SUPERCELL AND BANS

In the last 3 years of Clash Royale, nobody has achieved a ladder finish worth anything. The system we currently have produces a convoluted outcome poisoned by various cheats, be it sniping, pushing or win trading. Our ladder doesn't choose the best player for that season, it simply tells us who can best partake in or deal with all these cheats. This is why I keep saying the achievements of players like Anaban have zero worth. The only real value they have are to him personally. They help him cope with underlying self esteem issues, but alas, they are just a temporary bandaid and not a cure for these issues. They will still be there long after the game is dead from a Coronavirus infection. That reminds me...STAY HOME, WASH YOUR HANDS. The only time our ladder is ever going to mean something is when it is completely free of the cheats. In recent weeks we have seen a spate of bans from Supercell, and some from things which happened years ago and were already punished once. This is leading to the all too regular cries of, "THEY'RE KILLING THEIR OWN GAME!" These bans raise some concerns. Firstly, on the issue of getting punished twice for the same crime. This new 'Fair Play' policy is something Supercell didn't communicate very well. I was unaware of how it worked until it was pointed out to me. Put simply, they will ban any tainted account partaking in comp or getting high ladder or GT finishes. It does NOT matter if you have been punished already. They are giving your stinky account the hand and saying, "Sorry, these events are not for you". Thus, if you're a pro, make a tournament standard mini for comps if your main is not clean. Secondly, on the issue of inconsistency. Eg., "Why did I get banned but he is getting away with it?". The answer to this is simple. Logistics. Supercell has a small team. They cannot check everything. Some will get caught, some will sneak through the system. It's kinda like drink driving. Some will get pulled over by the breath testing station and some will drive past when it is full, completely smashed. Finally, and also dealing with inconsistency, some people get 7 days, 31 days or permabans for the same offence. I don't have the answer to this. I'm as clueless as Trump is on infectious diseases. Now that Drew is on Twitter, he might read this and enlighten us. LOL, I was being optimistic. Nobody reads my blog. So, are Supercell killing their game? Of course not. One of the foundation elements for building a great game is integrity. You can't allow cheating to contaminate it, pure and simple. Eliminating a few hundred players, even great ones, makes the CR journey better for Beli's mate Average Joe. After all, Joe makes up the major demographic playing the game. He might sit in the middle of ladder, but he is king. On the other hand, these bans can be detrimental in some ways. I feel sorry for the organisers of NT Worlds and the participating Chinese team. The latter have lost several key players to the Fair Play checks mentioned earlier, and put simply, it kinda fucks up the comp. It will still be an interesting final, but not the final we, the supporters of esports, deserve. Personally I would be loathe to organise any event where I might lose my attractions at any stage. Fortunately there are solutions. I would like to begin with a global amnesty. In other words, all accounts get their slates wiped clean on a set date, and then we only punish indiscretions after said date, and we punish them sternly. We deliver this message clearly so that everybody knows where they stand. This resolves the competitive scene. As far as ladder is concerned, there have been many great proposals, such as playing it blind for a set amount of time. This eliminates sniping. With sterner checks and consistent checks on the top 200, it is safe to say that a lot of win trading and account sharing will be prevented. This is the way in which we must move forward to give our ladder some meaning. Finally, and this is based on something personal to me. I have 4 main accounts (and other minis) but my 4 mains include one fully maxed and three well advanced level 13 accounts. They have cost me about $10k over 3 years. Lately I am only interested in playing on 2 of these accounts. It would be nice if there was a way in which I could gift my other accounts to someone else ***ATTENTION*** Please do not DM me on Twitter and ask to buy an account or for me to give you one. I will not do anything which puts my main at risk I can't think of a way in which we can have a gifting system that won't encourage a black market for accounts, but there are smarter people out there than I, and who might come up with an answer.