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League of Legends mastery point exploit fixed, banhammer incoming

Matt Daniel — Mon, 07 May 2012 13:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, News items, Free-to-play, MOBA, League of Legends

We all know that League of Legends breeds a fairly competitive community, but unfortunately there are players out there who don't let little things like rules and common decency get in the way of their desire to win. A number of such players were recently found to be taking advantage of an exploit that allowed them to place more mastery points in a given talent than they would legally be able to, thereby giving them an incredibly unfair advantage.

Riot Games' Lead Community Manager, Tamat, stopped by the forums today to let everyone know that "that's bull****" and that it's not going to be tolerated. The post goes on to state that a fix for the exploit has been implemented, and the studio is about to lay the smack down on the guilty parties. Tamat says that the studio has "comprehensive logs and data" that have been used to identify the players who used the exploit. Riot is "going to be taking firm action against their accounts." May all the exploiters meet a swift and terrible demise at the hands of Riot's banhammer. For the full details on the matter, head on over to the official post on the League of Legends forums.

League of Legends mastery point exploit fixed, banhammer incoming originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 07 May 2012 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Game Archaeologist dials up Phantasy Star Online: The players

Justin Olivetti — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 21:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Classes, Culture, Interviews, Consoles, The Game Archaeologist

After last week's foray into the colorful world of Phantasy Star Online, I knew I had to step it up for a great follow-through. That's why I got in touch with three excellent MMO bloggers who have long histories with PSO and were more than eager to share their perspective on this unique game world!

The Game Archaeologist: Who the heck are you and how did you first get into Phantasy Star Online? What class and race did you play?

David: I'm David Lambert, but many people know me better as Branick, host and producer of the LOTRO Academy podcast. I first got into Phantasy Star Online with the original Dreamcast release, which I picked up only about two weeks after it came out. I actually had eight different characters (I bought six VMUs in addition to the two I already had specifically for this purpose), but I definitely favored the HUcast. I wasn't big on using techniques, and the HUcast had the highest attack power in the game.

Continue reading The Game Archaeologist dials up Phantasy Star Online: The players

The Game Archaeologist dials up Phantasy Star Online: The players originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 07 Feb 2012 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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BioWare: All our devs play SWTOR

Jef Reahard — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 18:30:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, Bugs, MMO industry, News items, Star Wars: The Old Republic

Ever wonder if MMO devs play the MMO they're developing? Apparently the answer is yes in the case of Star Wars: The Old Republic. A new dev blog by BioWare executive producer Rich Vogel minces few words on that particular subject. "Every single one of us on the development team plays the game, and we see the same issues you do and where we need to expand," Vogel writes.

The rest of the wall o' text isn't quite as illuminating. Vogel starts by defining bugs and exploits, and he offers a few generalities in regards to BioWare's ability to quickly respond to both types of issues.

It's worth a read if you're heavily invested in Star Wars: The Old Republic, and you'll find it on the game's official site.

BioWare: All our devs play SWTOR originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 31 Jan 2012 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hyperspace Beacon: Cheating vs. poor design

Larry Everett — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 15:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, Bugs, New titles, Opinion, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Hyperspace Beacon

Recently, Ilum took center stage in an argument about exploits, and I honestly cannot say which side of the fence I'm on. When do the intentions of the designers take precedent over the players taking advantage of poor design? Well before Star Wars: The Old Republic even crossed the mind of BioWare's creative brain-trust, exploiters have been taking advantage of unintentional game design. Even more interesting about the situation with Ilum was that the design was not exactly flawed; instead, players did not respond to the designs the way the developers intended. The game was "working as intended," but the players weren't.

At what point do we blame the designers? In a game as large as SWTOR, we know that if someone is allowed to do something, he will. At the same time, players are ~~lazy~~ efficient when playing the game: They will find the fastest and easiest way to level or gear up despite the intended path. Designers should know this. I remember in Ultima Online when players would raise skills by poking each other with low-level swords for hours on end. I am sure the designers intended that players would earn skills by actually battling each other, but the simplest solution was to prod one another with a dull stick. I honestly don't know if that was ever fixed, but I certainly don't remember a GM tossing out a ban hammer for it.

Continue reading Hyperspace Beacon: Cheating vs. poor design

Hyperspace Beacon: Cheating vs. poor design originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 10 Jan 2012 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Daily Grind: When does a clever loophole become a bannable exploit?

Brianna Royce — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 08:00:00 EST

Filed under: Bugs, Game mechanics, MMO industry, Opinion, The Daily Grind, Miscellaneous

Trouble has been brewing this week over a Star Wars: The Old Republic "exploit" in which people use seemingly legitimate (but perhaps unintended) game mechanics to tip the balance of the game in their favor. Of course, this is nothing new to veteran MMO players, who have seen hundreds, even thousands, of such loopholes and bugs spackled and patched since first MMO came online. Entire World of Warcraft guilds have been banned, however temporarily, for "exploiting" poorly coded raid AI, for example.

I've always felt that it's the game company's responsibility to counter loopholes before anyone takes advantage of them; the onus should be on the developer, not the player, to set the rules of the game using hardcoded mechanics. The players can't be expected to suss out the game-designers' intent, after all. Other gamers believe that "exploiters" really ought to know better and deserve whatever punishments the game's GMs mete out. What do you think? When does a clever loophole become a bannable exploit?

Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!

The Daily Grind: When does a clever loophole become a bannable exploit? originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 07 Jan 2012 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This Week In MMO: Interrupting dance edition

Matt Daniel — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 22:00:00 EST

Filed under: Video, News items, Humor, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Final Fantasy XIV

It's time for yet another episode of This Week In MMO, and you'll never guess what the topic du jour is. Well, unless you guessed Star Wars: The Old Republic (again), in which case you would be correct. Much discussion is had about the hilarity that was SWTOR's /getdown exploit, which allowed players to interrupt enemy mobs by... dancing at them.

Meanwhile, Final Fantasy XIV will resume charging subscription fees tomorrow, January 6th, so if you're still subscribed and don't want to pay, you'd better cancel now. And lastly, on a note of complete and utter excess, the gang reports that one gamer (who we imagine spends most of his time swimming in his money like Scrooge McDuck) has spent $16,000 US on an in-game sword for Snail Games' F2P (irony!) title, Age of Wulin. The kicker? The game isn't even out yet. For the full video, just click on past the cut and have a look.

This Week In MMO: Interrupting dance edition originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 05 Jan 2012 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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BioWare's James Ohlen: Bug fixes coming weekly

Matt Daniel — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 18:30:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, Bugs, Patches, News items, Star Wars: The Old Republic

Any new MMO, even big-budget behemoths like BioWare's Star Wars: The Old Republic, is often fraught with bugs and exploits that can keep the game from living up to its full potential. The Old Republic's game director, James Ohlen, recognizes this and has stopped by the official forums to let players know how the company will be handling the game's bugs, glitches, and exploits.

Ohlen states that "almost every week [BioWare] will be releasing a new patch." These pseudo-weekly patches will be focused almost entirely on fixing bugs, exploits, and glaring balance issues within the game. Ohlen does remind players, however, that bug-fixing is not always a simple task. "There are issues that we will fix immediately," he says, with the caveat that "these are rare and not every issue can be fixed in this manner. We usually reserve these 'emergency fixes' for bugs that are stopping players from playing the game or to exploits that could unbalance the entire game if not corrected." I'm sure players have a few things in mind to which an emergency fix could be applied, but we'll just have to wait for the next patch to see what the devs have cooked up.

BioWare's James Ohlen: Bug fixes coming weekly originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 04 Jan 2012 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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SOE hands out suspensions to over 700 players as 'a first warning'

Matt Daniel — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 17:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, EverQuest, Events, in-game, News items

A couple of weeks ago, Sony Online Entertainment threw down the gauntlet to the ne'er-do-wells of EverQuest, telling them simply to "stop now." Well, as often is the case with the scum of the MMO world, many didn't listen to SOE's ominous words of warning. On Friday, December 9th, they paid the price... in blood! [Insert maniacal laughter here.]

SOE has since suspended over 700 accounts "for a number of days by way of a first warning." Community Manager Piestro closes out with another word of caution: "Remember that these suspensions are merely the first wave, and further action is on the horizon. We will not rest, but will instead continue to gather data and take action as necessary on behalf of the entire player base. Don't cheat -- it's not worth it." Also, it still makes you a jerk.

In still other EQ news, SOE has announced that it is tweaking the rate of experience gain on progression-locked servers.

SOE hands out suspensions to over 700 players as 'a first warning' originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 14 Dec 2011 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EverQuest to hackers: You've been served

Matt Daniel — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 22:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, EverQuest, Culture, News items

In a suitably ominous speech on the EverQuest forums, Sony Online Entertainment's Piestro delivered a word of warning to the cheaters, hackers, and exploiters of Norrath: "Stop now." Piestro goes on to reveal that the team has been quietly performing some clandestine work that helps "[detect] cheaters quickly and accurately."

This should be good news for fans of the old-school title who enjoy playing the game on a level field. Hackers, however, should back down at once, because -- as Piestro warns -- "there will be no second chances." Also, because cheating makes you a jerk.

EverQuest to hackers: You've been served originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 02 Dec 2011 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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New Darkfall blog post addresses reactivation weekend, upcoming patch

Matt Daniel — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 17:30:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Darkfall, Events, in-game, Patches, News items, Sandbox

Last week, we reported that Darkfall would be hosting a reactivation weekend with increased skill-up rates and loot drops. Head-honcho Tasos Flambouras stopped by the official site today to announce that the festivities will be beginning on Friday, November 18th, and that they will last through the weekend until the 21st. He warns, however, that the team is also busy preparing a patch, which -- understandably -- takes priority over the reactivation weekend. As such, it's possible that the event will be postponed.

The patch itself includes a number of bug fixes and other adjustments, "more specifically addressing emotes cutting off animations and sounds." The team is also working to combat some of the game's exploits such as using the trading system to bypass over-encumberance. For the full details, head on over to the Darkfall official site.

New Darkfall blog post addresses reactivation weekend, upcoming patch originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 11 Nov 2011 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Paragon Studios introduces MARTy to City of Heroes for Issue 21

Eliot Lefebvre — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 20:30:00 EST

Filed under: Super-hero, City of Heroes, City of Villains, Patches, News items, Free-to-play

There's someone special for players to meet with the newest update to City of Heroes -- MARTy. From the name you might think that MARTy is a Clockwork NPC, or a Freakshow, or maybe even a new developer. But MARTy is none of the above. MARTy is an acronym for Metric Activated Reward Throttle (plus a "y"), and it's a new system being put into place to help ensure that the game remains free of exploits for free players and paying players alike.

So what does MARTy do? Scan for exploitative behavior and cut it short. The system monitors player activity for exploitative experience, influence, or reward gains, and people who trip the system stop receiving rewards for a short time. The official FAQ on the system makes it clear, however, that even players aggressively leveling with experience boosters shouldn't hit MARTy's radar. The only way to hit it is by exploiting the game engine for overly accelerated gains, at which point you get shut down. And with City of Heroes Freedom opening the door to everyone, it might be good to have an anti-exploit gatekeeper in place.

Paragon Studios introduces MARTy to City of Heroes for Issue 21 originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 12 Sep 2011 20:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Anvil of Crom: Deconstructing the dev update - PvP Edition

Jef Reahard — Sun, 07 Aug 2011 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Age of Conan, Game mechanics, MMO industry, PvP, PvE, Opinion, Free-to-play, The Anvil of Crom

It's been quite a while since I devoted an Anvil of Crom entry to deconstructing one of Craig Morrison's monthly Age of Conan development updates, and what better time to resurrect an old tradition than on the heels of one of the lengthier producer letters in recent memory.

The end-of-July document took a decidedly pro-PvP approach, and since I've been spending the majority of my game time on the new Blood and Glory server lately, reading between the lines on the bossman's latest state-of-the-game manifesto seems like the thing to do.

Join me after the cut for a bit of discussion on PvP, the future, and a bunch of interesting bullet points.

Continue reading The Anvil of Crom: Deconstructing the dev update - PvP Edition

The Anvil of Crom: Deconstructing the dev update - PvP Edition originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 07 Aug 2011 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Avatar breaks out the banhammer for Perpetuum cheaters

Jef Reahard — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 22:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, Game mechanics, MMO industry, News items, Perpetuum, Dev Diaries

Rut roh! It's banhammer time in Perpetuum, the sci-fi indie sandbox from Avatar Creations. The latest Avatar dev blog has the (sparse) details courtesy of Dev Calvin. Apparently some players availed themselves of a game exploit that allowed for significant gains in robots, equipment, and other commodities. It's not as innocent as it sounds, though, as the dev blog makes clear.

"The method that was used can by no means [be] interpreted as intended gameplay. A lot of technical preparation and effort went into the experimentation and execution," Calvin writes.

The ill-gotten gains have of course been removed, and Avatar has also permabanned the offending accounts, which sends a clear message as to the type of zero-tolerance policy toward cheating on display in the world of Nia. Check out the official Perpetuum website for more reading material.

Avatar breaks out the banhammer for Perpetuum cheaters originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 03 Jun 2011 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Daily Grind: What's the most creative solution you've ever come up with in an MMO?

Justin Olivetti — Sat, 21 May 2011 08:00:00 EST

Filed under: Culture, Opinion, The Daily Grind, Miscellaneous

Players are endlessly creative, rebellious beings. While we do play by the rules that are established in MMOs, we're always always looking for other ways to do things and solutions that weren't conceived by developers when they created the game. Sometimes devs call these solutions "exploits," sometimes they're applauded, and sometimes they're even legitimized.

You see, MMOs contain a series of problems that need solving -- usually by decapitation. To aid the player in doing so, they provide a toolbox in the form of skills, abilities, stats, and items. The best MMOs allow us to use this toolbox to explore multiple paths to victory, particularly when there are tricky non-combat puzzles and problems afoot.

So today I'd like to know the most creative solution you ever came up with while playing an MMO. When was a time that you were beating your head against a problem, tried something unconventional -- and it worked? Impress us with your creative genius!

Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!

The Daily Grind: What's the most creative solution you've ever come up with in an MMO? originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 21 May 2011 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Wings Over Atreia: Boss world tour -- Inggison

MJ Guthrie — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 14:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Aion, PvE, Wings Over Atreia, Guides

Back in January, Wings Over Atreia brought you the first installment of a series highlighting the who, where, what, and even some how of Aion's world bosses. At that time, we took a tour around the land of Heiron and met up with those tough (and some not-so-tough) bosses who taunt players with their juicy, coveted loot. But Heiron is for youngins; this week, we will focus our tour on the playground of the highest levels, the lands of Balaurea -- specifically, Inggison.

It never fails -- the best goodies are never the easy-to-get goodies. As much as Daevas may want to get their hot little hands on some of the weapons, armor, and crafting materials dropped by these world bosses, they have to first find these giants and second actually defeat them. So much easier said than done. On the bright side, some of the mobs are easier to kill and can even be soloed (although they are also well-camped). On the not-bright side, others don't seem to show their faces as often as hungry loot-hunters would like, or they take a friend or 20 to take down. So what's a Daeva to do?

Soar past the cut for some tips, tricks, and a handy map for seeking out those Inggison bosses and convincing them to give up their loot.

Continue reading Wings Over Atreia: Boss world tour -- Inggison

Wings Over Atreia: Boss world tour -- Inggison originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 11 Apr 2011 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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MapleStory Europe's economy collapses due to currency exploit [Updated]

Brendan Drain — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 14:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, MapleStory, Bugs, Economy, Events, in-game, MMO industry, News items, Free-to-play

Despite its huge financial success, MapleStory Europe has had more than its fair share of problems. Last month, controversy hit MapleStory Europe when double-xp cards lasting for 90 days, instead of the intended 24 hours, were accidentally placed in the cash shop during the new year sale. The latest issue to hit MapleStory Europe has done serious and potentially irrecoverable damage to the game's economy. The exploit involved the Chief Bandit and Shadower classes, which both have a skill called "Meso Guard". This causes them to lose mesos, the game's currency, when hit instead of hitpoints.

Packet-forging exploits have been used for some time to alter the damage players deal to monsters or receive from them. Combined with Meso Guard, hackers were able to fool the game into hitting them for -2,147,483,648 damage (the largest negative value a signed 32-bit integer can hold). Since the damage was a negative value, the Meso Guard skill then granted the player over two billion mesos. Hacking players used their ill-gotten gains to buy up practically everything in players' market stalls, massively inflating the game's economy by pouring untold billions into the hands of random players.

Nexon attempted to patch the exploit last night and responded by permanently trade-banning countless accounts. Reports from players indicate that the exploit is still possible and that many of the offending accounts were not banned. To make matters worse, a large number of legitimate players who were traded ill-gotten currency were also allegedly trade-banned. The follow-up to another meso exploit found last year was similarly lackluster, with no server rollback performed in either instance.

[Update: Scott Yoo from Nexon Europe got in touch with us to provide an update on the story. He had the following to say: "[W]e did 'trade-ban' suspected accounts temporarily in order to conduct an internal investigation but we also had to make sure no-more illicitly gained Mesos (in-game currency) are going out to the in-game market and contained in the meanwhile. We do admit that a certain amount of legitimate players can be included in the trade banned list and that's what we are going to reveal through the investigation carefully. [...] The reason why we didn't perform a rollback on our servers was because we detected the exploit too late which may make the players lose even more of their gains if we were to turn everything back. Another announcement that includes more details on this incident will go up live shortly (either today or tomorrow as the latest)."]

MapleStory Europe's economy collapses due to currency exploit [Updated] originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 01 Feb 2011 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Exploring Eberron: The race discussion has been banned

Rubi Bayer — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 13:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Dungeons and Dragons Online, Culture, Free-to-play, Exploring Eberron

Don't worry, it's just a one-week ban. Once again, it was an interesting week for Dungeons and Dragons Online fans. Tuesday night's banhammer took everyone by surprise, and the reactions on both sides were pretty interesting.

I was really excited to discuss DDO races this week, but this week's problems left me thinking long and hard about the dynamics of player/developer interaction in this game. Check out that handy comments section at the end too, because I'd really love to hear what you have to say on the banning issue.

Follow along after the break, then weigh in!

Continue reading Exploring Eberron: The race discussion has been banned

Exploring Eberron: The race discussion has been banned originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 12 Nov 2010 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EVE Evolved: Downtime deployment debate

Brendan Drain — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Culture, Events, in-game, Game mechanics, PvP, Opinion, EVE Evolved

Earlier this week, an explosive argument broke out in the EVE Online community. Following an extended server downtime, it became known that Reddit-based alliance Test Alliance Please Ignore had used the server downtime to protect the deployment of 14 territorial claim units. Ordinarily, these claim units are vulnerable to attack for eight hours while they start up. The owner may choose to either commit a fleet to defend them for eight hours or leave them unguarded and hope nobody decides to knock them down.

This mechanic is designed to ensure that a force can't claim or attack a large number of systems simultaneously against opposition, as an alliance can't reliably defend several TCUs at once. By anchoring the structures just before the extended downtime occurred, Test Alliance made them invulnerable for their entire deployment time. A controversial debate then ensued, as GMs stepped in and Test pilots began making accusations of corruption, collusion and favouritism.

In this opinion piece, I weigh in on the latest debate to shake New Eden. I look at whether downtime deployment really is an exploit and whether there's any substance to the accusations made against EVE's Game Masters.

Continue reading EVE Evolved: Downtime deployment debate

EVE Evolved: Downtime deployment debate originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 07 Nov 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Final Fantasy XIV moves forward with exploit patches and companies

Eliot Lefebvre — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 20:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Classes, Game mechanics, Interviews, Launches, New titles, News items, Consoles, Final Fantasy XIV

The general release of Final Fantasy XIV is three days away, but the collector's edition has been out for nearly a week. As a result, early players have had the chance to start taking part in that most celebrated of ceremonies -- finding whatever exploits the programmers didn't catch and using them. The most recent exploits are at least team-oriented, as they seem to involve casting beneficial spells during a guildleve; regardless, the issues are being fixed as fast as they arrive.

FFXIVCore has also translated a recent interview with Hiromichi Tanaka in which the game's producer discusses both his role in the history of the series as well as what prior lessons impacted the armoury system in Final Fantasy XIV. As he put it, one of the reasons for the flexibility was to allow players to choose their ability loadouts based on the situation, unlike the fairly fixed roles within Final Fantasy XI. The full interview also drops some hints about the as-yet-unseen company system, something which will be implemented in a patch after the full retail launch on Thursday.

Final Fantasy XIV moves forward with exploit patches and companies originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 27 Sep 2010 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Diamond trade gets destroyed in Runes of Magic

Eliot Lefebvre — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 22:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Exploits, Patches, News items, Free-to-play, Runes of Magic

There's an understandable problem with selling game currency in subscription games, where it's generally considered verboten for good reason. While some subscription games will sell you things in addition to the monthly fee, there's a general sense that you should earn your advantages. But in free-to-play games that have a cash shop allowing players to purchase items directly... well, the very idea of gold selling seems kind of silly. But it can happen, and Runes of Magic has experienced a bit of a problem of late with the trade of Diamonds (their cash shop currency) for gold.

The game has traditionally treated the currencies as interchangeable insofar as players with lots of Diamonds and not enough gold could sell their excess to other players. Unfortunately, the current spate of RMT activities have called for draconian measures: they've taken away the ability to trade Diamonds for gold. They've also temporarily removed the ability to send gold through the mail. The official announcement stresses that this is a temporary measure to combat unacceptable behavior. While less gold spam is a good thing, fewer features are a negative, so this new is a mixed bag for Runes of Magic players.

The Diamond trade gets destroyed in Runes of Magic originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 20 Apr 2010 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A Mild-Mannered Reporter: Architectural concerns

Eliot Lefebvre — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: Super-hero, City of Heroes, City of Villains, Game mechanics, Patches, Opinion, A Mild-Mannered Reporter

The big news for City of Heroes over the past week (at least at the time of writing) was the rather borked Mission Architect fix that went live. Well-intentioned, sure, but still borked beyond all comprehension. There's nothing like losing out on experience gained because of rescuing hostages to make players feel like they're welcomed to try out player-created content.

But let's not kid ourselves: this is not exactly a unique occurrence. We've been having problems involving some combination of Mission Architect and farming more or less since it launched, and that was back on Issue 14. A year out, you would kind of expect that they'd fix the basic problem of people trying to get something for nothing... but here we are, and the team is still rocking back and forth on the feature. If you're one of the players who prefer the farming style, nowadays it likely feels like more trouble than it's worth.

So naturally, I decided to take a look at Mission Architect and what it means for City of Heroes today. Specifically, both why it's important that the team does their best to keep it balanced, and why said balancing is pointless and a waste of time. (I love arguing self-defeating premises.)

Continue reading A Mild-Mannered Reporter: Architectural concerns

A Mild-Mannered Reporter: Architectural concerns originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 14 Apr 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Wizard101 is no friend of cheaters

Eliot Lefebvre — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 20:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Exploits, Free-to-play, Kids, Wizard101

You might think that Wizard101 is just a kid's game, which wouldn't be totally incorrect. But if you thought that meant they would just let you do whatever you want... well, nope, not in this playground. KingsIsle Entertainment is demonstrating that they are more than willing to step in and take the reigns when they're aware of an exploit. In this instance, it looks as if an exploit was found regarding the new wings available in the game's cash shop that work as a mount. Players had found a way to purchase their wings via gold alone, getting an unfair advantage on those buying them legitimately.

So the game is clipping their wings -- clipping them off entirely, as it were. The wings will be removed from the player's account, all gold spent will be refunded to the player, and they will be reminded that exploiting the game client will lead to a permanent ban from the game. It's not the harshest penalty, but it comes as a stern reminder that no matter how fluffy the exterior might be, Wizard101 still takes cheating very seriously. So it's a bit more like school than you might have thought.

Wizard101 is no friend of cheaters originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 22 Feb 2010 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The lesser of two evils is still evil

Eliot Lefebvre — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 20:00:00 EST

Filed under: Culture, Exploits, MMO industry, Opinion

There are a lot of choices we face where we don't so much pick a good option as we pick the option that's least negative. Most people would argue that going to work is a better choice than faking illness and calling out, but not really a choice they like. Kill Ten Rats recently posed an interesting question along the same lines: would you rather your game have gold farmers or cheaters?

As the full piece argues, gold farmers are the greater evil to the companies running the game -- they aren't paying customers and they're disrupting the playerbase. But the average player is more likely to run into cheaters than gold farmers, and they're more likely to have a direct negative effect upon the experience of the game. Yet teams tend to be more active in pursuing gold farmers (witness Aion's theatrical destruction of them) because cheaters, to the company, are a slightly lesser problem.

Obviously, it's not a binary equation, and some games (such as Final Fantasy XI) place both at an equally high target priority. The fundamental question, however, is an excellent one -- cheating jerks, or RMT bots? There's no good option.

The lesser of two evils is still evil originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 28 Jan 2010 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Masthead Studios discusses Earthrise economy

James Egan — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, Economy, Exploits, Game mechanics, New titles, Earthrise

It's an immutable law: create an online game where virtual currency is used and it'll inevitably give rise to a black market for that currency, not to mention for the various items in the MMO. Earthrise will be no different, but developer Masthead Studios aims to be proactive about the problem of gold sellers, rather than reactive. They also feel that their game will be difficult to bot. "Most of Earthrise design has followed the paradigm of requiring player interaction and skill through every aspect of combat, crafting and logistic movement so we firmly believe the game will be, by design, very difficult to automate via known methods," Masthead explains in their latest Question of the Week.

Another factor that Masthead Studios feels will curb black market activities in Earthrise, at least in respect to items, is that every use of gear slowly degrades the item in question. Of course, where there's a will there's a way. So when Earthrise enters open beta Masthead Studios will keep a close eye on the various ways players find to exploit the economy.

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Masthead Studios discusses Earthrise economy originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 19 Jan 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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City of Heroes offers a reminder on account security

Eliot Lefebvre — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 20:00:00 EST

Filed under: Super-hero, City of Heroes, Culture, Exploits, Rumors

NCsoft hasn't been having an easy start to the year, at least not in the eyes of security-minded players. The entire Guild Wars security question recently came to a head with suspicions and accusations that the flaw was something wrong with NCsoft's account management, a black eye if ever there was one. Of course, that raises questions about not just Guild Wars, but any game under the company's aegis, which includes City of Heroes. So it should come as little surprise that a reminder about account security has recently been posted on the official site.

The reminder itself is fairly standard boilerplate, reminding everyone to avoid giving out their account information to any other players, only log in from secure locations, and so forth. It also addresses the issue at hand in a roundabout fashion, mentioning that they found no malicious workarounds after investigating "current claims." However, the very next line mentions that they have added more robust logging and security procedures, which can lead to the obvious conspiracy theories. With fewer items to be traded than many other games, City of Heroes has a smidge more built-in security -- but a little extra reminder and caution never hurts.

City of Heroes offers a reminder on account security originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 06 Jan 2010 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Final Fantasy XI cracks down on cheating

Eliot Lefebvre — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Final Fantasy XI, Exploits, News items, Academic

Square-Enix can get very touchy about certain things with Final Fantasy XI. Revealing the precise numbers and mechanics behind many of the game's elements seems to be one of them that none of the game's fans are terribly pleased with, but they're just as touchy about people cheating in the game, which fans can't help but be happy about. The game's terms of use clearly state that the use of third-party applications interacting with the game is expressly forbidden, and the game has recently dropped the hammer for good on one of the distributors of third-party hacks.

The announcement, which can be found on the official site or mirrored on Allakhazam.com, states that the game's team had been monitoring the sale and distribution of certain undisclosed third-party applications, and they had subsequently shut down both the servers for the programs as well as the sellers. The specific applications are not named, as is normal for Final Fantasy XI -- they don't want to encourage anyone to seek out the cheats, after all. The announcement also includes the usual warnings about bannings and account security when connected with third-party cheats. It's always good news when the less scrupled side of a game's community gets shut down -- now if only we could pass some of this along to NCsoft for their recent woes.

Final Fantasy XI cracks down on cheating originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 26 Dec 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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CCP Games declares exploit in EVE's new Sovereignty system

James Egan — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 15:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Expansions, Exploits, Game mechanics, PvP, News items

CCP Games has made some sweeping changes to how players claim and contest territory in EVE Online, with the recently-launched Dominion expansion. These changes haven't been without issue, however, and a significant problem with the new Sovereignty Blockade Units (SBU) has arisen. SBUs are anchored by attackers at stargates in a solar system belonging to the territory-holding alliance and disrupts the control of the Sovereignty holder, providing opportunities for attackers to usurp the space holding alliance. Issues with the SBUs prompted the devs to declare an exploit over the weekend. EVE's Community Manager CCP Wrangler stated:

"An issue has been discovered that makes outposts and infrastructure hubs vulnerable to attacks without the attacker having adequate Sovereignty Blockade Unit (SBU) coverage in the system. Attacking outposts and/or infrastructure hubs without adequate Sovereignty Blockade Units in the system is an exploit and any incidents will be dealt with accordingly. Situations where attackers have the proper SBU coverage are not subject to this rule. The problem is under repairs and will be fixed as soon as possible. We thank you for your understanding and patience in this matter."

Continue reading CCP Games declares exploit in EVE's new Sovereignty system

CCP Games declares exploit in EVE's new Sovereignty system originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 14 Dec 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Why RMT won't go away

Eliot Lefebvre — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: Business models, Culture, Economy, Exploits, Opinion

"Companies should just stop gold farmers." It's a consistent complaint in many games, with "gold" replaced by your game's currency of choice. As complaints go, it's right around "somebody should do something about all the problems" in terms of overall utility, but heck, no one likes the practice and it should just be eliminated, right? Well, as Scott Jennings has pointed out recently, it's not quite that easy.

As Lum points out, there are several common misconceptions about the entire process. Among them are the idea that the game company doesn't step in because they're getting kickbacks, which is pointed out to fail the simple test of Occam's razor. When developers want to get more money from an existing game, there are usually better ways to run it, such as the Champions Online model or the Dungeons and Dragons Online approach. He also tackles the infamous statement that the farmers are paying customers and therefore the company has even less incentive to stop them.

So if everyone hates RMT, why is it still around? The article briefly touches upon it, but We Fly Spitfires had a recent post that articulates more specifically: more people buy gold than would necessarily admit it. Since no one will admit to it, no one ever asks, and as a result there's a large culture of silence that publicly despises it and privately takes part. In short? As long as there's a customer base, the farming will continue. Food for thought all around.

Why RMT won't go away originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 20 Nov 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Warhammer Online developer diary on combat with hackers

Eliot Lefebvre — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Bugs, Exploits, Warhammer Online

Hackers, as everyone knows, were scheduled to be the mirror class to Choppas... wait, no, that's not right. We're not talking about one of the classes of Warhammer Online, we're talking about that scourge of the paying and fair-playing populace of every MMO. The most recent developer diary on the game's official site is with John Cox, development manager, discussing some of the ways and means that allows Mythic to fight against the scourge of hacking and try and keep the game on the level.

Cox discusses a number of techniques, starting with the most obvious: that several people working on fighting the hacks are part of hacking communities, observing silently and sometimes even testing them internally to develop a response. He also discusses why some of the progress on fighting illegal behavior is a bit slower than the community would like, and why it's not always as possible to shut things down straightaway on the server end. With a discussion of some of the holes in detection, which includes an explanation of why the game briefly had Vista users almost universally flagged as hackers, it's an interesting look behind the scenes at Warhammer Online's efforts to fight the good fight. (That is, the one not involving Order versus Destruction.)

Warhammer Online developer diary on combat with hackers originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 07 Nov 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Second Life designers burned at Burning Life

Tateru Nino — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 10:30:00 EST

Filed under: Bugs, Business models, Exploits, Crafting, News items, Second Life, Legal, Virtual worlds

Remember Kevin Alderman (known in Second Life as Stroker Serpentine), CEO of Eros LLC who is one of the plaintiffs who have filed a lawsuit against Linden Lab for negligence with respect to security and failing to act in accordance with their obligations under the DMCA? Well, it can't be a good week for either him or for the Lab.

During Linden Lab's Burning Life event in Second Life this year (a sort of living pop-art showcase and party that draws many spectators) persons only presently known to the server logs left a cache of copied content, including at least one of Alderman's latest products, and a whole swag of other content belonging to other designers - free for the taking.

It isn't really Burning Life's fault, but if you had to place the stuff somewhere where many people would take it, none-the-wiser that it was unlawful content, that would be the best place at this time of the year.

Continue reading Second Life designers burned at Burning Life

Second Life designers burned at Burning Life originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 27 Oct 2009 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Daily Grind: If presented the opportunity to cheat, would you?

Seraphina Brennan — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 08:00:00 EST

Filed under: At a glance, Bugs, Culture, Opinion, The Daily Grind

Programming errors occur, we know that. No one's perfect, and game designers are no exception. The wrong buttons are pressed, the design is faulty, or the code just performs functions that no one expected it to perform. (We know how much the latter happens.)

Sometimes, however, these things go unnoticed. They stay under the surface of the game for a while, until one person just happens to stumble upon a magical secret -- an exploit. That coding error has now turned into a possible source of major profit or a quick solution to something that was extremely difficult.

Today's question is, if you stumbled upon one of these opportunities, would you cheat or would you report it to the developers to fix it? Why would you choose your answer? Drop your opinions into the shiny white box below, and let us hear all of your anecdotes and passionate text speeches.

The Daily Grind: If presented the opportunity to cheat, would you? originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 26 Aug 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EVE Online mini expansion Apocrypha 1.5 deploys Thursday, Aug 20th

James Egan — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 20:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Bugs, Expansions, Exploits, Game mechanics, Patches

Tomorrow, EVE Online will launch Apocrypha 1.5, which CCP Games has dubbed a "mini-expansion." The Apocrypha expansion was released in March and introduced a slew of new features to the game, but there were more changes in the works that didn't make it into that first release. The 1.5 changes slated to roll out tomorrow are numerous and will introduce a few new aspects to EVE Online, more than a typical patch would, but cannot be considered a full expansion release either.

[UPDATED]: The maintenance window has been extended "due to delays earlier in the deployment process" per CCP. Tranquility is expected to come online at 16:30 GMT (12:30 PM Eastern).

Read on for Massively's highlights of what Apocrypha 1.5 will bring.

Continue reading EVE Online mini expansion Apocrypha 1.5 deploys Thursday, Aug 20th

EVE Online mini expansion Apocrypha 1.5 deploys Thursday, Aug 20th originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 19 Aug 2009 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EVE Online's anti RMT operation Unholy Rage bans over 6200 accounts

James Egan — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 20:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Economy, Exploits, MMO industry

Last week, Massively explained a bit about the war on real money trading (RMT) in EVE Online. The game's developer, CCP Games, has approached the problem from a few different angles. Central to their strategy of combating sellers of the game's currency called ISK (Interstellar Kredits) is to offer another way for players to exchange real world currency for the virtual in EVE Online -- "PLEX", or the 30 Day Pilot License Extension. PLEX is an in-game item that represents gameplay time and can be bought, sold, or traded on the open market in-game. PLEX has been integral in combating the numerous shady ISK selling websites in operation and CCP's dev blog last week showed how the playerbase is starting to embrace this system.

After all, if this practice of outright buying in-game assets with real world cash is going to happen in EVE, as with most MMOs (and regardless of what the developers try to do to curb this) it might as well be via a system the devs can regulate. It's a slippery slope, and CCP's approach to the problem does have some critics, but thus far it's been successful. PLEX has only been one facet of their battle against the ISK spammers, sellers, and the virtual armies of macro-using operations, though. CCP's operation "Unholy Rage" is a major offensive against the RMT operations exploiting the game, and is the subject of a dev blog from EVE Online's GM Grimmi.

Continue reading EVE Online's anti RMT operation Unholy Rage bans over 6200 accounts

EVE Online's anti RMT operation Unholy Rage bans over 6200 accounts originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 17 Aug 2009 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dodgy Second Life viewer doing the rounds

Tateru Nino — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 09:00:00 EST

Filed under: Exploits, Patches, Second Life, Virtual worlds

We'd like to caution our Second Life readers about a dodgy Second Life viewer that's currently doing the rounds under rather dubious circumstances. The viewer is calling itself Neil Life, and purports to include some content-ripping features over and above those normally available to users.

One particular feature of the viewer, apparently related to a permissions exploit, appears to have triggered Linden Lab to perform an emergency update to Second Life to close the exploit last week.

The viewer was widely advertised last week with distributed notecard advertisements in-world which purported to have been created by famed resident, Gwyneth Llewelyn. In actual fact, a copy of one of her existing notecards had simply had the text replaced so that it appeared that she had authored it.

(This is one of the main reasons we don't generally accept the provenance of notecards in Second Life)

Continue reading Dodgy Second Life viewer doing the rounds

Dodgy Second Life viewer doing the rounds originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 10 Aug 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Over 100 Opensim regions wiped in weekend virtualization exploit

Tateru Nino — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 15:30:00 EST

Filed under: Exploits, News items, Second Life, Virtual worlds

Hypergrid Business is reporting that an unknown person or persons destroyed a large number of OpenSim regions over the weekend, by exploiting a weakness in LxLabs' Linux-based HyperVM management software. OpenSim is a popular third-party reverse-engineered implementation of Linden Lab's Second Life server software used in a variety of commercial, non-commercial and educational virtual-environment grids.

More than 100 regions are reported lost, along with any data that wasn't backed up off-site. Apparently more than just the simulators were taken down, Web-pages and other ancillary data and files on the affected servers were also lost in the attack.

OpenSim regions using virtualization software other than LxLabs' HyperVM were unaffected. The attack hit more than just third-party Second Life compatible grids, however, as more than 100,000 other websites and servers were wiped over the weekend using the software exploit.

In the wake of the attacks and massive data-loss, LxLabs' founder, K T Ligesh (32) allegedly committed suicide in his Bangalore home on Monday.

Are you a part of the most widely-known collaborative virtual environment or keeping a close eye on it? Massively's Second Life coverage keeps you in the loop.

Over 100 Opensim regions wiped in weekend virtualization exploit originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 10 Jun 2009 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Kids exploring the Wastelands of FusionFall in ways devs never intended

James Egan — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: Exploits, Game mechanics, Interviews, MMO industry, FusionFall, Kids

Cartoon Network has done fairly well for itself with its IP-centric FusionFall. In fact, the words 'wildly successful' may come to mind when you take into account that FusionFall has already gained over 4 million registered users since its January launch. Having a TV network to promote the game is advantageous, of course, but with that many kids running around in the game's world, it was inevitable that some of them would get up to mischief.

This topic came up in an interview conducted by MMORPG.com's Carolyn Koh with FusionFall community director Richard Weil. It's interesting to note that some kids are basically testing the limits of the game world by finding ways into the "Wastelands" -- vast in-game areas where the developers test aspects of FusionFall. These players have managed to find holes in the game code and slip into these off-limits areas that were thought hidden and inaccessible to them in the first place.

Continue reading Kids exploring the Wastelands of FusionFall in ways devs never intended

Kids exploring the Wastelands of FusionFall in ways devs never intended originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 01 Jun 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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CCP Games releases findings on EVE starbase exploit investigation

James Egan — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 17:30:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Economy, Exploits, Forums, Game mechanics, Guilds, MMO industry, Crafting, News items

The EVE Online starbase exploit revealed in December has had a far-reaching impact on the game. Certain player-owned starbases in EVE were producing valuable, high-end materials that they shouldn't have been. Once a group of players picked up on this, they exploited the game on a massive scale, resulting in trillions of ISK (Interstellar Kredits, the game's virtual currency) that never should have existed being injected into the game. To date, this is the largest economic manipulation (via an exploit) ever revealed in EVE Online.

The starbase exploit was the first of several player-triggered drama bombs that hit the game in recent weeks, and resulted in a substantial amount of (in-game) market turmoil and player outcry over the issue. The game's subscribers wanted openness on the matter from EVE's developer, CCP Games, and they've certainly got that as of today. CCP Games posted the results of the exploit investigation, and the caveat "be careful what you wish for" may apply here, given the depth and complexity of the findings conveyed to the playerbase in today's dev blog, "War Makes Thieves and Peace Hangs Them."

Continue reading CCP Games releases findings on EVE starbase exploit investigation

CCP Games releases findings on EVE starbase exploit investigation originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 10 Feb 2009 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A look back at an epic year in EVE Online

James Egan — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 19:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Business models, Culture, Events, real-world, Events, in-game, Expansions, Exploits, Game mechanics, Guilds, Lore, PvP

2008 was quite a year for the sci-fi massively multiplayer online game, EVE Online. It was chock full of surprises -- both good and bad -- and of course the requisite drama you get when putting as many as 45,000 players in one galactic setting.

So much has happened that columnist Michael Lastucka has written a recap of 2008 in New Eden for Massive Gamer Magazine. Longtime EVE Online players also know him as Winterblink, someone who's been playing the game since its beta days, and he shares a bit of his perspective on the major happenings in EVE over the last year -- and what a year it was:

Continue reading A look back at an epic year in EVE Online

A look back at an epic year in EVE Online originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 07 Jan 2009 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Linden Lab suggests viewer security vulnerability disclosure group

Tateru Nino — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: Exploits, News items, Second Life

Over on the Second Life viewer development mailing list, there's a spirited discussion in progress about the suggestion of a notification list for viewer security vulnerabilities. The principle idea is that distributors of third-party viewers would get slightly earlier notification of vulnerabilities and exploits in the viewer code so that they could have secured versions of their Second Life viewers available to the general public at approximately the same time as secured versions of the first-party viewer become available.

Linden Lab has invited debate on what sorts of people it would be reasonable to disclose the information to (for example, perhaps only those who had signed a non-disclosure agreement). The topic has, naturally enough, brought out considerable debate as to whether such a group is necessary or even desirable.

Continue reading Linden Lab suggests viewer security vulnerability disclosure group

Linden Lab suggests viewer security vulnerability disclosure group originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 27 Dec 2008 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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178 starbases involved in EVE Online's multi-trillion ISK exploit

James Egan — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 17:30:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Bugs, Events, in-game, Exploits, Game mechanics, News items

The last several days have brought us some news of a rather significant exploit in the sci-fi MMO EVE Online. The game boasts a dynamic virtual economy which is in many ways integral to the game itself. (Inter Stellar Kredits, or ISK, is the currency upon which EVE Online's economy is based.) When rumor broke of a multi-trillion ISK exploit in the game, it raised a few eyebrows. However, when CCP Games themselves confirmed it and announced they would launch an investigation into the matter, it became more serious, as reflected by the economic impact on the market in the game. (Remember kids, internet spaceships are serious business... EVE tends to have more drama than the average massively multiplayer online game.)

CCP Games provided an update on the investigation today, stating that 178 starbases were discovered exploiting the issue and have been destroyed. This is the first time they've been willing or able to put a solid number on how extensive the exploit was, in terms of the scope of the operation. CCP stated: "We have also banned all those we have found directly involved and all accounts we have found to be connected to those players. The investigation is still under way and will take a while to conclude." Also part of the investigation is the Internal Affairs aspect, which some players have been following. CCP Games reports that they haven't found links between any of their own staff (or the Council of Stellar Management, for that matter) and the starbase exploit. See the official announcement from the EVE developers for more details on how the investigation is progressing.

178 starbases involved in EVE Online's multi-trillion ISK exploit originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 19 Dec 2008 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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