But the question here is, if two or more people (not multinicks) play together in a pond, is that really the same as "losing on purpose for the goal of boosting ratings" ? That is at least debatable - I imagine team play could take many forms. Why not remove all doubt and put it in the pond rules? Besides, that's the obvious place for users to look if they are in doubt.

To me, this entire incident is mainly a result of unclear rules and/or rules that are in place but not implemented. It's still unclear whether team play is actually allowed in ponds although it seems like we're all against it. And everybody knows that multinicks, although outruled, are neglected and allowed in practice. All this creates an environment where it's easy to speculate about all kinds of cheating. (Which is why I think this subject should have stayed on the BrainKing.com board - like Gabriel Almeida said, "this is not about ponds, but about BK politics")