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Ask Massively: No idea what's coming edition

Eliot Lefebvre — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: Business models, Culture, Game mechanics, Opinion, Ask Massively, Miscellaneous

I don't know what's going to happen next in the MMO industry. I have my guesses, sure, but unless I'm fairly certain, I just don't feel right putting them up here. I certainly would not have ever imagined a world where APB: Reloaded was successful, or one where Lineage II goes free-to-play, and until it was announced, I wouldn't dare dream of WildStar. Heck, half the time I'm not sure I understand what's going on at any given moment, much less several months down the line.

This week's Ask Massively received several questions that require me to be more confident about my predictions than I actually am, but it does contain a question about the future of Aion and a question on the past, present, and future of cheating. If you've got a question you'd like to see answered in a future installment of the column, leave it in the comments below or send it along to ask@massively.com. Questions may be edited slightly for clarity and/or brevity.

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Ask Massively: No idea what's coming edition originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 12 Jan 2012 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Breakdancing breaks SWTOR enemies' spirits [Updated]

Justin Olivetti — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 09:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, Bugs, Humor, Star Wars: The Old Republic

We've heard of many a bug and exploit in MMOs over the years, but sometimes there comes along one special case that is so entertaining you can't help but wonder if some mischievous developer planned it on purpose.

Such is the case with Star Wars: The Old Republic's latest glitch, where players busting a groove actually affects combat. According to several sources that confirmed this, by typing /getdown during combat (a dance move) enemies attacking you will be continually interrupted -- including bosses. Perhaps the bad guys were so amazed that players could do the moonwalk that they become stunned out of awe?

If you're hoping to wield your incredible dance powers for either the light or dark side of the Force, know that BioWare is fully aware of this exploit. Considering that the studio removed all mentions of the bug on the forums, we can assume that a fix is coming to the game sooner rather than later.

[Thanks to Kaizlu for the tip!]

[UPDATE: The Reverend Shaw Moore has arrived in SWTOR and accounts are being banned for getting down. Accounts taking advantage of this bug are being sanctioned with the explanation that the offending characters "participated in abusing game mechanics to prevent enemy NPCs from targeting the user", and that "dancing is currently not permitted outside of special Dance Zones."]

[UPDATE #2: BioWare sent us a note saying that the previous update was based on a troll posting to Reddit and that this is a "fake ban email."]

Breakdancing breaks SWTOR enemies' spirits [Updated] originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 04 Jan 2012 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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APB Reloaded cracks down on cheaters

Brendan Drain — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: Economy, MMO industry, News items, All Points Bulletin, Crime, Dev Diaries

Cheating and exploiting are problems that plague all MMOs, and developers often go to great lengths to detect offenders. In a new APB Reloaded devblog, developer TechMech explains the company's latest and highly successful attempts to rid the game of cheaters. Three major hacks were targeted, and every account that had ever used the hacks was banned overnight. TechMech won't go into details about how exactly the hackers were observed, but he does say that a second anti-cheat patch is coming to wipe out any players who choose to continue hacking.

TechMech is considering offering a kind of amnesty to cheaters, stating that anyone who uninstalls all hacks and plays legitimately may be permitted to continue playing. Perhaps the most shocking statistic in the devblog was that almost 50% of the banned accounts were paid accounts, and some had over 1500 hours of gameplay on them. TechMech went on to estimate the revenue that the three main cheat-makers had been generating as between $15,000 and $50,000 per month each, with users spending $30 per month on hacks.

APB Reloaded cracks down on cheaters originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 02 Oct 2011 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hotfix deployed for EVE Online invisibility exploit

Brendan Drain — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 16:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Culture, Exploits, Forums, Game mechanics, Patches, PvP, News items

Last week, we brought you the news that a terrible exploit had made itself known in EVE Online. The exploit allegedly involved filtering network traffic for specific packets which told the server to join the local chat channel. As a result, the player would remain hidden in the local channel and could sneak up on unsuspecting victims for an easy kill. Most of the controversy surrounding the exploit hinges on whether or not a certain group of players from Pandemic Legion alliance had been abusing the bug to kill farmers and macros. "The MonkeySphere" and his crew have spent months killing the macro element in nullsec using an unannounced but clearly effective strategy. Suspecting him of cheating, Russian players managed to recreate a set of conditions under which a player would remain hidden from the local channel.

Although posting the actual exploit details is not permitted on the official EVE forums, the thread discussing the exploit and The MonkeySphere's alleged involvement has now exceeded 50 pages. Showing a refreshing sense of transparency, CCP opted to keep the thread open while they investigated. Players used the thread to bring forth evidence of the exploit in action and filed bug reports on the issue. On Tuesday, CCP announced that a hotfix for the exploit had been deployed which should prevent the exploit from being used. Meanwhile, debate over The MonkeySphere's involvement with the exploit continue in the original discussion thread.

Hotfix deployed for EVE Online invisibility exploit originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 29 Apr 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Blizzard bans Battle.net accounts before WotLK launch

James Egan — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 14:30:00 EST

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Exploits, Game mechanics, MMO industry, News items, Legal

Blizzard recently announced that they'd be switching over to a new centralized account system, tying together the company's online games through Battle.net. Existing World of Warcraft accounts are essentially replaced by Battle.net accounts, and will allow for the tracking of achievements across the Blizzard titles. But some players, roughly 350,000 of them, found another unexpected feature arrived with the Battle.net account integration: bans.

Gamesindustry.biz reports: "Blizzard has revealed that is has closed over 350,000 StarCraft and Diablo II accounts which were found to be using third-party hacks. The company further revealed that the Diablo II CD keys associated with the closed accounts are now barred from playing on Battle.net for 30 days and warned that repeat offenders face a permanent ban." Check out the full report over at Gamesindustry.biz, along with a statement from Blizzard about the bans.

Blizzard bans Battle.net accounts before WotLK launch originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 12 Nov 2008 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The great divide between EVE's players and developers

James Egan — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 15:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Forums, Game mechanics, MMO industry, Opinion

Once upon a time, there was a game about internet spaceships set in a vast galaxy, just waiting to be explored and conquered. It wasn't a huge game in terms of subscribers, in fact it was quite niche, but its small following was devoted. The size of the community allowed the developers to really interact with them and refine the game. The devs were approachable, open, and direct. In many respects, the players and developers were friends. All seemed well in the internet spaceships game, until the player base's numbers grew, and so did the collective din of their voices. The developers soon found they had to be careful about what they said to the players, in case they'd be accused of going back on their word somewhere down the line. At the same time, the game company grew to handle all of these new faces. As with most internet communities, the ever-growing numbers of players became more and more hostile, and the developers grew more and more silent...

Then, a developer -- let's call him "t20" -- used his knowledge of the game to cheat a little. Some players received an unfair advantage over others because of this lapse of judgment, and it was revealed publicly. The players became enraged. The developers were embarrassed and apologetic. Many players left the game, or at least loudly professed that they would. Many perceived that the developers, seen as a whole, were untrustworthy. Given how bad this situation was, and seeing no real way to change these perceptions, the game's creators had to accept that this was how things were. The people who built up the game from nothing saw little recourse but to withdraw even further from the very community which was so vital to their success. Does our story end there?

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The great divide between EVE's players and developers originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 01 Sep 2008 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Runescape cheater exposes his 'black market' organization

James Egan — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 20:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Bugs, Exploits, Game mechanics, Making money, RuneScape, Legal

PlayNoEvil points out an interesting blog entry on cheating in Runescape. The poster, who wishes to remain anonymous, describes himself as a retired Runescape cheater who devoted five years to the 'darker side' of the game. He states, "This article details all the intricacies of Runescape and cheating and what really goes on behind the scenes, I assure you that it will surprise you."

The poster, identified only by the name ThirdEyeOpen, lays out how cheaters and buyers operated as a would-be organized crime ring. 'Welcome to the Dark Side' is his chronicle of how he began his Runescape cheating career, and how it all ended. He recounts being 'interrogated' online by Jagex Ltd. about his activities, and how the subsequent account banning led to a malevolent wish to get even. His anger eventually snowballed into the creation of an organization of similar-minded individuals, mostly other teenagers, who accumulated a fair amount of real-world currency through exploits in Runescape before cashing out altogether. It's an interesting read -- perhaps a bit disturbing in the sense that he views cheating as a kind of playstyle -- but worth checking out all the same.

Via PlayNoEvil

Runescape cheater exposes his 'black market' organization originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 14 Jun 2008 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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RF Online server rollback combats cheaters and 500% inflation

James Egan — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Sci-fi, Exploits, RF Online, News items, Free-to-play

RF Online in the Philippines recently had serious issues with dupe hacks, prompting an unannounced rollback of the servers. PlayNoEvil writes that the operator of RF Online for the Philippines, Level Up Games, discovered a dupe exploit and tried to purge it from the servers as well as those who used it. However due to time constraints with unraveling the intricacies of the exploit, the company decided to roll back the game to a point before the exploit was used.

Level Up Games issued a statement on the problem: Based on DB evidence, numbers as well as feedback from the community, the GMs, the Vanguards and also from our field agents, there was an oversupply of in-game currency and gold - as high as 500 %. GMTristan of RF Online Philippines clarified the situation further on his blog:

Continue reading RF Online server rollback combats cheaters and 500% inflation

RF Online server rollback combats cheaters and 500% inflation originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 08 Jun 2008 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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