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Update: Cryptic Offers Insight Into Recent Neverwinter Ban Wave Over In-Game Exploit
SBFord
Former Associate EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 33,129
Neverwinter Implements Huge Ban Wave After Hunt Exploit Goes Crazy - MMORPG.com
Cryptic Studios acknowledged on September 12th that there was an exploit in the Neverwinter Barovia Hunts "that bypasses the intended gameplay" and that the company was working to patch the issue as soon as possible. The post further indicated that "any character found using the exploit will be subject to possible actions taken against player accounts as per Terms of Service". It appears that the "actions taken against player accounts" happened over this past weekend.
SEPTEMBER 25th - UPDATE - We have updated our original article with a statement from Cryptic Studios about the exploit ban wave.
Players were notified about the exploit and abuse consequences via an official statement from our Community Manager on the ArcGames.com Forums, which was also replicated on Reddit. Exploits such as this one can negatively impact the health of Neverwinter and affects all its players. The exploit is now fixed; players who chose to abuse the Hunts system were in violation of our Terms of Service, so action was taken against them. Any players who would like to dispute actions against their account may contact our Customer Service team.
Comments
This is a bit like a government telling people about a tax loophole or a TV company telling people how to get free TV. I see no evidence of why it will work better, but I do see evidence of disgruntled players complaining about bans. They always do.
I know...rubbish
Okay so Exploits, if a player or players had no idea it was an exploit, or it was punish worthy it should have clearly been noted on the gmae / launcher a "Description OF The Exploit" and a "warning" telling players not to do it, not just ban of many users accounts for playing the game.
Also if it was a known issue they could have easily disabled the feature, or access to the feature, and done a better job, but clearly Cryptic, is just another studio that wants to blame the consumer than take responsibility for their bad code in a game.
Beta tester maniac
You are new to posting on official forums, no?
Of course they moderated it, did you really expect any other result?
"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
"I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
Sherman's Gaming
Youtube Content creator for The Elder Scrolls Online
Channel:http://https//www.youtube.com/channel/UCrgYNgpFTRAl4XWz31o2emw
Oh no, I'm sure bans are sorted out along the lines of,
1) spends lots in cash shop on a regular basis, short, temporary ban, maybe none at all if really good customer. (Just a stern warning perhaps)
2) spends minor amounts or hasn't spent in a while, longer but still temporary bans.
3) totally f2p customer....perma bans.
"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
"I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
SNIP
No. This is like you discovering a way to steal cable and then getting in trouble. The devs didnt tell people to do the exploit. Grow up
Which made a population drop and forced them to fix it. (Although lots of parts of that game is still a buggy exploitable mess. From invisible walls in dungons leading to boss short cuts, to leading trains to kill afk players etc).
Does not surprise me they knew it had a problem and just hand out stupid bans.
They should PAY THE PLAYERS that exploited. I work in IT and anyone that does free user bug searches and exploits it to the maximum helps us find solutions. Don't just spot it and cry "I found something". Exploit it's weaknesses and use it often...this is where you the gamer has to unplug your sad real life political outlook and see it from a logical computing standing point, since the two do not exist in the same realm (yes your SJW rule set and your "I know how the inside works" knowldge base sadly ends where it starts: in forums and braging posts).
You do them a huge favor finding that error since they can not have every inch of virtual space covered, and sometimes just patching hole doesn't stop the leak, so the maximum effectivness of the exploit is necessary.
You also get conflicting natures of gamers finding exploits. In World of Warcraft there used to be a dungeon enterence, but to get there meant wadding though these baby dragonling fights that last an additional 40 minutes and use a lot of ressources in pots and preperation to get past them. It was a snowy forest setting under a mountainous cave.
Bored players or should I say, dedicated players, explored the woods around the dungeon, and I spent many hours with these explroe parties just hanging out talking on chat....typical time wate day...we jumped on the cave talking about how cool it could be to raid this....then a friend found, jumping on a mountain side, foot holdings in the invisible wall...and you jump turn camera a certain way you can walk/hike up the mountain, and drop down into the dungeon avoiding the enterence trash. This was awaesome! And I had a collect quest to get something at enterence, and I could not solo those dragonlings....SO I used this method.... Something naturaly virtual was felt about this, almost like a real hiking experience, it brought us together, and finding foot holds ona mountains face etc just felt fun, immersive, and we we swore this was put in place intentionally to create this kind of "put time in out unexplored stuff, and get rewarded"....and at this time, where mmorpg gaming for the masses was new, we were blind to this being an offensive exploit... thankfully we did get thanks for pointing it out, never punished, and they put thicker invisible walls up....(of course I would earlier be banned for saying noob....that was at OB launch though, and noob was a controversial insult....now they use it in marketing exploits....)
So....I dunno.... I personally see this as defective merchandise and people should not be banned. YOu , the EMPLOYE! Left the door to the candy room unlocked and in turn kids ran in and ate lots of candy....YOu kill the kids or man up , fix the problem, move along. If it upsets your economy, rethink your payment models.
I will never trust anything coming out of the mouth of Cryptic Studios.
Everyone already forgotten about the huge exploits and duping that was rampant in Neverwinter's first month?
They didn't do a rollback, they didn't take anything away and the massive exploiters just got a slap on their wrist (3 day ban).
I knew enough back then, left the game and never turned back.
I'm particularly fond of the "I was just helping out their overworked QA department" excuse
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거북이는 목을 내밀 때 안 움직입니다
ahahaha so true
Beta tester maniac
Maybe I am just old school, or because Im getting old and not a millennial. But 100% this. An exploit is cheating, it always has been, and hopefully it always will be. Cheating is bad, no matter what your millennial minds believe, and if you do it, and get caught, you should be punished. And no, a bug or exploit does not have a timer attached in which it becomes not a bug or exploit anymore. Anyone trying to tell you otherwise is just looking for justification for their own cheating. Content creators do not make the rules, and can not decide when something is a "feature" or if its cheating. If you got banned for listening to a YouTuber, you most definitely deserved it. I feel theres more I could say on the subject, but it would be wasted on most anyways, so I will leave with a final note. DO NOT CHEAT. You may not get caught the first time, but you will get caught. It will catch up to you, and then you will cry and beg for your account back, and seek sympathy where there is none. Dont want to go to jail, dont break the law. Its a pretty simple process.
거북이는 목을 내밀 때 안 움직입니다
Similar case (not Neverwinter but CO, so... Cryptic) when a few months ago they took away the free character slots and they said it was just a bug. A bug, since the launch. And what they specifically used to promote the subscription, as one of the sub's main perk. Of course when their noses were pushed into it, they quickly removed the old posts.
So, it is a double edged sword. A bug has no timer, it won't turn into non-bug after a specific time. And from the other side, a long-existing feature won't turn into a bug overnight if that suits the income of a company.
(not applicable to this specific case in the article, that was a clear exploit. Not on the magnitude of Caturday, but still a legit and deserved banhammer swinging)
I think there are no gray areas here, either you exploited or you did not, simple really.