CivTrivia!!

[Robert]

we should do some investigations on cheating like the use of cookies or more computers.

First I got the intention myself to cheat because I have connection to the internet from home and from my office.
I could easily bring up a bogus account to 'test' the answers.

But I didn't do that, mostly because I was to impatient to not answer the questions from my work with my CyberShy account

and of course because I'm a pretty fair guy !
Now I wonder.... would those guys cheat this way ?
I suggest we just give the top 10 guys all -100 points just in case they've cheated. that would be fair I guess.

[Roman]

I have 180 points. Does anyone have less?

[Locutus]

Cybershy,
I tried some things with bogus accounts and cookies a few days ago (with a question which I had already answered of course, I would never cheat!). Cheating is extremely easy if you want to, just delete the cookie and you can log in under another name. Unless Firaxis has all kinds of extremely sophisticated security mechanisms (which seems unlikely) it's impossible to figure out if someone cheats or not (well, if IP numbers are stored somewhere on the Firaxis servers you might be able to detect it in some cases but most cheaters would probably be smart enough to change IP number as well before changing login).

I do think the questions should get tougher. Not only will I never be able to catch up with 10 or 20 point questions, but if I don't even have to think about the answers (let alone look them up) it's not really all that fun anymore...

[Dan Magaha FIRAXIS]

Originally posted by Locutus
Cybershy,
I tried some things with bogus accounts and cookies a few days ago (with a question which I had already answered of course, I would never cheat!). Cheating is extremely easy if you want to, just delete the cookie and you can log in under another name. Unless Firaxis has all kinds of extremely sophisticated security mechanisms (which seems unlikely) it's impossible to figure out if someone cheats or not (well, if IP numbers are stored somewhere on the Firaxis servers you might be able to detect it in some cases but most cheaters would probably be smart enough to change IP number as well before changing login).

I do think the questions should get tougher. Not only will I never be able to catch up with 10 or 20 point questions, but if I don't even have to think about the answers (let alone look them up) it's not really all that fun anymore...

The problem with all of this, of course, is that you can't "go back" and answer old questions. So you can cheat all you want today, but it won't bring back the first week's questions.

In any case, it's obviously not "cheatproof", but it's not really intended to be. I hardly think people are interested in using public-key certificates, SSL, and account verification just so they can answer a trivia question each day.

Dan

[Robert]

I agree with you Dan,
it's all just for fun and I think you must be pretty childish if you want to cheat with these kind of things.
But do you do some IP checks for the top 10 ? Or am I a childish loser for asking

About the liver / intestines question, is there any change that the people that answered 'intestines' will get their 40 points ? Because the answer in fact is right as well ?

CyberShy

[Locutus]

Originally posted by CyberShy
I agree with you Dan,
it's all just for fun and I think you must be pretty childish if you want to cheat with these kind of things.

I couldn't agree more...

Or am I a childish loser for asking

You're a childish loser

[Robert]

You're a childish loser

good, in that case I can start cheating I guess
I have no pride left to lose anywa

Dan, would you notice if 4 people would use an IP addy
that just differs one number ?
ie 209.208.128.9
209.208.128.10
209.208.128.11
209.208.128.12 ?

I have 4 permanent numbers like those
And killing cookies is my profession (including eating them irl)

[Lodi]

Bah Cyber, implying that some of us are cheating with multiple accounts? The only ones that I would be suspicious of cheating are those with the perfect scores.

I am just wondering when the trivia contest will end. It would make sense for it to end some time around or at the release of the game. Well I just hope there are no more of those hard questions on the history of China so I can at least be in the top 10 or 20. Plus I still think there is little chance of those on top messing up enough to catch up at any rate.

I hope to see you zoom up to the top of the list Cyber! Good Luck.

Lodi

[Robert]

Thanks Lodi !
I hope you'll be able to get in the top as well, right below me of course

I prefer some hard questions, very hard ones.
I'll be able to find any information thus I'm not afraid for those. (unless Firaxis of course uses history books with wrong information) (intestines, *hint* *hint*)

[Dan Magaha FIRAXIS]

Originally posted by CyberShy
Thanks Lodi !
I hope you'll be able to get in the top as well, right below me of course

I prefer some hard questions, very hard ones.
I'll be able to find any information thus I'm not afraid for those. (unless Firaxis of course uses history books with wrong information) (intestines, *hint* *hint*)

Hey, I didn't write them -- they were written by a professional company that actually generates materials for TV game shows and computer games...

Dan

[Robert]

aaaah, there you have it......
tv shows.....
you mean those big-brother alike commercial mass-entertaining programms right ?

Hey, I always know it better than the tv guys as well

What if I send you an official history book that contains the intestines thingy

CyberShy

[Donnyb20]

Cybershy,
I tried some things with bogus accounts and cookies a few days ago (with a question which I had already answered of course, I would never cheat!). Cheating is extremely easy if you want to, just delete the cookie and you can log in under another name. Unless Firaxis has all kinds of extremely sophisticated security mechanisms (which seems unlikely) it's impossible to figure out if someone cheats or not (well, if IP numbers are stored somewhere on the Firaxis servers you might be able to detect it in some cases but most cheaters would probably be smart enough to change IP number as well before changing login).

I believe your right, if you wanted to cheat you could just create 1 - 3 "dummy" accounts and determine the answer in that way. Unfortunately it would be difficult to prevent this because if a person has access to the internet using a computer from (work/friend/cell phone/etc...) the IP addresses would not be similar. I'm not sure how the whole IP address thing works but if there are two computers connected to a network in the same location, e.g. comcast (a LAN connection) where one is my computer and the other is my sister's computer and if we both play the civtrivia game, it does not mean where cheating, just that were both connected to the same network, therefore and again I'm not sure if the IP addresses would be similar but if they were, this would not prove that someone is cheating.

I have not tried to cheat in any way and wont because I actually like researching the answer and reading material about these types of questions, it's part of the fun of the game because you learn new things and the answer . One of the first questions on Civtrivia that some of you might remember was "What was King Gilgamesh's claim to fame." The answer was that 2 out of 3 of his parents were gods, in an history article I read, it said that his father was a god and his mother was a priestess which was considered at the time to be a half god/half mortal, hence 2/3 of his parents were gods.

One way to help prevent cheating would be to have two different questions. One question would be for the top scorers and the other question would be for everyone else, this way it would prevent any "dummy" accounts to be used to get the correct answer for the people with the highest score. This would not prevent anyone below the highest score (even by 10 points) from cheating but maybe make it seem fair to others, and of course this would only work if the top scorers were actually cheating.

I thought so. You cheaters are researching the answers! I'm scoring mabout 75% without doing that. Cheaters!

As for this quote I'm sorry Krazy Horse, but unless this is a joke, I dont understand. If people are cheating by researching the answer than that would probably mean that many (if not all) people should have failed high school and especially college, because the only way you can learn something for the most part is by researching/studying or experiencing it.

Just a little hint to some of you who do research the answers, it's a good idea to reference your answer with 2-3 sources so that your sure you have the right answer.

[Fiil]

Originally posted by Donnyb20
If people are cheating by researching the answer than that would probably mean that many (if not all) people should have failed high school and especially college, because the only way you can learn something for the most part is by researching/studying or experiencing it.

Thank you for posting this answer Donnyb20, it made me understand why most people are researching the answers.

As I see it now there are two ways two see these questions:

a) As a question much like those you would get in school, were you are supposed to do some research (if you can use your books).

b) or as a quiz question much like in game shows or board games (Trivial Pursuit) where your knowledge is tested and you're supposed to answer instantly.

I don't see these questions as somekind of learning session but your post actually made me understand why some do!

The reason that I don't research the answers is that I can actually answer some of them without help (those chinese questions hit me off the chart), and I guess that if I couldn't I would be researching too! (I'm not saying that you researchers can't answer the questions without the research - just that this would be my good reason!).

I understand that the research in it self can be a hard job, but here I would agree with CyberShy and others that the questions should be harder if this was the point IMHO.
Anyway I realize that there are two types of completely different players in the chart, and it would be pretty cool if they could be seperated so that it was possible to compare scores. (Not because I think I could stand a chance anyway - some of you guys sure know your history! )

So since you yourself decide the rules -
Be fair to you're own rules! Don't cheat - what ever you think that is!
And may all your answers be true!

[Skanky Burns]

I research all the questions... If i knew one before researching it, i would answer it, but unfortunately thats never happened To say im weak in history is an understatement

But the way i see it, by taking a 'stab in the dark', i have a 25% chance of getting the answer right, and at the end, discover the answer to that and only that question. However, if i research the answer, not only do i (mostly) get the right answer, but i find out much more *background* information, thus getting more knowledge on history. Which is a good thing considering its a game about history

By using multiple accounts though, that person will probably only remember todays answer was (B or A, or C, or D), which i dont think would be too much fun.

[Gramphos]

CyberShy,
I have a flexible IP for my computer at home, but the IP sent to a page is always the same: My ISP's proxy, and all with the same ISP as I will show up to have the same IP. (That would mean that Mark could ban a third of Sweden from Apolyton, just by banning this IP. )