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"You have been caught cheating"...

Sun Sep 11, 2005 11:31 pm

:x I don't understand, I was playing Geos in their monthly competition and clicked the spot for my winning piece and it took me to a screen that told me this:

"You have been caught cheating and [opponent] has won the game by default.
Your Geos Competition Level has been reset to 0."

How did I cheat?! I guess I might have without knowing, since instructions for the game are pretty vague:
"You have to build four separate shapes, one at a time, to win.
Your opponents pieces are hidden until the end of the game!
When it says, "Your Move." Click on an empty space.
Type in a short message if you like, and click "I Moved".
Click "Waiting" to check if your opponent has moved or wait for the auto refresh."

And that's it... Like while playing it mentioned I bombed my opponent's piece, too bad there's no mentioning of what the heck "bombing" is in the instructions. Argh. The only thing I can think of that might be "cheating" would be that I built my shapes one on top of each other, so that when I placed my last piece all 4 shapes would be completed. (see my strategy here)
Does anyone know how exactly I "cheated"? I suppose building all shapes one on top of the other could be cheating, but really it can't because both players would have to build the same shapes using the exact same number of turns... therefor the winner would just be the person who moved first. It's like saying double-jumping in checkers is cheating. Or something. I don't get itttttttt...
Do you think my account might be in danger because of so called cheating? :(

Edit: I just realized this probably belongs in the games forum, so someone can move it if they must. Though I think I'd rather it stay here as that forum doesn't get much traffic... :/

Re: "You have been caught cheating"...

Sun Sep 11, 2005 11:48 pm

metalmario wrote::x I don't understand, I was playing Geos in their monthly competition and clicked the spot for my winning piece and it took me to a screen that told me this:

"You have been caught cheating and [opponent] has won the game by default.
Your Geos Competition Level has been reset to 0."

How did I cheat?! I guess I might have without knowing, since instructions for the game are pretty vague:
"You have to build four separate shapes, one at a time, to win.
Your opponents pieces are hidden until the end of the game!
When it says, "Your Move." Click on an empty space.
Type in a short message if you like, and click "I Moved".
Click "Waiting" to check if your opponent has moved or wait for the auto refresh."

And that's it... Like while playing it mentioned I bombed my opponent's piece, too bad there's no mentioning of what the heck "bombing" is in the instructions. Argh. The only thing I can think of that might be "cheating" would be that I built my shapes one on top of each other, so that when I placed my last piece all 4 shapes would be completed. (see my strategy here)
Does anyone know how exactly I "cheated"? I suppose building all shapes one on top of the other could be cheating, but really it can't because both players would have to build the same shapes using the exact same number of turns... therefor the winner would just be the person who moved first. It's like saying double-jumping in checkers is cheating. Or something. I don't get itttttttt...
Do you think my account might be in danger because of so called cheating? :(

Edit: I just realized this probably belongs in the games forum, so someone can move it if they must. Though I think I'd rather it stay here as that forum doesn't get much traffic... :/


I have never understood the Geos game ... for exactly the reason you have pointed out.

There exists a configuration where you can get all the shapes at the same time. This "strategy" is posted somewhere on PPT.

When you use it, you get the "you've cheated" message.

I've only played once (after reading the help on it) ... got that message ... and I've never returned to the game.

Are you in danger? I don't think so.

So what is the strategy in that game if you can't use the *best* strategy available because it is cheating? I don't know.

Mon Sep 12, 2005 12:34 am

You get that warning when you try to use one tile to complete TWO shapes.

Mon Sep 12, 2005 12:58 am

OK, I don't play geos (so many of the games' instructions on the site are just too confusing for me!). But I've read and re-read your post and I think? I have a basic jist of what happened.

Here's what I really don't understand right now. If Neo has a game, and there's a definite, allowable way to play that game - such as building your shapes on top of each other - then how on earth could that possibly be considered cheating?

If the game isn't meant to be played that way, then why was it programmed that way and why has it not been "fixed", changed, whatever. I'm feeling somewhat irked for you in this case. And I'm sorry you lost your game due to what looks to me to be a glitch in Neo's system.

Now it isn't as bad as say, the volcano run freezing for cheating on a flash game because of something with the timer glitch - that they've NEVER fixed or even acknowledged, but it is IMHO a problem.

No one likes a cheater, but no one likes (or deserves) to be called a cheater when in fact they're playing the game in a way it was made to be played.

I think I would definitely send something in about this. Especially in light of XenaAndGabrielle's post that the same thing happened when playing the game in what sounds like the same way.

Mon Sep 12, 2005 8:09 am

You have to build four separate shapes, one at a time, to win.

So your strategy is illegal.

If the game isn't meant to be played that way, then why was it programmed that way and why has it not been "fixed", changed, whatever.


Perhaps the game cannot be reprogrammed in a way to "fix" this? Hence the "cheating" message?

Mon Sep 12, 2005 12:26 pm

Ooook... I still don't see it as cheating. And I still don't understand how the game is supposed to be played. I'll probably just ask them to rewrite the instructions via the editorial, and perhaps include a set of rules so people don't keep losing due to having a strategy. Sigh.

Mon Sep 12, 2005 12:37 pm

Basically you and your opponents are building shapes on the same field. If you try to place your piece in a place that is already occupied by your opponent you destroy (bomb) their piece instead and i believe you get to go again. That's how you can get ahead of your opponent.

Mon Sep 12, 2005 3:19 pm

As stated in the rules you have to build 1 shape at a time. By placing your blocks as you did, you did not build each one seperately. You may not think it is "cheating" but it certainly is not what the rules state.

TNT knowing that this pattern can be made, but proberly can't reprogramme the game, have at least stopped people from winning by this strategy.

i got the same charge

Mon Sep 12, 2005 5:15 pm

my game got reset to zero as well for the same strategy you used. how innocent .. they didnt mention i cant do that.

Wed Sep 14, 2005 12:28 am

I think Geos is an unfair game to begin with anyway. I played it for the first time this month and lost in the first round because the week time limit ran out. The player who gets to move first is almost certainly going to be the winner in many cases (especially if they take their dear old time playing the entire week out)...

Wed Sep 14, 2005 3:24 am

stinkyllama wrote:I think Geos is an unfair game to begin with anyway. I played it for the first time this month and lost in the first round because the week time limit ran out. The player who gets to move first is almost certainly going to be the winner in many cases (especially if they take their dear old time playing the entire week out)...


If the game of any Monthy Game is not finished in the week, neither person wins.

That was the case when I played a couple of months ago, has it changed?

Wed Sep 14, 2005 5:05 am

Daze wrote:
stinkyllama wrote:I think Geos is an unfair game to begin with anyway. I played it for the first time this month and lost in the first round because the week time limit ran out. The player who gets to move first is almost certainly going to be the winner in many cases (especially if they take their dear old time playing the entire week out)...


If the game of any Monthy Game is not finished in the week, neither person wins.

That was the case when I played a couple of months ago, has it changed?


The rule seemed to have varied in the last couple months in some cases that I've played. When I made the last move of the weeks game (before they "close",) I've often moved forward to the next round. Not to mention several loopholes regarding Move or Loses.

Like most things on Neopets, there are no consice rules that we can't back up on so it's basically up to whoever is running them for the month.
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