Intel launched the Intel® Xeon® Robo Brawl Game on 2/20. In just three weeks, thousands of users registered and played the game. I have been received a lot of positive comments about the game, including the following feedback from Ashley on the Intel's Software Blog.
"Other players seem to have an average of 3.5 kills per game and about 19,000 points. With the exception of Decepticon who seemingly has 4.99 kills per game, which is pretty much impossible. Just wondering if people are following the rules or have somehow found a way to break them making it unfair for the rest of the players."
This comment prompted me and our game developers to do some digging. Our game developers discovered a handful of individuals who have found a way to "game" the system. I won't go into detail but I can tell you they were able to update their robots' configurations and allow them to allocate extra Intel Xeon points to their robots, allowing them to defeat other robots with just one hit. Our developers have created a patch that essentially flags anybody who logs in with a "manipulated" configuration. We are taking necessary action to notify current players who have used manipulated configurations that their accounts will be terminated and that they will be disqualified from the contest. Going forward we will continue to monitor the game and terminate the account of flagged players. Additionally, we will be doing a full audit of the top ranked players before prizes are awarded to ensure fair play by the winners.
I want to thank Ashley to help us to reinforce "fair play" of the game. Please review the updated Official Rules of the contest at http://www.robobrawl.com/.
Have you been playing the game? Please share with us your thoughts about the game.
Regards-
Pam Didner , Intel Xeon RoboBrawl Program Manager
Pam- thanks for taking the time to respond to the concerns and blogging about the solution.