# #015

#### December *12, 2025**:-*** Bot Mitigation Enhancements & Trust Feedback Loops

### Purpose

To strengthen platform defense against manipulation by expanding behavioral detection, closing replay validation gaps, and adding initial feedback channels for trust scoring and community-driven moderation.

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### Key Highlights

🤖 **Expanded Bot Flagging Logic**

* Heatmap analytics enabled for in-match cursor/touch behavior across common devices.
* Flag thresholds adjusted based on data collected from over 3,000 real matches.
* Device/browser fingerprinting integrated to detect multi-account collusion patterns.
* Session telemetry now includes network jitter, average response time, and user interaction entropy.

🧾 **Replay Validator Hardening**

* Hash chain verification now checks for timestamp monotonicity, consistent move sequences, and replay order.
* Replays failing integrity checks are auto-flagged for admin review.
* Reconnect events annotated in match timeline for post-match analysis.

**📬 Trust Feedback Mechanism (For Future Alpha Version)**

* Players can now report suspicious matches directly from match history view.
* Admins can label reports as resolved, escalated, or false-positive—feeding back into training set.
* “Trusted Player” flagging introduced (non-public) for consistent, unflagged performance over 50+ matches.

**⚙️ Monitoring & Alerting Improvements**

* Grafana dashboards now visualize bot flag frequencies, replay anomalies, and match abandonment clusters.
* Alerting rules added to notify staff on flag surges, replay failures, and outlier match stats.

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### Why It Matters

* Detecting subtle bot or manipulation behaviors early is key to long-term competitive integrity.
* Community-involved flagging closes gaps that pure automation may miss.
* Replay system validation ensures post-match data isn’t corrupted or falsified.
* Trust signals will inform future matchmaking, leaderboards, and referral bonuses.

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### Open Issues

* Certain stylus/tablet interactions still trigger false bot flags.
* Trust score decay not yet reversible after a successful dispute appeal.
* Replay anomalies currently lack detailed error messages in admin tools.

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### Fixed

* Reconnect-related duplicate moves now correctly suppressed in replay logs.
* Flagged matches are now removed from leaderboard/ELO calculations until resolved.
* Device fingerprint hashes now regenerate only on substantial config changes (not on refresh).

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### Next Steps

* Begin appeal workflow for flagged users to submit context or contest decisions.
* Link trust score impacts to referral eligibility and leaderboard visibility.
* Improve admin annotation UI with per-move flag reason overlays.
* Tune heatmap model to better distinguish high-speed play from automation.