Best Players Assumed to be Cheaters
In an age of mediocrity, mischief, and mistrust, our tendency, rightly or wrongly, is to assume that anyone breaking away from the pack (whether busting the bell curve, making too much money, or scoring incredibly high in WWF) must surely be cheating.
Cheater? No, Champion.
After getting my third post on this site from someone condemning or accusing players who posted impressive boards, I decided to see what a regulated Scrabble tournament board looks like. Here is the winning board from the UK Scrabble Championship in 2009.
Now, to the skeptics out there, I issue you this challenge of intellectual honesty: If you were to see these words in a Words With Friends game, would you forthrightly accuse your opponent of cheating?
Analysis of exotic words provided by The Daily Mall here. Keep in mind that Scrabble championships are carried out with strict rules and oversight.
I cannot prove whether or not a WWF player is using outside help. But it falls well within the realm of possibility that in a community of now 3,000+ registered competitors (although, not all playing this month), we are bound to attract a number of players capable of producing a good batch of alien words in a single game. Moreover, the WWF guess and play option means it’s even easier to find these words.
Better, I think, to leave unstated any suspicion in the absence of incontrovertible evidence of cheating.
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What if a person who can’t play well unless he/she cheats wants to play against an opponent who also “cheats.” I learn new words and believe there is still a certain amount of strategizing to get your maximum points. I think there should be another game that allows you to look stuff up, that those people should be able to find and play one another without being criminalized.
Actually, if you use the board to your advantage and minimize the opportunity for long words, you can beat cheaters. Lock them up and they will never win. I enjoy playing cheaters, better challenge
The problem as I see it is with opponents who suddenly go from posting what I would call ‘average’ words over a series of games, to suddenly putting down more obscure words just about every turn on the next game. There are of course, numerous ‘cheat’ apps for all sorts of digitised word games – all of which encourage cheating further by offering the dictionary definition of every word you play, thereby offering an instant answer to any sceptics who might doubt whether you really know the words.
I take the point that with regular play, some of the more intelligent players can pick up words they never knew existed in one game and then employ them in future games where the opportunity arises.
They key clue to working out the cheats is, as has already been mentioned, board strategy. It’s not just the sudden increase in vocabulary that marks cheats out, it’s how even the smaller, more common words suddenly garner maximum points where this wasn’t happening before. One opponent (who I knew before we’d ever played) even admitted using a cheat program because she got fed up with the idea of losing to the likes of me, implying that she had a pre-conceived notion of superiority over me and that I must have been cheating to beat her as regularly as I did, therefore it was OK for her to do likewise.. Sad, but true…
I regularly win against my wife at Words With Friends, but regularly lose to her at Lexulous. Her board strategy at the latter is clearly superior to mine. I know she doesn’t cheat and I don’t mind losing to her and she doesn’t mind losing to me.
I am convinced that I have been cheated against by certain opponents. In the end, it’s their loss and shows the perpetrators to be utterly inferior.
good points, although keep in mind that even with a sudden increase in skill (seemingly) you have to be cautious with presuming an opponent to be cheating. when starting a game with subpar racks, i will often play words that return small point totals, my thinking being that it is better to receive some points than none (in lieu of swapping), meanwhile presenting little in the way of scoring opportunities to my opponent. playing a 20pt word doesn’t do me much good if in doing so i set the opposition up for a 50+pt bonanza. i would rather tread water until i can get a stronger rack.
personally i have mixed feelings about this topic, as i do feel there are quite a few players who i am convinced are cheating, yet at the same time i have been wrongfully accused on more than one occasion, which really grinds my gears even if it shouldn’t. i’ve been an avid player for several years now, and have picked up some esoteric/obscure words just through gameplay (really, how many short Z / J / Q words – or Q without U – does one know before becoming an experienced Words player as opposed to after?
), but to many the use of these terms is an indication of cheating. oh well, what can you do?
Perhaps we create a new game out of WWF, and immediately after playing a word, we must properly use that word in a sentence using the comment feature. That might be fun!
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on words with friends.
Regards
I am an above average player. I have picked up many new words along the way and I fully understand how some novice players think that someone with an extensive vocabulary may be cheating. You usually pick out the real cheaters though like the ones that use 5 consanants to form a word and then on the very next turn uses all the letters to form a word that is not even in we sterns dictionary. Cme on folks you know who you are. What funny is I wind beating these idiots most of the time because this game is so much more than vocabulary. There is also applied strategy.
Perhaps I am showing my ignorance but, in the lower left of the pictured game, I see the two-letter word “OU.” I don’t understand.
Oops.. I see now. The British two-letter word list is slightly different from the American list.
I’m so glad I read this! I was just accused of cheating yesterday and was shocked. It’s hard to find good competition and this other player was really good. I guess he wasn’t used to losing.
I’ve played Scrabble and other word games for years and this really helps. Also shuffle a lot! I don’t see how the game would be fun if you cheat.
Returning with more experience and further thoughts: the game’s creators engineered it so that a player can plug in letters until they stumble upon an acceptable word–one need not even visit a ‘cheating’ site to cheat. This open format encourages laxness of inegrity, and so levels the field that knowledge and strategy matter little, if at all. This springs from the same technological environment that makes plagiarism increasingly acceptable….but then, a recent news item revealed that many people play in order to hook up, so this isn’t a game of substance so much as a free harmony.com. Creepy.
I ask random opponents at the onset of the match if they’d like to use outside resources such as wordfinder. I enjoy finding esoteric or archaic words and checking the definition between moves to build my vocabulary or simply be entertained. Also, it can be challenging to use these cheat sites to your best strategic advantage. However, if the random opponent is opposed to such tactics, then I will play sans cheats.
I was recently accused of cheating as well and it is shocking. Scored a bingo in one game, got great tiles and won the game. The next game I scored another bingo – spatial – and that prompted the accusation. He was a great player, but apparently a sore loser. Thanks for posting. It made me feel better.
I’ve been accused of cheating a few times,but only by random opponents. At any time I have 5 games going and I’ve been playing for over a year! It’s not a game about coming up with words,it’s about strategy.When you play so much then you remember certain words,like “X” and “Z” words,even really weird ones. I also sometimes find places I want to play,and just try word combinations that will get me the most points,and then hope they are real words! I’ve learned lots of weird words that way… Of course it helps that I’m a journalism student,I’m always writing super long papers,and have a close relationship with my thesaurus!:)
I am a great scrabble player. I can spot a WWF cheater. it is not so much the words they use as how fast they use them and if they pass up (as they often do) simpler words that get the same points and use the same letters. Or if they just use these really long words that don’t help them strategically (by wasting ‘s’s or other useful letter combinations that a truly good player would hold onto for a turn or two more. The main thing though, is when you go, and right away the build on a word in a complex way and do so quickly. It is fine if they do that, but in 25 seconds you don’t do that. For one, even if you saw it you would take time to look at other possibilities. only software or website tools do that quickly.
Can’t agree with the 25 seconds statement. I work out words while waiting on my opponent. I’m often ready with a high scoring word or two before my opponent plays his/her next turn.
I agree, I often have words ready to go, I find trying to play quickly can force the opponent into a mistake. I can tell when they use lexical word finder or the like when they come up with a word you’ve never heard of, after 10 words of playing grade 5 words.
Also, when they use a spare with a word you’ve never heard of, comes pretty clear they are using an assistant. I played a bloke who I found on a forum who rubbished people using a word assist, however he himself displayed all the ‘signs’ of using a word finder assistant program. Where is the fun in that I ask you?
I have words ready to go all the time…my own sister and her husband stopped playing me because they think I’m cheating. She has never won a game simply because she always gives me opportunities to score great words and I think her husband is a sore loser. I don’t like playing cheaters and think it is unnecessary. When people speculate as to whether or not someone is cheating they need to consider the fact that people play words all the time that don’t make sense at the time…for example…playing a longer word but giving the opponent a chance to score a triple word as a result…or playing a low score word and just after submitting the word seeing another opportunity that would have at least doubled the points.
Would be nice to have a Scrabble-like game that only allows like the top 10,000 used words in the English language. I get tired of seeing words that I’ve never used nor know their meaning.
Actually the word was “UIACRPC”
I am getting crushed by a player. who just played this supposed word
“AICPPRC” for about 148 points.
I am sure my opponents think i cheat, but i was a very sick child (heart problems) and grew up playing scrabble 5 days a week from the time i could spell.
I also have a photographic memory and remember words others have played. Just because someone is good doesn’t mean they cheat.
Funny thing is, i am really ditzy so people are shocked when i play WWF or scrabble and kick their butts LOL
While you may not like the use of such tools by people who play this game, it is not forbidden in the official rules, which can be viewed here:
http://www.wordswithfriends.com/rules.html
I see a lot of people complaining about people who use tools; however, this game is not Scrabble and has different rules. I play people who use tools regularly and I still beat them. The tools don’t equal winning. That being said, if a person doesn’t want his opponent using such tools, then it is up to that person to message the opponent to lay down new ground rules (which obviously must be agreed upon by both players). I see a lot of people complaining about these kinds of things. But the fact of the matter is, this game is not Scrabble. WWF is more like a take-home test in which notes are allowed, while Scrabble is more like an in-class test in which notes are not allowed–unless otherwise specified.
I am one who plays using the Anagram sites. I can tell you that when I first started using them, I lost more often. I plainly state to my opponents that I use the site wordswithfriendscheat.com and invite them to do the same. Yes, it has the word “cheat” in it but in the online game world, “cheat” is more like “tips and tricks”
I consider it more of a tool. Have you ever played a computer in card games, or backgammon? It’s easy to beat them. Same for this. You still have to know your opponent and weigh what options have been left open for your opponent once you play, etc.
Also, experimenting by placing tiles and seeing if the game will accept the word or not is a hit and miss approach to the same tool. Again, rules for Scrabble do not apply. I think of it as the internet evolution of Scrabble.
I could not agree with you more. And all these people complaining that others are “cheating” because they are not playing the game the way they believe it should be played are simply out of line. The rules for this game are very loose. It you want to be more specific about them, then you are the one who should address the issue with your opponents. WWF is NOT Scrabble. If you want to play by Scrabble rules AND expect everyone else to do the same, then either play Scrabble or have a conversation with those who you play WWF with. Personally, I don’t care what tools you use–I’ll beat you anyway.
Play me JerkLurker I need some challenging players. I don’t use cheats.
i don’t cheat either….i just challenged you
I think your analogy is a little misguided. You’re comparing the absolute cream of the crop, to what you might find on the internet. Just because it’s theoretically possible, doesn’t mean it’s common. If I told you I could run the 100m dash in 9.80 seconds, would you believe me? Seems pretty unlikely, but by your argument you can’t discount it because a couple of people somewhere have done just that. I usually give people I suspect of cheating the benefit of the doubt for the first few questionable words, but after 5 or 6 such words there’s usually no doubt left in my mind. My favourite tactic is to then engage them in chat and see how their spelling and grammar there matches up with their vocabulary. If you play “ocreates” for 78 pints, but then can’t spell “you’re” or “their” properly, I think it’s pretty clear an app is doing the thinking for you!
The use of anagram sites makes no sense to me–like using steroids for sports, and here there’s not even money or fame in the balance. The pleasure is in finding letter combinations on one’s own, then discerning best word placements while projecting the likelihood of your opponent’s next moves. Why bother playing if you’re not doing your own thinking?
one person I play with (against) casually mentioned he is able to see my tiles. I cannot see the tiles of my opponents. He can use my letters to sabotage my plays. I said I thought that was cheating. He said he got this ability after he had been playing a certain number of games against a variety of contacts. He has an iphone; I have a kindle. Does anyone have an opinion/insight about his being able to see my tiles?
He says that to mess with you. Playing dominoes is the same game. If you know how many tiles there are, how many letters are on the board, you can count what is left and subract your hand. Not only do you know what is in the pile, you know what is on your opponents board. It is rather rainman, however, the finite number of tiles means all I have to do is count. With that in mind, I suspect he is able to do this toward the end of the game with 14 – 21 tiles left to play. Don’t let him in your head, then ditch the tiles in a stylish fashion like playing chess!
So I am playing with someone who is constantly hundreds of points ahead of me, and plays really weird words. I didn’t even think of the idea that they might be cheating until yesterday. I got really frustrated because I had a mere 50 some points, and this person already had over 300. Dont get me wrong, I’m not a sore loser, but usually I am a pretty good player, and able to keep up with my opponent. Obviously sometimes someone has a good streak and is able to take a good lead that I may not e able to catch up to. But c’mon 50-300?? So this players last turn they somehow played two words at once, non connected in any way. One of the words was on one corer of the board, and the other word was on the opposite corner. So I thought this was pretty darn suspicious. So I looked up all the words they’d played and it turns out a few of them were totally bogus. How does this happen? Then once I asked them how this happened, suddenly the second word they’d played disappeared off of the board. what kind of cheat is this?
The two unconnected words has happened to me too. I am not a sore loser either but you can’t win if your opponent is allowed to play two unconnected words and you aren’t…
I like to think of my “opponent” as a teammate I’m working together with in most games, trying to score the highest possible combined score. I tend to score above every one on my list at end game, since I have a lot of former experience playing scrabble and other games of the like, So, when I mention it to them in that sense they seem to stick around a lot longer for future matches.
WWF tallies all points combined and even has achievements for that when certain scores are reached, I believe. As for cheating, it really does need a definition. WWF has no set rules other than ones built in (such as spelling error omissions, accepted list of proper words, first word placed crossing the middle star, etc.) or whatever rules the involved players decide upon, if any.