Is it cheating?

[Rob T]

Recently there has been a lot of debate as to what constitutes "cheating" or for that matter the definition of "cheating".

Many have pointed out that it is impossible to cheat on a game in which there is no actual competition. To that end, the word cheating will be left out of the following explanations of some of the recently most hotly debated topics.

Auto Clickers: The developers have been quite clear here. The use of auto clickers is allowed only if the speed of the auto clickers is set to what would be considered "no faster than a human can click". The debate as to what really constitutes "at normal human speed" could go on ad nauseum, however, it is also a moot point given the fact it is also server based. The developers have also stated very clearly they will not post a specific number due to the fact that the speed they will allow is very much dependent on what the severs can handle. Since the number can and will change without notice it would be unfair of them to publish a number.

Bots and Auto Scripts: Again the developers have been very clear here. The use of bots or auto scripts will not be allowed. Users of either will first receive a warning, if the bot or auto script is turned on a second time these players will find their accounts banned.

Crop Layering and stacked plots: Many of our players have stated repeatedly that crop layering is a glitch and they will not be penalized for taking advantage of that glitch. This has been said by the developers, however, this is not in any way shape or form an endorsement by the developers for the use of this technique. What was meant by this, is the fact that players would not find their accounts banned from the game for using layering, as has been stated by players in the past. In fact, as has been stated here on the forum many many times, this practice can and does affect both individual farms as well as the game as a whole.

Layering includes both the layering of crops, as well as the layering of trees over top of crops. The recent spat of undeletable plots is direct proof of the harm this can cause to individual farms. The data on these farms has become so corrupted that the only way they can be fixed is by a someone on the development team going in and correcting the data by hand.

The fact that the developers took steps to limit the use of layering is also direct proof that it affects the game overall. Those steps were taken when the practice of layering got to be so wide spread it was slowing down the game as a whole. There may come a time when they finalize the steps to eliminate layering all together. They are concentrating on other areas of the game at the moment, however, the fact they have not done so yet should not be considered to be an endorsement by the developers.

Gift links: These are not something the developers endorse either. Many have stated that if they did not like them they would remove them from Facebook. The fact is, the developers have no control of any Facebook page other than their own for this application. There were many reasons that the discussion board on their Facebook page was taken down and the constant posting of gift links was among the reasons.

Other websites: We have stressed repeatedly that this forum is the only "officially sanctioned" website for Farm Town. Any other website out there, despite the use of the Farm Town logo or graphics, is not in any way official nor are any of the techniques to be found on those websites to be considered endorsed by the developers. Many have stated the same thing about the other websites as they have about the gift links. "If the developers did not want them out there they would shut them down". This is not as easy as it sounds and especially here in the US even harder. The best they can do is to keep stressing that this forum is where players should come for information about the game.