They said that most of the players involved with the trading exploit were only warned in the first place and not even suspended. Seems logical to assume that suspensions followed said warning.
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SWTOR Player Banned for Looting Above His Level - confirmed, with a caveat.
- Thread starter LiK
- Start date
They said that most of the players involved with the trading exploit were only warned in the first place and not even suspended. Seems logical to assume that suspensions followed said warning.
I agree with this. EA should take actions against players destabilizing the economy, but banning players is the wrong way to do it.
Man, I really tried to "like" this post. I'm glad that I decided not to give EA my money on this one. I understand trying to keep some degree of balance in your game, but the biggest MMO devs are going way too far. It has completely killed WoW for me, and it looks like EA will treat this game the same way.
I can't say that I blame them.
That seems like a legit way to exploit.
Blizzard recently sent out mass bannings to hardcore guilds that were abusing the Dragon Soul LFR. They took 24 people who already did the dungeon and could no longer loot, and then one person who didn't. And then they did it over and over. It seems like a similar way of exploiting, except that EA are giving people who are doing this a warning first while Blizzard decided to salt the earth.
But of course no one is going to actually read any of this, and the thread will continue to be people taking the word of some guy who got angry he was banned for exploiting a mechanic.
les papillons sexuels
Banned
they also banned players who were stealthing through instances and farming chests above their levels.
Really? Those two words go together in something as fragile as an MMO world?
I'm not really an expert on MMOs, but I thought that getting cash and maximizing player advancement efficiency were traits of good players.
XiaNaphryz
LATIN, MATRIPEDICABUS, DO YOU SPEAK IT
pieatorium
Member
I don't remeber that, I remeber them removing all chests from high level(maybe all?) instances for a while and then implementing the 5 instances per hour limit.
To the publishers, a "good player" is one that stays on the treadmill as long as possible in order to maximize the amount of monthly fees they can squeeze out of them. An exploit means that players reach the end of the content sooner and cancel their subscriptions much earlier than expected.
les papillons sexuels
Banned
there were a couple bannings too. MMO economy is serious business.
It sounds like EA did not think out their zone properly. Myself I think the line to cross for direct intervention against individual players is somewhere around duping items.
Exploit Early, Exploit Often.
Mama Robotnik
Member
I think its perfectly reasonable.
What type if self-absorbed, arrogant developer bans players for playing their game in an unforeseen (but completely legitimate) way?
I'd hate to play a game, with the omnipresent concern that if I play it in a way not prescribed by Bioware's internal masterplan, they will ban me for it. Its made me certain that I'm never, ever playing this game, after all, what if I play it wrong?
Its completely fucking absurd. How this terrible studio made some of the greatest games ever last generation, I have no idea.
For the in game economy and more grindy aspects the developers and players do have a very arms length transaction of the developers trying to stretch subs are far as they can and the players trying to do the least "work" for whatever part of the game they enjoy.
The good player also probably fits some community based goals making the game seem less empty. Someone only paying a few hours a month may be worth a bit less than someone playing a few a week because of network effects on other players. They also want some power gamers for the low and medium guys to see what sort of gear or abilities are later in the game.
Sho_Nuff82
Member
And people still give EA their money. When will you learn? When?
These innocent ducklings were oblivious to what they were doing and their accounts were assassinated by EA in cold blood. What a shame.
Angelus Errare
Banned
Surprised I didn't get banned for making 1m credits with splicing before they nerfed it. =O
MuddyDonut
Member
I think the amount of people defending EA and Bioware are more absurd than the bannings themselves.
Get banned.
Also, why is it so criminal of a studio to not allow the entire MMO economy get thrown out of whack, just because a couple of smart kids figure they can exploit an aspect of their game? I think it's good that the game sets an example of "if you know you're doing something wrong, you're gonna get banned" - setting it up so that you can 'tip'(?) the map by having people on each side for the purpose of looting a chest is pretty obviously exploiting a game mechanic, and not really something you can plead innocence on. They were warned, they were suspended. Done deal.
I don't support this whole "they should've thought this one through, so they should never have banned them" - yes, maybe QA should've picked up on this, but some things slip by. Does that mean it's OK to do it? Nope. Does that mean it's not OK to prevent it from continuing to happen before they can patch it out? Nope.
If someone exploits, you stop them from doing it, then you stop others from being able to do the same. Again, this was never something one person could do alone. They were more people in on it, and even on opposing factions. If you say "well, sometimes factions need to work together for the better good", then you're not getting the whole meta-game thing. If you're exploiting something on a meta-game level, it ain't OK.
So it's like if an acquaintance invited me over to their brand new house and I decided to shit on his new rug. He can ask me to stop that or leave or even kick me out but if I have shit and he has a floor and I'm directly above said floor, he seriously better re-design his house if he doesn't want his floors shat on! IT'S THE ONLY REASONABLE WAY TO VIEW SUCH A THING!!!
No, you can still do that today if you wanted to. A Korean guild employed this and got world first kills on the last 2 bosses - they were not banned.
US / EU guilds were banned for deliberate exploiting. They would disconnect / logout just before a boss died. They would be eligible loot once logging back in, but would not be 'saved' to that boss. People had full sets of all the LFR gear and it was pretty much the textbook definition of exploiting.
Sounds like being a smart player. EA should have just given a warning first.
They said a number of accounts were "warned or temporarily suspended", so it sounds like most of these people were warned and stopped doing it.
Any MMO developer that cares about their playerbase.
I played MMOs primarily to break them so I'd probably be one of the ones trying to work this to my advantage. That said, once told to stop, it's pretty obvious that one should stop. This is an oversight by the developers and I don't blame them issuing warnings about it; bans seem excessive, barring those who continued after being told to stop, however.
Hell, as someone just looking in from the sidelines, I'm actually surprised at how fast they got to it. I think that's the bigger thing to take from this. How many other little glitches, exploits, loopholes, etc. in MMOs took months to get fixed despite the public outcry about them?
Hell, as someone just looking in from the sidelines, I'm actually surprised at how fast they got to it. I think that's the bigger thing to take from this. How many other little glitches, exploits, loopholes, etc. in MMOs took months to get fixed despite the public outcry about them?
Neuromancer
Member
Pretty lame, reminds me somewhat of MS banning people over the javelin glitch in MW2.
If it's in the game, it's fair play as far as I'm concerned.
If it's in the game, it's fair play as far as I'm concerned.
Interfectum
Member
technically gold farming is "in the game" so should that be allowed too?
Yeah fix the design and move on. Maybe decrease the drop of the exploited resource until the supply is back where they want it to be. Banning is overkill. It's not like they were item duping or something like that.
Neuromancer
Member
That's not a valid comparison as gold farming by definition takes place, at least partially, outside of the game.
The Technomancer
card-carrying scientician
I've got to call fake until its super duper confirmed, this would be beyond evil.
EDIT: Maybe I'm not understanding how serious the activity was if people are defending it so vocally.
EDIT: Maybe I'm not understanding how serious the activity was if people are defending it so vocally.
RurouniZel
Asks questions so Ezalc doesn't have to
This shit makes hate MMOs. Thanks for the $60, but we're banning you from playing the game because we're shitty designers who can't stand when our big budget piece of shit is played in a legit, non-hacked way to best take advantage of our shitty design.
And we're not giving you your $60 back. Thanks, sucker!
And we're not giving you your $60 back. Thanks, sucker!
...isn't that an oxymoron?
Not really. It's like a 101-year-old walking into a store with a "your age off the price" offer and getting money from buying something. Against the original intent, but would you call the 101-year-old evil or clever?
you gotta watch Extreme Couponing
RurouniZel
Asks questions so Ezalc doesn't have to
It isn't. Exploit =/= Cheat
Exploit = discovering an aspect of the game that is advantageous to the player, and using it. No codes/cheating devices/hack/outside programs required. In other words, not the player's fault the developer left the door wide open.
Cheat = using something outside of the programming code like a cheat device/hack/outside program to break the game. Especially evil if used in online games.
Was anyone actually banned? If so, weren't they banned after in-game warnings (like, actual warnings of being told to stop exactly what they were doing)? Can't really shift blame there. Yeah, it really should have been fixed (like, say, given a neutral PvE state for the original claiming) but it sounds like it was a rather big deal and handled relatively promptly.
Zomba13
Member
Gold farming is ban worthy because the players are making money off of the game by selling the gold for real world currency. If they just farmed the gold and didn't sell it then of course it's allowed.
Rollo Lawson
Banned
if the actual developers were safely able to say these were game exploits, i dont see an issue. the statement implies that the line between normal activity and what was actually happening is pretty clear.
Doesn't this rather depend on how 'legitimate' is defined? I mean, I find your argument perfectly valid - but I don't define the rules.
Anyone recall the silo bug from the original Command & Conquer? You were meant to have to build silos to increase the cap on the amount of Tiberium you could stockpile at any given time, but there was an exploit which meant you could get by with just one silo.
It's not the player's fault that the door was left open, no. But it's clearly *wrong*, and still unfair to make use of it in a multiplayer match with an opponent who doesn't make use of it.
Neuromancer
Member
Except in this case because it "result[ed] in the game economy becoming unbalanced."
The thousands of people that exploited the pre-patch slicing didn't get a warning or got banned.
(I assume this is true, as nobody in the TOR OT has said anything nor have I received one.)
So maybe there is a difference between exploiting a game mechanic like slicing and purposefully flipping zones to generate money which is only possible by not attacking members of the opposite faction.
(I assume this is true, as nobody in the TOR OT has said anything nor have I received one.)
So maybe there is a difference between exploiting a game mechanic like slicing and purposefully flipping zones to generate money which is only possible by not attacking members of the opposite faction.