FINALLY! Sorry, I almost added the word finally to the title but then changed my mind.
For regulars on my blog, you all know from my previous entry Pottermore and Cheating that I am profoundly against cheating on Pottermore. In that entry I fingered SnitchSpirit168 as an ADMITTED cheater on Pottermore using a bot to duel for him. (See the article for details on this)
Yesterday, as many of you have noticed, Pottermore deducted points from the now infamous SnitchSpirit168. It was sort of a personal victory for myself and the others who have been rallying together to find, track, and turn in cheaters on Pottermore. Something we are continuing to do and now feel is more important than ever since Pottermore has shown they will actually take action against users cheating on site.
Graph courtesy of HouseCup.info
The point deduction could be seen clearly on HouseCup.Info and on the Great Hall boards on Pottermore SnitchSpirit was knocked down from number 1 Hufflepuff to number 6. Many people believed at first that he was gone entirely, but as you see below he is still there:
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A lot of people have wondered why Pottermore chose to deduct only HALF the points earned, and I suppose this is because they couldn’t prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that ALL points earned were from using the computer program he designed to duel for him. Regardless the action is the first of it’s kind by Pottermore and should serve as a warning to you all who are using illicit practices on Pottermore to earn points.
Right now we are tracking a number of users who we suspect to be cheating. Among them are the top on the Ravenclaw board and another user who has been throwing out duels with higher than 145 potency (which is the REAL max of the Full Body Bind). If you at any point suspect that a user is cheating I advise you to report it (ALWAYS REPORT). If you are suspicious but simply don’t know if what you are seeing could be cheating feel free to drop me a line here on the blog, on twitter (@ElmBlade43), or in e-mail (elmblade43@gmail.com). Together we can ensure a friendly, fun, cheater free environment on Pottermore. It will just take time.
What’s up here with point deductions? They took points off our leaders (looks like every House’s leaders as well) because some idiot (no offense) spammer/spy/person-whose-only-purpose-is-to-disgrace-the-noble-Hogwarts-School-of-Witchcraft-and-Wizardry reported a bunch of people as cheaters.
“We all had points reset on Wednesday then the leaders had their points taken again today. and were accused of cheating.” This was said in the Snake common room.
Including you, Elm. You now have zero points.
AAAARRRRGGGHHHH!!!! I am so annoyed right now…
Sorry, we could not find SnitchSpirit168. Have you typed in their Pottermore username correctly?
Sorry, we could not find SnitchSpirit186. Have you typed in their Pottermore username correctly?
=)
Hi Elm,
Despite what you say, I still believe that botting isn’t cheating. All four houses have potterfans using bots. We should all just accept that fact. So why are you attacking Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw?
I was reporting the news. And this was months ago now. And I it wasn’t cheating then why have they taken so many steps to stop it? Just good for thought.
I think that many users are cheating, although most individually aren’t making much of a difference in the point total. Example: X makes account. X wants to save money. X makes account 2 in another house. Makes sure to get least amount of points possible. Buys ingredients and sends to account 1. In this way they are cheating, but it doesn’t amount to much since the time spent sending ingredients doesn’t allow them to get very many house points.
Elm, I’m happy that Pottermore decided to do something against cheaters, but it’s pretty late. SS taught others how to cheat (you know this already). And still, there’s no way to report an user. Look at this: http://www.pottermore.com/en/wizards-duel/view-duel/8d032b45-4569-492c-b9a2-1ff7ae7118da . Of course I was “overpowered”! This is ridiculous! With all these cheaters around I can’t even have fun when I play.
This is a great step in the right direction from Pottermore. I’m kind of surprised to see it actually; was rather under the impression they didn’t care. I’m also surprised that his account wasn’t banned. If cheating (and blatant, admitted cheating no less) isn’t grounds for having your account deleted, I wonder what is? Personally, I would have given the house half his points, because it’s not their fault he did what he did, but then would have made him start over from scratch, for… unsportsmanlike conduct, or something.
The idea of Pottermore is to give people an opportunity to enter more deeply into the experience of the story. And Harry has hardly discovered that he is a wizard before he begins to learn that there is evil and wrongdoing within the wizarding world. So the fact that there is cheating and wrongdoing in Pottermore is, ironically, part of its authenticity. And when members help one another defend themselves against technological “dark arts,” they are following in the footsteps of Harry, Ron, and Hermione.
For the younger members of the Pottermore community, I hope that this experience will not discourage or disillusion them, but rather prepare them to recognize and stand up to the more serious evils they will encounter sooner or later in the primary world. To grow in one’s commitment to choose what is right over what is easy, and to live by love and loyalty, honesty and courage, rather than by selfishness and cowardice and cheating.
Another outstanding post. It is good to know that Pottermore takes this as seriously as we do, and that they are actually willing to take action. I’m with Trevor, sorry to see my House in last place again, but more confident that we actually earned the points we have. Thanks, Elm, for all that you do in support of our mutual obsession!
About time PM took care of SS! We should try our best to out all the cheaters around (with 100% proof against them of course
), and royally embarrass them as much as possible.
I was shocked that PM finally did something. Pleased, but shocked.
As a Hufflepuff and Page Owner of a Hufflepuff page, I feel saddened that one of our own has been cheating, and that we lost so many points, and are now in last place once again. But at the same time, if we make it to second place again, at least now we will know that we earned it.
And you guys are getting close, KEEP IT UP. Especially since I think there might be a point deduction in the future of Claw too. (sorry Claws…)
Yeah, as ThornPatronus began rapidly climbing in points I assumed he/she was probably cheating.
And Ravenclaw is still behind Hufflepuff. XD We’ve given up, it looks like.