However within the last several years and especially since the adminstrator/moderator teams have changed from its orginal creator to guys such as Visionik, within the last months, I've seen Supreme Commander Forged Alliance as a game drastically changed in dynamics just to fit a few people for their own convenience. Right now I see default units on the unit database that were never part of the Supreme Commander Forged Alliance default units database that are now being incorporated into the game. I've seen the dynamics of the ACU changed so a few people who can't handle the "rigors" of playing Supreme Commander Forged Alliance the way it was meant to be played to fit their playing styles. I've seen defatult maps being changed to fit a player so he can have the unfair advantage to win. Now I understand. I love third party maps. I think third-party maps are great for the game and the Forged Alliance community. However to take a default map from orignial Supreme Commander Forged Alliance and change it to suit the selective of what I call the " lessor skilled masses" because they can't handle the rigors of that map is downright wrong. Basically, within the last several months, especially since the top leadership of Forged Alliance changed hands, the changing of the game wheter it is via the source command or whatever has become rampant and epidemic to fit a few styles of the lessor skilled masses who can't win under the game's orignial default conditions.
Now this comes down to the rampant illegal modding and cheating that I've seen on this game via FAF that is astonishing. Now it is clearly understood that all games will have its cheaters here and there. That comes with any game and that is understandable. The cheating on FAF is man..wow...on another whole level! Right now for the past several weeks, I can't get a game without a person who just has to cheat, and not only that, cheat even though that player is better than me with a higher rating. Come to think of it, that is probably how some of the rampant, and growing population of cheaters got their higher ranking in the first place, which is by just cheating and incorporating mods in an illegal fashion into the game from jumpstart.
My partner and I recently had a game against 2 other players. My partner and I singlehandedly beat this other team down. The opponent's partner was killed off in 6 minutes or less. The remaining opponent was devoid of an economy as every mass extractor with an exception of just one L-3 mass extractor was destroyed. The remaining opponent also had a depressed engery economy as almost every L-2 fusion reactor and hydroplant was wiped out. All he had was just a few L-1 power generators that I can safely say was not providing enough energy. He also had no air force as he could not afford it due to lack of resources that were destroyed by my partner and I. My parnter and I was pounding our opponent with long range artillary as he was trapped in his own territory. Now all the sudden, this oppoent my partner and I was fighting mysteriously got this second wind and made a daring and desperate charge with L-3 units. In that charge he reached my partner's and I bases, going through heavy combination of L-2 point defenses backed up with an army full of L-3 units and destroyed us. Of course my partner and I was angry at each other and began arguing amogst each other of what happened because we thought we had opportunent dead. The argument between my partner and I went on for a couple of hours back and forth.
Now after my anger was cooled off a few hours later, I went to look at the replay that FAF kindly offers. I looked at the replay and what did I get? I got a replay with the "desynch" message accross the screen. Additionally the replay was totally false and fictional. This means that the replay that was recorded was not the actual game that my partner and I played but a totally fictitious replay. In other words he replay was a flat out lie. During the actual game, I built an experimental the replay did not show that. Second, there was supposed to be a charge by L-3 units by the opponent that supposedly killed my partner and I in a game. The replay did not show that either. Third, I looked for a L-3 factory that made L-3 units that I probably missed in playing against the opponent. The replay showed no construction of an L-3 land factory. So what is the conclusion? That player must of had some cheat that allows him to cheat without the replay detecting his cheat codes. This allows any cheating player to cheat without being caught since the replay function of FAF does not detect those cheats. Now because my partner and I are passionate about the game, this cheating by this player and his cheating actions, resulted in me accusing not only my partner but a friend of 20 years of messing up during gameplay. It also made me yell at him to a point I had to apologize to him later on because he did nothing wrong stratagically. My partner and I found out we played a game in which we were cheated on and hoodwinked by our opponents out of a game that we legitimately won fair and square via FAF replay that was recorded, which we know was a fraud recording.
Now this is just one of many experiences my partner and I have with cheating players who use cheats. We never said much about it because we do appreciate the people who keep this game alive by providing a forum for us to play Supreme Commander-Forged Alliance. We just continue playing. However the last experience with cheating players I just described was the final straw that broke the camel's back in terms of cheating. The cheating on Forged Alliance Forever has become so rampant that it is basically in every game to the point is not even funny anymore. And that my friends is downright sad! Other kinds of cheats or suspected activity on the game I see are...
1. ACU seem to be upgraded from the begnning of the game knowing that in order to upgrade an ACU you need resources. So how on Earth a person comes into the game with an upgraded ACU as early as 1 minute into the game?
2. Point Defenses have abnormally longer range than the point defenses I would use and more power.
3. ACU's have higher hit points than normal
4. My partner and I have seen groups of L-2 Units take out large armies of L-3 units. Now I'm not saying that is not possible but you have to have twice the L-2 units to take out a siziable army of L-3 Units. My partner and I seen L-2 units, for exmaple 5 L-2 unites take out 10-15 high powered L-3 units? That makes no sense.
This is just a sample of the numerous suspicious things I've seen with this game as of late due to the tampering of the nature of what Supreme Commander-Forged Alliance was from its original setup.
Do not get me wrong. I'm very appreciative of Forged Alliance Forever keeping Supreme Commander-Forged Alliance alive. I'm very appreciative of the people who I know have lives of family and work obligation themselves, love the game and take their valuable time to make FAF a great place. Heck, many of the people here who are moderators/administrators, I would not be surprised if they are getting paid little or nothing to keep the FAF servers alive. I totally appreciate that.
However with the rampant changing of the dynamics of the game for example putting in units as default units (i.e. L-3 mobile anti-air units for factions that never had that in the original Supreme Commander-Forged alliance game), rampant cheating, illegal use of mods to gain an unfair advantage when the other person playing against that person does not have those mods, and other shameful activities that destroy the nature of the game is ruining FAF. It is ruining FAF to a point that I myself, albeit love the game am now seriously considering leaving FAF as a player due to so much unfair cheating and illegal use of mods and the possiblity of moderators/administrators...
1. Lack of knowledge that the pandemic cheating is going on at alarming levels
2. Don't give a rat's behind of all the cheating.
3. Don't have the courage to ban players permanently for their cheating if they know they are cheating
4. Greed of the donations they get.
5. Having obligations to family, job and school if they are attending school, and don't have time to police FAF. That is truly understandable and I don't fault them for that.
6. Are cheaters themselves, therefore they condone the cheating.
I don't know. This are just the possible reasons I think why cheating here is so pandemic on FAF. Maybe I'm wrong with all those possibilities, some of the possibilities or right with all those possibilities of why FAF has now become a "Cheater's circus" of cheating players destroying the game. Or maybe there is a reason that I did not state that I'm totallay unaware of? Who knows? However I do know one thing. That all this cheating on FAF has to stop. That I know for sure.
If the moderators/administrators have some inkling of illegal use of mods or flat out cheating is going on in games on the FAF server, why not make a Cheaters List of players who are known to cheat? Why not put some kind of marker on a player that is accused of cheating and found guilty of cheating so that other players know the credibilty of that player? What about establishing a credibility rating score in which 0 means a player not suspeted of cheating to as high as 10 meaning in which the player has been accused of cheating before? Why not the moderators/administrators make some kind of mechanism to curb the illegal use of mods and cheating that is so rampant in FAF? Why not? Is it because of fear of losing people? Is it because of fear that they will lose donations? Who knows? If the moderators/adminstrators are able to change the dynamics of Supreme Commander-Forged Alliance to the point they are on borderline copyright infringement then they can sure do something about the rampant cheating that is now become daily? Other servers whether they are coporate controlled, community controlled or fan controlled for many PC games no matter what genre of the game have some kind of mechanism to prevent cheaters from cheating on games. I don't see that here with FAF. Why is that? That is discouraging and sad now that cheating on games via FAF has become crazy epidemic.
Many times I was going to donate to FAF, only to be let down by a series of games my partner and I played that resulted in losses via cheating by the opponent or the use of mods in a cheating fashion when we don't have those mods ourselves. When that happens, I lose the motivation to donate because the moderators/adminstrators albeit have busy lives and that us understandable, can't just take a weee bit of time to put mechainsms to stop the cheating. The last incident which caused me to cuss out a good partner, better yet just a friend I've known for 20 years getting upset at him because I thought he made a strategic mistake was never the case of why we lost that last game. It is because that player was a cheaterwho won cheating.
Now in all and here is the deal. I understand that many of the moderators/adminstrators have lives outside FAF and probably can't monitor the site all the time. I understand a lot of the moderators/administrators are possibly getting paid little or nothing at all in taking their valuable time to make FAF a fun site. I'm appreciative of the fact that we have caring people who keep the game alive with a good site such as FAF where passionate fans of Supreme Commander-Forged Alliance can play the game and test their mettle against other players. However, however please make an honest effort to address the increasing s****storm of players who take advantage of this good site to cheat against players just for the thrill of it. Please do. It is very discouraging to come to FAF, play 5 games, get that 5 games in a row only to see that 4 of them are very suspicious of cheating and one of them you just get outright cheating with no shame. Please address the issue of the increasing s****storm of cheaters and the growing hurricane of cheating before it hurts FAF if it is not hurting it now? As of now I'm so discouraged by this game that I'm seriously considering not comming to FAF anymore because of the shameless disregard for the game via cheating, changing the game dynnamics and using mods illegally in which one player has it and the other does not during an active game. Donating? LOL..really...I don't know.
I'm just trying to state an issue that to me seems to be ignored or just afraid to be confronted.
