New kind of cheater? [ Edited ]

[Jezebez]

Opponent's score jumped to 90 million at the beginning of the match. Cost me my streak and EA won't replace the diamonds I had to spend. Thanks a lot.

[Do not accuse others of cheating. Doing so is against the AHQ User Rules and Guidelines - CM]

[EA_Roger · Accepted solution]

Hello,

I've merged both threads together as they are on the same subject. As pointed out previously in this topic, calling out other players in a public thread is considered naming & shaming which is against our forum rules. These topics normally end up in witch hunts which isn't what we want. 

Your feedback on cheating in general has helped us a lot. We've implemented methods to screen out cheaters in addition to ensuring improper replays are not uploaded to our servers. This is not a catch-all solution to all cheating in Battlez however we will continue to monitor and take action against this type of unwanted behavior.

Battlez is a brand-new feature we're constantly making tweaks and adjustments to, such as matchmaking and addressing cheating issues. We're sorry about the inconvenience, and thanks for your patience and support as we continue to make changes to improve Battlez.

Roger. 

[EA_Darko]

@Jezebez Do not accuse others of cheating. Doing so is against the AHQ User Rules and Guidelines - CM

If you suspect someone of cheating then please report them using the information in the following link: https://help.ea.com/en-us/help/faq/how-to-report-cheat-hack-scam-websites-to-ea/

[Humplemann]

OKAY EA,  I GIVE UP! 

The way things are panning out with the Battlez mode has totally ruined the Plants versus Zombies 2 experience for me.

There is an increasing prevelance of players with their plants at MAX level. This makes it virtually impossible for most players to get even close to their scores.

I have just lost 10 consecutive Battlez matches. Each time it was against players with Max level plants. 

My scores this week have averaged 4 million to 4.7 million, using plants levelled at 6 to 8, yet I lost my last 10 matches to scores between 7 million and 9 million. EVERY ONE OF MY OPPONENTS HAD LEVEL 10 OR HIGHER PLANTS.

The problem is that EA does absolutely  nothing to prevent this sort of unfair mismatching from happening. Do they have any idea of how demoralizing this is for other players? More importantly do they even care?

I expect I am not alone when it comes to questioning HOW these players have levelled up all their plants to the MAX. I cannot believe that it was achieved through playing the game to gain Seed Packets.

I have been playing the game every day since 2016. Over that time I have played EVERY challenge, EVERY quest, EVERY Pinnata party, and EVERY twice daily level challenges (ALL 5 SLOTS) to level up my plants, yet NONE of my plants are anywhere close to max level.

Any suggestion that these players must have paid to level up their plants simply does not stand up. It would cost THOUSANDS, EVEN TENS OF THOUSANDS, to purchase the number of seed packets needed to upgrade all plants to the MAX level.

That leaves only one other means to elevate the plants - HACKING! 

There are dozens of videos on Youtube showing Plants versus Zombies 2 having been hacked, as well as showing Battlez matches where opposing players scores have been overwhelmed by millions of points. Those videos also show the hacking players with ALL PLANTS AT MAX LEVEL. They also show Gem totals in the MILLIONS, and Coin totals in the BILLIONS. 

Surely EA MUST know this happens, yet they DO NOTHING!

If anyone even dares to suggest that players are cheating, they are warned off by EA representatives. (It's as if they have their heads stuck in the sand and refuse to believe that cheating is even possible.) 

WAKE UP EA!!!! AND DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!!! If you are going to continue with the multiplayer option of the Battlez mode, you owe it to your customers to ensure the game is fit for purpose by taking the measures necessary to wipe out the scourge of the hackers/cheaters.

Now that we are having to PAY TO PLAY Plants versus Zombies 2, the very least EA should do is detect and ban cheats. They should also bring in a seeding system to ensure that players with MAX level plants are kept segregated from other players with lower level plants.

Will EA do this? If past performance is anything to go by, I think the answer will be NO.

[Kermo3]

I agree with you, it's really frustrating to play against cheaters.

[eieio_31310]

Well said and I too share your frustration.

Although I like challenging games but would totally agree with you that EA should have been putting better use on AI when matching players. 

I too have been playing PVZ2 for a long time so some of my plants have been leveled up to level 3 or above, when I was paired up with player only with lower level plants, it make my winning meaningless.  You can see my other post on link below.

https://answers.ea.com/t5/Plants-vs-Zombies-2/Sharing-your-Battlez-experiences/m-p/6745462#M2553

[EA_Darko]

@Humplemann If you suspect that someone is cheating then you can report them here: https://help.ea.com/en-us/help/faq/how-to-report-cheat-hack-scam-websites-to-ea/

Just to add I have seen a number of people who have reached the maximum level with their plants and they are certainly not cheating. It's tough to do but is manageable. 

[Humplemann]

[Do not accuse others of cheating - CM]

[EA_Darko]

@Humplemann Do not accuse others of cheating 

[TempJmag]

OK whatever EA

You took a game that people liked and made it suck.

[jumpinthlake]

Someone here replied "It's tough to do" but possible.  Regarding these people with Levels 100 - 1000, yeah and these players have thousands of $$ to just plop into the game?  I have my own theory...EA has shill players who are given plants w/these incredible levels so as to give us incentive.  There are actually people out there with addictive personalities and this disgusting tactic is used in order to spur them to pay, pay, pay to get on the streak again.  I can only surmise this because 1.  EA won't address the issue  2.  All they offer is a lame excuse as if we're stupid enough to believe someone would pay tons to get to level 1000!  It's all about the moola folks, EA doesn't care about the little kids who play either.