I was playing in a game with no rule about Mega-corping. I play at other servers where the only rules are no alien planet farming and no mega-corping. So my question is.... Is mega-corping in today's TW2002 environment cheating?

I know that the old mega-corping definition was created before mixed corps became popular. What I mean by mega-corping is using one corp to moth a target (in this case me) for another corp or player so that the player who finally attacks incurs no alignment penalty.

A blue player used the red player on another corp to either take out the figs that would have made him red or had the red player lay personal figs down so he could max his blue alignment before the attack and allowing him to stay blue.  I don't know which. I do know if the blue player would have attacked me directly with no help from the other corp he would have turned red and so lost the ship he was in (it required a commission) and no longer been able to twarp to fed space. Both of these factors were very important and the tables might have been turned on the blue player. As it was, my butt got kicked royally. lol

So what is concensus about mega-corping here on EIS

Cerne

No server or game rule against it so what can you do.Its not kosher and ruined your opponents win as they cant boast about it so move on to the next game.
Note:This is my personal opinion and in no way represents the opinion of the EIS or its staff.

Well C, I guess you're asking for opinions here in the tw school forum, so I'll try to be diplomatic in my reply...
In my opinion; if there aren't any server or game rules in place to prevent mega corping, then it is a valid strategy.  You have the same access to bribe/cajole other players to mega with you.  You could also 'bring in' some of your cronies from other games and start a mega corp.. 
If you are frustrated that your opponents are taking this tactic, maybe take some consolation that they had to do so in order to defeat you.
And frankly, if I were doin' this, I wouldn't consider it a 'ruined win.'  A win is a win, as long as it is within the bounds of server/game rules.
I guess I have a problem with the 'cheating' tag.
Of course, this is only my opinion.
 
 

ok... hmm... no rule against it... well then its ok "in a way"... most of us don't use that except in a tricky setting... like blowing the port over their base... leaves a daily log of sector...
I don't consider the ftr part as Mega corping... the lettin one hit ftrs to max out color...thats a trade off, thats always been done...
by the old standards... Mega Corping was the sharing of resources and/or info pertaining to another corp... but if they do mega to take u out... they can't both win the game either....the new mega is call in a few peeps and have em moth for ya and never join ur corp... something new will always come up... even if not right... until its said that its wrong they'll do it... and some will keep doing it after that...really nothing u can do if its not against the rules except point who done it out to others... and maybe if u need someone to pop in for a few... they might answer ur call...

LOL. Go red in an ISS, just xport, or pwarp out. The whole "he'd lose his ship" thing isn't much of an advantage. I definately wouldn't count on that to win a game.

Fig hitting isn't really mega corping, mega corping is the exchange of resources... and alignment isn't really a resource, it's a player attribute. Still in solo games it's been considered an acceptible tactic for years and years and years.

As for bringing in corpies to moth, yea it's mega corping. If that's not against the server rules... sure it's a bit low (I prefer not to do it), but if it's not against the rules of the server then it's not cheating. A win is a win, if you won't defend your grid and push back upon the hordes... keeping them on the defensive, then some day you can expect them to come crashing thru your gate.

This game is about initiative. Keep it and you win. Lose it and you lose. Personally I see this is just another evolution of the game these days... big bubbles and big walls and big burtha planets with full fuel allow a corp to stale a game for months.   Mega corping is sometimes the only way to break down that door. It's a broken fix for a broken situation.

Well, I was going to answer that but I'm glad I schrolled down.  I would have answered it pretty much the same way Sing did.   No since wearing out the fingertips.

Well I'll step up and admit that Cernnunos is probably referring to my TWGS. It is true that I do not have a rule outlining Mega-Corping. Why? I never gave it any thought really. Up until his post, I had thought it was just a general moral thing most did not do. Perhaps I made an error.

Our rules are pretty simple, outlining no dupes, the different game types, and the ScoreKeeper's role. My question is do I make a rule to disallow mega-corping? If so, how do you police or enforce that rule? Is there a benefit to making it a rule? My R/L does not give me the luxury of always babysitting the TWGS to make sure no "mega-corping" or other rule breaches are going on.

I'm not looking to debate it. I always like to make our TWGS a good place without having to babysit or step in. In my line of work, I am not always around for a month or so, and it could be hard to deal with this issue if it arises. I am open to ideas, suggestions to make our site fit the players, which is not always easy.

If you are going to make/enforce such a rule, restrict it to asset sharing and that is it.

Information can be passed on in ways that are not direct, and you cannot stop that. But when the line is crossed, that one corp has given assets to another(yes this means they can still do it as two individual teams) to invade a completely different corp, that is mega-corping.

Blowing a port, or any other type of log activiy really cannot be considered mega corping.

What do you mean asset sharing? Planets? Ships? Product? Figs? Cash?

That is a waste of time and there absolutely no way to enforce it.

But not mothing for another corp?  This on the other hand would show up in mail and/or log and at least could be shown in a cap.

Cerne

Ok, but how will I know that they will honor that rule? What I'm trying to say is that I don't want to bog my site down with rules. From what most have told me, it's been pretty good. I'm not discrediting anyone saying "make it a rule" but I just want to know the best way to make it fool proof so no one will find a grey area. However, usually that is also impossible to do.

IMHO, I did not list it, therefore it's up to the players to justify their actions. I do not have time to referee a game to determine if a rule is bent. My ScoreKeeper looks after other avenues for me.

Really, if two corps know where you are, and both are mothing you, and you do not have enough ore to sustain it, then you should move. simple as that. if your location is given up through fed messages/logs to multiple corps, and you do not act upon it, it is your own fault, not those wishing to take advantage of you.

Like I said, you cannot police information. you can however as a sysop set up a script to save corp assets daily, and if any are exchanged, then you can enforce the rule I stated above.

Sorry Thrawn, I was editing while you were posting. I'd say forget about it as any rule made where proof of a violation didn't include a cap file to back it up would  definitely be unenforceable.  It wasn't until I read the dialog here that I could see how unenforceable it really was.

Cerne

This Rule is posted on many sites and the players honor the rules in general but perhaps some other sysops will give you guidance on this if posted in the sysop forum where they will see this question.

Appreciate the insight Parrothead, and Silence. I'll look further into this to see how best I can handle this for future games.