Battlegrounds - i sandbagged. Will i be banned?

Dalek_sec123

hi all, i was wondering if i am at risk of being banned for putting a few 1 and 2 stars in my deck. can someone please let me know

Noob_Master69

Lets hope so!

KDoggg2017

You will find out in a couple days. Let us know how it works out!

Dalek_sec123

i feel like so many high level players did it
they cant ban everyone right?

Eb0ny-O-M4w

Is not a bannable offense

GroundedWisdom

Sandbagging, while unsportsmanlike, is not exactly bannable. However, it's not within the spirit of fair play, and it's something they're working on addressing.

Dalek_sec123

i mean i do get that, and whilst it was only for a few games i only did it because all of my opponents were. when i returned to my original legit deck, i got so many sandbaggers but i beat them by skill. and there were so many i would be shocked if all of them were banned.

altavista

You didn't do something that the game didn't allow you to do (modding), and it wasn't an unintentional programming bug that Kabam was trying to get you not to do (an exploit).

So, Sandbagging is not against the Terms of Service and so would not be bannable.
But it definitely is not a fair practice.

Demonzfyre

Dalek_sec123 said:

i beat them by skill.

If you had this to begin with, you wouldn't have ever felt the need to sandbag.

Dalek_sec123

Demonzfyre said:

Dalek_sec123 said:

i beat them by skill.

If you had this to begin with, you wouldn't have ever felt the need to sandbag.

bro i literally just said i did it cos so many others were doing it
i found that it was the same level of players i went against while sandbagging anyways

G-Hun-Gear

Dalek_sec123 said:

hi all, i was wondering if i am at risk of being banned for putting a few 1 and 2 stars in my deck. can someone please let me know

Don’t worry, you’re good.

K00shMaan

I've said this in other threads as well. Sandbagging is most likely not a bannable offense because their is no clear line for what is and what isn't sandbagging. In fact, Sandbagging is generally not illegal in any competition. The best solution to combat it is just to create matchmaking criteria that offers sandbaggers no added value or event negative value.

Chatterofforums

There are a couple people spreading false information in other threads that probably led to this thread. Contrary to what some are saying, Kabam never said sandbagging is cheating nor has it been noted that this is any kind of violation which means, no, you will not be banned for sandbagging.

I think most can agree sandbagging isn't exactly sportsman like, however, one can also argue that pi shouldn't even be a factor in BG matchmaking when everyone is going for the same rewards.

VeryVicious

I'm curious what will happen. I do feel there should be some punitive consequence just to discourage this. If you are a coward, you should get something to happen. Maybe when you save your deck with 1 or 2 stars, the game gives you a pop up calling you a coward...and then asks you if you are sure you want to save this deck?

Phillip14233

Dalek_sec123 said:

Demonzfyre said:

Dalek_sec123 said:

i beat them by skill.

If you had this to begin with, you wouldn't have ever felt the need to sandbag.

bro i literally just said i did it cos so many others were doing it
i found that it was the same level of players i went against while sandbagging anyways

So you’re a follower?

Dalek_sec123

Phillip14233 said:

Dalek_sec123 said:

Demonzfyre said:

Dalek_sec123 said:

i beat them by skill.

If you had this to begin with, you wouldn't have ever felt the need to sandbag.

bro i literally just said i did it cos so many others were doing it
i found that it was the same level of players i went against while sandbagging anyways

So you’re a follower?

no i just wanted to have the same advantage as others??

Coppin

Dalek_sec123 said:

Phillip14233 said:

Dalek_sec123 said:

Demonzfyre said:

Dalek_sec123 said:

i beat them by skill.

If you had this to begin with, you wouldn't have ever felt the need to sandbag.

bro i literally just said i did it cos so many others were doing it
i found that it was the same level of players i went against while sandbagging anyways

So you’re a follower?

no i just wanted to have the same advantage as others??

Key word being advantage.. therefore no skill

DNA3000

K00shMaan said:

I've said this in other threads as well. Sandbagging is most likely not a bannable offense because their is no clear line for what is and what isn't sandbagging. In fact, Sandbagging is generally not illegal in any competition. The best solution to combat it is just to create matchmaking criteria that offers sandbaggers no added value or event negative value.

1. Sandbagging is illegal in some competitions and can get you banned from competition.

2. At the moment, MCOC Battlegrounds is not one of these competitions.

Sandbagging is problematic because, depending on how we define it, it can be extremely anticompetitive. However, it falls within a very problematic area of Battlegrounds to begin with: the nature of the current match making system which creates arguably problematic matches even absent deck manipulation.

As deck manipulation in various forms is pretty rampant in some areas, and as Kabam hasn't strictly defined the boundaries of fair play when it comes to deck composition, the odds of someone getting banned for deck manipulation that is commonly described as sandbagging is almost zero. They'd be banning a substantial percentage of the participants.

Hobospy

Personally I'm disappointed. I played BGs, didn't ever manipulate the deck but did end up facing someone that did. The people that do it know what they are doing and why they are doing it.

I realise it is difficult to police but unless there is a crackdown it won't stop, don't really care if it is an interim ban or a removal of rewards but something punitive enough to fully discourage it otherwise you may as well consider it another facet of the BG strategy and call it out as such therefore allowing everyone to use it.

TheCaptain412

If Kabam doesn’t figure out a way to fix the matchmaking, the best way to punish sandbaggers is to reduce the number of options in the rounds where you pick two champs from 5 to 3.

That would greatly increase the chances of those players getting stuck with at least one of their garbage champs, while also offering the possibility they get stuck with two of them each round.

If it happens enough times where they wind up with two or more of their lower champs that they can’t avoid using in the matches, causing them to lose against people who are playing it straight, the behavior will stop.

PapaMidnite007

You won't be able to next season onwards

Phillip14233

Dalek_sec123 said:

Phillip14233 said:

Dalek_sec123 said:

Demonzfyre said:

Dalek_sec123 said:

i beat them by skill.

If you had this to begin with, you wouldn't have ever felt the need to sandbag.

bro i literally just said i did it cos so many others were doing it
i found that it was the same level of players i went against while sandbagging anyways

So you’re a follower?

no i just wanted to have the same advantage as others??

So yes.

Kabam Jax

YOU DID WHAT?!

Buttehrs

Kabam Jax said:

YOU DID WHAT?!

SANDBAGGED

Valroz

I wish I could say that Battlegrounds depends more on your fighting skills than your roster or the luck you had in pulling champs. Unfortunately, you can have top-notch fighting skills, but if you don't have the proper counter to certain BG-recommended defenders, your skills can only help so much. You can survive and defeat the defender, but your opponent will beat you in the remaining time difference.

Sandbagging is, unfortunately, the only way for those who don't have "monster accounts" or enough god-tier champs to lessen the gap with your enemy. The problem is that those who already have a monster account and more than enough god-tier champs can also sandbag and do the same. So therein lies the bigger problem.

One alternative to avoid sandbagging is for Battlegrounds to adopt a champion placement system similar to Incursions. Kabam should impose strict but sensible limitations on the champs you can choose for your roster. Battlegrounds could be tiered just like Incursions so that the champs you will put in your roster be limited to that tier category. For example, if you are Thronebreaker, you can only place 8K PI champs at the minimum. During the roster placement selection process, battlegrounds should automatically block champs with lower than 8K PI, for both Thronebreaker, and Paragon.

There is still so much room for improvement for Battlegrounds to make it truly competitive and worth the time. Unfortunately, there are just too many loopholes that are being taken advantage of by summoners who don't have rosters big enough to progress OR those who want to exploit the system.

Sighsohard

Forget sandbagging, ban/give us a way to report this

Dalek_sec123

I mean i really wish i hadnt done it - it brought no benefit and i lost 3 out of the 3 matches i did it for. when i returned to my normal deck i got consistent wins

Vendemiaire

Kabam Jax said:

YOU DID WHAT?!

BuggyDClown

Ban :- no
Sportsmanship:- not a good way

TheZebraKing

I heard that those that played as intended will get the rewards as normal. Modders will receive a ban. And sandbaggers won't be banned but will have their profile pic defaulted to a big chicken instead of the regular rewards?

I think it was a male chicken too? Known more colloquially as 'a cock' I believe...

Minderu

Technically not cheating, but I hope you morally feel bad about yourself.