What exactly is an exploit?

An exploit in Shadow Cities is defined by the use of a bug, by a player, allowing for an advantage over others in a manner not intended by the game's design. Using an exploit repeatedly, as a means to gain certain advantage, is considered cheating, as it fundamentally violates the spirit of competition and undermines the efforts of those who play fairly.

What if I use an exploit by accident, or didn't know I was exploiting?

Except in extreme cases, we only take action against accounts found using an exploit in situations where numerous violations occurred. If you question whether or not an action is an exploit, ask yourself, does the action allow you to accomplish something that circumvents clearly defined game restrictions, such as harvesting a dominator from a distant or remote location? If you truly aren't certain, it's probably best not to engage in the questionable activity until clearer definitions are made regarding the specific activity.

Will closed accounts be reopened?

No. All accounts closed for cheating, as a result of exploitative behavior, or due to an external application or extension designed to manipulate gameplay, will remain indefinitely closed.

Can I create a new account if my account has been closed?

We reserve the right, especially in situations involving repeated instances of abuse, to permanently deny all access of service to a given device. However, as we believe strongly in second chances, we will most often opt only to close the offending account, in hopes the player will be rehabilitated toward fair play.

Can a game glitch, such as a delay or error to my location updating, result in account closure?

No. While our new internal tools and special processes can now detect many behaviors determined to be harmful to the game environment, our team reviews each case, before a decision to close an account is made. Numerous variables are compared and contrasted, and we only close accounts when we feel confident that both intentional and repeated instances of cheating have occurred.

There is some exception to this, as our servers, in some cases can detect the use of certain specific applications when they are used in conjunction with Shadow Cities for nefarious purposes. In these cases, the server will automatically restrict access.

What about others players who appear to be cheating, why are their accounts not closed?

Now that we have improved tools and processes to investigate unscrupulous activity, we are actively monitoring game behavior, as well as reviewing all reports of suspicion sent to us by the community. If you believe someone is cheating, by any means, you can email us at playersupport@shadowcities.com, or submit a ticket using our support site - http://www.shadowcities.com/support/.

Why won't you provide specific details regarding accounts closed due to cheating?

In order to protect player privacy and effectively combat cheating in Shadow Cities, it's best for us to avoid providing specific information. If an account was closed for cheating, all that we can say is that the actioned account was found repeatedly using harmful exploits, or manipulating the game through another method, such as by using an application or extension designed to bypass intended restrictions within Shadow Cities.

What if I cheated in the past, but play legitimately now - is my account in danger of being closed?

One of the factors we take into consideration when attempting to judge instances of cheating regards recent activity and behavior. If you are no longer participating in exploitative behavior, or committing any offending actions, you will likely be free to continue playing without much consequence. However, please be aware that we do now track all accounts identified as having abused repeatedly, and should any similarly undesirable behavior present itself, we are likely to be less lenient when deciding upon the appropriate action to take.

Can my account become closed for account sharing?

Yes. It is your responsibility to preserve the confidentiality of your account credentials and password at all times. Not only are you fully responsible for all use of your account, we assume all activity on the account to be initiated and performed by the original account holder. We urge everyone to take strong precaution regarding security and account information in Shadow Cities, as well as with all other services.

Is using multiple accounts considered cheating?

We are very concerned with how some players have chosen to create multiple accounts for purposes of cheating or trouble-making, and are currently considering ways to best prevent this kind of cheating. As there are legitimate reasons to make multiple accounts, we don't wish to restrict it altogether, nor do we close accounts strictly for logging into multiple accounts.

One example of a behavior we do find highly disruptive includes switching accounts between both factions to gain energy by attacking your own structures. While we haven't taken action against this type of behavior at this time, please be aware that it is not considered acceptable use of multiple accounts, and playing the game in such a manner could result in punitive action, in the future.

Why don't you just provide a list of exploits, to help us avoid them?

As stated above, to effectively combat cheating, it's important that we discuss specifics as little as possible. Drawing attention to specific exploits, only brings more unnecessary attention to them, often even leading many who were previously unaware, to cheat. While these matters certainly spread well on their own among the community, words travel even faster and to much farther corners, when made official. Our ultimate goal is to protect the whole of the community, and we apologize we can't be as transparent as some would prefer.