Guild Wars exploit stopped, accounts banned

[Kefkataran]

Blue's News (http://www.bluesnews.com/cgi-bin/board.pl?action=viewthread&threadid=57866) brings us news that ArenaNet has fixed an exploit in Guild Wars that allowed players to redo a certain, high-XP battle over and over again by winning it in a certain way so as to not trigger a cutscene. Apparantly there were a number of accounts that were banned for using this bug as well.

[Zeal]

Banning accounts for exploits that are fault of the developer is nonsense. Fuck'em.

[Kefkataran]

Zeal: From what I understand about the exploit, I agree completely. If it was one that involved griefing other players or something, maybe I'd understand, but something like this where no one is hurt and it really doesn't bypass any content (just extra grinding hours). Well, who cares?

It sounds like there were only a few accounts banned, though, ones that were using the exploit a very large amount. Still, let's hope ArenaNet doesn't continue a policy of banning accounts like this.

[vornskr]

So I guess they should be given a slap on the wrist for cheating while everybody else grinds the hard way?

whatever.

[Genital Eclipse]

Zeal, grandma called she said we need to meet her at the Wisco Parlor Festival tomorrow at noon for our weekly triple-footed cow routine.

[Aries7777]

They banned some people who found an easy way around something, it wasn't hurting anybody else.

[Wyrm]

I really could go either way on that because on the one hand, it's the developer's fault the bug even exists, but on the other, the players have a responsibilty to report something like that so that it doesnt ruin the balancing created by earning normal xp.

I'm all for the easy way out. I wish everything could be that way. But, there are rights that a game company has over you, especially moral ones, when you arent paying a monthly fee. You arent paying to upkeep them, you already paid for your game, so you arent a loss to them. If people stop playing, they dont stop making money, so banning some accounts wont hurt them in the least.

[ldi222]

I always thought exploits were fair game but Arena.net made it pretty clear what their policy was with this move and statement. I might have used that exploit a time or two if I knew about it but now that I know what they will do I sure as hell wont use one. It does create a nice culture of support for the integrity of their game by placing the onus on the users not to use an exploit but to report it.

[kickmybum]

I think Arena.net is in a special situation where they can afford to ban whoever they want, for whatever reason they want, simply because they're not paying a monthly fee.

[ldi222]

Not if they expect their users to buy the next expansion pack. Honestly I think guild wars is the perfect platform for episodic content. This move does seem a bit heavy handed for their first ban though. I think a warning the first time would have been sufficient.

[UnderHero5]

Hey, it's in the EULA that users agree to when they sign up to play the game. If they choose not to read the EULA and then willfully use exploits, that's their fault.

I like this policy. It will help keep people in line knowing that there is zero tollerance.

[Kefkataran]

I like this policy. It will help keep people in line knowing that there is zero tollerance.

It's less likely to keep people in line than it is to make people less anxious to try anything new or use the product at all. It's in the EULA that they can ban people for whatever they consider an exploit, yes, and I'm not arguing that these people should now be unbanned. It's just, like someone said previously, this is a bit heavy-handed for their first banning situation.

[Hizawky]

Thank god they did not ban for the essence bond stuff. I would be banned countless timers over if so =P

Or the Balth Aura. I do not even want to think of how many sigils I got from those two.

[Kefkataran]

Dear Hizawky: Please explain. :P not far enough into GW yet to understand what you're talking about.

[Hizawky]

Essence Bond:

One monk in PvP would cast life bond on everyone. Everyone would cast essence bond on that monk. Whenever anyone got hit, everyone would get one mana. It gives you unlimited mana.

Balth Aura: 5 smite monks with echo and balth aura would cast it all on one target. This one person would become the aura of god, as he does about 600 damage per second just standing near anyone.

[Zeal]

Zeal, grandma called she said we need to meet her at the Wisco Parlor Festival tomorrow at noon for our weekly triple-footed cow routine.

That was GUUUUUHHH----RAAAATTTEEE!!

One sec, let me get your straight-jacket.

[Undertakr]

Actually, this is the second instance of banning on guild wars. They banned a ton of people who were using bots a week or two ago. Even this banning was in the middle of last week or Friday, can't remember. Read about it on the Guild Wars homepage. (Imagine that!)

If you ever played Diablo, Total Annihilation, etc you know that exploit abusers suck and, ultimately, GW is a PVP game, not a PVE game, so cheating in PVE to be better in PVP does deserve a ban.

I knew a guy who figured out how to hide your commander in TA where no one could even see it (off screen) and he'd go into the TA ladder matches and challenge the best players, immediately hide the commander off screen and leave the game running. The other person would get so frustrated they'd quit the game, giving them a loss and my friend a win. That sucks.

To me, someone how knows the found a loop hole and keeps trying it to make sure it's a bug doesn't deserve to be banned, as long as they report it when they figure it out. However, if you go back over and over for days and never report it, screw you. Get the boot.

I think ultimately the fact that GW is getting rid of cheaters makes the common masses feel safer in their purchase that some jacknut isn't going to ruin their game experience.

[Kefkataran]

I think ultimately the fact that GW is getting rid of cheaters makes the common masses feel safer in their purchase that some jacknut isn't going to ruin their game experience.

Of course what must be remembered is this wasn't cheating in the normal sense and what the people were doing wasn't affecting any one else's experience. Still, good points.

[Draft]

If they were warned that it was an exploit and then continued to do it, banning is the only acceptable solution.

[Verocity]

Banning accounts for exploits that are fault of the developer is nonsense. Fuck'em.

LOL! You must be a trial lawyer or a fan thereof since you you have no sense of self responsibility.

And I rate that just above pond scum but slighly below cow sh*t.

Have a nice day. :)

[Kefkataran]

If they were warned that it was an exploit and then continued to do it, banning is the only acceptable solution.

I totally agree with that. If they were warned. Giving ArenaNet the benefit of the doubt, then this was the right thing to do.

[Mason]

There's a difference between this and the Balth Aura thing. Stacking Balth Aura needed to be fixed, but it was legitimate use of a skill as presented in game. It cheesed me off to die to that (esp since Koreans seemed to love it), but I never wished a ban on anyone. Beating bosses over and over is a clear violation of the game's mechanics. Everyone who did it knew they were doing something wrong, and getting something for nothing.

By definition, every single exploit you can produce in a game is in some way the developer's fault. You exploit flaws, and flaws are developers' mistakes. So you either let every single hacker run rampant all over your game, or you hold people responsible for knowingly abusing exploits. But there can never be accountability if you excuse exploitative behavior simply because it used a flaw in the game's code.

[Rommel]

We used to grind CoH's outdoor missions for days and days. Until the enemies were green, just because it was the best source for multiple mobs. Never considered undertaking a task without finishing cheating myself...

[Kefkataran]

Rommel: Currently have a CoH account and I don't think they've made any moves to fix farming of outdoor missions. So in that case, would it count as an exploit? Theoretically it could be considered one. Interesting to ponder.

[Mister Pie]

Well, if you knew how the exploit worked maybe you'd think differently. Getting the xp exploit to work involved the users purposely quitting the application (a la alt-f4) in the middle of a cutscene and then repeating a certain mission over and over again. This isn't some bug where some monster spawned repeatedly in the same area over and over again without any player interaction-- it involved very purposeful action on the behalf of the exploiter.

Secondly if you look over in the guildwarsguru.com forum one of the representatives from A.net says they only used the ban stick in cases where there were clear cases of abuse (I think she mentions that maybe only a dozen or so accounts were banned). So even if you used the exploit a couple of times, you didn't get banned.

How anyone can blame a.net for this is beyond me.

[Kefkataran]

Mister Pie, that info definitely makes it sound like A.Net's in the right here, I agree.