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FAQ - AD/AH Exploit Follow-Up

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  • soleonesoleone Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Hero Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    This exploit was used by a small group of players like almost a week now... and AD has been distributed to a huge number of mules/accounts/friends/AD selling websites.

    And we get a 7 hour rollback... that isn't going to cover even 20% of damage done...
  • sinuasinua Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users Posts: 1 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    Guys you dont pay to play and it is still in Beta . So i dont really think anyone has anything to complain about.. Be happy it was fixed instead of letting the few be constantly rich and over powered. Reminds me of some politicians.
  • vivinanavivinana Member Posts: 24 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    dezstravus wrote: »
    It was our original goal to avoid doing a rollback, but unfortunately we discovered that this was the only way to ensure that any illegitimate currency was removed from the game in a manner that was fair to all players.

    new question:
    why are you replying to a completely ignorant question and ignoring ALL OF THE PEOPLE ASKING WHY ONLY 7 HOUR ROLLBACK WHEN THE EXPLOIT WAS BEING EXPLOITED FOR A MUCH LONGER TIME PERIOD?

    caps so you can read the question more clearly.
  • crouton230crouton230 Member Posts: 23 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    dezstravus wrote: »
    Got questions about how we are handling the Astral Diamonds/Auction House exploit? We will be updating this thread with the answers to the most common questions about todays downtime, and what it means for the adventurers of Neverwinter.

    Q: What happened?

    A: Early Sunday morning a very small group of players discovered and abused a game exploit within the Neverwinter Open Beta that affected the Auction House and Astral Diamonds.


    Q: What exactly has changed?

    A: We took the Neverwinter OBT down for emergency maintenance, found the bug, corrected it and tested it. In order to fix the damage this exploit caused to the in-game economy, we implemented a necessary rollback of our servers to 5:20 AM PDT the morning of May 19, 2013. This means that characters have been reverted to the state they were in at that time, pre-exploit damage. That includes items, level, experience, etc.

    We know that character progress matters in Neverwinter, so as an apology for the lost time and as profound thanks for your continued support throughout this Beta, we are putting together a package of items to give everyone. We plan to distribute this towards the middle or end of this coming week, possibly on Friday 5/24.


    Q: What about ZEN I spent/transferred after 5:20 AM PDT?

    A: You'll have any and all ZEN that you transferred to Neverwinter -- we tracked all transfers during that time and made sure players have the ZEN they should have. If you spent ZEN on items during that time, you'll need to re-buy the items, but you'll have all of that ZEN. No one will lose any money they spent on Neverwinter because of this fix. If you have any issue, please see the customer and billing support contacts below.


    Q: I leveled up after 5:20 AM PDT -- what happens to that progress?

    A: Unfortunately, in order to properly fix this exploit, that progress has, by necessity, been lost. We know how much that progress means to all Neverwinter players, though, so we're putting together a package to thank everyone for their support. We plan to distribute this towards the middle or end of this coming week, possibly on Friday 5/24.


    Q: What about the ZEN I bought/sold after 5:20 AM PDT in the Astral Diamond Exchange?

    A: All ZEN exchanged during this period will be returned to the original owners.


    Q: What about my astral diamonds?

    A: Any astral diamonds claimed from your bonus balance will be returned to your bonus balance, and will be available to be claimed again.


    Q: What about respec tokens, or other consumables?

    A: You'll have everything you had at 5:20 AM PDT. If you had the consumables before 5:20 AM PDT, you'll still have them; if you bought them with ZEN or gold that you had before 5:20 AM PDT, you'll still have that gold or ZEN.


    Q: I have another question, where can I get answers?

    A: Post it in this thread! We'll dig through to find common questions, and we'll edit this post to include them.


    Q: But... I won the Armored Nightmare from a lockbox! I'll never get that lucky again!

    A: We know how much that would sting. We are looking into ways we can make it better, but we don
  • kykiske520kykiske520 Member, Neverwinter Beta Users Posts: 1 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    A power & feat respec per account would be an excellent 'gift.'

    Just sayin'.
  • aanuunaanuun Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Hero Users Posts: 8 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    iamrune wrote: »
    I hadn't played since last night at about three AM [Central time] or a bit later, but I noticed at some point during that gaming session that all the Zen in the market was already bought up. All the Zen.

    All of it, thousands and thousands of dollars worth of Zen, all purchased up by the exploiters.

    Please be very sure that your chosen time to rollback is long before these Exploiters began buying up all the Zen in the Market.


    I'd almost certainly think it goes back much later than the seven hours you are rolling back too, probably at least ten to twenty hours earlier.

    Its not. This has been going on since it was in the closed beta. They know about it, and we know about it. Rolling back to 5am is not going to do a **** thing.
  • naldo14naldo14 Member Posts: 3 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    Any of u know a time converter cause im from asia i want to identify what time is 5:20 AM PDT
  • vivinanavivinana Member Posts: 24 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    sinua wrote: »
    Guys you dont pay to play and it is still in Beta . So i dont really think anyone has anything to complain about.. Be happy it was fixed instead of letting the few be constantly rich and over powered. Reminds me of some politicians.

    except that a lot of us HAVE paid to play and now the in-game economy in the game THAT WE DID PAY TO PLAY has been ruined.

    just because you're a freeloader doesnt mean we all are.
  • xenogias1xenogias1 Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    Why did you decide to rollback 7 hours on this exploit (even though its been going on longer) and fixed it so quickly and yet let other exploits continue for a week + without shutting that down? The only reasonable explanation I see is one effected your profits with zen and the other didn't.
  • sprawlfxsprawlfx Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 4 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    Well, losing 8 hours of solid leveling and character management kinda blows. But considering it all, it could have been a lot worse. I hope an additional effect of this is that the flood of in-game email spam I got for the last 48 hours from obvious trash accounts trying to sell me massive quantities of AD for ridiculously low amounts of real-world money will stop. I hope you guys occasionally look at things that get spam-flagged. I suspect a lot of your exploiters were not people looking for in-game advantage, but rather people looking to pull a real world scam for real world money.
  • ragefapragefap Member, Neverwinter Beta Users Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    Are any new shards being added to the game?
  • cathgar457cathgar457 Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users Posts: 5 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    So until such time as the AD Exchange is available, we have no access to our legit Astral Diamonds?

    Great.
  • vinzovinzo Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users Posts: 65
    edited May 2013
    What a joke. This is not good enough. I want a complete wipe from the beginning, all zen purchased from beginning refunded, and all of my guardian package reset including AD. I don't care about having to create and level new characters, at least I will know it will be in a game that does not have a broken economy.
  • lexdevlexdev Member Posts: 5 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    I hope the gift is a cat.

    That would be up there in the greatest MMO troll's ever.

    Yeah -- it it would be cute.

    But it would better if it had some XP potion hanging around its neck.
  • t3abagg3dt3abagg3d Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Hero Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users Posts: 10 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    i have a hero of the north pack and finally claimed it today on a new build which will be affected by roll back...what will happen to all those goodies i bounded to that char.?

    PLEASE RESPOND
  • roentsroents Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Hero Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users Posts: 9 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    This is almost funny.
  • shadowbug2013shadowbug2013 Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    How long will Ad/zen exchange be down? Last night before going to bed I posted what little ad I had to hopefully get zen and now I have no ad for anything because I can't get it back
  • adabisiadabisi Member Posts: 101 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    So someone mentioned negative prices in the AH...I wondered why there were negative numbers......As a matter of frankly speaking I have seen those negative numbers since day 1 of playing and I have been playing since before launch with the several day head start....

    I am a mad crafter and am on the Ah more then in adventures it seems.....I guess i am lucky I did not have thw wits to try and buy a negative item or I would be banned too:P

    No idea what the exploit was anyways ....
    Today we fight the GAULS......monstrous and HAIRY beyond reason.
  • rustedheartzrustedheartz Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    naldo14 wrote: »
    Any of u know a time converter cause im from asia i want to identify what time is 5:20 AM PDT

    Here: http://lmgtfy.com/?q=time+zone+converter
  • elyveriaelyveria Member Posts: 5 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    cool. <3 it. my friend did this > 3 days back. i hope his stuff are still intact lol. 500mil AD. as much as i can spend. thanks pwe. gd choice with the mini rollback. put those **** upstarts back in their place. we of the old blood must not be made to look like commoners.
  • caucxicancaucxican Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users Posts: 31
    edited May 2013
    @dezstravus Thanks for the info BUT I have seen negative bid auctions since days before 5:20am this morning. Your logs will show this did not start this morning at all! Will those people be found and banned also? What about the smaller scale of damage they did with their infinite wealth?

    This exploit went viral when the people who were already making their own Astral Diamonds accidentally told one loud mouthed person. This was not something everyone figured out today!
  • regnorvexregnorvex Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users Posts: 44
    edited May 2013
    Why do you guys have to be so damned vague? "A very small number of players" ... why not say "367 players" or "3 players". Why leave us wondering about the scope of the breach? Many people are reporting having seen the bug utilized since launch, and the guy who boasted about it online is claiming he's been doing it since day one. Why don't you tell us that you are aware of this instead of ignoring the topic altogether and forcing us to wonder if you even know how much our AD has been devalued artificially? Sheesh, you guys fail at PR. Not very nimble of you to take all day to figure out what happened and then compose a post that is properly and carefully sanitized to make no commitments that would bother your corporate parents.
    "Men do not stop playing because they grow old. They grow old because they stop playing." -- Oliver Wendell Holmes
  • visigoth18visigoth18 Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users Posts: 371 Bounty Hunter
    edited May 2013
    this is why you dont "Exploit" as long as they do their jobs they wont let it happen...and you only end up getting baned and <font color="orange">HAMSTER</font> the community over >.<
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  • kennie81kennie81 Member Posts: 7 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    who gives a <font color="orange">HAMSTER</font> about those celestial coins anyway? i've opened like 30+ 7day boxes so far and got 1 coaliscent ward, waste of time when you can just exploit

    just 7 hrs? WOW

    we just have to check the zen market, if prices stays at 450ad/1zen than it means they solved nothing
  • ctdummy80ctdummy80 Member Posts: 57
    edited May 2013
    I think they realize that the exploit was around longer than that, but the real influx of funny money happened during the time they are rolling back. The rest of it is handled by banning the accounts to stop them from tainting the economy. So, it happened for a very long time, but it wasn't noticeable until today. By tracing the accounts that caused the problem to the beginning of the problem then finding the one's that exploited the bug and banning them they have essentially restructured the timeline. My only concern is whether or not they tracked down alt accounts and how they dealt with ill gotten gains other than AD.
  • aanuunaanuun Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Hero Users Posts: 8 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    xilinear wrote: »
    Results:

    - The ones that exploited this bug since launch, get away with it. Enjoy your billions of AD
    - Everyone else, have a special gift for taking away 7 hours of your hardly earned progress.

    And enjoy the year(s) that the Economy is run by Gold Sellers/Farmers... yay. *sigh*, PWI/Cryptic, answer my question about refunds please.
  • exploiter420exploiter420 Member Posts: 14 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    This AH exploit has been around since closed beta. Nothing has been done since even with numerous reports. So best to fix it now and just roll it back 7 hours! Great job! Time to go back and exploit in small increments.
  • khaelaryskhaelarys Member Posts: 1 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    sinua wrote: »
    Guys you dont pay to play and it is still in Beta . So i dont really think anyone has anything to complain about.. Be happy it was fixed instead of letting the few be constantly rich and over powered. Reminds me of some politicians.

    They aren't treating it as a beta. If they were, they wouldn't be making money and a wipe wouldn't be off the table.
  • grifting3grifting3 Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    Soo, basically all the AD and items pumped into the economy from the numerous exploits that have existed since launch will still remain in game even though it's done damage to the economy as well?

    The AD exploit, the most major game breaking one for sure, that was reported soon after launch and nothing was done. Not to mention you had the exact issue in another game, has finally gotten a response. I just find it funny that only after it affected your money making cash shop that you take action. Greed is a beautiful thing isn't it?
  • darknessfalls5darknessfalls5 Member, Neverwinter Beta Users Posts: 4 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    "Early Sunday morning a very small group of players discovered and abused a game exploit"

    That's simply not true. I hope that's not how you understand the situation.

    They are saying that because they want people to believe that the 7 hour rollback was sufficient enough to take care of all the people. So a "small group" makes it sound better. ;)
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