Ghost Strategy

[nocturnalbamf]

I have recently discovered a strategy that I have dubbed the "Ghost Strategy". Its effectiveness can be seen by viewing the top leaderboard as 2.LurkingRage has admitted to utilizing it and as well as 11.Vedicr3deye.

If you don't want to spend money on 9sec, but want the same protection without having to give up being able to hack someone, then this is the Strategy for you!

First off, find a method to disable your phones time out function. IF you are unfamiliar with Developer Mode, this can be done by downloading the "No Screen Off" app from Google Play. You can use other apps but this is the one I personally tested. Once you have the app up and running all you have to do now is keep your game actively playing.

While your account is active, you will be less likely to appear on the world map and people will not be able to retrace you. This essentially will make you a ghost.

Finally, the game does have a feature that allows other players to Hijack your network after constant activity over 3 hours. Don't worry though, the only thing that needs to happen is another player "Viewing" your network. If they don't attack and leave, all you have to do is log back in and the 3 hour time resets. I have only been using this stradegy for 2 days now, and the only time I have been hacked is during the night when I sleep as I am not dedicated, like others, to disturb my sleep for a game. So I could be wrong about the being "viewed" part is all it takes to reset the 3 hours. I'll keep y'all updated the first chance I get when I find out if this is wrong, or wait until someone who has been utilizing it longer reads this and corrects me.

**WARNING** there is a bug with the hijacking part that can cause you to be kicked in the middle of a hack and lose your programs, resources and rep. The developer is currently working on fixing this part though, so don't worry

For those that will call this cheating, the developers are aware of this stradegy as LurkingRage has informed them of this. The game's mechanics are considered "Balanced" at this time, so it is deemed a legit strategy.

So unless they implement something along the lines of:
1. A function that detects if there is input (complicated input, not just a basic tap as some apps can simulate this basic input) happening, and if not boots the account.
2. Make it to where the player has to answer a basic question after 2 hours of constant activity.
3. Give retrace the ability to hijack a network if the player isn't in the middle of a hack.
4. Or more extreme, temporarily banning someone for remaining constantly active for more than 14-16 hours a day.
You have nothing to worry about. Just keep your phone plugged in (or laptop for anyone running an android emulator), and call yourself a ""Good Player"" as you actively hide your network from other players, easily saving your resources while you climb past everyone on the leaderboard.

Combine this with minmaxing, or smurfing and you'll be exceptionally better than anyone utilizing only one of these.

[Hell_Diguner]

How unsportsmanlike :(

Even if you're #1, you can't honestly tell yourself you 'won'. How can you get any satisfaction out of playing the game this way?

[nocturnalbamf]

How unsportsmanlike

Even if you're #1, you can't honestly tell yourself you 'won'. How can you get any satisfaction out of playing the game this way?

I don't know, ask the people that have been utilizing it and are at the top of the leaderboard. I have only recently discovered this and the past 48 hours has been spent testing it so I can give accurate information in this post.

As I have only been attacked twice since I started (1 by vedicr3deye), all I can say is that I'm worrying less about losing my resources or dropping rep. So I guess the satisfaction comes from peace of mind that I don't have to worry about improving my defense or pay for 9sec.

[Hell_Diguner]

Oh right, competition, challenge, and self-improvement aren't high on the list of priorities for casual gamers, they just want to feel rewarded for playing the game at all. How silly of me.

[iblitxkreig]

Im Number 1 in the game, but i have never used this once, nor do i have the ability to do it. My phone would while on the charger in 5hours or so...

But its really sad if you have to play like this just to keep rank. You don't deserve to be on leader board period if you have to stay online all day long prevent people from attempting to hack you.

[Sibernetika]

He was referring to lurk referring to himself as number 1..I was in the chat when this was discussed

[nocturnalbamf]

Im Number 1 in the game, but i have never used this once, nor do i have the ability to do it. My phone would while on the charger in 5hours or so...

But its really sad if you have to play like this just to keep rank. You don't deserve to be on leader board period if you have to stay online all day long prevent people from attempting to hack you.

How is this different from staying at low levels and hiding from the other players at a higher level? I can't find you on world map, essentially you are doing the same thing aren't you? I could argue that its sad you sit on resources and do nothing but hack the same lower level players over and over again to just keep rank. Plus, don't you have the theory that your high amount of rep prevents players of the same level but with much lower rep from finding you? So you have 2 methods working at the same time hiding you from players that could hack you, while this is just one. Plus, there is a window where people could hack ghost users, there is no window with your method(s).

Please, clarify how this is different than what you are doing...

[nocturnalbamf]

He was referring to lurk referring to himself as number 1..I was in the chat when this was discussed

Everyone keeps thinking I'm refering to lurk as cheating (in the game chat) but this is not the case. This started with someone else stalking me 3-4 times a day, while I could maybe get a retrace after every 5th hack, if I was lucky. I didn't know what was going on, so I reported as a bug, only to find out that it was something more than one person was doing and it wasn't marked as a bug or a cheat.

Lurk has said he has been honest about doing this from the start and that it wasn't a secret and yet I never knew about it. Come to find out, there was a few people that didn't know about it, and they to were upset to find out this was why they couldn't retrace these players. The only reason I mention Lurk is because he is No. 2 on the board, so its easy to reference and it demostrates how effective this is.

Because myself and others were unaware of this, I decided to test it and document the details so I could post it here and make sure others know they can do this and how to do it. Essentially, I'm leveling the playing field.

[TheLurkingRage]

Im Number 1 in the game, but i have never used this once, nor do i have the ability to do it. My phone would while on the charger in 5hours or so...

But its really sad if you have to play like this just to keep rank. You don't deserve to be on leader board period if you have to stay online all day long prevent people from attempting to hack you.

How is this different from staying at low levels and hiding from the other players at a higher level? I can't find you on world map, essentially you are doing the same thing aren't you? I could argue that its sad you sit on resources and do nothing but hack the same lower level players over and over again to just keep rank. Plus, don't you have the theory that your high amount of rep prevents players of the same level but with much lower rep from finding you? So you have 2 methods working at the same time hiding you from players that could hack you, while this is just one. Plus, there is a window where people could hack ghost users, there is no window with your method(s).

Please, clarify how this is different than what you are doing...

Good point, the answer is simple: he's legitimately cheating. Similar problems, but one can be countered and the other one can't, as you've pointed out.

[nocturnalbamf]

Im Number 1 in the game, but i have never used this once, nor do i have the ability to do it. My phone would while on the charger in 5hours or so...

But its really sad if you have to play like this just to keep rank. You don't deserve to be on leader board period if you have to stay online all day long prevent people from attempting to hack you.

How is this different from staying at low levels and hiding from the other players at a higher level? I can't find you on world map, essentially you are doing the same thing aren't you? I could argue that its sad you sit on resources and do nothing but hack the same lower level players over and over again to just keep rank. Plus, don't you have the theory that your high amount of rep prevents players of the same level but with much lower rep from finding you? So you have 2 methods working at the same time hiding you from players that could hack you, while this is just one. Plus, there is a window where people could hack ghost users, there is no window with your method(s).

Please, clarify how this is different than what you are doing...

Good point, the answer is simple: he's legitimately cheating. Similar problems, but one can be countered and the other one can't, as you've pointed out.

Personally I see both as unsportsman and cowardly, but the only way to survive a mad world is to embrace the madness. So while both of them are available, then both will be taken advantage of. Similar to how the real world of hacking has gone, if there is an exploit out there and noone fixs it, then it is asking to be taken advantage of. The only way to solve the issue, is to patch the exploit and hope there isn't another one out there that someone finds and uses.

You say his can't be countered, but if someone studied his network and identified the weakness, they could create an alter account (as people brag about doing), work their way up, and just pound the crap out of his network. Which then, if Blitz wanted to, he could utilize this exploit and prevent the guy from taking all of his rep. I say this one is worse, becaue it could be combined with other strategies (min maxing for example) while blitz is stuck with his current strategy.

While both can be countered technically, the way to counter blitz requires some skill, and dedication to start over (luckily he is only level 28). The only way to counter this is to get lucky and be able to catch the small window that presents itself every 3 hours. Everyone has unlimited attempts to attack blitz while this method only allows 8 a day no matter if an attacker is successful or not. Smurfing has been around since WOW and too be honest, I was kind of doing what blitz did for awhile. The only difference is, I want to upgrade nodes with the idea that I may be able to max out a lot of nodes and have the strongest network in the game. However, because of people taking advantage of these, I'm sticking to the level I'm at as its between the both of you and safe for now. Plus what I chose to upgrade seems to keep everyone (but 2 people) at bay.

I think that if someone is constantly active for more than 12-16 hours a day , they should be temporarly banned for a day, maybe 2 days. These numbers can vary, but this is the best solution that requires no actual change in game mechanics and will discourage players from doing this.