Possible solution to the piloting problem in AW

So...this is a complicated situation, and there is no easy answer to the problem. Lots of debates on whether or not account sharing is banable.

I personally...don't care about the ethical debate.

All I know is that piloting is very much real. And very...wrong. War is starting to turn into a "you can't beat them, then join them" kinda deal in master/upper end of plat...and as someone who's never shared their log-in info, the moment I have to do that because of others breaking the rules...I'll just drop the game (that I've been playing for 3+years).

Alright, here's my proposed solution. It's by no means perfect But I feel there are no perfect solutions to the current situation.

Put a timer on the login/log out button. Put a 6 hours timer on it. Each device can only log in/out of an account every 6 hours.

Now I Know that I'm gonna get lots of responses of folks saying they have 17 different accounts...all active daily...all super stacked...and honestly, I don't care. The current situation of either cheat or lose is just too wrong.

If you are a piloting aly...don't take this as a personal attack on you. I know there are many of those out there. And I do want each and every one of you to be perma banned for breaking the TOS....but it ain't me calling the shots here.

Hopefully we get some solid response from kabam.

Cheers!

Comments

MattScott

What about people who play two accounts from the same device?

Molhamdinho

Piloted wars have to stop!!
My previous alliance replaced me because I refused to share my login info for war-piloting.. I like war & I like to fight my own battles.
But look how far people are taking it!
@Kabam Miike @Kabam Wolf @Kabam Vydious @Kabam Loto @Kabam Zibiit please do something & stop this cancer that’s killing the game.. put an end to piloting & it doesn’t have to be a perfect solution, we just need any solution at this point!!

RandomlyGenerated

MattScott wrote: »

What about people who play two accounts from the same device?

I feel the 6 hour window can allow those people to easily stay active on both accounts, even if they're playing at a high level (every 6 hours to so is the interval I log into my main).

MattScott

RandomlyGenerated wrote: »

MattScott wrote: »

What about people who play two accounts from the same device?

I feel the 6 hour window can allow those people to easily stay active on both accounts, even if they're playing at a high level (every 6 hours to so is the interval I log into my main).

If someone is playing 2 accounts in the same ally, and has to take out linked nodes? Absolutely not.

unknown

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unknown

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RandomlyGenerated

MattScott wrote: »

RandomlyGenerated wrote: »

MattScott wrote: »

What about people who play two accounts from the same device?

I feel the 6 hour window can allow those people to easily stay active on both accounts, even if they're playing at a high level (every 6 hours to so is the interval I log into my main).

If someone is playing 2 accounts in the same ally, and has to take out linked nodes? Absolutely not.

Maybe not. But compared to the current situation and how rampant piloting is...this would be the lesser of two evils. Also...if someone is running two accounts for AQ...just put them on two different BGs.

axelelf_1

I switch back and forth from my ipad to iphone depending on fights. I play better on my phone so do war and quest fights on it, then switch to my ipad to play arena. The main reason is my phone's battery can't hang so if they enacted a 6 hr cool down between devices, I would play about half as much. Can't see this working.

MattScott

RandomlyGenerated wrote: »

MattScott wrote: »

RandomlyGenerated wrote: »

MattScott wrote: »

What about people who play two accounts from the same device?

I feel the 6 hour window can allow those people to easily stay active on both accounts, even if they're playing at a high level (every 6 hours to so is the interval I log into my main).

If someone is playing 2 accounts in the same ally, and has to take out linked nodes? Absolutely not.

Maybe not. But compared to the current situation and how rampant piloting is...this would be the lesser of two evils. Also...if someone is running two accounts for AQ...just put them on two different BGs.

I think there is a large number of players this would affect. I agree something has to be done. But this is not it.

xNig

420sam

CpcBoyboy wrote: »

MattScott wrote: »

RandomlyGenerated wrote: »

MattScott wrote: »

What about people who play two accounts from the same device?

I feel the 6 hour window can allow those people to easily stay active on both accounts, even if they're playing at a high level (every 6 hours to so is the interval I log into my main).

If someone is playing 2 accounts in the same ally, and has to take out linked nodes? Absolutely not.

need 2 phones problem solved lolol i have 3 phones 4 ipad; damn i can run 7 accounts in same time..oops already done this lolol

That's great if you have that luxury, but not everyone does.

Deadbyrd9

I used to play 2 accounts. 6 hours is a terrible idea. After I get off work and log on to one account I wouldn’t be able to log back in until after I go to sleep once I switch. Not everyone can just log in whenever. I’m sure Kabam has a way of knowing because alliances have already lost points for it. Just need a stricter punishment.

I would never buy a new phone just to play 2 accounts. That’s just stupid for those of us like me with one mobile device

420sam

Let's just get down to it: the root of the problem is that there is such a disparity of rewards between the various tiers that compounds the problem. If Kabam would have made the rewards more balanced then alliances would not care so much about winning and losing. And before you say that Kabam would lose out on money Kabam could still make money by adding a war event that awards milestone rewards for various tasks.
How about a weekly event related to wars based on number of defenders killed? Kabam makes money as people push to hit the next milestone.

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Mohgley

I don’t see how account sharing should be bannable it’s your account you share your info at your own risk people get way to upset over losing wars and instantly start pointing fingers it is not a big deal they are fighting the champions the same as the person who owns the account does anyway and a 6 hour timer would get you kicked in map6 for sure and even possibly in map 5 these maps aren’t made for 6 hour breaks for any other time than when you are sleeping other than that you need to log in every 3 or 4 hours that you are awake throughout the day as somebody who has 3 accounts in the same alliance I can’t afford to not be able to move all my accounts during my breaks and lunches and I shouldn’t have to carry 3 devices to do so that is just an unrealistic solution to a problem that I can’t see why it is such a big deal to begin with if I lose a war to one or two people running a BG I admire their skills and take the loss with dignity it’s a game after all no need to get so worked up over it at all

CloserByTomorrow

Mohgley wrote: »

I don’t see how account sharing should be bannable it’s your account you share your info at your own risk people get way to upset over losing wars and instantly start pointing fingers it is not a big deal they are fighting the champions the same as the person who owns the account does anyway and a 6 hour timer would get you kicked in map6 for sure and even possibly in map 5 these maps aren’t made for 6 hour breaks for any other time than when you are sleeping other than that you need to log in every 3 or 4 hours that you are awake throughout the day as somebody who has 3 accounts in the same alliance I can’t afford to not be able to move all my accounts during my breaks and lunches and I shouldn’t have to carry 3 devices to do so that is just an unrealistic solution to a problem that I can’t see why it is such a big deal to begin with if I lose a war to one or two people running a BG I admire their skills and take the loss with dignity it’s a game after all no need to get so worked up over it at all

You’re right about the 6 hour thing. That’s just a bad idea. But to say that sharing makes no difference in the outcome is 100% wrong. That’s the whole reason piloting is so common. Because every death counts now. And I mean every single death. The whole point of pilots is to avoid dying. Which is in my opinion an unfair way to play the game. But whatever. It is what it is.

Honestly, if you can’t clear your path without dying against a diverse map then you shouldn’t be playing this game at high levels anyway

RandomlyGenerated

CloserByTomorrow wrote: »

Mohgley wrote: »

I don’t see how account sharing should be bannable it’s your account you share your info at your own risk people get way to upset over losing wars and instantly start pointing fingers it is not a big deal they are fighting the champions the same as the person who owns the account does anyway and a 6 hour timer would get you kicked in map6 for sure and even possibly in map 5 these maps aren’t made for 6 hour breaks for any other time than when you are sleeping other than that you need to log in every 3 or 4 hours that you are awake throughout the day as somebody who has 3 accounts in the same alliance I can’t afford to not be able to move all my accounts during my breaks and lunches and I shouldn’t have to carry 3 devices to do so that is just an unrealistic solution to a problem that I can’t see why it is such a big deal to begin with if I lose a war to one or two people running a BG I admire their skills and take the loss with dignity it’s a game after all no need to get so worked up over it at all

You’re right about the 6 hour thing. That’s just a bad idea. But to say that sharing makes no difference in the outcome is 100% wrong. That’s the whole reason piloting is so common. Because every death counts now. And I mean every single death. The whole point of pilots is to avoid dying. Which is in my opinion an unfair way to play the game. But whatever. It is what it is.

Honestly, if you can’t clear your path without dying against a diverse map then you shouldn’t be playing this game at high levels anyway

Oh I got no problem clearing or dealing with bosses. But there's a problem when every damn day I see pilots boasting about how they cleared X aly with sub 5 total deaths..."they didn't pilot so we won". Wack ass system.

RandomlyGenerated

Mohgley wrote: »

I don’t see how account sharing should be bannable it’s your account you share your info at your own risk people get way to upset over losing wars and instantly start pointing fingers it is not a big deal they are fighting the champions the same as the person who owns the account does anyway and a 6 hour timer would get you kicked in map6 for sure and even possibly in map 5 these maps aren’t made for 6 hour breaks for any other time than when you are sleeping other than that you need to log in every 3 or 4 hours that you are awake throughout the day as somebody who has 3 accounts in the same alliance I can’t afford to not be able to move all my accounts during my breaks and lunches and I shouldn’t have to carry 3 devices to do so that is just an unrealistic solution to a problem that I can’t see why it is such a big deal to begin with if I lose a war to one or two people running a BG I admire their skills and take the loss with dignity it’s a game after all no need to get so worked up over it at all

Did you just try to justify piloting...and say the folks who don't break the rules don't have dignity?!? I got no words.

Romario26

This was as well thought out as that time I decided to eat a tide pod 😂
I would say the war system is broken, that’s the only reason for the war piloting. You don’t compete with one other alliance now, you compete with all. Even if you’re losing you don’t want to lose as bad as another alliance because you want to rank higher at the end of the season, you’re facing everyone in wars now. Personally, I would never make a post like this cause well I don’t suck and wouldn’t be salty after a war lost cause if only I shared my info with a skilled player, if you lose wars because of dying too much then get better, I’m not for war piloting but if you’re specifically against it then you and your alliance should get better than those couple people piloting 😂
I don’t even know why anyone would want to pilot 10 accounts, this game isn’t that fun to want to play 10 account 😂

Muzz

No, the root of the problem is the OP is assuming accounts are being piloted by the most skilled players to win the war. The OP is upset because he's getting out-skilled. I've been playing this game a long time too and I play at a high level. My alliance has worked super hard to improve the skill of everyone on our team so we can kick but in AW. We don't need to have anyone's account piloted. There's no real time crunch in AW, even when going for 100% exploration. There's plenty of time to get it done. There are pro level strategies that are used, but account sharing isn't at the top of the list. All the top players I know in AW are very skilled, use loyalty boosts and other boosts for every fight, and put the skilled players on the hardest paths. That's all the advantage they need and it's how the game is played. It's actually far more common to see accounts being piloted in AQ, especially on map 6 where the sequence is so important. That's not for the skill advantage of the pilot though, it's just to keep things moving along so one absent person doesn't lose rewards for 29.

6 hour timers on logging in is a terrible idea and I don't think it would solve any issues. It would only create an uproar. There are a lot of alliances out there that are great and competitive. @Molhamdinho , If you got kicked from an ally because you wouldn't share your log in info, then you don't want to be on a team like that anyway. What a bunch of Kanye's. Unless of course they were asking for the info because you were constantly unavailable when needed, which happens a lot. In either case, it's better to find a team that matches your level, frequency of play, and has people you get a long with well. In the end we spend a lot time together, so it's important to get along if you want to keep having fun. I wish you the best of luck and hope you find a team that fits you better than that last one.

Cheers,

Muzz~

ill_

Nothing will ever be done about this, I am convinced that Kabam has no way to track account sharing. We opened multiple tickets to support, and NOTHING happens. They say they can't share the outcome of their investigation due to privacy reasons, which is fine... but nothing is actually done about pilots. Its absolutely disgusting to watch an entire alliance log in ONE AT A TIME starting with BG1, and taking out one path at a time, and then move on to the next BG.

An alliance (which I cannot name) let everyone run their own accounts, when we starting clearing the paths with little deaths, they then told their entire alliance to stop moving and let the pilots finish the war... they had 10 deaths with 50% of the war completed, how in the world did they finish the rest of the map with just ONE death (including all minibosses and bosses). Dont tell me it was skill, as it clearly was not. A member blatlantly admitted they needed to log in for everyone to ensure they beat us.

A ticket was submitted and guess what Kabam did? NOTHING, they continue on with the win and their score is safe this season.

Lets talk about the #1 Alliance this season too... they are undefeated and average almost no deaths at all. Tickets are opened and you guys do nothing about it? I mean how hard can it be to see that one person logged into 30 accounts in one single day? They remain in first place because they have a damn good pilot (good for him for being that skilled), but how can this be good for Kabam if an alliance rarely dies and never use items? They get to remain undefeated, and their scores continue accumulating to the point where no alliance will catch them.

@Kabam Sophia @Kabam Miike @Kabam Vydious @Kabam Loto @Kabam Zibiit @Ad0ra_ very curious to hear what your thoughts are when tickets are opened and nothing happens, and AW scores continue to accumulate for these alliances that continue to violate the TOS.

Stagedear85

I don't see a problem with it, some people find everything to complain about , my brother and I live together sometimes he's having trouble and ill get 8 kills and a boss kill for him on his phone and his account so how would kaabam stop that, I've even got him a legend title using his phone and on his account since we live together and we're in the same alliance, I'm not signing in for him all he does is hand me his phone and I do it, I see no problem with it or if I'm fighting someone and they do the same I can care less its a game , not that serious.

Heartless

Stagedear85 wrote: »

I don't see a problem with it, some people find everything to complain about , my brother and I live together sometimes he's having trouble and ill get 8 kills and a boss kill for him on his phone and his account so how would kaabam stop that, I've even got him a legend title using his phone and on his account since we live together and we're in the same alliance, I'm not signing in for him all he does is hand me his phone and I do it, I see no problem with it or if I'm fighting someone and they do the same I can care less its a game , not that serious.

You just admitted to cheating and violating Terms of Service, smh.

Mohgley

RandomlyGenerated wrote: »

Mohgley wrote: »

I don’t see how account sharing should be bannable it’s your account you share your info at your own risk people get way to upset over losing wars and instantly start pointing fingers it is not a big deal they are fighting the champions the same as the person who owns the account does anyway and a 6 hour timer would get you kicked in map6 for sure and even possibly in map 5 these maps aren’t made for 6 hour breaks for any other time than when you are sleeping other than that you need to log in every 3 or 4 hours that you are awake throughout the day as somebody who has 3 accounts in the same alliance I can’t afford to not be able to move all my accounts during my breaks and lunches and I shouldn’t have to carry 3 devices to do so that is just an unrealistic solution to a problem that I can’t see why it is such a big deal to begin with if I lose a war to one or two people running a BG I admire their skills and take the loss with dignity it’s a game after all no need to get so worked up over it at all

Did you just try to justify piloting...and say the folks who don't break the rules don't have dignity?!? I got no words.

You’re obviously misinterpreting my meaning completely I said when I lose I admire the other alliances skills and take the loss with dignity I don’t sit and watch them takes nodes I work my 50+ a week I have never once cared who took the node either way it was taken. My point is it’s not the end of the world when we lose a war I’m gracious in victory or defeat I don’t look at every loss as some BS reason I look at it as a growing opportunity to try and learn and do better next time around I honestly didn’t know what piloting was until i opened this thread but I’ve seen most map 6 alliances wanting my info for the night shift and although I never gave out my info I never saw it as a big deal for the people that did if they want to risk all their hard work and effort by giving their info to people they have never met then more power to em.

DNA3000

NastyEfnNate wrote: »

Dropfaith wrote: »

NastyEfnNate wrote: »

If u can’t beat them join them

If you can't beat them shoot them. All acct sharing should be a perm ban no second chance no.excuse

Good thing u don’t run the game cuz then there wouldn’t be any of the whales left that keep the game running

People say this in every MMO. Often right before they perma ban thousands of cheaters.

DNA3000

ill_ wrote: »

Nothing will ever be done about this, I am convinced that Kabam has no way to track account sharing.

There's evidence that players are getting banned specifically for account sharing (specifically, they are posting messages saying they got punished for account sharing outside these forums). It isn't possible to prove beyond a reasonable doubt every instance of account sharing, but it seems clear Kabam can in some cases detect it, prove it is happening, and dole out punishment for it.

If you think you can get away with it, you might be right. But you are taking the risk you might be wrong.

Stagedear85

Heartless wrote: »

Stagedear85 wrote: »

I don't see a problem with it, some people find everything to complain about , my brother and I live together sometimes he's having trouble and ill get 8 kills and a boss kill for him on his phone and his account so how would kaabam stop that, I've even got him a legend title using his phone and on his account since we live together and we're in the same alliance, I'm not signing in for him all he does is hand me his phone and I do it, I see no problem with it or if I'm fighting someone and they do the same I can care less its a game , not that serious.

You just admitted to cheating and violating Terms of Service, smh.

hmmm I didn't sign in on his account, or do I have his log in password he just hand me his phone and I play some matches. I guess I admitted to it omg life is over as we know it, its not that serious

DNA3000

RandomlyGenerated wrote: »

Alright, here's my proposed solution. It's by no means perfect But I feel there are no perfect solutions to the current situation.

Put a timer on the login/log out button. Put a 6 hours timer on it. Each device can only log in/out of an account every 6 hours.

Now I Know that I'm gonna get lots of responses of folks saying they have 17 different accounts...all active daily...all super stacked...and honestly, I don't care. The current situation of either cheat or lose is just too wrong.

There's lots of reasons why this is a bad idea, most of which involve hurting regular players that you seem to not care about. So here's the primary reason this idea is a bad idea that you should care about: it doesn't work.

It is impossible to enforce a six hour login/logout per device at least on iOS because due to the way iOS prevents apps from learning specifics about the device itself Kabam's servers cannot know what device the app is on. I'm not sure if it is the best idea for me to specifically state how this could be defeated, but iOS programmers will know how to go about doing this, and presumably it would only be a matter of time before account sharers figured it out as well.

There are ways to track a device when used by normal players, such that if they jump from one network to another or use a VPN the game can tell it is still the same device, and it can distinguish two different people playing on different devices on the same network sharing the same routable IP address. But there's no way to prevent an unscrupulous player from making one device look like two devices.

The best lockout you could attempt to enforce is probably about ten minutes. Attempting to enforce one that was longer than that would only inconvenience normal players, while people determined to account share could bypass the lockout in less than ten minutes. I'm saying this with a very specific set of methods for defeating the lockout in mind that anyone could use if it was just described to them once, with no modification to their iPhone or iPad. So this idea is mostly mooted.

DNA3000

Stagedear85 wrote: »

Heartless wrote: »

Stagedear85 wrote: »

I don't see a problem with it, some people find everything to complain about , my brother and I live together sometimes he's having trouble and ill get 8 kills and a boss kill for him on his phone and his account so how would kaabam stop that, I've even got him a legend title using his phone and on his account since we live together and we're in the same alliance, I'm not signing in for him all he does is hand me his phone and I do it, I see no problem with it or if I'm fighting someone and they do the same I can care less its a game , not that serious.

You just admitted to cheating and violating Terms of Service, smh.

hmmm I didn't sign in on his account, or do I have his log in password he just hand me his phone and I play some matches. I guess I admitted to it omg life is over as we know it, its not that serious

A lot of people seem to live in a very strange binary world where every action is either inconsequential or fatal. It must be like living in a 1980's arcade video game.

The definition of account sharing is not "you gave your password to someone else." I'm not sure why people make up definitions of account sharing, especially when they don't make sense. You aren't allowed to share login credentials, but the definition of account sharing is pretty simple: it is when two people share one account. If two people play on one account, that account is being shared.

Most casual account sharing like someone spinning a crystal for you isn't punished, nor does Kabam particularly care about it - and that is entirely their prerogative. But when they feel the account sharing is something they do not want to have happen, it is entirely within their purview to punish people for it, and they were forewarned.

Running an AW path and running an entire Legends title for someone else is not casual sharing. It is against the terms of service. And if you don't care, don't break the rules. If you break the rules, you care enough to break the rules, and saying you could "care less" is a lie.

RandomlyGenerated

DNA3000 wrote: »

RandomlyGenerated wrote: »

Alright, here's my proposed solution. It's by no means perfect But I feel there are no perfect solutions to the current situation.

Put a timer on the login/log out button. Put a 6 hours timer on it. Each device can only log in/out of an account every 6 hours.

Now I Know that I'm gonna get lots of responses of folks saying they have 17 different accounts...all active daily...all super stacked...and honestly, I don't care. The current situation of either cheat or lose is just too wrong.

There's lots of reasons why this is a bad idea, most of which involve hurting regular players that you seem to not care about. So here's the primary reason this idea is a bad idea that you should care about: it doesn't work.

It is impossible to enforce a six hour login/logout per device at least on iOS because due to the way iOS prevents apps from learning specifics about the device itself Kabam's servers cannot know what device the app is on. I'm not sure if it is the best idea for me to specifically state how this could be defeated, but iOS programmers will know how to go about doing this, and presumably it would only be a matter of time before account sharers figured it out as well.

There are ways to track a device when used by normal players, such that if they jump from one network to another or use a VPN the game can tell it is still the same device, and it can distinguish two different people playing on different devices on the same network sharing the same routable IP address. But there's no way to prevent an unscrupulous player from making one device look like two devices.

The best lockout you could attempt to enforce is probably about ten minutes. Attempting to enforce one that was longer than that would only inconvenience normal players, while people determined to account share could bypass the lockout in less than ten minutes. I'm saying this with a very specific set of methods for defeating the lockout in mind that anyone could use if it was just described to them once, with no modification to their iPhone or iPad. So this idea is mostly mooted.

I'm rarely on the forums, but I have heard your praise a lot by aly mates.

Glad this thread got some traction. I am fully aware that the proposed solution is nowhere near perfect. Personally, I'd much rather them being banned.

I find it deeply concerning when I see folks saying they "admire the skill of the pilots" or "you're just a sore loser"...it's a much bigger problem in my mind when the cheating mentality is so deeply ingrained in players that not cheating and not breaking the terms of service is the wrong and lazy thing to do.

Would LOVE to hear input on how they can put an end to this infection of piloters.

The more rampant cheating gets...the faster any competitive game loses players. It just isn't fun going up against an aly 3 ran by 1.