Recently, several of you have inquired about the use of automated programs or other means to play Gamesville games–essentially the question is, does Gamesville support or allow "cheat" programs?
In a word, no. Gamesville and its parent company Lycos do not approve, allow, or condone any kind of cheat program.
In fact, the use a cheat program violates the terms of service for Lycos, violates Gamesville's official rules, and puts your use of Lycos and Gamesville at risk–not to mention that downloading cheat programs from third parties may put your own personal information at risk.
First, the Lycos terms of service makes it very clear that using automated means to enhance play in our games is prohibited. See the "Member Use and Conduct" section at http://info.lycos.com/legal/legal.asp#Member.
Second, the rules for Gamesville and any jackpot game (such as Magic 21) or sweepstakes game (such as the GV Rewards sweepstakes) we operate prohibit players from acting in an unsportsmanlike or a disruptive manner. Cheating, by its very definition, is unsportsmanlike because it violates all aspects of fair play, and it's disruptive because it negatively impacts the legitimate players who are adhering to the rules.
Finally, the use of computer programs, scripts or any other devices to automate any aspect of play in any Gamesville game can put your own privacy and your own computer at risk.
Think of it this way: If an individual or a company is willing to provide you with a program that will help you cheat us, what makes you think those same people are not willing and able to cheat you as well, by either misuing your personal information and/or loading spyware onto your computer?
Gamesville is working hard to prevent the use of cheat programs. Right now, we're focused on two main goals:
- The first goal is to educate players about the potential consequences of using these programs–at a minimum, the use of these cheat programs puts your eligibility for winning prizes, or even playing at Gamesville, at risk; at their worst, cheat programs may put your own personal information and your own computer at risk.
- The second goal, which is ongoing, is creating ways to unravel the efficacy of these cheat programs and also catching and stopping users from using cheat programs on Gamesville.
Several concerned folks have written in and posted to the blog, accusing different users of cheating. The very idea of "cheating" deeply bothers and offends us, so we can understand the frustration you might feel if you see someone you think might be cheating. However, accusations back and forth in a public forum are not productive in the short run and are not healthy for anyone in the long run.
If you suspect someone of cheating, there are two basic options. The first option is to ignore the suspected cheater and simply focus on your own game and your own enjoyment of that game. The second option is to report the suspected cheater to customer service for investigation. Please be sure to include the suspected cheater's full username, the specific reasons why you suspect this player of cheating, and any details or screenshots you feel will help prove that this player is cheating.
If you suspect someone of cheating, whichever option you choose, please do not argue with or antagonize the suspected cheater in chat or elsewhere; this serves no tangible purpose other than to breed ill will among the community.
Note: We will never discuss ongoing or completed investigations into specific users who have been accused of cheating.
Once you've reported a suspected cheater to customer service, your job is done; please leave it up to our customer service representatives to conduct their investigation and render their decision.
Either way, we're thankful that so many of you enjoy Gamesville and want it to be the best it can be. And never forget: Gamesville takes fair play seriously, and has measures in place to make sure cheaters never prosper for long.
Sincerely,
Chris Cummings
Manager, www.gamesville.com
RSS
LOL! Clicked this link because I thought "Cheating" was referring to all the cheating members do with other members on their husbands, wives, girlfriends, boyfriends, fiances, etc. Where is that section? LMAO! This place is just overflowing with a different kind of cheater. Probably most online game sites are, so not picking on you Gamesville. But the ability to I.M. other members is the root cause of it. Have seen talk about how members on here met & married and so on. Just wonder how many relationships were "undone" by the crap that goes on here. Maybe Dateline needs to do a story on this issue, lol.
Husbands & Wives, et al: If your sig. other spends a lot of time on any game site, watch out! You can bet there's more "game playing" (wink wink) going on than you are aware of.
Comment by gwtw777 — June 28, 2007 @ 3:38 pm
I get irritated with caller on THREE-EYED BINGO…calling numbers for columns which are NOT in the pattern. Can this be rectified?
Comment by "Roland Thompson" — July 3, 2007 @ 7:14 am
Just curious since Saturday's 8/4/07 winner got $200 weekly prize and was finally banned (had almost 53 million points and I have never seen her play), why don't you redraw the prize money? I work hard at getting entries and feel cheated when this happens. Also saw a player at pit stop slots won 4x end of July and was banned for violating terms, but no new winner was picked. Can't the money be rolled over to the next drawing if our original daily or weekly ones are lost???
Comment by "cbaron713" — August 6, 2007 @ 9:49 pm
i am glad your site is doing something to rid the site of people who cheat. i "play"/work hard to get my points for entry hoping to someday win something. i am also a member of another game site and have lots of tokens on that site but it took me over 4 years of playing and saving them. so i know when you see a player with millions of tokens in a very short time of membership i cant help but feeling they have to be cheating. the other site does have someway to check to see if the winner was using a cheat program before awarding the prize or the jackpot maybe your site could do that or run ramdom checks on accounts when you do maintenence.
Comment by "sydneyfleiss" — August 9, 2007 @ 12:57 pm
Why do I keep losing my sweepstakes chances in Frantic Fish.
I had 20 yesterday but lost them before the drawing and the same thing happened today.
This is getting very irritating.
Comment by "gemini2" — August 15, 2007 @ 2:33 am
Why are you not taking the cheaters all time scores off also, Its not fair for the rest of us that do not cheat and not have a chance at the scores. Please take fairlight8 off the solitaire game. I figured if you can change the web site you would take off the cheaters also. Thanks
Comment by cindylou4516 — October 18, 2007 @ 8:41 pm
Your customer service link to report someone isn't working…
Comment by "Mrnatem" — November 15, 2007 @ 5:42 pm
I play a bunch of games on gamesville and never thought about anyone cheating. I used to belong to pogo and was accused of cheating when i didn't and never thought of doing it. Gamesville people didn't seem like they would but i was on bingo zone today and people were getting 500 gv rewards playing the side game dbb. The problem was no numbers had been called, they were punching in the dbb as soon as the game began and getting the 500 gv rewards for it. A glitch in the game they said when someone asked about it. I know how it feels to be accused of cheating when your not so i didn't want to accuse anyone maybe this will get them to fix the glitch.
Comment by nightmare1154 — June 5, 2008 @ 5:00 am
I don't know if you would consider this cheating or not, but there is a child of 14 playing in Bingo Zone. Pinky-13 is her name. We told her she was underage and to read the rules and her reply was I don't care about the rules. Don't know who to talk to about this matter.
Comment by dogelly — December 14, 2008 @ 6:40 pm
i am getting tired of my computer freezing because a person is running a cheat program go to pit stop slots usually in the fremont room. better yet just look at the daily high score and see the 2 names on top all the time they are zaboo202 and maddogpw32 one of their names has already been deleted which was lapow32 and all of these people have made the all time high in a short period of time
Comment by sandyl5l37 — August 6, 2009 @ 7:56 am
zaboo203 zaboo202 badgirl410 azmonkeyman71 maddogpw32
powla32 are all the same person running a cheat program in pit stop slots. she made 800 entries into the drawing last night under the name zaboo203. badgirl410 already won the drawing in pit stop slots before my guess is i could win it to if i was using a cheat program. i would rather have fun talking to people then cheating but it doesn't make me happy to watch her get away with cheating. you really need to level the playing field here for everyone. i can only give you the information it is time you react on it. thank you sandy
Comment by sandyl5l37 — August 16, 2009 @ 12:18 am
Hello Chris
are you still reading these comments? If so then why was Sandy band from the gamesville site for reporting something that your Terms of agreement strictly forbids.
why not do the right thing and just admit that there is cheating still going on by the players named and restore Sandy's handle so she can continue to play on the site?
If you can't do that, then at least admit that the cheating is still going on and do something about it?
or are you just another corporate toad?
I fully expect an answer here in the blog chat, just so everyone will know what kinda Manager you are.
thepokieokie
Comment by thepokieokie — September 8, 2009 @ 7:05 pm