How to decrease cheating in the transfer market?

[eliomys]

There have been several posts about cheating and prices in the transfer market, and we all agree something must be done to stop cheaters and protect beginners in the H division.
Sometime ago someone propose a mathematical formulae to calculate player’s transfer prices, but it was too rigid, not allowing market fluctuations. I propose a statistical method:

a) Every day Transfer Prices (TP) are calculate making the average of the last 10 successful transfers for each position, age and GR (the computer can do this easily using the “Overview Transfers”);
Ex: Position: CM; Age: 24 – 26; GR: 80: TP = 5.060.000,00 (real data)

b) When I sell a player I don’t make a price, it is automatically calculate using TP;

c) The biddings are done in an interval: TP +/- 50%. Starting at TP less 50% and finishing at TP plus 50%, no one can offer more;
Ex: If I want to sell a CM with 25 yo. and GR 80, biddings start at 2.530.000,00 and ends at 7.590.000,00 (in the real data only one price exceeds this maximum )

d) This process always takes a week: if someone offers the maximum, must wait to the end of the bidding period;

e) Fast transfers are allowed: the seller indicates a price bigger than the maximum (TP + 50%), in this case after two days in the transfer market the sell is automatically done (as it is today), but this sell never enters the TP calculations (to avoid inflation);
Ex: To my CM I choose 9.500.000,00

f) Every month sheriffs could adjust TP’s if they are too high or too low.

Advantages: Stops “farm teams” and dubious agreements between managers (cheating); protects managers from H division; allow market fluctuations; SP can make graphics to see market tendencies; managers can choose a better period to sell or to buy; makes live easier to sheriffs; inflation is easily controlled; good deals are still possible if we seek for good attributes.

Disadvantages: Honest players can no longer make great deals, but there are no perfect methods and the gains are much bigger than the losses.

What you think???

[PipkiN]

This won't stop cheating, this will keep managers fom lower divisions from buying better players, because simply they won't be able to bid that TP+50% amount ..

[Paul_G]

Managers in lower divisions shouldn't be able to buy the better players anyway. Or maybe 'managers in lower divisions' is inaccurate... because amount of money a team has, has little to do with the division they're in. It's dependant solely upon how long they've been playing the game. Anyway, I'm off topic.

I like this idea. It would allow casual players to compete in the transfer market with people who log on a bunch of times a day. And most owners are gonna be casual players, so it's good to keep them happy.

What I would add is that if more than one player wants to offer TP +50%, or the buy it now price, then the winner is determined randomly at the end of the period, between the offering teams.

And someone can STILL make a profit by digging up players who are being sold at TP -50%, because they will probably be able to sell them for higher and the player values will also fluctuate a little bit like stocks. I don't have a problem with people profitting like this. It's the unfair backdoor deals I don't like, and this will end that.

[PipkiN]

Keeping H teams from buying good, young players ? Why ? Everyone should have the same opportunity to buy every player on the transfermarket..

I think that cheaters are now being hunted successfully and the transfer system doesn't need updates.

The idea seems crazy to me, for example telling a miner "no, you cannot buy this wine, because you are miner. This kind of wine can offer lawyers, businessmen and goverment & parliament members."

Stupid. Even they are from H, why disallow them from buying something better....?
Anyway, most of the cheats are done by buying/selling some player, which was given to H team at the beginning...

[Paul_G]

Keeping H teams from buying good, young players ? Why ? Everyone should have the same opportunity to buy every player on the transfermarket.

No, you're not understanding me. This suggestion isn't saying that H teams should be barred. My point was that if H teams have the financial capability to compete for players who are rated GR 85+, then there's something wrong with the system. Lower division teams should not have world class players on their roster unless they develop them themselves. This is certainly true in real life, and this is supposed to be a simulation of real-life soccer management.

I think that cheaters are now being hunted successfully and the transfer system doesn't need updates.

I am an optimist too, but I look at the system right now and see a structure that is so easy to cheat with that it's impossible for me to believe that the admins can catch them all. I am 100% that if I was so inclined, I could own 3 or 4 teams without getting caught.

It only looks like this has no impact on the game because the A managers are still mostly guys who have been with SP since the beginning, and are loyal members of the community. But over time, this will change. If we wait until cheaters begin taking over A division before changes are made, then it's too late.

I think you will admit that this is more of a problem than it was a year ago. Why? Because people see that a few cheaters are getting ahead without getting caught, and are trying to copy them to stay competitive. It's a snowball effect.

Anyway, most of the cheats are done by buying/selling some player, which was given to H team at the beginning...

I agree that many of the cheats come from that. Which is why I think even the very best players on created teams should top out at 80 GR with 100% experience.

[rood]

The system you are proposing it would be good , but is too rigid. +50%, -50% …this sounds like…a controlled market….(ex communism market may be)
One exemple…lets say you have a CM for sale, best CM ON THE MARKET BY FAR!
OK. Assuming that your CM is 92% GR, comparing to him, the next CM on the transfer list lets say it would be at 75% GR. With a top price of …how much?....25mil with the +50%, I would never accept to sell that CM for that kind of money. Even if I will be banned not once , but 100 times, I will ask for that player 50 mil. Because this is the right price for him. With so very few good CM for sale, my example (the player) would be a “brilliant” among all CMs and obviously must be very expensive.
Otherwise I don’t think that this is the main problem with all these cheats. My problem is when I see a player that is suppose to be sold at 500,000 (real value) and after 3 days he is bid at 3mils….hate this.
And why should we protect the H division managers ? I mean , we all have one brain and we use it…more or less. I mean, I am in H division, and what I did was that I took all the advices possible from my mentor and from other (old) managers. Take a look at them…after 5 days of SP, they organize open frcups 500,000e tax. This must be heaven for managers from C,B or A division.

Otherwise I did like your calculations…very accurate.


“Even they are from H, why disallow them from buying something better....?
Anyway, most of the cheats are done by buying/selling some player, which was given to H team at the beginning”
Agree with you Pipkin.

regards

[Michal Kejchal]

a) Every day Transfer Prices (TP) are calculate making the average of the last 10 successful transfers for each position, age and GR (the computer can do this easily using the “Overview Transfers”);
Ex: Position: CM; Age: 24 – 26; GR: 80: TP = 5.060.000,00 (real data)

Its not so easy as it seems. Aggression plays an important role. Price for lowagressive player is usualy doubled or tripled compared to "top aggressors". And also individual order can increase price a lot...and least but not last - what about untrained players? So it has no sense to search for an upper limit (transfers over 3M are automatically controled). Only lower limit should be done (prefer formula rather than this kind of statistic )

I think you will admit that this is more of a problem than it was a year ago. Why? Because people see that a few cheaters are getting ahead without getting caught, and are trying to copy them to stay competitive. It's a snowball effect.

Pls Paul can you name some teams? I really like to know. Im not going to copy their "system". I promise...

[Paul_G]

Pls Paul can you name some teams? I really like to know. Im not going to copy their "system". I promise...

You got me! I can't name specific teams who are cheating here on the board, so therefore there must not be any cheating in SP!

Boy, do I feel gullible now.

(Of course, I could just be seeing that there are more threads complaining about transfer abuse than there were previously.)

[eliomys]

I admit this is not the perfect system, I see it as a working base, a starting point, not a final proposal .

PipkiN, more than 90% of prices are in the interval TP +/- 50%, so teams in H division can buy the same players than before, because this system works and changes with the diary sell prices. If they can afford a CM 80% before (I don’t see how, but ok…), they can also with this system. But eliminates those 10% too high or too low (suspicious transfers) .

Rood, I also like a free market… but lets see your example: the TP for your CM 92% should be calculate with the 10 last sell prices of CMs with GR 92% and in your range of age, not with GR 75% (remember TP is for position, age and GR).
You can say there are not 10 sells of CMs with GR 92% to calculate TP, but as I say it before this is a working base, not a final proposal. The question here is: “do we want to avoid cheating and cheaters, or not?” If so, let’s start working this method, find all the flaws, eliminate them and make a better system. And the answer to your problem could be: a) the sheriffs determine the price for TPs out of the range; b) the SP can easily extrapolate prices (as simple as following a graphical curve); b) if there are no TP, the seller can ask for the price he wants, and after 10 prices SP can calculate TP.

In this system the market controls itself with every sell. It is not perfect, but what we prefer: a free market full of cheaters or a system auto regulated? Maybe we should answer this question before make any changes.

[PipkiN]

Maybe as I said cheaters are being successfully hunted now, so why inventing something so difficult for developers to make ?
Realize your idea and then realize the tremendous work which will the developers have to do..