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Suggestion Idea: Somehow designate folks as cheaters, at least for a period of time
Specifics: Put some kind of tag, indicating that this person was caught cheating on their name or in place of the feedback rating. Could be a big "C" next to their name or used instead of a feedback rating. After a probationary period with no further misconduct, the "C" would be removed. This will limit the number of games they can play, for certain, but that is essentially a "natural" result of cheating. You could go further by awarding anyone who played these cheats extra points -- not a lot, not enough to encourage folks creating multis who will be busted and then give extra points out ... but, a token, say 1, 2 extra points for a win and a deduction of 1,2 points for a loss. These extra points could be taken off the cheater's total to make more justice.
MORE DETAILS:
Currently "freebie" players are just ousted, this would either only apply to paid members or would replace the ousting punishment for cheaters.
I suggest a time limit - maybe a week, but more probably a month for first offenses, longer for second offenses and out .. "permanently" for any third offenses.
Why it is needed: Right now, there is no way to know, outside of spending time in the "cheaters and abuse" forum to know who is a cheater and who isn't. Further, those so-listed are not necessarily confirmed cheaters at all. This way you would know if the accusation was actually verified or not and, would have a way of avoiding these folks.
Because the natural result of this designation is that some folks won't play them, there might have to be a little "honey" added so they do get some games. That is why I suggested the extra point option. I suggest just a couple of points, enough to make the point, but not enough to encourage someone to, say intentionally set up a cheater profile so they can then go and reap points off that "cheater". Since the main reason someone will cheat is to gain points, this seems to be the most painful way to penalize them.
A counter-argument, and why it probably isn't important:
On the other side, some might actually seek out this label as a "fun" thing to do. Though not preventable, the real issue will be what harm to the community. In my scenario, though it is possible such a person may give friends a few points, it should not be enough to matter. It will take a LOT of games for anyone to be able to change rank based on this. The main attraction will be some folks might like being called a cheater .. just like some folks actually like feedback abuse. And this will be a nice way for the rest of us to avoid those yokels as well as the more "true" cheaters.
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