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Developers Can Now Delete Fake Scores from Game Center Leaderboards

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Apr 12, 2001
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As noted by our sister site TouchArcade, Apple today announced that game developers now have the ability to view and edit the top 100 positions in Game Center leaderboard listings for their games, giving them the power to delete fake scores from the list.
You can now view and manage the top 100 scores and usernames for all of your Game Center leaderboards. Protect your legitimate players by signing in to iTunes Connect to delete fake scores or block players that post fake scores. You can also restore scores and players within the same time period.
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A number of high-profile games have seen fake Game Center scores clogging up the very top of their global leaderboards, and Apple's new feature should go a long way to assist developers with cleaning up their leaderboards. The feature will also give legitimate users shooting for the top of the lists more recognition for their efforts, should developers of their games choose to take an active role in monitoring for fake scores.

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Apple notes in its developer documentation that developers can view the top 100 scores for various leaderboards, delete and restore scores from the lists, block players from posting scores to a leaderboard, and restore blocked players with their most recent scores prior to being blocked.

One issue with the new feature is that scores are maintained for review for only 30 days, meaning that scores need to have been added within that window in order to be available for removal. Likewise, removed scores and blocked users can only be restored within that same window.

It is currently unclear if Apple has any plans for or is open to the possibility of offering developers a one-time sweep to help clear out fake scores that have accumulated since the launch of Game Center three years ago, but at the very least developers can clean up any new fake scores being posted to their leaderboards if they remain vigilant.

Update: Apple has now updated its developer documentation to suggest that there is no 30-day restriction on deleting scores, meaning that developers are free to clean up fake scores from any time. The 30-day limitation applies to restoring deleted scores and blocked users.

game_center_removed_scores.jpg

Article Link: Developers Can Now Delete Fake Scores from Game Center Leaderboards
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2013/10/29/developers-can-now-delete-fake-scores-from-game-center-leaderboards/
A

afawcett

macrumors regular
Feb 23, 2010
129
10
San Diego
Nice, but they need a way of preventing fake scores from getting on the leaderboards. Preventing a disaster is better than cleaning up after one.
 
WaxedJacket

WaxedJacket

macrumors 6502a
Oct 18, 2013
690
1,071
afawcett said:
Nice, but they need a way of preventing fake scores from getting on the leaderboards. Preventing a disaster is better than cleaning up after one.
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completely agree. there's gotta be a way for them to do a sum check between a jailbroken device and a legit one.
 
Z

ziggie216

macrumors 6502
Jul 14, 2008
411
245
Great.

Now how about fixing all those fake reviews on the app store and stop listing apps with low stars rating on the top charts.
 
Jessica Lares

Jessica Lares

macrumors G3
Oct 31, 2009
9,612
1,056
Near Dallas, Texas, USA
This has happened on Xbox Live too. You can't prevent cheaters as it's not done in Game Center itself, but in the games with hex editors. Jailbreakers shouldn't be omitted, that's not fair to those that are doing it for just simply customization.

By the way, you can cheat by simply opening the app on the computer on changing things.

I'm glad they're allowing developers to cleanup. Honestly though, I was #1 in a game once. It was a horrible experience. Every two minutes, I'd get some crazy person trying to get me to add them as a friend. It was so annoying that I turned off friend requests, and ended up removing the game altogether.

The achievements are nice otherwise and I love when I get a new one. :D
 
djtech42

djtech42

macrumors 65816
Jun 23, 2012
1,447
56
Mason, OH
Can this be programmed to limit scores to a certain amount? If not, it will be a pain for the developers to remove the constant fake scores all the time.
 
Parasprite

Parasprite

macrumors 68000
Mar 5, 2013
1,698
144
djtech42 said:
Can this be programmed to limit scores to a certain amount? If not, it will be a pain for the developers to remove the constant fake scores all the time.
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Would capping scores from 9999999 to 999999 really make that much of a difference?
 
O

o0smoothies0o

macrumors regular
Aug 12, 2013
193
0
djtech42 said:
Can this be programmed to limit scores to a certain amount? If not, it will be a pain for the developers to remove the constant fake scores all the time.
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I don't want a cheater limited to the best possible score and recognized as #1 and not be removed. I want the cheater to be removed and blocked from posting scores because they are a complete douche with no life at all. If you limit the scores to a certain amount then you'll just have dozens of cheaters tied at that amount.

What should happen is if a game developer created a game, and knows what the best possible score is in said game, and someone posts a score higher than that, the developer should be able to contact report the player name to Apple, and they can review and permanently ban that account from posting any scores for any games on Game Center. I know Apple permanently bans accounts suspected of app reviewal illegitimacy.
 
djtech42

djtech42

macrumors 65816
Jun 23, 2012
1,447
56
Mason, OH
o0smoothies0o said:
I don't want a cheater limited to the best possible score and recognized as #1 and not be removed. I want the cheater to be removed and blocked from posting scores because they are a complete douche with no life at all. If you limit the scores to a certain amount then you'll just have dozens of cheaters tied at that amount.

What should happen is if a game developer created a game, and knows what the best possible score is in said game, and someone posts a score higher than that, the developer should be able to contact report the player name to Apple, and they can review and permanently ban that account from posting any scores for any games on Game Center. I know Apple permanently bans accounts suspected of app reviewal illegitimacy.
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True. That's what Apple has allowed developers to do now. I'm just worried that there are too many cheaters and new ones would just pop up after the other ones are banned.
 
J

JoeyCloverfield

macrumors regular
Sep 16, 2012
243
0
djtech42 said:
Can this be programmed to limit scores to a certain amount? If not, it will be a pain for the developers to remove the constant fake scores all the time.
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Leaderboards have always had limits. Apple identifies this feature as a leaderboard's "Score Range". Developers can choose the minimum and maximum possible scores. Those outside the range are deleted.
 
D

djgamble

macrumors 6502a
Oct 25, 2006
989
500
OneBagTravel said:
completely agree. there's gotta be a way for them to do a sum check between a jailbroken device and a legit one.
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Just because you're jailbroken, doesn't mean you're cheating (or pirating). Also cheats will find ways of spoofing such methods.

I say developers need to program maths that say 'you CAN'T score that many points in ____ seconds.' This would also stop people from exploiting bugs.

Which brings up to question... what is a 'fake' score?

Stick Olympics (OpenFeint) was an example. Angles/power were used for many events. Can't remember the scores but for a throwing event the maximum power with the optimal angle would give you the best throw. The top 1000 scores were all around about say... 100 metres with 0.000001m gaps separating the best. This was cool because I was right on 100 and would rise/fall in rank every day.

SOME people had ~1000m. Were they 'fake' or was it physically possible for them to mash the power button a LOT faster than anybody else due to superior technique/speed? I don't know...

Other theories:
- They plugged in a controller and hit a rapidfire button so got the maximum possible power. Is this a fake score and how can you tell that no human is that fast without rapidfire?
- There was a bug they'd identified and exploited so the score was 'real' because they were smart enough to find a bug/superior tactic within the physics of the game.
- Did they just jailbreak and edit the high scores file?

I think it's dangerous to call somebody a cheat unless you KNOW they did it.

Maybe storing a video of your play in 'competition mode' and requiring verification for top scores would help?
 
dumastudetto

dumastudetto

macrumors 603
Aug 28, 2013
5,017
7,140
Los Angeles, USA
This is great news for the thriving Game Center ecosystem. I only wish more games would take full advantage of this innovative gaming platform to bring better experiences for gamers.
 
F

foobarbaz

macrumors 6502a
Nov 29, 2007
875
1,966
This is purely cosmetics. Once the obvious fake scores are removed, there's no way to tell real from fake. They just won't be as obviously fake… woohoo…

Apple can't even prevent app piracy. So there's no way to prevent fake scores, for sure.
 
ArtOfWarfare

ArtOfWarfare

macrumors G3
Nov 26, 2007
9,560
6,059
foobarbaz said:
This is purely cosmetics. Once the obvious fake scores are removed, there's no way to tell real from fake. They just won't be as obviously fake… woohoo…

Apple can't even prevent app piracy. So there's no way to prevent fake scores, for sure.
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When it's entertainment, who cares if it's just cosmetic? I want to be able to look at my score and see how far I am from the realistic top score. I have no intents of ever beating them, but I'd like to know how far away I was. When I feel good about my 500k and the top list is full of 50B scores, it's annoying because I know they're fake. I know I have considerable room for improvement, but it's nowhere near that much.
 
D

djgamble

macrumors 6502a
Oct 25, 2006
989
500
foobarbaz said:
This is purely cosmetics. Once the obvious fake scores are removed, there's no way to tell real from fake. They just won't be as obviously fake… woohoo…

Apple can't even prevent app piracy. So there's no way to prevent fake scores, for sure.
Click to expand...

Excellent point... while one can delete obvious fakes, what about when the line is blurred between amazing skill/cheating? Ben Johnson and Usain Bolt both beat me over 100m... Bolt's time was faster. Do you:
- Disqualify both and call me the winner because my time's so s*it that nobody cares?
- Disqualify Bolt because he's the fastest and thesefore least believable?
- Disqualify Johnson because he's Canadian and in your view Americans are faster?
- Have a reliable test for cheats such as a drug test? THEN it's not a subjective 'I reckon all the people with times better than ____ cheated'.

What can you do if your 1-off amazing score when you were totally in the zone and nailed everything perfectly gets deleted? Can you contest it, and een if you can... can they do anything about it after 30 days? This would be really annoying and remove legit scores which would s*ck big donkey!!
 
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