, including me, but you chose not to do so. A suggestion to keep a reasonable number of each of our troops on the border in question was not something that I was prepared to accept, plain and simple. The fact that you planted a large number of troops on my doorstep early-on was not conducive to my plans, so I chose to limit your ability to cause potential damage on me by attacking those troops. Clearly, you did not like it...and it was that move that triggered your rant at me, something that was decidely over the top, and merely set you up as a complainer. You know, sometimes it pays to act with rather more in the way of graciously accepting the inevitable, and act with a sense of level-headedness despite being knocked down in the way you were. If you had done that instead of immediately launching into a bitter tirade directed at me; it is better to be a good sport in defeat instead of being a bad loser.
The fact that the treaty between Tallcraigcs and myself has ultimately resulted in your decline, and will result in your demise, is a natural progression, and is not uncommon in games such as this one. Please, don't get me wrong, I am not having a go at you, quite the opposite, and I don't intend any ill-feeling, and I am not crowing from the rooftops at my pressing to eliminate you....if any other player had been in your territories, I would have played my turns in the same way because one opponent less (on my borders) is one less for me to have to defend against.
I will end by thanking you for reading this, and wish you well in future CC games. Oh, and put a smile on your face, you'll feel better for it!
Regards
Mosquito7777

[#1_stunna]

tl; dr.

[sniffie]

This will be noted to see if it happens in other games as well

sniff