Is there a stop to Internet Backgammon cheaters?

So I have enjoyed playing Backgammon in the past, but nowadays is just IMPOSSIBLE.  I am sure many others have noticed this.  There are players out there that can control the dice at least for them, and some can even move more chips than the allowed by standard rules.

For example, not 10 minutes ago, I rolled 6 and 5, then the guy doubled me on his first roll, and got double three, then I rolled and I got 4 and 1, then he rolled and got 3 and 1, then I rolled and got 3 and 2, then he rolled and got double 5 eating my lonely chip in position 1 and covering position 3 from position 8.  Do you call that a lucky roll?  I call that an engineered roll, if you know Backgammon.

Yesterday, a guy moved 6 chips using a double 5.  That same guy rolled 4 consecutive pairs.

Yesterday, I had 5 out of 6 positions occupied in my side and I ate one of the other player's chips.  I did this repeatedly.  The guy just lost 1 roll out of 4 chips I ate.  He also had 5 of 6 positions occupied.  He ate a chip of mine twice.  I had to roll some 10 times before I could get out each time.

If you know Backgammon, you know this is NOT right.  Losers out there have found a way to cheat, and that ruins the fun for us, the ones with a brain.

Microsoft, please put an end to this.  Your Windows license is expensive, and I paid for it, and I expect to be able to enjoy all the features in the OS, and that includes the included Internet gaming.  Roll a patch that can end this blatant cheating!

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MCP

The world is full of sad little people, if they do not get the dice roll they want then they just quit. I hate to think what they are like in life itself. Do they cry if they don't get it all their own way. I have been beaten 5-0 many times but still keep playing (unless of course blatant cheating is occuring). The game is for fun not for a new car or words to that effect. Maybe microsoft can organise a site where you log in and if you cheat or spit the dummy then you should be banned for a time so that REAL people can enjoy the battle of wits and bottle ( will you leave a button on it's own )

If you play enough, you'll lose to those on a hot streak. Players do get on incredible hot streaks. Play with actual dice (of your own choosing). It happens.

That still doesn't explain how some players can ignore nudges. At the precise point where it's obvious to both players that you're going to win, they stop playing. You wait for 2 minutes, and the nudge button lights up. You think, "At last!"  You click "Nudge" and they should be forced to either move or resign, but they don't do either. Somehow, they never get disconnected.  Eventually, the game disconnects for YOU -- who should be the winner! Maybe they also lose?

Another Microsoft issue is the unfair luck of the computer. I feel certain this isn't just my brain making patterns. When the other player gets disconnected (or disconnects), then the computer takes over. The computer is stupid, and so it's VERY easy to beat, but you have to be patient, since it's so lucky. If the computer is about to roll, and the worst possible roll against you is a 6-3, and everything else is safe, then the computer gets a 6-3 over 50% of the time. Before the roll, think of the top 3 rolls for the computer. Maybe big doubles, or double 1s, or some specific roll. The computer is very likely to get one of those rolls (or the only one). It doesn't necessarily use that roll effectively, though. The unlucky dice vs. the computer affects your rolls, too. If most every roll is safe, except 1 roll -- say a 5-4 -- then you're extremely likely to get the 5-4 or whatever bad roll. The computer seems very, very lucky, but incredibly stupid, and thus destined to lose.

Again, I need to start keeping a database... If I do that, though, won't the other player suspect me of cheating, since I'll take so long?

I too see this happening and it all looks too coincidental.  Sometimes I do get these kinds of rolls so I am not sure the opponent is cheating but truly the dice roll is far from random.  The cheating I have noticed is (and always from a 2200 rating and above is (although not from everyone above that rating) when they begin to lose they go through move undo move exercize repeatedly at blinding speed until the program thinks it is my turn yet it shows them with one move to make.  And I am unable to roll the dice.  The whole time they childish taunt me that I won't win when I have them on the bar with only one position open to them.

Explain that?

Unfortunately I think it is you who fails the entry requirements for the group 'those with a brain'.   No one is cheating at backgammon and to think they are shows a lack of maturity and a poor understanding of both the game of backgammon and the nature of microprocessors.

 

 

The device that generates the numbers for the die is unsophisticated and very reliable.  The device that interprets the data (your brain) is very unreliable and tends to operate with a mixture of logic, intuition, emotion and degrees of chemical imbalance.

 

 

If you think losing to someone who rolls incredible numbers is frustrating just wait until you understand the game really well and try being beaten by someone that thinks it is possible to cheat!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Really????? A lack of maturity?  Is that what I have?   Following your logic that must be the case, as I do believe that there is a tool out there that allows players to manipulate the dice in Microsoft's Internet Backgammon.   I have always been a particularly good player.  My strategies are sound, and have proven to be successful over the course of my backgammon experience going back to 1979.   During play it is obvious to me when a player is cheating.  Don't get me wrong I don't believe everyone is cheating and I'm sure there have been occasions when I have suspected a completely inocent player. 

  I believe there are two types of cheaters those who cheat all the time and those who only cheat when they really need to...  Let me explain why I believe this to be the case.   During play when I put someone in a position where it becomes obvious that they are not going to win  if a player who has taken his turns in a timely fashion all game long, (who I have not suspected of cheating during that time) suddenly takes a long time to roll but when he does, rolls exactly the perfect roll to start down the path to recovery, and then continues to roll the perfect roll each subsequent turn until he is victorious i call "RAT"  If this had only happened to me once or twice I wouldn't think much about it; however,  it happens far too often for me to consider it happenstance. It has gotten to the point that by the second game with some players that I can predict what the opponents dice are going to be before I even see them.  I remember once predicting a 3 5 roll only to be surprised that it was a 2 4 I remember thinking "man, I guess I was wrong" but then I started watching his stones bouncing back and forth as he tried to figure out what went wrong. (he miss counted- also during the whole game leading up to this indecent he hadn't taken back any moves.

My question is:  Where does the code run for die rolls?  I am willing to bet the die roll happens on the computer of the person who is moving.  That is to say that you roll your own dice.  If that is the case how hard is it to isolate the memory addresses that hold the values for the die rolls?   Not hard at all. So writing some code that will manipulate that block of memory could be done fairly easily.  I can think of several methods to accomplish this....

 

But I don't think cheating is the biggest problem with this game.....  Quitters are the biggest problem.   I would say 2 in 3 to 4 in 5 players quit when they realize they are not going to win.....  I wish Microsoft would give us the ability to filter players who's stats indicate a propensity to quit or a significant history of being nudged.

 

 Quitters are the biggest problem!! why would you winning is so much better if you have suffered a few losses :)