ForumsH4x0ringKongregatebotnet? (Page 1)
[Help] botnet?
Getting votes
botnet? Posted on: 08/08/2014 5:34pm
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I wonder, is there any way to purchase votes for a game on kongregate?
RE: botnet? Posted on: 08/08/2014 9:20pm
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TIM the Enchanter
Level: 1
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lmfao, more info pl0x




Everything's coming up KongHack!

"When you know nothing matters, the universe is yours" ~Rick Sanchez
RE: botnet? Posted on: 08/08/2014 10:11pm
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The Unity Apprentice

You mean buying votes so you get a higher rating for your game on Kongregate? If that's what you're asking then no there is not a way to purchase votes to get higher rating. Why is the topic named Botnet?
RE: botnet? Posted on: 08/08/2014 11:33pm
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TIM the Enchanter
Level: 1
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I'm assuming the newfag wants to hire a botnet controller to shoot a few thousand votes onto some game.

He should be looking into loic and starting up a campaign.  A botnet won't get him far in this regard, since each bot would need to be tied to a different kongregate account.  Votes are per person per game, much like hack votes on here.




Everything's coming up KongHack!

"When you know nothing matters, the universe is yours" ~Rick Sanchez
RE: botnet? Posted on: 08/09/2014 3:43pm
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The Ignorant Masses Posted on: 08/08/2014 7:33pm

I'm assuming the newfag wants to hire a botnet controller to shoot a few thousand votes onto some game.

He should be looking into loic and starting up a campaign.  A botnet won't get him far in this regard, since each bot would need to be tied to a different kongregate account.  Votes are per person per game, much like hack votes on here.



Exactly. I have newfags voting "1/5" without even trying the game, killing it with their easy click. With a 0.3 higher rating my game would be displayed in the top new games and maybe get some useful feedback.

There are organisations around selling votes and reviews for mobile apps, is there anything like that for kongregate?
I don't want to get super high scores, just to counter idiots.
RE: botnet? Posted on: 08/09/2014 5:35pm
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TIM the Enchanter
Level: 1
ADR Info

Scores are easy and ahve been done for years.

My game only had a 2.2 rating.  This has crossed my mind several times.  Frankly, we'd need to build a distributed program for this.  Could always use KongHack to control the bots. ;)




Everything's coming up KongHack!

"When you know nothing matters, the universe is yours" ~Rick Sanchez
RE: botnet? Posted on: 08/09/2014 7:39pm
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I've definitely played many games on kong that have a much lower rating than one would expect. I have a feeling that if people don't like a game that much, they just give it a 1/5 instead of a 2/5 or 3/5.
RE: botnet? Posted on: 08/10/2014 7:41am
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timtoti Posted on: 08/09/2014 3:39pm

I've definitely played many games on kong that have a much lower rating than one would expect. I have a feeling that if people don't like a game that much, they just give it a 1/5 instead of a 2/5 or 3/5.



So? If everyone does this then the games are all weighted down or up equally.
RE: botnet? Posted on: 08/10/2014 8:28am
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Lucifer Posted on: 08/08/2014 6:11pm

no there is not a way to purchase votes to get higher rating



I think what you mean to say is that, insofar as you know, there's no commercially available method. If OP sends me $1 on Paypal and I vote 5/5, then they just purchased a higher rating. :B Right?

Now, if one wants to get down to the fine details, such as how one would guarantee that people paid would actually vote 5/5--if at all--then that's a whole other matter, to say nothing of sourcing enough votes to even meaningfully affect the overall rating of the game in the first place.
 

dreadlord Posted on: 08/09/2014 11:43am
Exactly. I have newfags voting "1/5" without even trying the game


Link to the game? To be objective, the more likely scenario is rather that people are downvoting your game because they don't like it. Are people telling you they're downvoting it without even trying it? That's certainly not the conclusion I would have jumped to. Sounds more like an attempt to protect one's bruised ego by dismissively insulting one's detractors. One or two downvotes could be written off as outliers, but things tend to operate on a bell curve. If your game has 25,000 votes averaging a rating of 2.4, then that's statistics, not "newfags" (whatever that means.)

Be reasonable--what's the more likely scenario? That there's something wrong with your game you're either refusing or unable to see? Or that an unknown swarm of internet whozits are ganging up to pick on you and your unable-to-be-appreciated-in-its-time dark horse masterpiece? :B
RE: botnet? Posted on: 08/10/2014 11:05am
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FinalStrife7 Posted on: 08/10/2014 4:28am

Link to the game? To be objective, the more likely scenario is rather that people are downvoting your game because they don't like it. Are people telling you they're downvoting it without even trying it? That's certainly not the conclusion I would have jumped to. Sounds more like an attempt to protect one's bruised ego by dismissively insulting one's detractors. One or two downvotes could be written off as outliers, but things tend to operate on a bell curve. If your game has 25,000 votes averaging a rating of 2.4, then that's statistics, not "newfags" (whatever that means.)


Be reasonable--what's the more likely scenario? That there's something wrong with your game you're either refusing or unable to see? Or that an unknown swarm of internet whozits are ganging up to pick on you and your unable-to-be-appreciated-in-its-time dark horse masterpiece? :B


I'm honest: for sure the game is not a masterpiece.
For sure it has adjustments/improvements to be made.
It doesn't deserve 5/5 stars, but also not 1/5 :D

Problem with Kongregate, alongside what timoti reported, is:
- many users just vote 1/5 to troll, without even playing the game
- many users vote 1/5 because they don't notice evident elements like mute button(luckily when they say it in comments other user downvote them)
- many users vote 1/5 or 2/5 because of minor problems (i.e. typo, small bugs), i fix the problems super fast and they don't adjust the vote.

Out of ~700 votes, around 10% of the people cared to write feedback. Let's not consider positive feedback and take only negative feedback. I got:
- 1 gamebreaking bug (fixed immediatly when it was reported)
- 2 low entity bug reports (fixed in the first 24h)
- 2 fake bug reports
- 2 typo reports (fixed in the first 24h)
- 3 crash reports (without ANY detail, i.e. browser version, plugin version, description, etc. so basically impossible to investigate/reproduce)
- 20 complaints (most of them about 2 details that were annoying for players and i modified them in 36h)
- 5 critiques (i.e. "don't like the graphics")

Rating is 3.4 stars out of 5. With 3.7 I would be in the hot new games. With 3.4 my game is dead, unless many players adjust their rating seeing that I listened their suggestions/requests/complaints.
I don't know what's wrong with Kongregate audience, on other portals I got higher score and more constructive feedback.

p.s. to anyone interested in trying the game, I can link it via PM. I don't post it publicly because I asked something illegal and morally wrong :) 



 
RE: botnet? Posted on: 08/10/2014 12:33pm
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TIM the Enchanter
Level: 1
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Nah, it's not illegal in any way,  Hell, it's not really morally wrong.  When buying and selling millions of Facebook profiles is a commercial process, I'm pretty sure throwing a few votes at some random flash game is nothing.




Everything's coming up KongHack!

"When you know nothing matters, the universe is yours" ~Rick Sanchez
RE: botnet? Posted on: 08/10/2014 12:50pm
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Well,
it may be not illegal and not immoral, but still:
- i'm pretty sure it violates kong policies
- i feel guilty for thinking it, it would be an unfair advantage over other developers.

Problem is, it's very frustrating when you work a lot on something and people blames it in 5 seconds.
RE: botnet? Posted on: 08/10/2014 1:26pm
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Ubi Maior Minor Cessat

just link your game already
RE: botnet? Posted on: 08/10/2014 8:20pm
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The Ignorant Masses Posted on: 08/10/2014 8:33am

Nah, it's not illegal in any way,  Hell, it's not really morally wrong.  When buying and selling millions of Facebook profiles is a commercial process, I'm pretty sure throwing a few votes at some random flash game is nothing.


Word. Gotta play the game to win.
 

dreadlord Posted on: 08/10/2014 8:50am

Well,
it may be not illegal and not immoral, but still:
- i'm pretty sure it violates kong policies
- i feel guilty for thinking it, it would be an unfair advantage over other developers.

Problem is, it's very frustrating when you work a lot on something and people blames it in 5 seconds.


I understand (or would, if I'd made any game at all). You certainly seem to be approaching it from the right perspective. I've had a look over the Terms of Use and the Conduct Guidelines and am unable to find anything that remotely approaches this. I'm sure the spirit of the law somewhere advises against it, but the letter of the law is mum in this regard. Just post. :B Again, you seem to be approaching this from the right perspective. I'll 5/5.

As for the handful of downvotes about the issues you mentioned, that's where alpha/beta testing are supposed to come into play. :/ Those issues get identified and resolved before the game goes live so as to avoid votes being "thrown away" on trivial things like that. That being said, I think your only real recourse in this regard is to go on the offensive: PM the people who voiced complaints and explicitly stated that they voted 1/5 and let them know yourself that you heard their cries, you resolved the issue, and you'd really appreciate another chance to win their vote. From what I've seen, people on Kong take very, very well to active developers who are very present. Make yourself known. Some of those 1/5's will have to be written off, of course, but that's probably just the cost of any game that's not made by a big studio, I would think. People will still be able to find your game and, over time, the rating will go up as more and more people who're playing the later version(s) vote higher.