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Pranking during missions – a legitimate strategy

Rusty Farmer (AU1)Rusty Farmer (AU1) AU1 Posts: 1,705

Occasionally, during a mission, if it seems strategic to me, I might prank obvious targets in an attempt to win such as dandy duck coops, which I assume are being quick-harvested, either seaweed feed or gold spending to get those extra eggs. It has won me a mission before, though it failed last night due to my mistiming, not realizing how close the mission was to ending. Unfortunately my target appeared to misunderstand this and thought I was only pranking him because I was losing. I tried to explain the situation but he called me a bad sportsman and a loser and has blocked my messages so I cannot argue the situation fully.

I know there are many who are quite sensitive to this kind of game play and will disagree with me and that it is frowned upon; however I have been in board games which have nasty cards played on others, and no one generally whinges about how unfair it is; they simply take it on the chin and know it is part of the game and they may get a chance to return the favor.

There are those that will argue that pranks have long been removed from the game. It is true we can no longer buy them; however, while they remain in our inventory, they are a legitimate part of game play, otherwise GGS would have taken them from our stock by now. That is my feeling on the situation.

What I did not realize was that on the particular coop I am in, it is not acceptable so I will stop for their sake on that server; however, I am on three other servers as well so… I also expect that strategically you might play similar pranks on me to which I will say “Well played!” rather than whinge like a five year old. Who is really being a bad sportsman here?

BTW, I don’t prank people randomly, that would be the waste of a prank which is a limited and dwindling resource, and I have only used this strategy about three times  in the last couple of years, so it is very seldom. I will still consider this option however while I have it, and it is usually only as a last resource.




Edited to turn down the volume || Rowdy
Post edited by Rusty Farmer (AU1) on
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Comments

  • Uncle John (GB1)Uncle John (GB1) GB1 Posts: 11,004
    I agree, a perfectly legitimate strategy.
    The last time somebody pranked one of our co-op we pranked them back, every single one of us !!
    As with all strategies there are risks.
  • Rusty Farmer (AU1)Rusty Farmer (AU1) AU1 Posts: 1,705
    edited 21.03.2020
    Last night the result was abuse by someone who was clearly quite immature. He still bet me in the mission so his reaction was over-the-top.

    The time I used it where it worked was someone who clearly has to win every mission, and is always high, if not at the top, of the rankings. It is clear he does this by spending heaps and heaps of real money on gold; no one has that much seaweed stuff. Besides matching his spending, this is just about the only other way I know to stop him in his tracks. I think they have a bad reaction because their constant spending gives them some sense of entitlement. They get used to always winning and it shocks them.

    I noticed something peculiar though. I also tried pranking the player who actually won (I came third). Twice I put a prank on his dandy/deluxe duck coop and twice it almost immediately disappeared. I know pranks can't be sped up with gold so how was it removed? It's possible it never stuck because it was sparkled but I never noticed that and I'm pretty certain the pranks disappeared from my inventory.
  • Mac56 (GB1)Mac56 (GB1) GB1 Posts: 353
    Last night the result was abuse by someone who was clearly quite immature. He still bet me in the mission so his reaction was over-the-top.

    The time I used it where it worked was someone who clearly has to win every mission, and is always high, if not at the top, of the rankings. It is clear he does this by spending heaps and heaps of real money on gold; no one has that much seaweed stuff. Besides matching his spending, this is just about the only other way I know to stop him in his tracks. I think they have a bad reaction because their constant spending gives them some sense of entitlement. They get used to always winning and it shocks them.

    I noticed something peculiar though. I also tried pranking the player who actually won (I came third). Twice I put a prank on his dandy/deluxe duck coop and twice it almost immediately disappeared. I know pranks can't be sped up with gold so how was it removed? It's possible it never stuck because it was sparkled but I never noticed that and I'm pretty certain the pranks disappeared from my inventory.
    Pranks can be removed quite quickly but not sure if it is gold or dollars.  I personally do not agree with pranking anyone just to win a mission.  In our coop we do not prank anyone think it is unsportsmanlike.  If you cannot win by normal means to me pranking is cheating.
  • Rusty Farmer (AU1)Rusty Farmer (AU1) AU1 Posts: 1,705
    Cheating implies you are breaking the rules in some way so no, it isn't technically cheating.
  • Mac56 (GB1)Mac56 (GB1) GB1 Posts: 353
    Not going to argue the point but one definition of it says "refer to the use of fraud or artifice deliberately to hoodwink or obtain an unfair advantage over someone"
  • Rusty Farmer (AU1)Rusty Farmer (AU1) AU1 Posts: 1,705
    Nothing unfair about it. We were all given access to the pranks.
  • artful (US1)artful (US1) US1 Posts: 6,617
    Nothing unfair about it. We were all given access to the pranks.
    Just so, it's very unsportsmanlike, and frankly, juvenile.  If you're in a bicycle race, I suppose everyone would think it all right to throw bent nails in front of their competitors. The game has disintegrated into a lot of hardship and difficulty as it is, why add to it?  Just because we all have access doesn't make it eithical to use them.
  • 24-KL0V3R (US1)24-KL0V3R (US1) US1 Posts: 2,464
    I remember one time (when I was in a different coop) we had an in-house "pranking party". Most of us has an over abundance of pranks and we really did not want them. So in a designated time slot (so we'd not be involved in coop events) where we'd prank (by permisison) one another.  It was fun and we all had a big laugh and we all got extra karmas.   o:):D
  • artful (US1)artful (US1) US1 Posts: 6,617
    I remember one time (when I was in a different coop) we had an in-house "pranking party". Most of us has an over abundance of pranks and we really did not want them. So in a designated time slot (so we'd not be involved in coop events) where we'd prank (by permisison) one another.  It was fun and we all had a big laugh and we all got extra karmas.   o:):D
    Back in the day, that worked for some coops. Now, with events running non stop, no one can afford the downtime on even one field or stable.
  • ijrosh (US1)ijrosh (US1) US1 Posts: 1,325
    Nothing unfair about it. We were all given access to the pranks.
    Just so, it's very unsportsmanlike, and frankly, juvenile.  If you're in a bicycle race, I suppose everyone would think it all right to throw bent nails in front of their competitors. The game has disintegrated into a lot of hardship and difficulty as it is, why add to it?  Just because we all have access doesn't make it eithical to use them.
    Actually yes if that was the rules of the game. Sorry but this made me think of Mario cart.guessing you all get made when someone throws a banana peel at you so they can win. It is not in ethical or unsportsmanlike or juvenile to play a game the way it was designed. It is frankly juvenile to throw a fit and call a player a cheater for playing the game the way it is designed. 
  • Uncle John (GB1)Uncle John (GB1) GB1 Posts: 11,004
    Cheating implies you are breaking the rules in some way so no, it isn't technically cheating.
    Like bowling bouncers in cricket
  • gizmo22 (AU1)gizmo22 (AU1) AU1 Posts: 1,720
    Nothing unfair about it. We were all given access to the pranks.
    Just so, it's very unsportsmanlike, and frankly, juvenile.  If you're in a bicycle race, I suppose everyone would think it all right to throw bent nails in front of their competitors. The game has disintegrated into a lot of hardship and difficulty as it is, why add to it?  Just because we all have access doesn't make it eithical to use them.


    Well said, I don't really have much to add because that sums up my thoughts. If you can't beat someone fair and square maybe you need to rethink the design of your farm rather than resorting to sad cheat tactics like this.
  • ijrosh (US1)ijrosh (US1) US1 Posts: 1,325
    edited 22.03.2020
    Right cause me have ing a level 7 wildflower book and useing a whole bunch od seaweed and special seeds is fair and square lol. There is no such thing in this game as fair.just the way it was designed to play.
  • Rusty Farmer (AU1)Rusty Farmer (AU1) AU1 Posts: 1,705
    edited 22.03.2020
    Nothing unfair about it. We were all given access to the pranks.
    Just so, it's very unsportsmanlike, and frankly, juvenile.  If you're in a bicycle race, I suppose everyone would think it all right to throw bent nails in front of their competitors. The game has disintegrated into a lot of hardship and difficulty as it is, why add to it?  Just because we all have access doesn't make it eithical to use them.
    It is against the rules to throw obstacles in front of your competitors in a cycle race and they are not provided with any.

    It is not against the rules to use pranks in this game. The game makers provided them. Did they then say "now, whatever you do, don't use them."? Why give them in the first place?

    It is clear, looking at this last guy's farm I pranked, and how high up he is in the ranks, that he could only get there by using huge amounts of gold which undermines his whole argument of winning by having a better farm. You can win an egg mission with one duck coop if you have enough seaweed feed and money. I don't have a problem with seaweed for missions BTW, or a little gold here and there, but harvesting a duck coop with gold is expensive. not that he necessarily did that either. He's got a very nice farm actually and probably just used seaweed in this case.
  • sue1 (AU1)sue1 (AU1) AU1 Posts: 193
    I do like the idea of the whole coop pranking back.....Don't get mad - get even.
  • gizmo22 (AU1)gizmo22 (AU1) AU1 Posts: 1,720
    Right cause me have ing a level 7 wildflower book and useing a whole bunch od seaweed and special seeds is fair and square lol. There is no such thing in this game as fair.just the way it was designed to play.


    There's a big difference between using what you have earned (level 7 library books/seaweed) to win a mission and deliberately trying to cripple another players progress using pranks. The latter is a childish vindictive little tactic used by "a loser" and I don't apologize for having that opinion. Just because its in the game it doesn't make it right.....no different to players having up to 10 multiple farms and doing things like 0 posting to affect scores of others.
  • ninjahuman (AU1)ninjahuman (AU1) AU1 Posts: 2,526
    This is a very interesting discussion. My view on it is like Rusty Farmer's, which is that since it is available as a resource to be used, it is acceptable to use it as an advantage if they wish to use it.

    I will mention a few other things that somewhat relate to this that are also reasonably relevant.

    Winning the mission does not always maximise the amount of reputation points you receive. Often it's better to just harvest a smaller amount and to shelve for another mission compared to using gold/seaweed/occasionally pranks to win the current mission and stay in it for 30 minutes to get 1st place.

    The game does not appear to support that everything that we have access to without breaking the rules is acceptable. For example, one obvious situation with this is the level 100 laboratory where tokens and gold can be produced for less than the amount of gold they use in production costs and ingredients. But I know one player that has been permanently banned for producing a very large amount of gold and tokens (you can probably work out whom it is) so this will also bring confusion to the situation. Other things are earning over 1 billion XP in a day which triggers an auto-ban and collecting hundreds of millions of reputation points from the cooperative championship WOF. (I do not know if all of these issues mentioned still exist but I know some players have been banned in relation to those before.)

    Also many things are usually allowed that break the rules, such as sharing accounts and owning multiple accounts. I'm not complaining about this but it does appear to be strange that some things are punished that are not in the rules but other things that are in the rules are not punished.

    One other thing is that it's quite disappointing about the other player sending abusive messages and immediately ignoring the recipient. I have experienced these kinds of issues before with false accusations being made and being unable to defend them or explain that they are false. There is clearly an ability for players to abuse the ignore system to insult the other player/give false accusations and for that player to not be able to explain that the accusations are not true. In my opinion, these are the players that really bring the game down since they often upset the emotions of other players and give other players false information about the player.

    Lastly, unfortunately since the use of pranks often negatively affect a player's harvest amounts and many are not able to sanely discuss the issue, it will frequently provoke a negative reaction. This may also play a part in the use of them. Personally I do not use them but I understand and respect the decisions of other players to use them.


  • I don't personally use pranks because like ninjahuman said, I'm just trying to earn points quickly rather than take 1st place.  However, I wouldn't get upset if someone used a prank on me.  I understand others taking the stand of it being unsportsmanlike, but I would not consider it unethical or cheating.  This is a game and a prank is a tool that the game provided.  In fact, it's a tool that they still provide as I've won more than one during the St. Patrick's event and a couple of others in another event.  It's a way for a player to gain an advantage which doesn't seem any different to me than someone spinning the wheel a gazillion times or using gold to instantly harvest fields and rack up points.  I think maybe having your field pranked by someone feels more personal which is the reason for the negative feelings about it.
  • rie22 (US1)rie22 (US1) US1 Posts: 361
    well Rusty, just don't get upset when an entire coop starts pranking you non stop, endlessly to the point that you can not farm.  People do not respect this game play. You know that or you wouldn't be on the forum seeking approval to what your doing.  I actually like pranks but not during CC. its just rude and you know it.  So don't seek approval. Its out right rude behavior.  shame on you! 
  • Rusty Farmer (AU1)Rusty Farmer (AU1) AU1 Posts: 1,705
    edited 24.03.2020
    Let them, I only play the game semi-regularly now and there is a limited supply of pranks so let them use them up and I'll be the only one with any left. It doesn't worry me if I'm pranked during a mission or any other time. I'm getting over this game actually after playing it for over 7 years on 4 servers.

    Is it also "low" to save up seaweed for extra harvests in missions? People complain about that too and think it should be banned. And the gold-spending debate during missions has gone on for a long time. The only way to stop big gold spenders during missions is to prank them. Who do they thing they are with there sense of entitlement to win every mission because they spend more money than anyone else? You can't beat such people any other way short of spending a great deal of money yourself which is not an option for many.

    I don't need justification from anyone or anyone's approval. I wanted to air about the immature reactions of some who thought they could pay their way to the top and got outsmarted.
    Post edited by Rusty Farmer (AU1) on
  • Data King (US1)Data King (US1) US1 Posts: 7,994
    I am for nor against pranks as they are a part of the game. Yes there are times when they are not welcome but over all it's just another karma point for me.
     So we have a prank day - usually April 1st lol gee wonder why?? Where we let our member's know if they wish to get rid of their pranks this is the time to do so. I personally request they only prank 1 of my farms at a time & if they could keep to my Flower farm as an example.
  • rie22 (US1)rie22 (US1) US1 Posts: 361
    Let them, I only play the game semi-regularly now and there is a limited supply of pranks so let them use them up and I'll be the only one with any left. It doesn't worry me if I'm pranked during a mission or any other time. I'm getting over this game actually after playing it for over 7 years on 4 servers.

    Is it also "low" to save up seaweed for extra harvests in missions? People complain about that too and think it should be banned. And the gold-spending debate during missions has gone on for a long time. The only way to stop big gold spenders during missions is to prank them. Who do they thing they are with there sense of entitlement to win every mission because they spend more money than anyone else? You can't beat such people any other way short of spending a great deal of money yourself which is not an option for many.

    I don't need justification from anyone or anyone's approval. I wanted to air about the immature reactions of some who thought they could pay their way to the top and got outsmarted.
    So use them up pranking people during CC. I hope people do the same to you. don't think your the only one with a huge cache.  I too have plenty.  And so do many other people. What goes around comes around. so you cannot figure a strategy to win and this is your way. cannot wait for people to bombard you.  wish I were there to see it. 
  • Rusty Farmer (AU1)Rusty Farmer (AU1) AU1 Posts: 1,705
    Should be fun! Did you read the part about where I said I've only done it about two or three times in the last couple of years? It is not my top strategy, it is a final resort.
  • rie22 (US1)rie22 (US1) US1 Posts: 361
    Should be fun! Did you read the part about where I said I've only done it about two or three times in the last couple of years? It is not my top strategy, it is a final resort.
    If you did it to be fun, then you wouldn't do it during CC. case closed...

    I actually am an advocate of pranks. I love them. But there is no reason to do it during CC...NOT FUN . You cleary stated in one post it was to win a mission against someone who always wins missions and now its to have fun.  Instead of finding a way to win missions. There are many ways to win missions, some of them that do not require gold.  You can now buy purple feed from currancy through the temp farm.  Instead you chose to be vindictive and not fun. If you came to my farm and pranked one of my items that had nothing to do with CC or not during CC i would have had a great chuckle. This is not the case. AND you didn't come to the forum to proclaim you had some valid claim to why you should continue your behavior bar your "apology" (and yes you should apologize lest it happen to you and it should).  Don't seek approval here, you won't get it with me that is for sure. Unless your going to use those pranks for actual fun and not vindictive, unsportsmanship behavior.  good luck trying to garner your symphathy. 
  • Dark Underworld (AU1)Dark Underworld (AU1) AU1 Posts: 2,992
    edited 25.03.2020
    I see no problem at all with pranking during or out of CC.  If you want to prank there is no reason not to.  Except someone will probably cry over it.  They are your pranks use them when you want to and how you want to.  GGS provides ways for us to get them so we can use how and when we want.  I myself don't use them, does not mean it is wrong to do so.

    It is definitely not unsportsmanlike.  A true sports person will do anything inside the rules they can to win.  Using pranks is inside the rules, like it or not. 
  • monks (US1)monks (US1) US1 Posts: 594
    What is the big deal? We were given the pranks by GGS, which means they are perfectly fine to use- whenever we want. It's just a prank. They go away. You haven't permanetly damaged anything. Nobody should hate you for using them- and you shouldn't hate them. 
  • Rusty Farmer (AU1)Rusty Farmer (AU1) AU1 Posts: 1,705
    Thanks. I can't stand to guilt trip manipulation that is going on over this; they make you feel like you've killed someone.
  • rie22 (US1)rie22 (US1) US1 Posts: 361
    Thanks. I can't stand to guilt trip manipulation that is going on over this; they make you feel like you've killed someone.
    your the one who posted it to get approval...had you said you sent pranks not to harm people that is one thing. you are doing it to hurt people and gain something. That makes you not such a nice person.  Next time think of a way to win a mission without pranking people. you obviously didn't do it out of the kindness of your heart. And as the cliche goes its better to be kind than right. just because the game allows you do to something, should you do it?  there are countries that allow people to toss those of certain beliefs off buildings, is it right? (though an extreme analogy this type of behavor is ludicous). But still you get the idea. prank for fun but don't do it during CC and people wont think your a meanie. 
  • monks (US1)monks (US1) US1 Posts: 594
    edited 27.03.2020
     :) 
    Post edited by monks (US1) on
  • DebRN (US1)DebRN (US1) US1 Posts: 697
    The real question:  WHY are you all so obsessed w/ winning a silly online game?  Sounds a little obsessive to me.  I'll bet this isn't the only place in your life where you just can't stand to see someone ahead of you.

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