CHEATERS are all over MSN Backgammon!

How are all the losers (cheaters) on MSN Backgammon causing my game to hang when it's their turn, and then running the clock against me?  Even though it's their turn, the game thinks I am the one stalling.  I can see the cheaters start the sequence by moving one piece back-n-forth three times.  Is it a cheat code like on video games?  These morons ruin everything for real Backgammoners!

Just started playing recently myself, and have run into this as well. So far, all players that I have encountered with ratings over about 2300, turn out to be the dregs of the backgammon universe ! Rude with exclusive four-letter vocabularys, and all they want to do is push the pace of the game, to the point where they have lost, and now must engage the "stall-bug" escape  --  and then are moronic enough to deem this brag-worthy ??

MSN apparantly knows about this, but has concluded not worth the investment to correct, so we must endure the annoyance of connecting with imbeciles that have 20,000 games under their belt and no life ...

All of us who play experience these idiots from time to time.  And you're right, they couple their bogus "high score" with foul mouths and then, if they're losing,  cheat their way to a win by making your checkers hang up.  And then they call YOU a Loser??  Amazing.

My advice is to click the player tab when you meet one of these bozos, and then click Do Not Match.  You'll never see them again.

Sadly, I must agree with Bob_Who.  Despite my post from Feb. 2nd, the "Do Not Match" feature does NOT work and will not stop you from being matched with any of the cheaters and losers who like to exhibit their foul mouths and show that they can't really play  backgammon but can make the game hang up your pieces so you lose. Big whoop.

I agree that it's a shame that Microsoft doesn't care enough to allow us honest and real players of this site to police their own community by choosing to individually shut these idiots out by not matching with them.  Can't for the life of me figure out why not. 

I've been recently keeping a list of those jerks who fit this category and have identified about 8 of them over the several months.  Two of them are identified only as "Guest" and one has played over 20,000 games and other over 10,000.  They both have scores  in the 2300s---which itself is a giveaway as to their true lack of skill.  When I see their names pop up, I just leave the game.  Even if we're in the middle of a match, who cares?  IT'S JUST A GAME, and they're not worth playing with. 

Finally, I've begun to look for other sites to play backgammon which are watched over by their creators so that these types of cheaters/losers are barred.  I have heard of few but can't vouch for any of them.  I do keep coming back to Zone.com and I must say that,  despite the occasional problems, MOST people I play with are courteous and honest.

That feature is also broken.  Time for Microsoft to do their job.

DD_8 said:"I agree that it's a shame that Microsoft doesn't care enough to allow us honest and real players of this site to police their own community by choosing to individually shut these idiots out by not matching with them. Can't for the life of me figure out why not."

 Amen, DD_8. I have pondered this mystery for years, especially since their 2005 Gaming Zone upgrade. 

 It seems to me that if you are willing to make that kind of improvement to the Gaming Zone, that you'd find value in continuing refinements.   I imagine that QA must occur on their back end network operations. Nevertheless, improvements are conspicuously absent in any function or "feature" that affects the user experience.

In other words, their code is perfect and these "bugs" are simply features according to specification. God forbid they respond to the fray of deadbeat gamers who suck the life out of customer service with their petty squabbles and accusations of crooked players or dice. To respond effectively would establish a dangerous precedent in conflict with corporate priority: the monopoly is always right.

Its an interesting challenge: what will motivate Microsoft to repair the Zone defects when clearly it reflects badly on them? How long will they ignore an obvious problem and growing source of irritation to the customer? How far will Microsoft go in order to ignore all low priority issues and customers? I suppose that all the EULAs and Legislation defines their true relationship with society - one that breeds arrogance and public relations spin, when it comes to dealing with the Peeps. Its like the customer service policy around here has Asperger's syndrome: moderation, if any, is obtuse or robotic; seemingly unable to actually connect and understand or to even acknowledge our existence.

Those of us who have devoted a great deal of time and energy to communicate honestly with them, to document and archive the evidence of the "stall bug" and send it to zmaster@microsoft.com and to zsuggest@microsoft.com (as prescribed by their written policy) do not know if anyone is even there. No acknowledgement or confirmation whatsoever. So I guess I'll keep sending screen captures of every cheat I encounter until this issue is prioritized to another threshold. Meanwhile, I'll just be watching the paint dry here at Microsoft, waiting for Hades to freeze over, my dead body.

Or maybe, they'll just do the right thing....

Nah.   Dice and probabilities don't care about fairness, so why should Microsoft?

Even if they do, maybe we're in denial if we think it can be fixed by them.   I suppose its possible that Microsoft's technology is just not good enough to function according to specification....or remain secure on the internet. 

Now that seems more likely the truth.  They just can't fix it. 

Curing Malaria is a more worthy effort, anyway.  If they can do that I'll let this slide.