The official press release is as below:
It has come to our attention, that certain parties have decided to start using very shady and unsportsmanlike methods of sending 4 or 5 commands in less then 150 mill seconds. Due to your fellow players need to cheat, we have decided to add a new rule.
We are well aware of the opera method of sending trains, and that most players, when they try can get down to 150ms sometimes, which we are fine with, and is perfectly legal. All players have access to these forums, to those guides, and to the Opera browser.
From this point on, any string of 4 or 5 commands that is launched in less then 150ms is considered illegal and will be punishable.
Punishments range from 24 hour bans, to losing villages for every "train" or string of commands, obviously the more you do this the more lose and the more you get banned. We will permanently ban any player who does not heed these rules and end up banned multiple times for offenses such as these, as we have with all other problem players.
We are aware there might be some complaints but 99% of all trains sent under 150ms are done by illegal methods.
Exact copy of the rule:
15) Technical Advantages
The use of ANY technical improvements, changes in Operating Systems, and/or bugs in hardware that affect timing of attacks are strictly illegal. This also includes the use of packet generators and/or packet delayers. Furthermore, this deems all attacks and supports of four commands(commonly known as trains) SENT consecutively in 149ms or less as illegal. All other guidelines in Rule §11) Bots and Scripts must also be followed.Examples:
- It is allowed to time or coordinate your attacks from different villages, or the same village, to hit at any given interval.
- It is illegal to send a string of 4 commands consecutively in less then 150 ms.
We urgently suggest all players to read this rule as well as all other rules & examples in their entirety.
http://tribalwars.net/rules.php
To players who may or may not know what a "train" is, its what players on tribalwars.net call a series of 4 or 5 attacks, normally these include a nobleman to noble the village. Sometimes these contain only rams and small amounts of troops and are sent as "fake noble trains" to distract the enemy.