Enable Parent/Child gaming

[DeletedUser110968]

It seems that two identities from the same IP address, is currently deemed by the game developers as cheating and is limited or restricted. This stops parent / child gaming. As a responsible adult I want to encourage such activities.

 

[LadyHecate]

And should remain limited or restricted to avoid multi-accounters from pushing GBs of a main account. Accounts from the same IP address can still Friend each other and can still trade; it is only the exchange of FPs to each others GBs that is restricted.

 

[Prinza the Hunter]

I can't find the rules anywhere but I am sure I read that two accounts from the same IP address may not be on the same server/world. This makes sense and should not be de-restricted just because a parent wants to help out a child, who will then gain an unfair advantage. Sitting side-by-side with your child making joint decisions, reading the quests together and discussing tactics is a much better way for a parent to share experiences and encourage responsible gaming.

What I also recall reading is that an account must not be shared between people. It is this rule only that might cause a problem for a parent wanting to supervise a child playing. Since it is hard to police, I doubt that any change of rules is really necessary, though the rules might be amended to specifically allow account sharing where one person is under - oh, say 12? - and the other is their parent/guardian.

 

[DeletedUser103370]

+1
Very good idea. Abuse could be circumvented other ways, for example it would be not hard to write algorythms which would check same IP accs. from time to time for suspicious activity. If an acc is only used to push another, it can be easily identified. Or other measures could be in place, for example not letting do certain actions on another acc from the same IP, for example you couldn't put FPs on the other's GB.

There are a lot of ways to do this, it all depends on the willingness, but in overall it could help the player base further. In todays world, there can be many reasons why there would be more players from the same IP, including parent/child, brothers and sisters, friends sharing same flat etc. It's not reasonable to simply deny them playing, a better approach would be to make sure it can't be used for cheating.

 

[DeletedUser102348]

1-
I can't think of any game that doesn't ban mutiple acc's from one IP address, except Travian.
Open to abuse, open to adults connected to children, the wrong sort of adult, yes their everywhere.
Multi acc's and pushing acc's are easily found, and are found in FoE.
Too much coding to include preventive measures, stopping the buying of diamonds by a child for instance, deleting buildings, abusing guild trust if the adult has it. etc etc etc.

 

[DeletedUser103370]

1-
I can't think of any game that doesn't ban mutiple acc's from one IP address, except Travian.
Open to abuse, open to adults connected to children, the wrong sort of adult, yes their everywhere.
Multi acc's and pushing acc's are easily found, and are found in FoE.
Too much coding to include preventive measures, stopping the buying of diamonds by a child for instance, deleting buildings, abusing guild trust if the adult has it. etc etc etc.

While I understand your fears over possibility to abuse, I can assure you there are lots and lots of games allowing playing from same IP! My problem is that you only look at it from one side. You assume the worst of the worst, and forget to take good intentions into account. In my opinion simply blocking the accs from the same IP is not only obsolete, it doesn't do anything good for the game in general. You can use a hundred different ways to mask IP, from socks proxies through vpn, and god knows what, so if someone really wants to cheat, they can easily do that. Not to mention auto-clickers and bots...

There is no foul-proof way, but there are measures that can be taken, we should focus on that, instead of using techniques from the 90's to try to prevent cheating.

 

[Prinza the Hunter]

Must to be clear for the previous two posters:
Multiple accounts from the same IP are allowed. Those accounts may not take part in the same world.
So brother & sister, room-mates, etc. can all play the game, just not in the same world as one another.

 

[DeletedUser103370]

Must to be clear for the previous two posters:
Multiple accounts from the same IP are allowed. Those accounts may take part in the same world.
So brother & sister, room-mates, etc. can all play the game, just not in the same world as one another.

I understand, but that's a restriction, which could still throw some possible players back. I mean if you'd join let's say because your brother plays already, then wouldn't you wanna be in the same world? Wouldn't you wanna compete, interact, possibly be in the same guild? Play the game, like "together"?

Playing in a different world is only a "half solution" from my point of view. And don't get me wrong, I'm strongly against doing anything to encourage, or make it easier for players to cheat, in fact I'd only allow this if proper countermeasures are in place.

 

[Prinza the Hunter]

I understand, but that's a restriction, which could still throw some possible players back. I mean if you'd join let's say because your brother plays already, then wouldn't you wanna be in the same world? Wouldn't you wanna compete, interact? Play the game, like "together"?

Playing in a different world is only a "half solution" from my point of view.

Yes, it is only half the solution. However, since about 90% of would-be cheaters will be stumped by the simple act of not allowing multiple accounts in one world where the IP is the same, I think it is a cheap (in terms of both processing and coding) and easy way to stop them.

Yes, it is a pity that cheaters, like thieves and dishonest people everywhere, damage the enjoyment for others. Trying to police this very worthwhile goal of blocking multi-accounts without IP blocking would become a nightmare that nobody will want to deal with, leading to the only people left playing being those who don't care about a game's rules.

 

[DeletedUser103370]

I just don't get it why can't we block in other ways? These specific cheats have certain aspects, ie. pumping fp's from one to another. It can be relatively easily caught simply by checking statistics.

 

[Prinza the Hunter]

I just don't get it why can't we block in other ways? These specific cheats have certain aspects, ie. pumping fp's from one to another. It can be relatively easily caught simply by checking statistics.

No, it can be suspected by checking statistics. Then a person needs to get involved and communications and ... In other words, it just isn't that simple.