65 replies to this topic

[drv4truk]

I was really disappointed with the lack of supervision in this game. Airlines are still getting away with exploiting bugs on routes. Aircraft that should have been delivered three months ago are still stuck in the delivery list at Airbus (#16, #3, #1). And now after playing successfully and without cheating I get this message:

Anti-cheat software has been activated on your account
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Actions Taken: Queried

You have been selling/buying beeches at the cheapest prices to other people. If you have an explanation for this please message back or futhur action might have to be taken.

Explain:

07/03/05 21:27:12,1223,Beech 1900D,7,5020619.4111283,2027,821,2510310,public
07/03/05 21:27:35,2369,Beech 1900D,6,5457195.012096,2027,821,2728598,public
07/03/05 21:27:55,3148,Beech 1900D,6,5457195.012096,2027,821,2728598,public
07/03/05 21:28:12,3442,Beech 1900D,6,5457195.012096,2027,821,2728598,public
07/03/05 21:29:41,3443,Beech 1900D,6,5457195.012096,2027,821,2728598,public

Thank you, and I need your response.

Please Respond to this message as soon as possible by clicking HERE

My airline has been around for a while and I am making over $3M a day. At the time I bought these aircraft I had somewhere around $30M in cash. I also was in the process of trimming down some of my routes and gate costs so I had some of my other aircraft up for sale. I saw that someone was putting aircraft up for sale on the public market below value and decided to purchase them for two reasons. 1) So that I could make a profit. 2) So that I could list these aircraft for sale at the same price I was listing my aircraft for sale at. That way they would sell right away and hopefully not sit on the market for a long time. So, does this mean that anytime an airline buys aircraft on the public market for 50% of value and then sells them for $5M, they will be accused of cheating?

Now, I know that people have asked for the "cheating police" to be implemented and I guess you got what you wanted. But, this is ridiculous. Now every airline that decides to buy or sell aircraft below value will be suspected of cheating for no good reason.

Who on the other end of this message gets to decide whether a person is actually cheating or not? Is Miller doing all of this work himself or is someone else doing it? If someone else is doing it do they also own an airline? SInce most of the "AE Developers" are playing the game, I don't think that would be very fair to anybody if they are the ones doing the policing.

[767-300ER]

I what ways can you cheat in this game?

[Crazy764]

Cheating is buying cheap planes from other airlines you own, or other airlines your allies/friends own.

[soundisgood]

I think if there is going to be anti cheating software we need a list of clear rules. I've always thought it was funny that most people consider it cheating to buy aircraft at 50% yet the software allows for this on the public market. Is it cheating or not? (I'm not asking for everyone?s opinion. I'm asking for a fact from Miller) And if it is cheating why does the software permit it? (Again looking for fact not opinion)

I think it's great that the Navy is gone but I hate to see injustice. If there are no clear rules than there are going to be people that get punished for doing things that no one knew were wrong.

Miller, I think the game is great and you are truly contributing something wonderful to all of us that have no lives but if you have the time to write such a complicated script as an anti-cheat please take the time to write some rules.

[Sunshine Airways CEO]

As we should know by now, using feeder airlines is considered cheating. Miller has said that before.

[dandude22]

What is the exact definition of a feeder airline?

[doug_Or]

b777- Which airline were you? the only airlines I noticed down were Marcari, Hamburg, and Navy, all of whom were pretty brazenly cheating.

The reason the software allows you to buy and sell form 50%-200% of stated value is so you can get the REAL value for a plane. I've said it once and I feel I'll probably have to say a million times again: the stated value of your plane is NOT what it is actauly worth. Your plane is worth what someone will pay for it or th lowest you'd sell it for (whichever is greater). These values will vary throughout the game the stated valued will obviously not reflect that. Thats why we can sell for 50%-300% of stated value.

Now, Miller has publicly said owning 2 or more airlines is not ok. He has also made it clear that using "feeder" airlines is not ok. Feeder airlines are airlines that are created to sell aircraft to the "master" airline or abandoned airlines that serve the same purpose (as seemed to be more common when reg was closed).

[Crazy764]

Originally posted by soundisgood
I've always thought it was funny that most people consider it cheating to buy aircraft at 50% yet the software allows for this on the public market.

If you find a good deal on the public market because an airline's owner is quitting, has too much money, or is retarded, then that's not cheating.

If you create a secondary airline just so you can sell planes cheap to your primary airline, that's cheating.

[drv4truk]

Originally posted by Crazy764
Cheating is buying cheap planes from other airlines you own, or other airlines your allies/friends own.

Ok, so then alliances can't sell aircraft at discounted prices to each other either then? That doesn't make sense at all. Do you want everyone that buys aircraft at 50% of value on the public market to automatically be labeled a cheater, even though AE allows aircraft to be sold at 50% of value?

The aircraft I purchased were being put on the public market at 50% value. I have no idea nor do I care what the other airlines intentions (bankruptcy, leaving the game, stupidity,etc.) were. My intentions were to make a profit and get the rest of my aircraft sold.

In case you haven't noticed, the prices on the used aircraft market can be controlled. But, I'm not willing to give out any market advice or strategies. Maybe you should go read a business book or something on economics and learn about the laws of supply and demand and how to control a market before you go throwing anymore blanket assumptions around about people that buy/sell aircraft at 50% of value.

[Crazy764]

Originally posted by drv4truk
Ok, so then alliances can't sell aircraft at discounted prices to each other either then? That doesn't make sense at all. Do you want everyone that buys aircraft at 50% of value on the public market to automatically be labeled a cheater, even though AE allows aircraft to be sold at 50% of value?

I said "OTHER" airlines your "friends/allies own".

So if your "ally" creates a secondary airline just to sell planes for cheap to you, that's cheating!

Originally posted by drv4truk
The aircraft I purchased were being put on the public market at 50% value. I have no idea nor do I care what the other airlines intentions (bankruptcy, leaving the game, stupidity,etc.) were. My intentions were to make a profit and get the rest of my aircraft sold.

If you had nothing to do with the seller of those planes (ie. it wasn't planned, some kind of reciprocity, etc.) then it's not cheating. You have nothing to worry about. Just explain like the letter gave you the chance to.

Originally posted by drv4truk
Maybe you should go read a business book or something on economics and learn about the laws of supply and demand and how to control a market before you go throwing anymore blanket assumptions around about people that buy/sell aircraft at 50% of value.

Maybe you should use your brain and remember that this games leaves lots of room for people to exploit its shortcommings, and therefore cannot be completely paralleled to the real world market.

In this game, a player can just "sign up" to new airlines, and be given 2 planes and $5 million. Said player can then channel these funds and aircraft to their primary airline through ip changes, allies, friends, etc.

Real world airlines can't do this. They aren't given the starting capital or the planes. They have to earn their money. They can't just click a button and be given another 5 million bucks and two planes.

Therefore, anyone who benefits from the creation of multiple airlines (by channeling the funds/aircraft through ANY means) is CHEATING.

But like I said before, if you committed no such acts, you have nothing to worry about. Just explain your situation like you were given the chance to.

Personally, I'm glad to see AE is taking some action against cheaters. Perhaps you were falsely accused, but many others are probably not.

----------------------------------------------------------

And for those who still don't understand how allies can help each other cheat, I'll give this example again:

Player 1 creates Airline A (primary) and Airline B (feeder).
Player 2 creates Airline C (primary) and Airline D (feeder).

Player 1 sells Airline B's planes for 50% price to Player 2's Airline C.
Player 2 sells Airline D's planes for 50% price to Player 1's Airline A.

That is cheating.


[Edited on 7/4/2005 by Crazy764]

[Sunshine Airways CEO]

feeder airlines are like what Crazy764 said. They are airlines used to transfer cheep aircraft to the main airline. usually these transactions go on back and forth. If the admins decided to take action, there must be concrete evidence to it.


whats your airline's name?

[aj_n]

OMG people, read the posts, someone defined a feeder airline, maybe even twice. I will say it as well:

FEEDER AIRLINE= A SECOND AIRLINE YOU START TO SELL PLANES CHEAPLY TO YOUR MAIN AIRLINE.

No wonder Nathaniel gets that way sometimes...

Whoops, didn't see SA 13's post.

[Edited on 7/5/2005 by aj_n]

[piercey]

Originally posted by B777
How can the admin say "concrete evidence"??

Can any admin answer my 3 questions i mentioned??

I am not going to tell my airline name here, but i do think that the admin are able to track by my IP. If my airline is once again ruined in the name "cheating" because i've done some legal transaction, i'll understand wht "fairness" is in this empire with disappointment.

The best thing to do know is say what your airline is. We can either say that you got robbed and force the developers to give you free planes () or we can say, from looking at your airline, that you inedvertily(sp?) activated the navy bug and the system caught you

[Maestro69]

Honestly, if u have nothing to hide, u wouldnt be soo afraid in admitting here, on a public forum, ur airline name.

[Chicken]

Originally posted by drv4truk
Do you want everyone that buys aircraft at 50% of value on the public market to automatically be labeled a cheater, even though AE allows aircraft to be sold at 50% of value?

In AE1, I abused this feature, buying many planes at 50% of value and reselling to my feeder at 200% of value. The use of monitoring internet addresses has prevented this.

In AE3, if I buy a plane at 50% of value, it is my good luck, and someone else's silliness. While I think your intentions were reasonable, selling at 50% is a bit much.

I still believe the range on selling used aircraft should be 90%-110% of current market value. It will not eliminate the practice, but reduce it's severity.