What Defines Boosting in Zombies?

[perfectlemonade]

Hello everyone. I've been looking at the leaderboards recently and I've noticed that there's some pretty unique categories. In fact, there's one in particular that really caught my eye: miles travelled. It's the last leaderboard you come across; perhaps that is well-merited. I mean, when someone thinks 'hey, I'm gonna get first on the leaderboards' they usually mean first in rounds on a certain map or even kills or revives—but miles travelled? Nah. That doesn't showcase skill, merely stamina.

But alas, there is a leaderboard for it and there will be people that strive to reach the top. Do I care about my spot on the miles travelled leaderboard? No, not really. It's reflective of time put into the game, and compared to some, I haven't really played all that much. Some people, on the other hand, have played quite a bit and perhaps they, in fact, care about their spot on the miles travelled leaderboard. Maybe they take pride in their top 50 spot on the miles travelled leaderboard—and I can respect that. They earned their place fairly through many a game of killing zombies, and you can't really dispute their spot on that leaderboard.

What if there's a new comer, though? Maybe a 'Christmas Noob'. Yeah, exactly that. A Christmas Noob. Maybe that noob wants the number one spot on the miles travelled leaderboard. So he buys Jugg, saves a zombie on round three, and just does laps around Tranzit for three hours. He would travel hundreds of miles. And, eventually, if you did this long enough, you may just find yourself first on the miles travelled leaderboard.

Is that fair? You're just walking, after all. There's no glitching and no hacking—you're just setting out with a goal in mind, and you're achieving that goal. Is there anything wrong with that?

Well, maybe. In most people's eyes, yes. They would call it boosting. But is it really? You want to get high on a leaderboard, so you set out to get high on a leaderboard. Is that any different than setting out for a world record on a map? How is number one on miles travelled and number one on Tranzit 2-player any different—both feats require patience and a strategy and thought and execution.

One could argue that the leaderboard for miles travelled and even perks drank, doors opened, etc. were meant to be achieved naturally, with the flow of the game. But don't you think that's a little hypocritical? If you're going for rounds, you don't let it happen naturally—you set a goal for yourself and you try to reach that goal. It's a pass/fail thing. There is no middle ground, no flow.

There has to be a line, though. Downing yourself on purpose, yes, is clearly boosting. It is essentially the same thing as boosting in multiplayer—killing yourself (in Kill Confirmed) or letting someone kill you to get additional XP that would not have been achieved normally. But simply taking laps around Tranzit to better your spot on the leaderboard? I wouldn't quite consider that boosting.

Where is the line, though? Is using only explosives to increase your gibs boosting? What about using only ballistic weapons to increase headshots? Is that really any different than going for a higher spot on round-based leaderboards?

There has to be a point where the acceptable becomes unacceptable. But where is that point? Well, I'm not sure, but if someone takes laps around Tranzit just to increase their spot on the leaderboard, I say go for it. It's smart and it's a better strategy than letting it happen naturally.

What do you guys think?

[TheR69L]

To me it seems if you were to do this than yes i is boosting. I only say this because they are really playing the game the way it was meant to be played. They are altering it by keeping one zombie alive so they can run around and do nothing to progress in the game and simple on progress in the Miles Traveled in the leaderboards.

[TheKingOfToast]

To me it seems if you were to do this than yes i is boosting. I only say this because they are really playing the game the way it was meant to be played. They are altering it by keeping one zombie alive so they can run around and do nothing to progress in the game and simple on progress in the Miles Traveled in the leaderboards.

What about leaving one zombie and going to town to buy perks. Then you are essentialy "boosting" your doors opened and perks drank

[MysteryMachineX]

Purposefully losing the game on purpose to solely increase another player's score, with no care for the game at hand, is illegitimate, a.k.a. "boosting".

Running many miles on purpose = legitimate.

Downing yourself for a teammates to get revives = cheating.

Getting high rounds = legitimate.

Letting yourself die so a teammate can survive without getting you = legitimate.

[PINNAZ]

It is a fine line in Green Run.

Is it -

A. Teleporting to the bank to get money, buy perks, open doors, build Jet Gun, build Nav Card Table, all in early rounds while someone else 'babysits' the last zombies? You are getting set up for a high round leaderboard score in the early rounds by manipulating the games mechanics instead of doing all of this under pressure. But I suppose that the bank is there for that reason?

B. if you get downed then need to rebuy perks or acquire tombstone, weapons while someone babysits? You are still racking up a lot of the stats because you have to travel far to get back in the game.

C. Travelling laps on the bus while someone babysits the remaining zombie?

Its a fine line. All of this is essentially using the game mechanics, but where does it turn into boosting?

If someone wants to do countless laps of the map on the bus to achieve top spot for that leader board, then go for it. I got better things to do. 8-)

There's probably a whole heap more in which you can manipulate

[CrazyTrain0917]

You have to actually scroll down to about the 70-80th spot to get the real number one ranked person because the numbers of those first 80 people are so overly inflated that they must have done something to boost it up. (in the trillions) I am pretty highly ranked at merely 1,000 miles travelled and I never take the bus, I run everywhere and I'm kind of OCD about not standing still, always moving. This came naturally. But have a look at the world leaderboards for miles traveled and you'll see what I mean. Those guys boosted. I know the map inside out so I teleport and run and am actually a little proud of being top spot on my friends list for that stat (among others) but I didn't boost to get it, it's just my play style.

I rarely keep a crawler in BO2 cuz I spend a lot of time in the fog in between tasks but keeping a crawler to do anything isn't boosting in my opinion. We used to keep a couple walkers on ascension, jump in the glitch (the only time we used it) and went to bed to continue in the morning lol. I guess that'd be boosting something somehow but I didn't consider it cheating as long as no glitches were used during play time.

Sitting in the lava room at power in a spot where the zombies can't get you and shooting zombies for hours on end is definitely boosting.

Edit: just tried to boost my post count there, hit quote instead of edit and had to delete a post lol

[inviso120]

Purposefully losing the game on purpose to solely increase another player's score, with no care for the game at hand, is illegitimate, a.k.a. "boosting".

Running many miles on purpose = legitimate.

Downing yourself for a teammates to get revives = cheating.

Getting high rounds = legitimate.

Letting yourself die so a teammate can survive without getting you = legitimate.

but for reviving if its for perm quick revive = legitimate

[Tom852]

I recently had a thought, after running around for 20min cause I wanted a Ray Gun, that TranZit is like a try of going towards open-world environment (GTA, Far Cry...). Now after seeing this topic, those open world games always have a Statistic Tab. There, it's of course just for interest.

My point is, that they implemented those leaderboards for your personal interest. I mean, it's fun to see how much perks you have drank or how much miles you ran. I think, the leaderboard about these were just made to satisfy a pseudo-statistics system.

I mean, the downs board is absolutely pointless. The more you play, the more downs. You're rank tells nothing. But it's one of the boards I look most at, because I wanna calculate my K/D

I personally can't imagine, that people hunt for rank 1 in those boards. Or if there are such people....

[MysteryMachineX]

@Inviso: Actually that would be considered cheating, since someone is losing on purpose for YOUR benefit. That is exactly what boosting has always been. Not legitimate.

@Tom: Well said.

[TheKingOfToast]

@Inviso: Actually that would be considered cheating, since someone is losing on purpose for YOUR benefit. That is exactly what boosting has always been. Not legitimate.

@Tom: Well said.

Here's an interesting question. What if I play with my girlfriend? She's fine until about round 7 in which she just continually goes down. Like, to the point where she may as well not be playing. Or what if you join a game and a guy is AFK? Or one of my friends I'm playing with goes to bed but leaves the game on so that I can continue to advance in rounds. Or even if you play with a second controller to get on other leaderboards.

There are so many situations out there where it could be considered innocent if you do it on accident, but how do you determine if it was on accident or on purpose?

[XLORDXSITHX]

when someone on your friends list gets 10k revives in one day.....

[ZaquiriDaquiri]

This is why you can't take the leaderboards too seriously. I just use them as a little extra motivation/challenge.

[The Clay Bird]

Hello everyone. I've been looking at the leaderboards recently and I've noticed that there's some pretty unique categories. In fact, there's one in particular that really caught my eye: miles travelled. It's the last leaderboard you come across; perhaps that is well-merited. I mean, when someone thinks 'hey, I'm gonna get first on the leaderboards' they usually mean first in rounds on a certain map or even kills or revives—but miles travelled? Nah. That doesn't showcase skill, merely stamina.

But alas, there is a leaderboard for it and there will be people that strive to reach the top. Do I care about my spot on the miles travelled leaderboard? No, not really. It's reflective of time put into the game, and compared to some, I haven't really played all that much. Some people, on the other hand, have played quite a bit and perhaps they, in fact, care about their spot on the miles travelled leaderboard. Maybe they take pride in their top 50 spot on the miles travelled leaderboard—and I can respect that. They earned their place fairly through many a game of killing zombies, and you can't really dispute their spot on that leaderboard.

What if there's a new comer, though? Maybe a 'Christmas Noob'. Yeah, exactly that. A Christmas Noob. Maybe that noob wants the number one spot on the miles travelled leaderboard. So he buys Jugg, saves a zombie on round three, and just does laps around Tranzit for three hours. He would travel hundreds of miles. And, eventually, if you did this long enough, you may just find yourself first on the miles travelled leaderboard.

Is that fair? You're just walking, after all. There's no glitching and no hacking—you're just setting out with a goal in mind, and you're achieving that goal. Is there anything wrong with that?

Well, maybe. In most people's eyes, yes. They would call it boosting. But is it really? You want to get high on a leaderboard, so you set out to get high on a leaderboard. Is that any different than setting out for a world record on a map? How is number one on miles travelled and number one on Tranzit 2-player any different—both feats require patience and a strategy and thought and execution.

One could argue that the leaderboard for miles travelled and even perks drank, doors opened, etc. were meant to be achieved naturally, with the flow of the game. But don't you think that's a little hypocritical? If you're going for rounds, you don't let it happen naturally—you set a goal for yourself and you try to reach that goal. It's a pass/fail thing. There is no middle ground, no flow.

There has to be a line, though. Downing yourself on purpose, yes, is clearly boosting. It is essentially the same thing as boosting in multiplayer—killing yourself (in Kill Confirmed) or letting someone kill you to get additional XP that would not have been achieved normally. But simply taking laps around Tranzit to better your spot on the leaderboard? I wouldn't quite consider that boosting.

Where is the line, though? Is using only explosives to increase your gibs boosting? What about using only ballistic weapons to increase headshots? Is that really any different than going for a higher spot on round-based leaderboards?

There has to be a point where the acceptable becomes unacceptable. But where is that point? Well, I'm not sure, but if someone takes laps around Tranzit just to increase their spot on the leaderboard, I say go for it. It's smart and it's a better strategy than letting it happen naturally.

What do you guys think?

I totally understand your point, and I think that the "leaderboards" for things like miles traveled and shots fired and gibs and things like that, weren't necessarily meant to be leaderboards of sorts, but more of just a stats counter. solely for your own info. they did include a rank on those, which in my opinion prbably should have been left out, because zombies has and always will be about surviving. I love the stats tracking, but i can see where desire (for whatever reason lol)to be #1 on the gibs leaderboard r grenade kills leaderboard could adversly affect someone elses experience

[ETEl2NAL407]

There shouldn't be grey areas. It's either cheating/boosting or it's not.

The problem is that Zombies is the kind of game that rewards thinking out of the box.

If I were to just play Zombies normally, kill every Zombie I find, pick up perks as I can, spin from the mystery box when I can, PaP when I can, but focus entirely on killing/surviving, we all know I wouldn't get very far. However, if I take advantage of certain game mechanics (like leaving a crawler) I suddenly have more time to prepare for the next round and I can definitely get further.

With the addition of EE's getting more and more complicated, it becomes increasingly more difficult to accomplish these tasks without manipulating the game mechanics. So it beomces generally accepted gameplay to manipulate certain mechanics, but manipulating others are frowned upon. There's the problem. We can't condemn certain manipulations and accept others, we must either accept any and all or condemn them all.

It is my thinking that since this game indirectly rewards manipulation (by making it nearly impossible to achieve the EE's without manipulation) that any and all manipulations should be accepted.

This would include glitches for the simple reason that: if the developers created a game that rewards players with EE's for manipulating the mechanics, then their failures to write flawless code should also be exploited and manipulated.

With all that in mind, to me, the stats are a joke and a waste. If the developers expect manipulation, why try to measure statistics? They can't be validated by skill since manipulation is being rewarded, so the stats are just a measure of how much a player can manipulate, not at all skill.

So, in conclusion, we as players just need to recognize this fact and either try to boost our leaderboard stats through all-out manipulation, or forget that the leaderboards exist because they are utterly not related to skill.

[ZaquiriDaquiri]

There shouldn't be grey areas. It's either cheating/boosting or it's not.

The problem is that Zombies is the kind of game that rewards thinking out of the box.

If I were to just play Zombies normally, kill every Zombie I find, pick up perks as I can, spin from the mystery box when I can, PaP when I can, but focus entirely on killing/surviving, we all know I wouldn't get very far. However, if I take advantage of certain game mechanics (like leaving a crawler) I suddenly have more time to prepare for the next round and I can definitely get further.

With the addition of EE's getting more and more complicated, it becomes increasingly more difficult to accomplish these tasks without manipulating the game mechanics. So it beomces generally accepted gameplay to manipulate certain mechanics, but manipulating others are frowned upon. There's the problem. We can't condemn certain manipulations and accept others, we must either accept any and all or condemn them all.

It is my thinking that since this game indirectly rewards manipulation (by making it nearly impossible to achieve the EE's without manipulation) that any and all manipulations should be accepted.

This would include glitches for the simple reason that: if the developers created a game that rewards players with EE's for manipulating the mechanics, then their failures to write flawless code should also be exploited and manipulated.

With all that in mind, to me, the stats are a joke and a waste. If the developers expect manipulation, why try to measure statistics? They can't be validated by skill since manipulation is being rewarded, so the stats are just a measure of how much a player can manipulate, not at all skill.

So, in conclusion, we as players just need to recognize this fact and either try to boost our leaderboard stats through all-out manipulation, or forget that the leaderboards exist because they are utterly not related to skill.

Some excellent points right here^^^

[CrazyTrain0917]

There shouldn't be grey areas. It's either cheating/boosting or it's not.

The problem is that Zombies is the kind of game that rewards thinking out of the box.

If I were to just play Zombies normally, kill every Zombie I find, pick up perks as I can, spin from the mystery box when I can, PaP when I can, but focus entirely on killing/surviving, we all know I wouldn't get very far. However, if I take advantage of certain game mechanics (like leaving a crawler) I suddenly have more time to prepare for the next round and I can definitely get further.

With the addition of EE's getting more and more complicated, it becomes increasingly more difficult to accomplish these tasks without manipulating the game mechanics. So it beomces generally accepted gameplay to manipulate certain mechanics, but manipulating others are frowned upon. There's the problem. We can't condemn certain manipulations and accept others, we must either accept any and all or condemn them all.

It is my thinking that since this game indirectly rewards manipulation (by making it nearly impossible to achieve the EE's without manipulation) that any and all manipulations should be accepted.

This would include glitches for the simple reason that: if the developers created a game that rewards players with EE's for manipulating the mechanics, then their failures to write flawless code should also be exploited and manipulated.

With all that in mind, to me, the stats are a joke and a waste. If the developers expect manipulation, why try to measure statistics? They can't be validated by skill since manipulation is being rewarded, so the stats are just a measure of how much a player can manipulate, not at all skill.

So, in conclusion, we as players just need to recognize this fact and either try to boost our leaderboard stats through all-out manipulation, or forget that the leaderboards exist because they are utterly not related to skill.

In what way do you have to manipulate the game mechanics in any of the EE's to complete them?

Just because it is ok to leave a crawler doesn't mean that I should accept that you sit in the glitch at power and draw all the zombies to you and then lag the entire game when you mow down 20 zombies at once, then refuse to get out of your glitch to come revive me if I go down.

I see what you're trying to say but the way I see it is that your logic in this case doesn't make sense. Glitch exploitation should be put to a democratic vote during the game before any of them are manipulated at the very least. But that doesn't happen usually happen so meh..

[Chopper]

Boosting - I both get 3 downs in Tranzit to get perma jugg, and have on many occasions downed myself many times to enable someone to get QR and then got it back in return.

I use both of these mainly for challenges, although if I was starting a game on Die Rise I would do the Jugg thing too. Getting Jugg just means I can start a little bit quicker. When I'm playing a solo game for 8 hours or so, saving 5 minutes at the start is a nice thing to me.

I don't consider them boosting....every single challenge ends up on youtube, as do many others. As everyone is doing it, I don't see a problem with it. Sounds a bit Lance Armstrong, but it's not like we are competing for millions of dollars now is it. We are just having fun.

[InfestLithium]

I don't consider them boosting....every single challenge ends up on youtube, as do many others. As everyone is doing it, I don't see a problem with it. Sounds a bit Lance Armstrong, but it's not like we are competing for millions of dollars now is it. We are just having fun.

That is the common excuse/reason most people bring up when they defend their right to cheat or boost, but it really is true. I don't consider persistent upgrades boosting in the least bit, since they were primarily implemented for the purpose of using. Sure, it may encourage a bit of boosting (even if done by yourself) when you really desire that quick revive skill or Juggernog Pro, but you have to take into consideration to what extent you are using it for.

If Treyarch delivered a method where there is a perk which acts as an Insta-Kill upon going down, I can guarantee you that people would scream bloody murder and call it "cheating". But in the end, are you doing it for yourself, or to make your zombie career practically legendary status for popularity?

When you really look at it, cheating and boosting is really by perspective. Like MMX said before, using someone as a test dummy so you can gain all the advantages is primarily boosting. If you received the same benefits, however, in a legitimate way during one match, I see no fault in it. Heck, I've gotten my upgrades in one match before because I utilized my horrible teammate for the quick revive upgrade.

Take advantage of what's presented to you, don't take advantage of abusing the system.

[Chopper]

I consider it boosting if you are using it to 'boost' your leaderboards. I recently discovered that you can use a second account to gain revives for instance. As this is a great way of upping your stats then that would be straight up cheating.

[InfestLithium]

I consider it boosting if you are using it to 'boost' your leaderboards. I recently discovered that you can use a second account to gain revives for instance. As this is a great way of upping your stats then that would be straight up cheating.

Alas, that is a sad sight to see. Then again, I've come across people with extremely high leaderboard statistics that do worse in matches than my 6 year-old brother. In fact, he does better than me sometimes when I have the chance to play zombies with him.

Numbers are great sources and all, but I feel that if you use what has been given to you in-game and you utilize it to help your team while playing how the game was meant to be, then you are doing no wrong. Let in-game results show what kind of player you really are.

[ETEl2NAL407]

So much talk about the leaderboards...

If players can manipulate the leaderboards in any way, those leaderboards can not accurately reflect player skills. End of story.

Why worry about the leaderboards? Why discuss position on a corrupt leaderboard at all? I agree it's not fun to see some player with skills nowhere near to matching your own gaining a higher position on a leaderboard, but we must keep in mind that said leaderboard is not a reflection of skill. It is only a reflection of manipulation. So, if you want to top the leaderboards, focus on manipulating them and not on your skills.

A good analogy to use is this:

If we were to have a race to find the fastest person in the world and Usain Bolt was in that race, he'd have a great chance at winning...On foot. However, if there were no rules against me joining that race on a motorcycle, Usain would surely lose. Even the fastest man on foot could NEVER compete with 1500cc engine.

The Zombie leaderboards are that race without rules. I hear everyone complaining that the races are being won by idiots on motorcycles, but everyone complaining is still trying to run the race on foot. That's foolish. Either, get a motorcycle or just ignore the race.

[TheBSZombie]

Another point, would you consider these three things boosting?

Starting on round 20 on town to get kills faster and ending the game when you are about to go down to save your kd boosting for kills leaderboard and higher kd?

is using the galva method on die rise boosting for high kills

using galva method and using the skullcrusher's noob tube on insta kill for gernade kills. (yes the noob tube does count as gernade kills if you weren't sure)

[Chopper]

Another point, would you consider these three things boosting?

Starting on round 20 on town to get kills faster and ending the game when you are about to go down to save your kd boosting for kills leaderboard and higher kd?

is using the galva method on die rise boosting for high kills

using galva method and using the skullcrusher's noob tube on insta kill for gernade kills. (yes the noob tube does count as gernade kills if you weren't sure)

I almost didn't answer this as I suspect a somewhat troll post, but i'll give it the benefit of the doubt.

Yes, yes, yes and no.

I'm saying no to noob tube for grenade kills, as it's an effective strategy for getting lots of kills on insta. Not in the galva area though.

The rest are clearly boosting in any definition of the word.

After long discussions with many people I have come to the conclusion that there is only one situation when the galva knuckle is ok in my mind to use.

I will be going for 115 this week, however I need to do it on local over 2 or 3 days. If I get there, or even higher I would consider it ok to then go and match my legit score done on local, online using that glitch. Although I probably wouldn't bother, I would consider it ok.