Hey there Clammers!
Back with an Update on the Original Leaderboard Help Post.
First off, as I keep having to do this… I want to really point out this is NOT a post to yell, scream, vent, argue, name call or bash, etc. This is a post here to HELP the Community. What this site is intended for. Nothing more. I ask that you ONLY comment and participate if you want to help or have a basic question on “how to” for the information below.
If your thoughts are on hate, swearing, bashing, anger, etc… then you need to go HERE instead. That kind of activity will not be allowed in this post or this ADDICTS site.
Now with all of that out of the way, let’s dive into the post itself.
If you want to see the Original Leaderboard Help Post, Go HERE.
If you are inquiring about the Star Trek: Second Contact Event, you are on the WRONG PAGE and need to go to that Event details instead. That is HERE.
Fellow Player and Reader on this site, Russian Tigger has been keeping in contact with me as she went through the steps I had relayed for all of you to try that were banned unfairly and did not get your Leaderboard Prizes. I also have still been communicating with TinyCo on the matter and my stats and information I could supply.
Here is Russian Tigger’s email with the latest update on what she went through.
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Roll up, Roll up…… Christmas Leaderboard News
Well a few weeks ago Bunny allowed me to post my ramblings about the Christmas Leaderboard issue I was having. To cut a long story short, some of us had our Leaderboard prizes withheld as TinyCo thought we couldn’t achieve the medals we did freemium. I therefore put together a run down of my game play to show how I did it and sent it to TinyCo. I promised fellow addicts who were having the same issue I would update them once I got a reply, so here I am to take up some more of your valuable time.
Firstly I’m glad to report the news is good, although it’s took a bit of time the facts and figures I submitted to them saw my game get a clean bill of health and no longer flagged as suspicious. On top of this TinyCo apologized and said they will endeavor to make positive changes to the algorithms that caused the problem in the first place. They also placed my leaderboard prizes into my account, so I didn’t do all that work in the event for nothing.
Now how does this help others trapped in the same boat, well I asked TinyCo to help you also and they have assured me they will look at any other affected games. Now usually they would ask any contact be through the in-game support but for this matter only they have agreed that players should send an email to Help@tinyco.com with LEADERBOARD PRIZES as the subject, they have assured me they will be watching out for these emails. Please remember to put a note of your PlayerId, I usually just attach a screenshot of it. But please remember not to put anything else apart from LEADERBOARD PRIZES as the subject heading as that’s what will get these emails directed to the right people.
So there you have it a big step in the right direction for me, and hopefully for you my fellow addicts. Please don’t forget to let us know how you get on the in the comments, I look forward to hearing about more games getting a clean bill of health. And as ever thanks to Bunny & Alissa for helping us have a voice on their site.
Thanks Russian Tigger for again for staying in touch and updating others with your progress information. As I stated, communication is key. If it is that important to you, reach out using the information provided above as well as on the Original Leaderboard Help Post.
Email them at their address help@tinyco.com, just ensure you attach your Player ID (Menu, Account, Long number lower right of screen) along with any details. Also again, ensure the Subject is tagged LEADERBOARD PRIZES.
RESPONSE TIME?
Once you have your information and have sent it, keep in mind that it WILL take time for them to evaluate and respond. They are only in house and only a handful of people handling those messages, so be patient.
- If NO response in 5-7 days, just send a follow up message… then… BE PATIENT. This will take time as they go through each individual one. It could be a bit. If after a few weeks, nothing again… then respond again.
- Watch for ANY reply, including an autoreply…even if it seems it may not apply, and respond to it if your issue is still needing attention. This will keep you in queue.
Screenshots as well can help. Don’t flood them, just select some you feel may help if you have them.
There you have it. A basic idea of information you can send to TinyCo to help you with getting the Prizes you feel you fairly won. Numbers and Stats always help show proof, so if getting those Prizes is worth it to you… take action to get them. In the meantime, this can also help out ALL Players in the future so TinyCo can fine tune their “cheater net” so innocent Players are not impacted. In short, this will help better the game.
Have something to add to help that I missed? Suggestion of information for others? Need help with some information you are unsure of? Let us know.
~Bunny
Family Guy Addicts 
Bunny, I have taken a break from the game after being banned from the Star Trek leaderboard due to the Christmas leaderboard situation (which has really hurt me because of how much I enjoy playing) but decided today to check and see if any more information was available regarding either. I see you say there is a day “dedicated” by TinyCo to working through the emails sent in looking to get our games restored to the non-banned ledger. Do you know what day that will be? I haven’t sent anything more in because I didn’t want to jam up the works, but I haven’t heard any response to any of my previous emails (assuming they even got them and didn’t just tag me a cheater and dispose of them). It just doesn’t make sense continuing to play the game if I am going to be randomly banned from aspects of events for alleged transgressions that have never been accurately proven. I don’t know what more to do; it is their word gotten through erroneous means against mine and they have all the cards. My only avenue is to not play the game, but as far as I can see that is only hurting me. At this point I don’t even care about the prizes from the event that I feel I got honestly; I just want my game restored to the non-cheater pile so I can play without fear of having any hard work eliminated just because.
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I will ask if any updates on that and pass it on. Hang in there.
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I have to be honest, if it weren’t for you I would never have continued this game and right now you are the only thing keeping me checking in at all. You don’t need to answer, but I sure hope TinyCo thanks you for everything you do. You are their best spokesperson. I just want to know when it is finally all over and they aren’t going to do anything more. That’s probably when I will pitch it all in and bid adieu. No reason to keep playing a game where it can be yanked out from under me just for playing hard.
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I noticed my name disappear from the trek leaderboards after the event ended so I messaged tiny I asking about it. Just got a reply saying the system flagged me for cheating. I’m not sure where they got that idea. I had most characters from the last Star Trek event and sent all on 2 hour tasks, and when Bertram came up I was able to keep clearing him at max level since I had all those characters. With all that currency I made over 1000 pod plants in the replicator to jump my Latium count by a ton on the last two days of the event. Was that considered a cheat?
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I would write back to them and tell them that is how you did it. Send them A screenshot of your Pod Plant count too if you have one. Those that the “net” caught due to high and instant jumps they were going through to make sure they resolved it for the Players. The “net” that catches cheaters watches for rapid and instant jumps in scores along with other factors.
So write back in and ask them to review your account again. 🙂
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Anyone still watching this post? Have been wondering if anyone else has had any resolution on this yet? Hope so.
As I posted before, I did finally get the prizes from the North Pole Event, but the account flag was never removed. The Star Trek leaderboard just showed me as banned the whole time it was active.
I wrote back about still being banned after getting the north pole prizes and was told my account was in good standing and that I’d be back on the board at next refresh. By the next day I was still banned so I wrote back in-game but no reply. I waited a week and sent another message in-game and no reply. It seems I read here somewhere that TinyCo had a hard time getting the flag removed from Russian Tigger’s account as well, but I don’t know if this is something they’re still working on for all of us or what.
Bunny, do you know if they are still watching for emails with the LEADERBOARD PRIZES title? Once Star Trek finished I can see the full leaderboard and as it sits at the moment I had enough bars to finish just outside the top 100.
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As far as my last email… yes. It gets so hectic and flooded now with other messages they are now trying to dedicate ONE day to only focus on them. Will update if I get more details. In meantime… I am “reminding” them at least once a week. 😉
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Hi, yes they were having an issue whereby they would remove flag and next time algorithm ran it was back, so quite bit going back and forth. Obviously the Star Trek event leaderboard didn’t see any time to make changes to their algorithm but they are trying going forward. I try see it both ways, it’s frustrating for honest players getting caught in error but manageable by getting their new staff up to speed on dealing with the issue. How they change the algorithm to stop it happening without weakening it too much I don’t know. I’m of the thinking good customer service that honest players can reach out to is a step in the right direction and I know they are trying hard to do this. Please let us know if you got your Star Trek prizes.
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Thanks. The leaderboard icon disappeared from my game and I have not seen anything on the Star Trek prizes. If nothing pops up over the next few days I’ll send them an email early next week with my screenshots.
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I sent tiny co an in game message regarding my leaderboard name , the reply came the next day…they didn’t answer my question all they did was explain there rules and regs and then promptly BANNED me!!!! ,I’ve been banned for asking a question WOW!!!!
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Sounds like something else is going on. I’d message them back.
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They told me even if they looked into my case they would not change their original ban.
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Did you email them? Or in game messaging?
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The original question was sent in game
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Send a new one via email the way stated above. See if you get any other information
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Where’d my question go about the leaderboard player names go?!?? It was like 2 Hours about? It was being reviewed then GONE.
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It was still there. If you don’t have a WordPress account, you can’t see comments in moderation all the time
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Help me Bunny!!!
In regards to the Leaderboard , 2 things , 1. I’m ranked somewhere in the middle, but why doesn’t it show me where I I am when the leaderboard comes on & why do I have to scroll from either 1 or 5000 then up or down? Then when I do find the # I’m ranked @ & tied w/ 40 other players, how do I know my player name to figure out which one I am? Thanks. 🙂
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Try next time to wait just a bit. It takes a moment to sync then should take it to “you”. That’s how it is on my devices.
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I’m putting together my details to email TinyCo and noticed something in the other Leaderboard Help post. It says: “MISFIT ROBOTIC TOYS: How many of them did you clear each day with Sarah?”
Did these drop the Snowflake medals in addition to the Silver Bells, Toy Cars, and Anti-depressants? There was no mention of these also dropping medals in the main part of the week 2 is live post, but I cleared a LOT of those Robotic toys so wanted to double check since this was listed as info we should send in to them.
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No. It was placed in there in error. Sorry.
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No problem, thanks for letting me know.
I finally finished my email to them a bit ago and it ended up being a little over 5 pages. Good grief.
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I just got a reply back to my last in-game message that just said they added the top prizes. Very brief and not sure it was in relation to the email I sent. I ended up with the Elf, the Funland Skin and Chuggs.
I am still shown as banned on the current Star Trek board. Is that still something they are working on for everyone or do I need to write back?
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Message them back just in case. 😉
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Dang that was quick. I sent three pages with attachments yesterday and haven’t heard anything back yet. I should have had Whatthewhat write mine as well. Whatever he/she said apparently worked. I’m happy for ya Whatthewhat!
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Be patient. It takes time to go through each one. The MORE information you supply, the longer to go through it. 😉
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Thanks, hopefully they’ll get back to you soon Barry. I really do think their reply was just to my last in-game message about this. I sent my third in-game about it on the 12th before this help Part 2 page was posted. No reply to the long email I sent, but on the in-game I just got back the message just said “I have added the top two tier prizes to your game and please feel free to reach out if you need any more help” That was it. I found Chuggs and the Elf in my inventory and the new funland skin was shown as an option when I tapped on funland.
As I said above my email was just over 5 pages, and also included 5 attachments. By the end it was so long I felt sorry for whoever might read it so I included a TL;DR (too long;didn’t read) that just said: “I didn’t get the leaderboard prizes from North Pole event. I didn’t cheat. My player ID is xxxxxxxxxxxx can you take a look? Cool thx bye.”
Whether it was my message or my email I have the prizes now and this issue is over for me as soon as the current leaderboard ban is lifted, which may or may not be related to this stuff.
I hope they get back to everyone and make it right for you all.
Thanks again to the addicts and Russian Tigger for all the effort on this.
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I’m sure you will get sorted, they said they would work through them, please keep us posted Barry.
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Thanks all. I can’t be anything but patient and I am appreciative that they are doing the work on this to correct potential wrongs. Just hope it happens before the current event ends since I continue to be banned. Not that I plan on placing anywhere important, but I kinda would like whatever work I put in to be worth something if it is good enough. If anything it is nice to know others feel similarly about the game and the way they play within the Addicts community. 🙂
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In game message them, they sorted my ban from this leaderboard, it’s just a throwback of the algorithm as obviously this event hit straight away, no time to make the changes to it yet. Glad you got your prizes, enjoy.
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How do you know if they have responded to an in game message to tiny CO? Where does their response show up?
Thanks
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In the Help & Support area where you in game message them from.
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Until the TC Overlords get their “anti-cheater sweeps” working smoothly, this type of thing will assuredly happen again.
My advice for every person making a deliberate effort to place on the leaderboard would be to start taking notes right now on how you are getting your latinum. If that is what it takes, then get cracking now or you might regret it later.
Of course, all of this contention could be easily eliminated by simply nixing the leaderboards altogether, but until that happens you should probably just take notes. Lots and lots of notes…
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Bunny, thanks for posting this. You and I had an exchange in another post about leaderboards and you indicated something about clam counts being at issue. I didn’t see that indicated in Tigger’s response. Is there something to that that we should know before emailing our situation to the email? At the risk of being ridiculed, I have nearly 3,000 clams in both my games that I have collected since the beginning of my game play (April 2014) since I have spent very few in playing the game (I want to play the game as presented because that is what challenges me the most). That clam count has steadily grown over the almost two full years (obviously) but is it possible that this could be at issue for me specifically based on that other conversation. Thank you and thank you Russian Tigger for sharing and congrats on being exonerated!!
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In the background myself as well as Russian sent them a LOT of stats on the Clams. Hopefully you shouldn’t have to explain them anymore. Feel free to tell them how you get Clams in your game if you choose.
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Spent the time to write three pages providing every piece of information from the Christmas event possible along with support materials. I used the subject line as instructed. I hope it is given the consideration and read in full to support my case. Still banned from the leaderboard of this event and wondering if the two are related. Many thanks to you and Tigger no matter the result.
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Really glad to hear this, thanks a lot for keeping on top of it and keeping us all informed. Hopefully the rest of us will be able to get this corrected now.
I still don’t have a good breakdown of the numbers possible from battles, so I’ll just have to explain my strategy on them which was simple overall – keep them going as much as possible. I know a quarter of the medals I had came from Santas helper questline, the 100 from the little silver bell mystery box, and the two buildings from the depot in the final week.
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I understand it’s besides the point… But robot super elf isn’t that cool anyway.. He’s not voiced and only has 1 or 2 visual tasks.
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For me, it is not about the quality of the actual prizes but more being labeled a cheater without any investigation or proof just because I reached a random number despite requesting the proof that resulted in this label. And now I am tagged as a having a game with “suspicious activity” and was banned from the leaderboard from this event within 24 hours of the event dropping once the first leaderboard appeared and remain that way. I just want the label of “cheater” erased so I can continue to play and enjoy the game without the constant fear of strategy and game playing being wiped away just because I was successful beyond what they comprehended.
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I completely understand that. I really don’t like the leaderboards in general. Everyone who plays should have the chance to earn the prizes.. Not just the top few in the world.
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Well said, Barry. I feel the same.
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Thanks, Russian Tigger, for your work as emissary for us dedicated freemium players, and the Addicts team for sharing the information. I never saw a “banned for cheating/suspicious activity” during the Chritmas event (well, except for those few hours that the system freaked and did that to all the players), but I never got my lead board prizes. Two help messages (and two screenshots) later and I had my additions. I suspect it may have been so easy because players like yourself had already laid the groundwork.
Unfortunately, I’ve had the banned message since Star Trek Part II went live. I was going to give them until Monday to see if it straightened itself out, but it might be better to get the ball rolling since this is a clear-cut method to address the problem. Seriously, thank you.
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Please read the star trek post linked up top first. There’s an error message many are seeing now.
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I’ll send TinyCo an e-mail and will post response on the site.
I’ve been branded by the anti-cheat bot a few days into the Christmas event and got a ban for the rest of its duration. After sending an e-mail through ingame support I haven’t gotten a response as of yet.
Many thanks to Russian Tigger and Familyguyaddicts for pursuing & relaying information on the subject. It’s nice to have clarity.
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I don’t even know if I missed out on a prize from being banned. Was banned quite early on so wasn’t able to see the tiers for most of the event. (looks like I’m still banned for the Star Trek event too)
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If you feel it was in error… then write to them if it means that much to you. Not doing anything won’t get you any answers.
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I had sent them a couple of messages in-game during the Christmas event about it but had no reply. I haven’t had a reply of any kind, not even automated/ copy-pasted, to any of my messages for several events now.
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Send a new one as instructed above.
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Thanks for this, I’ve sent them an email, but considering how blatantly RUDE their customer service folks were to me yesterday, I’m not optimistic. Hopefully I’ll have good news in the next few days though. They did just send an autoreply, which is more than they did in the last month before yesterday, though…
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Like the “Issues” post notes, it was an automated response many got in error. It was not intended to go out. They are aware and did apologize, but are making it right. It’s why I noted it on that post.
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