Gallery Download Cheats - Why is this STILL a thing???

TopNotchToddler · January 2019

First of all - thanks to @GLovely1 who already elaborated on this over a year ago and was silenced bluntly by closing her thread (as I also expect this one to be closed soon).

Secondly, I am not emotionally involved, I really don't care about numbers (or cheaters), though I really like people liking my stuff and showing so by downloading, faveing or commenting. My own download numbers are ridiculous, but cheating them up wouldn't give me any of the satisfaction I get from an honest, friendly comment.

And I get it that others do care, after putting all their work and creativity into a household/build. There are different kinds of simmers, and those who build/create often gain their rewards through public appreciation. Everybody commenting stuff like "the internet isn't fair" or "it is just a game" is totally missing the point.

Another aspect is that the Gallery is not just a social medium itself but that the whole The Sims universe is closely bound to other social media like simblrs and YouTube channels. People actually make RL money through popularity.

The most simple and obvious solution would be to just not count any download if uploader and downloader are the same person/account. There is really no special magic developers would have to work.

if
  uploader = downloader
then
  totalDownloads += 0
else
  totalDownloads += 1
endIf

Now, was that so hard? Rating systems have been around for ages. I mean, come on, look at these forums (any forums). Are you able to "like" your own comment multiple times? Of course not. That would really be pretty stupid.

This is not a bug, otherwise someone would have fixed it aeons ago. This was deliberately developed this way, and my real question to EA/Maxis is:

Why, in the name of the great simmer above, are you so keen to ruin this part of the TS4 experience for some of us?

(And, on a sidenote, why did it take three months to change the default Gallery sort order back from Most Popular to Newest?)

BTW, closing this thread won't change the fact that people are actively discussing this topic in the Gallery using descriptions and comments right now.

QueenofMyshuno · January 2019

I didn't even realize people were doing this. That is so lame.

kass17 · January 2019

I am so glad that this subject is coming back here, because actually, someone revealed the cheating trick on a video. It is totally inacceptable. Also, the fact that a creation is re-uploaded by someone else and get more downloads and no comment no fav, is an evidence that the issue exist. I think that it should be fixed. Thank you @TopNotchToddler to bring it back, hoping that we will be listened.

GLovely1 · January 2019

Wow @TopNotchToddler I for once am pleasantly speechless! I can't tell you how much the simplicity of your words here means to me. I've been patient .. I've been hopeful .. and yes I've been silent for so long now I'd about given up. You give me hope again. I feel as you do .. completely. Yes, this is still a thing and yes I agree, there are a few simple solutions actually. All EA has to do is pick one and make a much more fair place to create and share.

You've summed it up pointedly though, major kudos! Bottom line ~ the gallery structure is popularity based therefore it should be respectfully changed for fairness across the board.

Dianesims · January 2019

This is so annoying!! But I wonder how they do though, because I downloaded some of my households that I had posted on the gallery but not kept in my game, and it didn’t count in my total download number for these households ?

kass17 · January 2019

@Dianesims Yes, it add in your download.

luxsylvan · January 2019

Wow, people do this? They put in the time to download their own stuff to increase the numbers? That's really sad...Wrong, and should absolutely be changed. It isn't fair. But still...sad that that's how you're choosing to spend your time.

WildIrishBanshee · January 2019

I had noticed this when I redownloaded some sims that I had put up that weren't in my library anymore - it does seem rather cheaty to me. I don't get enough downloads to matter, but still.

GLovely1 · January 2019

@luxsylvan .. It is very sad but the truth is one major factor that drives all social media including the gallery is how popular you are. So, being in the gallery, creating and sharing, we all to some extent care a little to a lot about our own personal popularity. That said, think .. if your main focus was becoming more popular .. would you choose to spend 10-15 minutes of your time to give yourself 100 more downloads? It really is a drop in the bucket of time when doing that pretty much guarantees the self downloader a spot in the "popular now" section.

I've done the math as I stated in my original forum thread linked by the OP here:

1 minute = 10 downloads
5 minutes = 50 downloads ... etc.

This is happening .. Please do not go around guessing who is or is not doing it now though .. I don't want any more people whether they are doing this or not to be hurt. There has been enough of argument, frustration and hurt. Years worth to be honest. The way I see it we are all being hurt by this one easily manipulated loophole in the download system and I will beg again to anyone having the power to change this .. please make this a priority change for the gallery.

Sincerely,
Lisa

afai1261 · January 2019

WildIrishBanshee wrote: »

I had noticed this when I redownloaded some sims that I had put up that weren't in my library anymore - it does seem rather cheaty to me. I don't get enough downloads to matter, but still.

Yeah, I redownload some of my own sims sometimes too. It annoys me that my download numbers go up when that happens. Especially since all of my uploads became unsynced from my library recently. Since I usually go through my profile to get my sims for new game saves, I have to download my own sims again and I get one new download. And it's from me.

And speaking of dishonesty, I recently had two of my sims stolen and reuploaded, by two different people. Oh sure, they changed the name and traits of the sims, but not the description and household name, which contain the original names of both sims. I didn't think I was popular enough for this to happen tbh. (Here probably isn't the place for that discussion though)

luxsylvan · January 2019

@GLovely1 yeah I guess when you look at it big picture like that it probably doesn't bother them much. I wouldn't go on a witch hunt though and I don't think most people here would, so I think we're okay on that front.

The social media climb is just not something I get I guess. My insta is on private and so is Facebook (which no one in my gen uses much anymore anyway) and I have less than 100 followers/friends 😂 I only let people follow me if I know and like them. The like is very important. 😉 But then again maybe some people just know and like more people. I just know if I opened it up I wouldn't ever post, because I'd worry to much what the masses thought. But if it's actual friends, they're okay.

TopNotchToddler · January 2019

Thank you all for your comments. Also, thanks to the moderators who proved me wrong about the longevity of this thread so far.

I agree, this is not about a witch hunt, all speculations about who is or is not a cheater would be futile. And I don't even blame those that work with the tools that they are offered, I blame the system.

I ask myself, should we partake in this hoax? Should we spend a few minutes of our time, as @GLovely1 demonstrated, just to catapult our creations into the Most Popular Now section of the gallery? After all, these are the ground rules laid out by the reality of how the Gallery rating system works, so maybe we should. But I, for myself, would rather turn my back on said system and never come back than be the bearer of a title worth plum.

I am really stunned by the fact how, on the one hand, game software companies are willing to invade our privacy by forcing us to install anti cheat mechanisms that spy on our computers, but on the other hand care so little about such an obvious loophole.

We expressed our opinions. Now let's just hope that the powers that be care as much about their own game as we do.

GLovely1 · January 2019

My only intention last year and even still is to right a wrong going on in the gallery. Many were unaware this was even a thing as you aptly put it @TopNotchToddler Once again I agree with everything you've said above. I've been considering this issue for a long time and recently I asked myself some of those harder questions. No, I've never been fake so using this loophole is not an option. I considered leaving but I really do love this game & creating so that isn't an option at this time either. I think the thing that keeps me going in the gallery most are the honest, friendly, original fair play simmers I interact with daily. I am cursed with optimism too so I still have hope this will get fixed. Until then, thank you all for being respectful players & supporting fairness in the gallery & fair change for the gallery

mcrudd · January 2019

Wow. I never knew of this. It explains some of the popular things not even being good though. Why would someone even do that? It makes no sense to me. I hear you about stealing. I have had my two top uploads downloaded and uploaded exactly how I made them .... they dont even bother to change hashtags lol. But I am not too bothered. I just love uploading and seeing my things being downloaded. I have almost 600 followers now and my biggest issue at the moment is to try and think of ideas for a thank you present once I reach 600 lol. Its seriously beyond me why someone would cheat that way though... super weird. Happy simming everyone

TheHarbinger_51 · January 2019

And.....how could you possibly prove someone has done that? Is it just a matter of assuming?

mcrudd · January 2019

TheHarbinger_51 wrote: »

And.....how could you possibly prove someone has done that? Is it just a matter of assuming?

Yeah probably. Once I searched for a small lot and clicked on popular now and there was a lot with an enlarged gnome that came up first. I would assume that person did it lol. At the time I was puzzled how it could have so many downloads. Now I know lol

TheHarbinger_51 · January 2019

mcrudd wrote: »

TheHarbinger_51 wrote: »

And.....how could you possibly prove someone has done that? Is it just a matter of assuming?

Yeah probably. Once I searched for a small lot and clicked on popular now and there was a lot with an enlarged gnome that came up first. I would assume that person did it lol. At the time I was puzzled how it could have so many downloads. Now I know lol

Oh well, thats not likely happening very often, in my opinion. Taste is very subjective. I see a lot of people in the sims facebook group discussing their lack of building skills and they love using the gallery to download creations created by other players. Sometimes things just become popular because enough people wanted it. Even if that creation might not be something you yourself would want.

kass17 · January 2019

TheHarbinger_51 wrote: »

Sometimes things just become popular because enough people wanted it. Even if that creation might not be something you yourself would want.

Yes, of course it is often like this. But when you see always the same simmer with all their uploads to the top when he is active, and when he is gone, for example, go for vacations, no one of his recent uploads goes to the top, you can seriously have a doubt. Also, the simmer that have not so many followers is always to the top, so he can have more, becoming popular, and after this, people won't suspect this one to cheat because he got popularity by faking his downloads number. However, we won't try to guess who is cheating, but hoping that something will seriously be done to fix this loophole.

LukasCreatesSims · January 2020

This is STIIIIIIIIIILLLLLL an issue and I wish Maxis would do something about it!!! It is extremely frustrating and absolutely STUPID. We pay so much money to play this game with all the packs, and our creative space doesn't work as it should???????????? Come on. The Gallery is about to be cross-platform with PS4 and XBOX, you can configure this... by making it so downloading ur own creation doesn't count as a download??? Come on now, thats not hard at all! People literally use THIRD PARTY PROGRAMMES to cheat their download numbers, surely thats against terms of service??? it's technically hacking/botting and it is CLEARLY against the rules, so why not fix this problem?? why has it not been fixed some point in these 5 years? why are we still having to talk about this? we're being let down as consumers, and as creators for the gallery which is the lifeblood of the sims, we IMPROVE the game, but we're not respected because our work is burried by cheaters. They excuse it's too hard to code is a LIE.

sansa357 · January 2020

If you take things from your library, does that still count as a dl? Lately I've been taking sims and moving them from my library to game play and I hope that doesn't count as a dl. I have taken a build from my gallery before though because I lost it in my library, but I didn't realize that it counted towards my total of downloads. I wouldn't however do that on a regular basis just to get my numbers up. I only did it because I didn't have it in my library and it was one of my favorite builds I had done and to have lost it made me sad. I'm sure there are people out there who do it to make themselves seem more popular and to try to get more followers, and even though I say I don't care about my numbers, it does make me smile to know that there are people who like the things I create enough to download them.

catitude5 · January 2020

People must really be desperate for popularity to do something like this. I feel sorry for them if that is what they do to feel good about themselves.

Parselmouth · January 2020

There is money in it, Catitude, if they are doing it to drive traffic to their youtube channels, Twitch etc. It's not so much doing it to feel good about themselves but as a business strategy to put cash in their pockets.

DragonAge_300905 · January 2020

sansa357 wrote: »

If you take things from your library, does that still count as a dl? Lately I've been taking sims and moving them from my library to game play and I hope that doesn't count as a dl. I have taken a build from my gallery before though because I lost it in my library, but I didn't realize that it counted towards my total of downloads. I wouldn't however do that on a regular basis just to get my numbers up. I only did it because I didn't have it in my library and it was one of my favorite builds I had done and to have lost it made me sad. I'm sure there are people out there who do it to make themselves seem more popular and to try to get more followers, and even though I say I don't care about my numbers, it does make me smile to know that there are people who like the things I create enough to download them.

No library doesn't count, even downloading your stuff from the gallery doesn't count. I think you have to use a cheat for it to count when you download your stuff from the gallery. Or maybe mods make your downloads from the gallery count, I don't use mods or cc, so I can't say for sure.

I know when I download my stuff from the gallery, it doesn't count for the downloads count.

Edit because I typed galaxy instead of gallery.

TopNotchToddler · January 2020

@sansa357 loading from the library (offline saves in your documents folder) does not count, loading from the gallery (online) does. Also, using your own gallery as a cloud backup is up to you and would still be considered fair use. Nobody would judge you for this.

DragonAge_300905 wrote: »

[...]No library doesn't count, even downloading your stuff from the gallery doesn't count. I think you have to use a cheat for it to count when you download your stuff from the gallery. Or maybe mods make your downloads from the gallery count, I don't use mods or cc, so I can't say for sure.

I know when I download my stuff from the gallery, it doesn't count for the downloads count.

Edit because I typed galaxy instead of gallery.

@DragonAge_300905 I wish you were right about this, but it still does.

EDIT: Also, client side mods should never be able to manipulate EA's servers.

Repo · January 2020

Downloading your own stuff does increase your download count if you upload from one household computer and download to another household computer using the same account. I found that out last year when I was putting all of my builds up on the gallery from my PC (a few at a time) and then downloaded them for preservation to my husbands computer (all in one day). The next time I got into the game from my computer I noticed a bigger than usual increase in download totals. Sure, I get down loads, but never that many at a time. I wish they would count downloads by account and not by the computer things were downloaded to. Happily, I have seen a decrease in people (at least ones I follow) not constantly re-uploading older creations to get more downloads and more notice. It was really annoying to be spammed with notifications for things I had already seen.

FairyGodMother · January 2020

I save my stuff to the gallery because I was uninstalling/reinstalling this game quite often

I have realized lately how unfair it is to the awesome creators out there, and it is very sad! I am afraid to even comment or download from people now because I don't know if they are the cheaters or not. It doesn't say "Original Creator" anymore when you can clearly see who created it in the hashtags. Some of them I am still not sure if they stole it or not, so that is unfair to the new ones uploading because you just dont know. I stick to the ones I know have been there and I can trust.

The Sims Forums

Gallery Download Cheats - Why is this STILL a thing???

Comments