Dear anyone,
Your duolingo forum registration isn't automaticaly transferred to duome forum so in order to join duome forums you need to register with your existing or any other username and email; in any case it's advised that you choose a new password for the forum.
~ Duome Team

XP Farming & XP 'Bot' Cheaters

We are not Duolingo, we cannot solve any problems directly, but we can provide community-based advice.


User avatar
Kelikaku
Israel

XP Farming & XP 'Bot' Cheaters

Post by Kelikaku »

This is a sore topic on Duolingo, which had reached the old forums periodically. There it is again, in a new post today. Now I am posting about it here. Just having read the following post from a user called DigitalDoughnut there, at this link:

https://forum.duolingo.com/comment/56341949
Image

This issue has been ignored by Duolingo for years. Actually there are two sub-issues. One in which the user is electronically inflating their account's XP yield; the second in which the user is spending an unhealthy amount of time artificially "farming" XP (points) for hours and hours, daily. There are both. DigitalDoughnut has been on the site long enough to have seen this again and again. Many of us have. You who are reading this may well have too.

With the amount of programming talent on the Duolingo payroll, there are so many stopguards they could implement; could have already implemented years ago. But they still have not.

Thanks so very much.
Keep up the good work.

bs'd

User avatar
Fnirk1
Sweden

Re: XP Farming & XP 'Bot' Cheaters

Post by Fnirk1 »

It was long time ago that XP actually meant something...

It's way to easy to get XP, yet users cheat to get even more...
One or two weeks ago there was a post about someone earning 25000 XP a day.

Why don't get rid of XP all together?
If they wan't something to compete about well use the number of completed lesson/practice session for example.

:sweden: N :gb: C1 :ru: B2 :fr: :es:B1 :de: :it: :netherlands: A1

User avatar
Kelikaku
Israel

Re: XP Farming & XP 'Bot' Cheaters

Post by Kelikaku »

Fnirk1 wrote: Wed Feb 23, 2022 1:21 pm

... users cheat to get even more ... there was a post about someone earning 25000 XP a day. ... Why don't get rid of XP all together? ...

I agree that there is a problem, but I do not agree that the best way to solve it would be to trash the system.

Thanks so very much.
Keep up the good work.

bs'd

User avatar
Fnirk1
Sweden

Re: XP Farming & XP 'Bot' Cheaters

Post by Fnirk1 »

Kelikaku wrote: Wed Feb 23, 2022 1:29 pm
Fnirk1 wrote: Wed Feb 23, 2022 1:21 pm

... users cheat to get even more ... there was a post about someone earning 25000 XP a day. ... Why don't get rid of XP all together? ...

I agree that there is a problem, but I do not agree that the best way to solve it would be to trash the system.

In my opinion the XP-system is broken beyond repairs, because I believe a fix will only cause new issues.

How do you want to solve the problem? Do you have some ideas?

:sweden: N :gb: C1 :ru: B2 :fr: :es:B1 :de: :it: :netherlands: A1

User avatar
Kelikaku
Israel

Re: XP Farming & XP 'Bot' Cheaters

Post by Kelikaku »

Fnirk1 wrote: Wed Feb 23, 2022 1:59 pm

... How do you want to solve the problem? Do you have some ideas?

I proposed an new algorithm to put into the site, that would limit XP farming and 'bot' pirating. This was a few years ago.

The way I would set it up, would not "knock" them out of their place in the leaderboard, and the algorithm only would apply to the top three in a leaderboard. So whether the user is an obsessed XP farmer or a crazed XP bot/script pirate, if they reach the top three in a league, the system would 99.999% of the time keep them there.

My theory was, that it is not so much that all the users who hate seeing these obscenely high XP numbers really object to another user getting higher scores than them. What we object to, what we find so annoying and also demoralizing, is being beat by a score that is several multiples of what a normal score should be.

I'm basing a "normal" score, say for the sake of argument, on this: 50XP is the maximum daily goal that a user can set up in Duolingo's system. So, let's say that the top "normal" score, per day, is 10 times that - which would be 500XP by my calculations. At the end of the week, such a user would be earning - 7 days x 500XP = 3,500XP per week.

So, in the forum, DigitalDoughnut says that this user has scored more than 15,000XP in two days, which is an average of over 7,500XP per day. I looked at DigitalDoughnut's Duome profile, and for the last two days, DD has earned 665XP & 804XP, an average of 735XP per day (a pretty healthy score, even higher than my 10 fold example). My argument would be, if the 15kXP user had beaten DD by 1,000XP instead of 6,800XP, maybe he would not be so annoyed. Maybe even he would have been inspired to work even harder, and maybe he would feel competitive.

My feeling is that the issue, is NOT that users are losing the top spots on the leaderboard, since every one of us knows that this is just a part of participation in a league. Every user is not going to go to the top spot. That is just obvious. The issue is, these scores are abnormally high and are throwing off the entire game. The idea is to inspire others to work harder. What is happening now is, users are being demoralized.

So - to answer your question, yes, I had an algorithm that could solve this. The algorithm sets a daily XP "ceiling," that penalizes the top three XP scorers - kind of like a grading curve, the ones they used to use in public school. But this curve would only affect the top three scorers in the leaderboard. And the top three would still remain the top three. The only difference would be, instead of beating the other users by, for example, in Doughnut's case, 10 times (approximately - he actually is getting beaten 10.2 times his average) he would be beaten by a score that is a maximum of triple his score. Much less demoralizing. So the top three could never earn more XP per day than triple the average score of the bottom seven users (of the top ten) of any leaderboard.

Using the above scores of DD and XPP (XPPirate), XPP's score would be limited to a maximum of 2,205XP per day. This is triple DD's average: 3 x 735XP = 2,205XP. Now, XPP is still beating DD, but this time, XPP is only 1,470XP ahead of him (2,205XP - 735XP = 1,470XP). Before the algorithm kicked in, XPP was more than 6,700XP ahead of him. That's a heartbreaking defeat. We are only changing a heartbreaking, demoralizing defeat, into a healthy, competitive setback.

My idea, my "algorithm" still preserves the XPP's ability to dominate the leaderboards, but not in such a demoralizing, heartbreaking way.

I've posted about this before. I laid out the above in an oversimplified manner, but in my previous posts in the old site forum (on Duolingo), I laid out the entire algorithm a few times. There were a few people who disagreed with it, but everyone who didn't agree with it being a good idea presented arguments that did not actually apply to the algorithm, they argued against things that my algorithm was not actually doing.

Thanks so very much.
Keep up the good work.

bs'd

User avatar
Fnirk1
Sweden

Re: XP Farming & XP 'Bot' Cheaters

Post by Fnirk1 »

Thanks for sharing.

I like your algorithm.

However there are a few things to think about.

1) You earn XP much faster (and really ridicules amounts) in the app. Do get it somewhat equal all form XP-booster should be removed - these has nothing to do with learning.
2) Not all languages have stories.
3) Not all have the possibility to legend levels. (which I believe gives to much XP)

These factors affect the reasonable xp-numbers one users can achieve.
I agree that 500 XP a day is a lot for user only using the web.
But for someone only using the app 2000 XP (with out cheating) is not that hard.

Of course both your and mine numbers are only (theoretical) examples. Everything is open for discussion.

But as it is now Duolingo doesn't seem to be interested to do any changes...
Accept for adding more game feature so you can earn even more XP.

Can't see how this Xp chase can have anything to do with learning.

:sweden: N :gb: C1 :ru: B2 :fr: :es:B1 :de: :it: :netherlands: A1

User avatar
Kelikaku
Israel

Re: XP Farming & XP 'Bot' Cheaters

Post by Kelikaku »

Fnirk1 wrote: Wed Feb 23, 2022 3:35 pm

... for someone only using the app 2000 XP (with out cheating) is not that hard. ...

I did not know this.

I think with the brainpower at the Duolingo HQ, they can certainly either adapt my algorithm to the app, and additionally, they can easily figure out a way to equivocate "app points" and "website points" so that the leaderboards can calm down to a low roar (instead of a shrill scream). It is not rocket science. If I could come up with such a simplistic algorithm, and it was simplistic and elegant, then an actual professional computer programmer can most likely come up with something much, much better and much more elegant.

Thanks so very much.
Keep up the good work.

bs'd

User avatar
panyamnyenyekevu
Ukraine

Re: XP Farming & XP 'Bot' Cheaters

Post by panyamnyenyekevu »

Bots and what a person can accomplish manually are two separate issues in my opinion. Lumping them both together and calling it all “cheating” is too negative and un-nuanced imo.

🇺🇦

User avatar
laitaumiel
France

Re: XP Farming & XP 'Bot' Cheaters

Post by laitaumiel »

panyamnyenyekevu wrote: Wed Feb 23, 2022 3:44 pm

Bots and what a person can accomplish manually are two separate issues in my opinion. Lumping them both together and calling it all “cheating” is too negative and un-nuanced imo.

i'd have to agree, someone farming xp in the thousands daily is definitely going to make the leaderboards in the different leagues unbalanced, but if they're personally putting the work in to get all of that xp, then that's on them. i doubt they're actually retaining information from all of the lessons they're plowing through, but that's their decision.
of course, people that are using bots or some other method of cheating should be limited in the amount of xp they can get, or be punished in some way for abusing the xp system

duolingo user: wakflipz
native lang: english
learning: french, hawaiian

Image the best omurice i've ever heard...

User avatar
Fnirk1
Sweden

Re: XP Farming & XP 'Bot' Cheaters

Post by Fnirk1 »

laitaumiel wrote: Wed Feb 23, 2022 4:41 pm
panyamnyenyekevu wrote: Wed Feb 23, 2022 3:44 pm

Bots and what a person can accomplish manually are two separate issues in my opinion. Lumping them both together and calling it all “cheating” is too negative and un-nuanced imo.

i'd have to agree, someone farming xp in the thousands daily is definitely going to make the leaderboards in the different leagues unbalanced, but if they're personally putting the work in to get all of that xp, then that's on them. i doubt they're actually retaining information from all of the lessons they're plowing through, but that's their decision.
of course, people that are using bots or some other method of cheating should be limited in the amount of xp they can get, or be punished in some way for abusing the xp system

But to separate bots and cheaters from regular hardworking users with this type of algorithm you need to calculate how much you actually can achieve in one day.

The penalty is not supposed to hit those who behave.

:sweden: N :gb: C1 :ru: B2 :fr: :es:B1 :de: :it: :netherlands: A1

User avatar
panyamnyenyekevu
Ukraine

Re: XP Farming & XP 'Bot' Cheaters

Post by panyamnyenyekevu »

If I make 100,000 xp in one week via power boosts, it’s not cheating. That’s all I want to say about that.

🇺🇦

User avatar
Kelikaku
Israel

Re: XP Farming & XP 'Bot' Cheaters

Post by Kelikaku »

Well it is correct to make the observation that there are two categories here, and that both are not the best thing for a user to do on the Duolingo site.

It is definitely against the Duolingo rules though, to "farm" points and also it is against other Duolingo rules to use electronic means to artificially compile points. One is "XP farming" and the other is "XP piracy." Both are different and both are wrong for different reasons.

"Farming" points is fine, to a point. Once a user has reached the #1 spot on the leaderboard, we have to be clear about that user's objective, and why that user is still trying to add points to his score. It might be a legitimate goal, but how? If it is an obsession, and not a goal, that is an issue. When a user becomes obsessed though, and the Duolingo system does nothing to obstruct that user from that obsession, that's where Duolingo is being unethical. It's not "FINE" when a person is spending hour upon hour per day on Duolingo, just to repeat the same drill over and over again, or the same story over and over again.

For example, if a person is at a bar, getting soused, after a certain point, the bartender and the bar owner themselves become liable for any repercussions that might ensue due to their negligence. That is why there are rules against a bartender "overserving" one of his patrons. Just an example.

With an XP farmer, Duolingo is "overserving" that user. It is unhealthy and Duolingo is being made a facilitator in the contribution of the deterioration of that user's health. It is not "cheating." Right. It is worse than cheating. The user is getting sick by spending too much time in front of a computer on the Duolingo website (or app). Also this kind of activity on the leaderboards causes other users who are trying just as hard to lose their spirit and some of them may become demoralized and even quit.

Thanks so very much.
Keep up the good work.

bs'd

User avatar
Stasia
Poland

Re: XP Farming & XP 'Bot' Cheaters

Post by Stasia »

How does one detect a "farmer" or a "cheater"?

What I saw lurking on people's Duome profiles, is that the high scoring ones tend to do endless challenges, or doing hard practice of their legendary skills. Which makes sense if a user has completed their tree, and wants to practice some more, but less sense for users who just began their trees. A few weeks ago I competed with a fellow who had just a few skills worked on, but who did the flirting bonus skill over and over and over again for many hours for a couple of days. He (based on the nickname I assume that was a "he") took only a few breaks to eat and go to the bathroom (looking at the time stamps of each attempt). I mean, who I am to judge, if someone is that much into flirting that's his right, :lol: but in the long run, the only person getting hurt is that user, as he wasted several hours of his life on just one thing, rather than learning something new.

What is ridiculously unfair is the different point systems depending on how you use Duolingo. On the website, it's 15 XP per lesson, no hard practice of purple skills, and no double XP bonuses. On the app/Android version (apparently it's different on the Apple version), it's up to 25 XP per lesson, 45 XP for hard practice of legendary skills, 40XP for "lightning round" challenges, and 15 minutes of double XP for completing each yellow crown. I do my lessons more often on the phone, and when I do that, I can easily rack up to 1000 XP in an hour. On the computer, no way, even if I just do legendary lessons.

So, I don't mind "cheaters" - they only end up cheating themselves. But what I do mind, is the inequality of the system. It really doesn't make sense (aside from the fact that we are all guinea pigs in the Duolingo lab, and so they probably use these inequalities to test something).

Native: :poland:; Fluent: :es:, :us:; Getting there: Image; Intermediate: :fr:; Beginner: :ukraine:

User avatar
Ali-Kat
Canada

Re: XP Farming & XP 'Bot' Cheaters

Post by Ali-Kat »

I think that getting rid of XP would be a good idea because trust me, when you start focusing on competing it can become easy to lose track of the language you are trying to learn and it becomes more about seeing the numbers go up. But that is really the selling point of Duolingo, the gamification of language learning. They want to make it feel like an addicting vidya game so people will use it longer and see more ads. I doubt they will fix something profitable like that anytime soon.
If I were put in charge of Duo's structure then I'd probably trash XP and replace it with percentage of words memorized and then that is what your level is based on. I think replacing the flat corporate style of the site with a cooler retro arcade feeling would be enough to sell it as a language video game. Have Duo the Wizard work down through the perilous language dungeon to reach the treasure after the last unit or something.

The bots are really nonsensical to me though. As far as I know, no one sells Duolingo accounts like they are high level MMO characters, so I don't see the point... :?

nom nom nom

Duolingo user since 2016

User avatar
Kelikaku
Israel

Re: XP Farming & XP 'Bot' Cheaters

Post by Kelikaku »

Stasia wrote: Wed Feb 23, 2022 6:07 pm

How does one detect a "farmer" or a "cheater"? ...

On Duome.eu it is possible to see how, from the 'raw' data output of a user's Duome page, evidence of clear XP piracy or clear XP farming. Some cases are a little ambiguous though. For example, the below screenshot shows what could easily be the user "farming" but also it is suspiciously consistent scoring without any error over a period of many, many hours: Image
--------
Here is a screenshot which shows that this user is clearly a "pirate" since the scores are both consistent without mistakes, and the timestamp shows that no human being could have achieved these scores with so short an interval:
Image

Thanks so very much.
Keep up the good work.

bs'd

User avatar
Stasia
Poland

Re: XP Farming & XP 'Bot' Cheaters

Post by Stasia »

Kelikaku wrote: Wed Feb 23, 2022 6:54 pm
Stasia wrote: Wed Feb 23, 2022 6:07 pm

How does one detect a "farmer" or a "cheater"? ...

On Duome.eu it is possible to see how, from the 'raw' data output of a user's Duome page, evidence of clear XP piracy or clear XP farming. Some cases are a little ambiguous though. For example, the below screenshot shows what could easily be the user "farming" but also it is suspiciously consistent scoring without any error over a period of many, many hours:

Here is a screenshot which shows that this user is clearly a "pirate" since the scores are both consistent without mistakes, and the timestamp shows that no human being could have achieved these scores with so short an interval:

40 XP every 2-3 minutes comes from the timed challenges. Number 1 in my current league has been doing these almost exclusively. 24 XP every 2-3 minutes is not out of the ordinary for lower level lessons (it should say on the right what lessons are those, if you click on Raw by Daily Progress).

The 10-100 XP in no time, however, these are odd, I never saw these before. What does it say these are, according to raw data?

Native: :poland:; Fluent: :es:, :us:; Getting there: Image; Intermediate: :fr:; Beginner: :ukraine:

Julian68953
United States of America

Re: XP Farming & XP 'Bot' Cheaters

Post by Julian68953 »

xp isn't too important unless you focus on leagues 110% of the time that you are on there

User avatar
pawndemic
Germany

Re: XP Farming & XP 'Bot' Cheaters

Post by pawndemic »

Julian68953 wrote: Wed Feb 23, 2022 10:20 pm

xp isn't too important unless you focus on leagues 110% of the time that you are on there

I never cared much about these XP cheaters. Once in while I notice some suspicious things, but at the end of the day, I am there for language learning reasons. If some wants to cheat, go for it. It doesn't hurt me. It isn't like in chess where cheater are actually hurting you in one way or the other. They can't steal my language progess.

All that gamingfication crap annoyes me. I don't need this. I have my own motivation. I don't need an artifical incentive system to keep me learning. They should offer two modes, one for gamers, one for learners.

native: 🇩🇪, B2 - C1: 🇬🇧 🇪🇸, A1: 🇫🇷 🇮🇹

User avatar
Kelikaku
Israel

Re: XP Farming & XP 'Bot' Cheaters

Post by Kelikaku »

Stasia wrote: Wed Feb 23, 2022 6:07 pm

... 10-100 XP in no time, however, these are odd, ... What does it say these are, according to raw data?

I remember asking this myself, apparently there were some tests that users could take, which would score 100XP, and there were bots that knew what code to send to the system in order to spoof the system.

I am not sure if the system is as vulnerable to that these days, or not. I am pretty sure they have tightened things up a little bit, since then, but as we already see, there are still that small number of users who are chalking up these huge numbers, and Duolingo just seems to be ignoring it.

You can see by the dates, that these data sets were from a few years ago.

Thanks so very much.
Keep up the good work.

bs'd

Julian68953
United States of America

Re: XP Farming & XP 'Bot' Cheaters

Post by Julian68953 »

pawndemic wrote: Thu Feb 24, 2022 12:25 am
Julian68953 wrote: Wed Feb 23, 2022 10:20 pm

xp isn't too important unless you focus on leagues 110% of the time that you are on there

I never cared much about these XP cheaters. Once in while I notice some suspicious things, but at the end of the day, I am there for language learning reasons. If some wants to cheat, go for it. It doesn't hurt me. It isn't like in chess where cheater are actually hurting you in one way or the other. They can't steal my language progess.

All that gamingfication crap annoyes me. I don't need this. I have my own motivation. I don't need an artifical incentive system to keep me learning. They should offer two modes, one for gamers, one for learners.

Actually not a bad idea!

User avatar
Stasia
Poland

Re: XP Farming & XP 'Bot' Cheaters

Post by Stasia »

pawndemic wrote: Thu Feb 24, 2022 12:25 am

They should offer two modes, one for gamers, one for learners.

There are two modes - the second one kicks in when you set your profile on private and thus opt out of the leagues.

Native: :poland:; Fluent: :es:, :us:; Getting there: Image; Intermediate: :fr:; Beginner: :ukraine:

User avatar
Heidi58

Re: XP Farming & XP 'Bot' Cheaters

Post by Heidi58 »

This is an interesting thread, and I think I can finally ask a question that I've been wondering about for a while. I've hesitated to ask it on the Duolingo Forums because I figured I'd be slammed with downvotes and unkind remarks. But this is a kinder, safer space, so I'm comfortable asking here.

Why do some consider it cheating when people earn XP by practicing simple skills and/or reading and rereading tons of stories?
I agree that it's not a very good use of their time, but what's dishonest about it?

I've never really understood why the stories earn so much more XP than lessons, or why the XP earned doesn't decrease on subsequent readings - but that's the way the site is set up. Those who don't feel like challenging themselves or those who struggle a bit more with learning vocabulary and need to practice previous skills before moving on can rack up XP pretty quickly. But is having different goals really cheating?

Help me understand....

"Knowledge of languages is the doorway to wisdom."
Roger Bacon
Native 🇺🇸 Learning 🇫🇷 and 🇩🇪

User avatar
AdrianC602

Re: XP Farming & XP 'Bot' Cheaters

Post by AdrianC602 »

pawndemic wrote: Thu Feb 24, 2022 12:25 am

They should offer two modes, one for gamers, one for learners.

They do...

Website, especially in "private" - learner
App - gamer

Not only the simplest way to deal with XP cheats, but the only one available to users, is... ignore the leagues completely. Why would anybody care how many XP another user has "earnt"?
If it's your real-life friend, then sure. But you almost certainly aren't in the same league as them. The leagues are just 29 total strangers who you have no way of contacting...

:it: (golden tree)
:fr: (80% golden tree)

User avatar
Jetdriver
Great Britain

Re: XP Farming & XP 'Bot' Cheaters

Post by Jetdriver »

I fell into the league nonsense to start with, and at the beginning the learning progress is swift. Indeed if you complete the first unit to legendary status, you can amass a lot of legitimate XP. However as progress is made further, there are more lessons to complete in each module and they obviously become more complex. I very quickly came to the conclusion that the whole idea behind the leagues is not to assist your learning but to gamify the app and have you spend more time on it, which means that the majority of people will watch more adverts!

So, I made my profile private thus disabling and hiding the leagues. I honestly have no care what others are doing. This is my learning experience. In so doing, I have afforded myself more time to write down new words and their translations and to review many more of the lesson discussion forums.

There are so many improvements that have been suggested which have been ignored by Duo. It really highlights what their motivations are. Most of the value is in the community led discussions and forums and the latter is about to be removed!

As an aside, I’ve racked up a legitimate 25,000 XP since Christmas and have just started unit 4. I downloaded a free Polish crime novel yesterday on iBooks. Nope, not a hope!! I think it’s going to take significantly more than Duolingo to have an appreciable understanding of any language.

That said, if I find myself in Warsaw I can now confidently point out to anyone interested when a duck is eating bread! :D

Native: 🇬🇧 Learning: 🇵🇱

User avatar
Stasia
Poland

Re: XP Farming & XP 'Bot' Cheaters

Post by Stasia »

Jetdriver wrote: Sat Feb 26, 2022 6:08 pm

As an aside, I’ve racked up a legitimate 25,000 XP since Christmas and have just started unit 4. I downloaded a free Polish crime novel yesterday on iBooks. Nope, not a hope!! I think it’s going to take significantly more than Duolingo to have an appreciable understanding of any language.

That said, if I find myself in Warsaw I can now confidently point out to anyone interested when a duck is eating bread! :D

Gratulacje! I don't think you will see too many ducks roaming the streets of Warsaw, but it's good to be ready just in case. ;) I see you already found your way to the Polish from English forum, and you can try your Polish on the Polish-speaking forum. Conversations about ducks eating bread are allowed and even encouraged. :lol:

Native: :poland:; Fluent: :es:, :us:; Getting there: Image; Intermediate: :fr:; Beginner: :ukraine:

η γατα
Great Britain

Re: XP Farming & XP 'Bot' Cheaters

Post by η γατα »

I really hate the leaderboards at the moment. I don't want to make my profile private, as I follow (and am followed by) some real life friends, and I guess that making my profile private would prevent me from doing that? I wish there was another way to switch them off.

At the moment I seem to be locked into leagues with users who have ridiculous scores. I used to use the leagues for motivation but now it's just demoralising. A friend of mine keeps winning his league with normal scores (around 1.5-2k) whereas I'm struggling to avoid being demoted with double that xp. I know it doesn't matter, and at the end of the day I'm using the app to learn and not to compete - but it's still irritating!

Native English speaker, learning Spanish & Greek

User avatar
Stasia
Poland

Re: XP Farming & XP 'Bot' Cheaters

Post by Stasia »

η γατα wrote: Mon Feb 28, 2022 10:21 am

I really hate the leaderboards at the moment. I don't want to make my profile private, as I follow (and am followed by) some real life friends, and I guess that making my profile private would prevent me from doing that? I wish there was another way to switch them off.

At the moment I seem to be locked into leagues with users who have ridiculous scores. I used to use the leagues for motivation but now it's just demoralising. A friend of mine keeps winning his league with normal scores (around 1.5-2k) whereas I'm struggling to avoid being demoted with double that xp. I know it doesn't matter, and at the end of the day I'm using the app to learn and not to compete - but it's still irritating!

Here's one solution: put your profile on private after the leagues change but before you do the lesson that lands you in a new league. (If you are already in a league this week, wait until Sunday to do that). Keep your profile on private for a few days, and rejoin the leagues on Friday. That will rejoin you with your followers and with those whom you follow (you don't lose them by temporarily putting yourself in private mode), and it will put you in a much more relaxed league.

Also: never, ever, ever, join a league within the first hour after the leagues change. This is where all the insane overachievers are! :lol:

Native: :poland:; Fluent: :es:, :us:; Getting there: Image; Intermediate: :fr:; Beginner: :ukraine:

User avatar
SweNedGuy
Belgium

Re: XP Farming & XP 'Bot' Cheaters

Post by SweNedGuy »

Apart from the DUO web version being less generous with XP than the app on IPhone or Android, what users focus on is paramount.

Too easy content on the app allows farming XP. For many of us, English is not our mother tongue. Learning my native Dutch from English isn't a challenge and would allow XP boosts by the dozens. Whether this would 'help improving my English' is open for debate. XP-farmers would claim it does, only to justify their 'operations'.

Similar to what Superessedi mentions above, I also lost my interest in competing for the first place in the diamond league after winning once (with little competition and less than 1400 XP over the week). In order to suppress competition, I switch to private mode after the leagues close on Sunday night. Setting the profile public again by mid week puts you in a meek league where demotion would require breaking your streak. Just a few lessons a day allows focusing on the more challenging content. (Daily XP surges only when getting 3 days PLUS on the house.)

Speaking :netherlands: :fr: :uk: :es: Learning :de:(B2-) :it:(B1) Image :sweden: :portugal: Image (A)

η γατα
Great Britain

Re: XP Farming & XP 'Bot' Cheaters

Post by η γατα »

I hadn't realised I could make my profile temporarily private without losing my connection with friends... thanks for the tip, I'll try that this week. I try not to care about the leaderboards but the whole thing just bugs me too much :roll:

Thanks for the suggestion!

Native English speaker, learning Spanish & Greek

User avatar
bookrabbit
Great Britain

Re: XP Farming & XP 'Bot' Cheaters

Post by bookrabbit »

I used to get really annoyed by this and just ignored the leagues but since the number of weeks spent at the top of the leagues has been being recorded I find it more motivating. I also recently got a new phone and so an updated version of the app. Previously I didn't have any of the xp boosting features and struggled to get more than a few hundred points a day. I actually find it very motivating when the lessons flow better and the xp boost makes me more persistent. I could never grind through the same exercise more than once, I don't have the degree of tolerance for boredom that would require and I pity those who do but lessons are quick to complete even at the end of trees these days as I am so familiar with the languages and I do learn well moving quickly. Afterall the goal is to be able to produce language quickly and fluidly, pauses for thought about which case to use needs not to happen you just need to know which to use and do it automatically. So xp farming can have a useful function when used to learn rather than just to harvest xp and distinguishing users who waste their opportunities to learn by confining themselves to just a few easy exercises would need to be done very carefully. But it could be done. Reducing xp awarded for repetition within a certain time frame is the obvious one.
But someone like me with so many trees could always find a different easy exercise to do if they wanted to if xp is all they cared about.
The trick is not throwing the baby out with the bathwater. I like the baby.

Language Hopper
maybe if I learn enough languages I will be able to understand people

Post Reply

Return to “Duolingo”