Is this farm cheating?

My kid ran across a level 22 farm in the newspaper. They were selling lots of 10 land expansion materials for 10 coins each. He told me he bought and resold them as quick as he could and made over 700K. He said others were doing the same because they were selling as quick as they were posted for nearly 30 minutes. He was pretty excited. We reported them to support, but how will support be able to track them down if they are not in a neighborhood?

Are there any circumstances where this could be a legitimate farm?

Lucy

I don't know, I think this is likely to be a bot farm or something of the sort. :\ Maybe it's a baby farm that is wheating, and selling stuff cheaply to their 'main' farm, but then they would not be selling it in the DD unless by accident.

Bot farm. He happened to get lucky and visit when they were "selling" their ill gotten gains. I'm not sure how it works exactly but somehow they transfer all their expansion stuff from all their farms to then sell on for real cash. I have come across this a few times and did a double take! I Bet they were not too happy about this but hey ho :)

Most likely a bot farm, because if it is a second farm it could not sell that many for 30 minutes span (barn limitation for a farm level 22) and it would use base price for 10 items (which is not 10 coins) for quick posting.

Definitely a BOT farm. Make sure he hasn't followed it or he could find himself in trouble. It's really not sensible to buy from them because you risk gettng banned - as well as the fact it encourages them.

(As an aside - does he know about 'trading crates'?)

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Originally Posted by SmallChange

Definitely a BOT farm. Make sure he hasn't followed it or he could find himself in trouble. It's really not sensible to buy from them because you risk gettng banned - as well as the fact it encourages them.

(As an aside - does he know about 'trading crates'?)

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My understanding is that you risk a ban by doing business with a bot farm more than by following. For example, buying lots of EMs from them like the OP's kid did.

Maybe following a bot would risk a ban as well. But enabling them by buying seems worse than just following.

You don't get banned from buying from a bot for a one off transaction; I'm sure just about everyone has purchased off a bot at one stage. When your frantically hunting through the paper for goods you just buy on impulse, think later; or risk missing out on good deals.

If you followed one however and regularly purchased from it then you could very well have a problem and fall into the bot catching net.

But the above does indeed sound like a bot, and you reported it to Help & Support in game. That may help get it banned sooner. They surely have ways to analyze the game more than we farmers can.

Here's what Nick wrote when many users were banned temporarily about a year ago:

"...If you have used bots to buy items, (usually 1 coin / item or with real money in worst cases) I can't really say what will happen. Our support deals with this, case by case. All bans were issued based on thorough investigation and analysis.

Sounds like it. :unsure: You may not have been running a bot yourself but you have been in a network of bots (buying cheap items or like). You can still reach them from our contact page: http://supercell.com/en/contact-us/

Guys, do not use bots. Do not buy from them, do not friend with them. Report them. That's how we can keep Hay Day fun for everyone..."

http://forum.supercell.net/showthrea...=1#post5386820

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Originally Posted by XYZZY

My understanding is that you risk a ban by doing business with a bot farm more than by following. For example, buying lots of EMs from them like the OP's kid did.

Maybe following a bot would risk a ban as well. But enabling them by buying seems worse than just following.

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Well, you're not going to follow them to watch how they decorate their farm are you? :D Clearly your intent would be knowingly buying from them again in the future.

'Creating a relationship' with a BOT farm is going to show it wasn't a one off opportunistic buy from the DD. If you're following a BOT farm you're intending to profit from illegal 'playing'.

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Originally Posted by VickyD

Bot farm. He happened to get lucky and visit when they were "selling" their ill gotten gains. I'm not sure how it works exactly but somehow they transfer all their expansion stuff from all their farms to then sell on for real cash. I have come across this a few times and did a double take! I Bet they were not too happy about this but hey ho :)

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ya,its certainly a bot farm and your kid ran across it to get lured..

I have followed 1 coin wheat farms previously purely because I don't grow the stuff and had no idea. Nowadays I try to avoided really obvious bot farms and report them instead.

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Originally Posted by SmallChange

Well, you're not going to follow them to watch how they decorate their farm are you? :D Clearly your intent would be knowingly buying from them again in the future.

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I have got the impression over the past couple years that some people seem to make it their life's cause to report bots. I would not be the least bit surprised if they follow them to watch and get a warm fuzzy feeling when the bot farm seems to go dark.

So there's at least one example of harmless following that doesn't entail doing business with or otherwise empowering the bot. I don't think it's clear at all.

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Originally Posted by VickyD

I have followed 1 coin wheat farms previously purely because I don't grow the stuff and had no idea. Nowadays I try to avoided really obvious bot farms and report them instead.

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Yep, same, I also bought from some of them a few times before I learned that they were bots. I'm sure a lot of people have no idea and have done the same thing. As I said in another thread recently, I'm not sure how SC expects people to know what a bot farm looks like (or even check before buying - I know I don't always go look at the farms I'm buying from). It's really harsh to ban people for this.

Simply buying doesn't envoke a ban, but following a farm that constantly refreshes 1 coin wheat at lightening speed will probably, eventually, get you banned.

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Originally Posted by GladeMaid

Simply buying doesn't envoke a ban, but following a farm that constantly refreshes 1 coin wheat at lightening speed will probably, eventually, get you banned.

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I hope that's the case - I was reading some of the older threads where so many people got banned for apparently nothing, it made me feel a bit panicky.

It's not accident like they played multiple farms then they were about to sell good stuff from the lower to the main farm at lowest price. Sometimes I ran into those lower farmers who were selling tons of expansion items like duct tapes, planks, panels, or even bars, etc. I always bought as much as possible till my barn was full, because they'd remove you as soon as they stopped selling. It's clearly, they used bots for sure.

It is not our job to be able to recognize bot farms! SC is the expert. They are the developers. It is their game and their job to control these bot farms. I have no freaking idea what a stupid bot farm looks like or how they work, nor do I analyze a road side shop before each purchase. It is on SC to control their game and the miscreants that abuse it.

Or they could be wanting to get rid of it ASAP so they sell it cheaply. I know when I had done wheat for a derby task before, I needed like 500 wheat, so once my silo got full, I would sell alot of 10 wheat for 1 coin, so it will sell fast and I can add more to the shop during the next harvest which was in 2 minutes.

Not too sure about expansion items, tho. I rarely put mine up for sale, because I really want those expansions! The faster the better, but without using diamonds, if I can help it.

So you made 700k from them and then reported them ?

well thats rude....:unsure:

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Originally Posted by Njoylife10

My kid ran across a level 22 farm in the newspaper. They were selling lots of 10 land expansion materials for 10 coins each. He told me he bought and resold them as quick as he could and made over 700K. He said others were doing the same because they were selling as quick as they were posted for nearly 30 minutes. He was pretty excited. We reported them to support, but how will support be able to track them down if they are not in a neighborhood?

Are there any circumstances where this could be a legitimate farm?

Lucy

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I don't know why you think this might not be a legit farm. Its not my farm, though, but since this farmer is at level 22, maybe he doesn't know about the needs for these tools and is trying to make room in his barn? I, myself have alot of expansion tools, but I want to expand, so I don't want to sell them.

Maybe this farmer doesn't know he/she can increase the price??? I know I didn't know about that until my friend told me.

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Originally Posted by Midori669

Maybe this farmer doesn't know he/she can increase the price??? I know I didn't know about that until my friend told me.

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When you put 10 LEM in the shop though, the default price is a bit over 1000 coins, or 750 for BEM/SEM. So you purposely have to bring the price down to 10.

But I agree, it could be someone trying to make room or any number of scenarios.

They'd have to have a very, very big barn for that level though, if they were making room for 30 minutes straight. Not saying it's not a possibility, though!

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Originally Posted by Rivaille

So you made 700k from them and then reported them ?

well thats rude....http://forum.supercell.net/images/smilies/unsure.png

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No, the poster's kid made 700k from the farm, maybe not realising that it could very well be a bot farm.