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Boosting-Fixed, but not fixed. Bugged? Needs Work?

1
AuthorMessage
Explorer
Jun 17, 2011
73
Yes. You've read the title correctly, boosting still IS NOT FIXED. I am not sure if this is an in-game bug or something but whatever it is it needs to be fixed FAST. Lately, the wiz community has seen a lot of revival with boosting fixes and 4th age, but this starts a downhill route that KI should not want to take. Now I was so happy with this update, but I'm really starting to get angry and I want to quit due to boosters.

What's going on: Rumor has it that to fix to boosting, you can't duel the same person for 5 minutes after the match. This is just a rumor, and it sounds like the right idea. Remember last age who ruled the 10 spots of the leaderboards? Richard. He already has over 1000 RANK ON TWO CHARACTERS. Yes in 24 hours he obtained 1000 rank. That doesn't sound right. It's because he boosted.

A positive fix: A great way to fix it is to put a wizard on a one-day timer. Once they fight that wizard 3 times (or something like that) they can't fight that wizard again for the next 24 hours. Even in a 2v2, if it's a person you've never fought before but you've fought their partner 3 times that day, you still couldn't fight them.

Also, please deal with the boosters with a personal punish because they are breaking the new game rules (I think) and it is a form of cheating.

Please leave some positive comments and ways you think we can fix this problem, or just even right "agree" or "disagree" I always love to see wizard's feedback.

Hoping to see a change,

Justin Shadow

Survivor
Dec 30, 2009
44
A good attempt but ineffectual.

Boosters now have to wait 5 minutes before they can boost again. It has not dampened their spirit at all. In just one day, you can find Level 1 Warlords on the Leaderboard.

In regards to dispel blocks, people are now spamming Cloaked Dispels.

Survivor
Mar 15, 2009
16
I used to boost. I'm honestly not interested in leaderboards. I just LOVE to buy and hoard Diego stuff. I have 9 accounts, all mine I created. I never want to ruin it for the leaderboards. I want nothing to do with leaderboards. Just a couple of commander or warlord then I retire from boosting and do tourneys every day. If this is breaking any rules, please let me know as I do NOT want to be in trouble with kingsisle. I am just a robe, wand and trophy hoarder. I spent a LOT of money and crowns to buy the 24 hour pvp passes. Please, if mild boosting is breaking any rules, please someone from kingsisle let me know. :/

Explorer
Jun 17, 2011
73
Wolf Lionrider on Jul 13, 2017 wrote:
I used to boost. I'm honestly not interested in leaderboards. I just LOVE to buy and hoard Diego stuff. I have 9 accounts, all mine I created. I never want to ruin it for the leaderboards. I want nothing to do with leaderboards. Just a couple of commander or warlord then I retire from boosting and do tourneys every day. If this is breaking any rules, please let me know as I do NOT want to be in trouble with kingsisle. I am just a robe, wand and trophy hoarder. I spent a LOT of money and crowns to buy the 24 hour pvp passes. Please, if mild boosting is breaking any rules, please someone from kingsisle let me know. :/
I think boosting is breaking the rules. I'm not 100% sure, but KI tried to make it so it couldn't happen again. Now that it has come to their attention, I do feel like it could be a new rule the wasn't issued publicly yet.

Astrologist
Dec 31, 2009
1124
I knew this would happen, but changing to a 24hr timer would just hurt legitimate ranked games as the population is very low. Think about it you can delete a level 1 character and make a new on in less than 5 minutes and certainly in less than 24 hrs.

I think if they implemented a scoring system like they have in Pirates that would help pvp overall as your points gained/lost would depend on both your rank and the rank of your opponent, which is a truer measure of skill overall.

BTW boosting is not against any game rules, just ignore them, not like you will ever have to face them anyway. I think this Richard person is just trying to prove to KI how truly broken PVP is.

Champion
Mar 05, 2012
452
Sigh, I was hoping the 'Give the Booster the Boot' fix would work; disappointing news.

When queue is light, you do get legit rematches, so not sure about your suggested time limitations.

Maybe monitors for the boards could be an option? The abusers of the system are very obvious. If they managed to ban numerous players for the infamous 'tomato basket' glitch, I bet they could do the same with Boosters.

Explorer
Jun 17, 2011
73
SilverbackMonkey on Jul 13, 2017 wrote:
Sigh, I was hoping the 'Give the Booster the Boot' fix would work; disappointing news.

When queue is light, you do get legit rematches, so not sure about your suggested time limitations.

Maybe monitors for the boards could be an option? The abusers of the system are very obvious. If they managed to ban numerous players for the infamous 'tomato basket' glitch, I bet they could do the same with Boosters.
That's what angers me because they never ban boosters. It is mostly the same people that are doing it and the problem would be fixed if they banned the people who have been doing it.

Survivor
Dec 25, 2015
35
SilverbackMonkey on Jul 13, 2017 wrote:
Sigh, I was hoping the 'Give the Booster the Boot' fix would work; disappointing news.

When queue is light, you do get legit rematches, so not sure about your suggested time limitations.

Maybe monitors for the boards could be an option? The abusers of the system are very obvious. If they managed to ban numerous players for the infamous 'tomato basket' glitch, I bet they could do the same with Boosters.
Tomato basket glitch? So kingsisle banned a bunch of people because one of their housing items glitched? Why would they do that?

Astrologist
Dec 31, 2009
1124
jester094 on Jul 14, 2017 wrote:
That's what angers me because they never ban boosters. It is mostly the same people that are doing it and the problem would be fixed if they banned the people who have been doing it.
Because they are not breaking any rules so they will not be banned. What is it that really bugs everyone about boosters? It is kind of obvious who they are, their rank is meaningless even to them, how does this impact us?

Personally I do not really care I just ignore anyone over 3 k rank as legitimate :)

Delver
Aug 05, 2013
253
Wizard101 is trying to fix boosting give them some time. They have been more of a PVE game.
How to counter boosters before they rekt your team
"Are you sure you want to delete wizard101?"

Champion
Mar 05, 2012
452
kingme655 on Jul 14, 2017 wrote:
Tomato basket glitch? So kingsisle banned a bunch of people because one of their housing items glitched? Why would they do that?
When Azteca was released, the tomato basket (a free housing item there that you can pick up) kept respawning endlessly. So many players took advantage of the glitch and grabbed hundreds, maybe even more than that.

Even though there was no 'official' written rule about the glitch, it was covered under the 'Exploit' rules and was addressed by K I on the boards.

They could see which players collected massive amounts and exploited the glitch, and those players were sanctioned.

Champion
Mar 05, 2012
452
Jasmine3429 on Jul 15, 2017 wrote:
Because they are not breaking any rules so they will not be banned. What is it that really bugs everyone about boosters? It is kind of obvious who they are, their rank is meaningless even to them, how does this impact us?

Personally I do not really care I just ignore anyone over 3 k rank as legitimate :)
I have seen your replies regarding Boosting on previous posts; Because it doesn't bother You doesn't mean it has not impacted the Arena for many others.

If you don't personally care about the issue, understood. But many do. To the extent that many have stopped participating. What bothers "Everyone"?

Cheaters shouldn't Prosper.

Boosters are robbing other hard working PvP'ers that are legit trying to make Rank and the feeling of accomplishment with making it to the Leader Boards.

This is a Competitive Sport in the game - you should EARN your leader board status, not Steal It.

I suggest that if this is not an issue for you, leave the conversations to the Ones that are still trying to keep the game legit, fair, and up to some Standards.

If this was not an "impact" on the PVP community, K I would not have even addressed it.

Champion
Jun 26, 2009
429
Jasmine3429 on Jul 15, 2017 wrote:
Because they are not breaking any rules so they will not be banned. What is it that really bugs everyone about boosters? It is kind of obvious who they are, their rank is meaningless even to them, how does this impact us?

Personally I do not really care I just ignore anyone over 3 k rank as legitimate :)
While it may not affect players directly because we will never be playing against boosters, it does affect all PVP players.

People who actually fight random players and fight real matches will never reach the number one position, or number two, or number three. and so on. The more people who boost, the more the value of the leaderboards is degraded. This also pushes out people who might have made it on the boards at the very bottom. Of course it begets more boosting from others as they want to be seen in the top 5, then top 10, on the first page, at least second page, then the third, and so on.

What was the intended purpose of the leaderboards? To show who could play a one round match where one side has no decks the most? You might as well call it the cheaterboards

Kingsisle has decided they didn't want to be bothered with this for a long time by stating boosting isn't cheating, and it's just another element to PVP they allowed to spoil the pot. It's nice that they are finally addressing problems, it shows players that they value PVP. But it's not enough of an effort. You can't say it's not cheating, then try and prevent people from doing it as often.

Champion
Jun 26, 2009
429
I think Kingsisle has been slow to address a lot of problems because this CCG RTS MMO hybrid is a nice little niche they created for themselves. They don't have any direct competition so there is no urgency to address things that players see as a problem.

Well, that is about to change.

Other companies have noticed the success Kingsisle has had. While it wont be tomorrow, soon there will be other games like Wizard101. I think this is good, Kingsisle needs a fire under them, maybe then they will realize they should have addressed these problems soon rather then later or never.

Astrologist
Dec 16, 2009
1035
Jasmine3429 on Jul 15, 2017 wrote:
Because they are not breaking any rules so they will not be banned. What is it that really bugs everyone about boosters? It is kind of obvious who they are, their rank is meaningless even to them, how does this impact us?

Personally I do not really care I just ignore anyone over 3 k rank as legitimate :)
There are 2 reasons why people care

1) The integrity of the system- in any competitive environment ensuring accurate ranking is important as both incentive to players and as insurance that rank is meaningful as an achievement.

2)Legitimate players are pushed off- For every booster on the leaderboards that's one less person who legitimately earned his or her rank.

Champion
Mar 05, 2012
452
Jasmine3429 on Jul 15, 2017 wrote:
Because they are not breaking any rules so they will not be banned. What is it that really bugs everyone about boosters? It is kind of obvious who they are, their rank is meaningless even to them, how does this impact us?

Personally I do not really care I just ignore anyone over 3 k rank as legitimate :)
Another important point you may not be thinking of -

Boosting = Tickets= PvP Gear

A low level Booster with full warlord gear? From abusing an Exploit to get tickets? That sounds like a violation to me.

It is Not just about the Leader Board.

Astrologist
Dec 31, 2009
1124
I guess it is just me, but there are bigger fish to fry with improving pvp than this one.

The only true solution to this would be to ban boosters, but KI would have to somehow monitor that people are playing from the same IP (which can be spoofed) and not legitmate housemates, how would this even work?

As I said before increasing the time out is only going to hurt legitmate players trying to get a match.

The number one issue with ranked as I see it is LACK of population, which leads to the unfair matches many complain about. The cost of entry into the world of PVP is just too high to grow the population and as we all know the atmosphere is pretty toxic, also turning away many new players. Think about it if the queues were full people would not have it so easy setting up matches with themselves to boost in the first place.

So honestly I think any effort on KI's part should be spent figuring out how to let new players enter, learn and prosper in pvp.

Explorer
Jun 17, 2011
73
Hello everyone!

I want to thank all of you for your feedback and comments.

Tom (AKA Dworgyn (had to walk to nightside for that spelling)) our community manager posted on his twitter that this problem has come to his attention and KI will be implementing more fixes to boosting.

They also reset Richard's rank which does make me feel much better as a player going forward.

He also noted that this is not the last change to come to boosting as further changes will come.

I just wanted to let you all know for our problems are being solved.

Thanks Dworgyn!

Explorer
Jun 17, 2011
73
Jasmine3429 on Jul 18, 2017 wrote:
I guess it is just me, but there are bigger fish to fry with improving pvp than this one.

The only true solution to this would be to ban boosters, but KI would have to somehow monitor that people are playing from the same IP (which can be spoofed) and not legitmate housemates, how would this even work?

As I said before increasing the time out is only going to hurt legitmate players trying to get a match.

The number one issue with ranked as I see it is LACK of population, which leads to the unfair matches many complain about. The cost of entry into the world of PVP is just too high to grow the population and as we all know the atmosphere is pretty toxic, also turning away many new players. Think about it if the queues were full people would not have it so easy setting up matches with themselves to boost in the first place.

So honestly I think any effort on KI's part should be spent figuring out how to let new players enter, learn and prosper in pvp.
They reset Richard's rank instead of a ban, which leads me to believe this is a fix to boosting for now.

I think they will reset other boosters rank (Level 1 Ice Wizards) until they can find a new way to fix this issue.

Astrologist
Dec 31, 2009
1124
jester094 on Jul 20, 2017 wrote:
They reset Richard's rank instead of a ban, which leads me to believe this is a fix to boosting for now.

I think they will reset other boosters rank (Level 1 Ice Wizards) until they can find a new way to fix this issue.
There are plenty of boosters at max level at 3k+ rank, but may also be legitimate players also, no way for them to tell the difference, this issue is not just with 10k+ rank players on the leader board.

I know one max level death wizard who is a self-admitted booster, he will boost to a certain level just so he has a smaller pool of opponents and can properly "set" for them etc, just to prove how good he is! His theory is it is not cheating it is the "smart" way to play, this is not a child or even a teen, but a grown man, pitiful, but it happens.

Defender
Nov 24, 2012
124
I don't get it. Boosting is not a reportable offense yet KingsIsle went out of its way to try and prevent players from practicing it. Surely KingsIsle condemns boosting otherwise it wouldn't attempt to fix it.

SilverbackMonkey made a great point. In the past, many paying players were banned for exploiting a glitch known as the "tomato basket glitch." KingsIsle banned said players when it found out players were exploiting this glitch. Boosting is no different. We have players who abuse the allowance of having multiple accounts. I do not wish for "boosters" to be banned for exploiting this allowance, however. Instead, have a warning mentioning that boosting is now a reportable offense and could result in getting banned from rank PvP.

To fix boosting, I suggest one or two of the following accommodations to take place:

1) Make boosting a reportable offense, resulting in getting banned from rank PvP.

2) Implement a Diego-like tournament system into rank PvP. This system will keep track and record the wins and losses of all players. This system will keep track of how many times a player faces and wins against each wizard, how rapidly a player accumulates his or her ranking, calculating whether the player could possibly be boosting or not. If the system determines the player is boosting, said player will not gain any rank—or be banned if the first solution is also considered.

3) Get rid of the leaderboards (optional: and hide every players' ranking.) It sounds simple and cheap because it is. I'm aware this option could embark controversy among players as there exists players who've earned their rank and position in the leaderboards without needing to boost. "Boosters" are known to rule the top of the leaderboards. Hence why people are aware of this exploitation. Players will become oblivious to boosting. We'll be turning a blind eye if this option is considered.

Explorer
Jun 17, 2011
73
Angel of Solitude on Jul 23, 2017 wrote:
I don't get it. Boosting is not a reportable offense yet KingsIsle went out of its way to try and prevent players from practicing it. Surely KingsIsle condemns boosting otherwise it wouldn't attempt to fix it.

SilverbackMonkey made a great point. In the past, many paying players were banned for exploiting a glitch known as the "tomato basket glitch." KingsIsle banned said players when it found out players were exploiting this glitch. Boosting is no different. We have players who abuse the allowance of having multiple accounts. I do not wish for "boosters" to be banned for exploiting this allowance, however. Instead, have a warning mentioning that boosting is now a reportable offense and could result in getting banned from rank PvP.

To fix boosting, I suggest one or two of the following accommodations to take place:

1) Make boosting a reportable offense, resulting in getting banned from rank PvP.

2) Implement a Diego-like tournament system into rank PvP. This system will keep track and record the wins and losses of all players. This system will keep track of how many times a player faces and wins against each wizard, how rapidly a player accumulates his or her ranking, calculating whether the player could possibly be boosting or not. If the system determines the player is boosting, said player will not gain any rank—or be banned if the first solution is also considered.

3) Get rid of the leaderboards (optional: and hide every players' ranking.) It sounds simple and cheap because it is. I'm aware this option could embark controversy among players as there exists players who've earned their rank and position in the leaderboards without needing to boost. "Boosters" are known to rule the top of the leaderboards. Hence why people are aware of this exploitation. Players will become oblivious to boosting. We'll be turning a blind eye if this option is considered.
First of all, this thread has made an impact because many of the boosters rank are getting reset. (Thanks, Dworgyn!)

Also, I agree with you that boosting should be a reportable offense.

Until we have a better fix to boosting, players could report boosters which would help KI track the boosters down (for now).

Getting rid of the leaderboards would be a really bad idea. So much work has been put into boosting that they wouldn't just remove it.

Astrologist
Dec 31, 2009
1124
jester094 on Jul 24, 2017 wrote:
First of all, this thread has made an impact because many of the boosters rank are getting reset. (Thanks, Dworgyn!)

Also, I agree with you that boosting should be a reportable offense.

Until we have a better fix to boosting, players could report boosters which would help KI track the boosters down (for now).

Getting rid of the leaderboards would be a really bad idea. So much work has been put into boosting that they wouldn't just remove it.
What proof are you going to supply KI with to prove boosting exactly?

Champion
Jun 26, 2009
429
Jasmine3429 on Jul 26, 2017 wrote:
What proof are you going to supply KI with to prove boosting exactly?
When you report someone for foul language or anything else reportable we don't provide any proof. Kingsisle has all of the proof. The report is just a marker for them to know when and where to look for the information that the incident we are accusing someone of actually happened.

Will be pretty much the same with reporting boosters.

Explorer
Jun 17, 2011
73
Jasmine they could just let KI know that they were boosting and KI can roam through that Wizards data to confirm if that is true or not.

1