Official Statement - Tau Dewa

pwlaughingtrendy

The development team became aware of a potential leveling exploit on Wednesday morning, and after initial investigation decided to shut down access to the maps that were being used by the exploiters in order to perform a deeper investigation.

We uncovered some bugs in the game that were definitely not intentional and that could be used to level at a rate significantly faster than anywhere else in the game. Fixes to these bugs are going live today that should remove the exploit. Details of the changes can be found in the release notes.

While many players participated a little in the exploited maps, very few really took advantage of it to excessively level characters. We identified this small number of players, and we have removed the excess levels from these characters.

We apologize for the inconvenience of closed maps during the investigation and for the bugs that led to the scramble around those maps.

~LaughingTrendy

stoutes

Thank you for the update... Unfortunatly not actual something we didn't already knew .

At least we have bacon.

asmodicus

pwlaughingtrendy wrote: »

Hey everyone!

The development team became recently aware of a potential exploit with Tau Dewa and after initial investigation decided to shut down access to the maps that were being used by the exploiters in order for the team to perform a deeper investigation.

We uncovered some bugs in the game that were being used by a very select few players for exploitation. Fixes to these bugs have gone live today that should remove the exploit. Details of the changes can be found in the release notes.

A lot of players were on the maps, but very few people took advantage of this. We have identified this extremely small number of players and will be taking appropriate action.

I really apologize for the inconvenience of closed maps during the investigation and for the bugs that led to the scramble around those maps. The team was focused on it, and due to the nature of the exploit, I did not want to discuss the details heavily. Now that everything is fixed, I wanted to let everyone know a little more about what was going on.

~LaughingTrendy

You're a day late, and a dollar short.

khamseenair

So what was the actual 'exploit', because all the info in the patch notes points towards what 90% of us were doing, grinding. There's nothing I can see in the patch notes that a 'minority' were doing. If it's fixed already, why not tell us what it was?

jeffel82

khamseenair wrote: »

If it's fixed already, why not tell us what it was?

Fixed or no, they don't discuss exploits in detail.

tobar26th

pwlaughingtrendy wrote: »

Hey everyone!

The development team became recently aware of a potential exploit with Tau Dewa and after initial investigation decided to shut down access to the maps that were being used by the exploiters in order for the team to perform a deeper investigation.

We uncovered some bugs in the game that were being used by a very select few players for exploitation. Fixes to these bugs have gone live today that should remove the exploit. Details of the changes can be found in the release notes.

A lot of players were on the maps, but very few people took advantage of this. We have identified this extremely small number of players and will be taking appropriate action.

I really apologize for the inconvenience of closed maps during the investigation and for the bugs that led to the scramble around those maps. The team was focused on it, and due to the nature of the exploit, I did not want to discuss the details heavily. Now that everything is fixed, I wanted to let everyone know a little more about what was going on.

~LaughingTrendy

So what exactly was this exploit? If you're talking about the fact that you don't like that we were grinding in certain maps then say that please, because I'd imagine that's it. You want us to grind where you'd like, and not where we can spend twenty minutes to level up enough to bypass the content gaps in the new expansion rather than going and playing queues, and PVP that can take hours.


'Grinding, you're doing it wrong...'

c3141pwa

pwlaughingtrendy wrote: »

Hey everyone!

The development team became recently aware of a potential exploit with Tau Dewa and after initial investigation decided to shut down access to the maps that were being used by the exploiters in order for the team to perform a deeper investigation.

We uncovered some bugs in the game that were being used by a very select few players for exploitation. Fixes to these bugs have gone live today that should remove the exploit. Details of the changes can be found in the release notes.

A lot of players were on the maps, but very few people took advantage of this. We have identified this extremely small number of players and will be taking appropriate action.

I really apologize for the inconvenience of closed maps during the investigation and for the bugs that led to the scramble around those maps. The team was focused on it, and due to the nature of the exploit, I did not want to discuss the details heavily. Now that everything is fixed, I wanted to let everyone know a little more about what was going on.

~LaughingTrendy

When are you planning on fixing the dilithium exchange?

bluegeek

The Devs generally do not discuss exploits in any detail and at any rate the forum rules definitely prohibit it.

You guys will have to be satisfied with the answer Trendy gave you.

suuperduude

To be fair. If this is because of the dil, well it was reported on Tribble and in the forums that the TD sector was bugged. If this was because of the tech drops, the loot table is on Cryptic's end. If this is because of leveling, well that was ALL over Tribble and you had to put a NPC over there to grant magic levels because leveling up took forever.


I don't condone the use of exploits but to be fair nothing should happen to anyone for this. The problems were brought to Cryptic's attention even while on Tribble. The ominous tone is not needed for something Cryptic knew about and still didn't fix.You took the dil away for anything over 60 spec points. That's fine. We'll no, but it's whatever. To punish people after you knew it was broken and still brought it over is just bad business.

notrealedna

So patrols were exploits?Guess that was the best kept secret in game this whole time .SOme would have bet the devs put them in game .

suuperduude

tobar26th wrote: »

So what exactly was this exploit? If you're talking about the fact that you don't like that we were grinding in certain maps then say that please, because I'd imagine that's it. You want us to grind where you'd like, and not where we can spend twenty minutes to level up enough to bypass the content gaps in the new expansion rather than going and playing queues, and PVP that can take hours.


'Grinding, you're doing it wrong...'

Looking at the patch notes, I think it was the dil after maxing spec points.

cerritourug

Cryptic, this patch remove a lot of spec point for a lot of players, ppl that not even went to tau dewa!

http://sto-forum.perfectworld.com/showthread.php?t=1268571

I hope that this is a bug and that it gets fixed even faster then the "supose japori exploit".

hausofmartok

It's an interesting post. It seemed like none of the players doing those patrol missions considered it an exploit and that's why it was not kept on the DL and done so blatantly. By the number of posts in game chat it seemed like there was a huge number people running these patrol missions.
Seems like they just thought they figured out a cool way to power level.
It's kind of interesting really, this whole things about exploits. Cheaters gonna cheat I guess. Ever since Nintendo they had that little cheat cartridge, I forget what it was called but you could buy iit in stores and give yourself infinite lives and infinite monies. People still had to buy your game first, then buy the cheat cartridge so I guess the businesses didn't care. Here in the realm of free to play anything seen as cheating is directly tied into company profits and dealt with severely.

I want to say, meh, it's just a game who cares, right? But Cryptic will do what it's gotta do to keep those hamsters on the wheels.

notrealedna

cerritourug wrote: »

Cryptic, this patch remove a lot of spec point for a lot of players, ppl that not even went to tau dewa!

http://sto-forum.perfectworld.com/showthread.php?t=1268571

I hope that this is a bug and that it gets fixed even faster then the "supose japori exploit".

They punished pve players for playing ingame content lol ....


oh sorry I mean "for playing exploits".

sulfrustriple

It appears that the xp from killing an elite NPC has been reduced 75%. Was this the intent of the error correction?

lan451

Thanks Trendy.

Since it looks like it was an issue with the dil and not with people using the patrols to level, I'm largely alright with how things turned out.

hyefather

hausofmartok wrote: »

It's an interesting post. It seemed like none of the players doing those patrol missions considered it an exploit and that's why it was not kept on the DL and done so blatantly. By the number of posts in game chat it seemed like there was a huge number people running these patrol missions.
Seems like they just thought they figured out a cool way to power level.
It's kind of interesting really, this whole things about exploits. Cheaters gonna cheat I guess. Ever since Nintendo they had that little cheat cartridge, I forget what it was called but you could buy iit in stores and give yourself infinite lives and infinite monies. People still had to buy your game first, then buy the cheat cartridge so I guess the businesses didn't care. Here in the realm of free to play anything seen as cheating is directly tied into company profits and dealt with severely.

I want to say, meh, it's just a game who cares, right? But Cryptic will do what it's gotta do to keep those hamsters on the wheels.

LOL, The Game Genie. I remember that thing. Oh man did it do some wild and crazy things to some of your games. I remember, the first Castlevania and Ghosts and Goblins were almost impossible to beat but with the Game Genie you was invincible.

I seen one of those things at a Flea Market with 3 or 4 of the books. Guy had a 100 bucks on it. When I got ready to leave the Flea Market I walked back by his table and someone had bought it. Exploits are worth something, imagine that.

tasshena

shatterstar8269 wrote: »

You're a day late, and a dollar short.

Work for a company sometime, dear. You have to sign an NDA, and if you breach it, well, the reason there are so few whistleblowers is that they almost never get a job again in the industry they spent tons of money and a lot of college years learning.

They couldn't give more details until after the patch, lest someone else start exploiting it heavily on some other map. Some people spend more time on creative ways to cheat, than doing things normally, realize.

angrytarg

bluegeek wrote: »

The Devs generally do not discuss exploits in any detail and at any rate the forum rules definitely prohibit it.

You guys will have to be satisfied with the answer Trendy gave you.

In that case the answer Trendy gave us is completely superflous since it doesn't contain anything new.

The exploit is fixed now. Why not become specific about the issue? I don't understand why the developers continue to treat the playerbase like idiots and then complain that people get grumpy and "unfair". It's this kind of "empty statement" communication that causes a lot of trouble in the player-developer relations.

swatop

Whats the official statement on people (even those that didnt do patrol missions) have been loosing spec points?

I think many people would like to get an answer on this.

druhin

pwlaughingtrendy wrote: »

Hey everyone!

The development team became recently aware of a potential exploit with Tau Dewa and after initial investigation decided to shut down access to the maps that were being used by the exploiters in order for the team to perform a deeper investigation.

We uncovered some bugs in the game that were being used by a very select few players for exploitation. Fixes to these bugs have gone live today that should remove the exploit. Details of the changes can be found in the release notes.

A lot of players were on the maps, but very few people took advantage of this. We have identified this extremely small number of players have taken appropriate action.

I really apologize for the inconvenience of closed maps during the investigation and for the bugs that led to the scramble around those maps. The team was focused on it, and due to the nature of the exploit, I did not want to discuss the details heavily. Now that everything is fixed, I wanted to let everyone know a little more about what was going on.

~LaughingTrendy

Nice to know Tau Dewa is open for business again.

Maybe you guys should learn, and make sure these things don't happen in the first place? Like, getting around to those "Known Issues" with every patch.

phantomeight

angrytarg wrote: »

The exploit is fixed now. Why not become specific about the issue? I don't understand why the developers continue to treat the playerbase like idiots and then complain that people get grumpy and "unfair". It's this kind of "empty statement" communication that causes a lot of trouble in the player-developer relations.

Very simple, they don't want you to know the nature of the exploit because you could use that information to try to run a similar exploit. Idea's breed more ideas....

These guys found a way to game the system.... they were told the stop, but kept doing it. Knowing how they gamed the system would allow you to look around for other ways/places to pull off the same or similar hack.



Also, for all of you with poor reading comprehension skills.... they don't care that you used the patrols to level up quickly.... That should be clear.

origcaptainquack

its good you fixed problem and supposedly dealt with the offenders. so why punish everyone by taking away reward for leveling up after specialization is comeplete?
if this is a neccessary resolution, then why not give us something like accolades for increasing after every 5 level ups to infinite? and if that is too much work for the developers then something else?

hausofmartok

hyefather wrote: »

LOL, The Game Genie. I remember that thing. Oh man did it do some wild and crazy things to some of your games. I remember, the first Castlevania and Ghosts and Goblins were almost impossible to beat but with the Game Genie you was invincible.

I seen one of those things at a Flea Market with 3 or 4 of the books. Guy had a 100 bucks on it. When I got ready to leave the Flea Market I walked back by his table and someone had bought it. Exploits are worth something, imagine that.

Ya bro the Game Genie! The original exploit! lol

On a serious note, I was reading something on Linkedin the other day written by a fortune 500 exec about employees quitting and who's fault it was. In summary he said that the people who did the quitting should not be to blame and that a successful manager would ask themselves "why did they quit?" "what was the circumstance here that led to them quitting and what could have I done to keep them here?".
This is something that I think could benefit Cryptic greatly when considering how to punish the so called "exploiters". "What did Cryptic do or not do to allow this exploit to happen in the first place?" Did Cryptic ignore or miss player feedback on Tribble telling us this was an issue but did not correct it by the time it Holodeck?""Why do players want to skip out content so quickly? Is it too tedious or time costly?

My point is, just don't go slamming players with the ban hammer. Someone at Cryptic should be held accountable for this as well.

After all, if someone makes a mistake that costs their employer money they would be disciplined, would they not? Just don't place all the blame on the players.

gavinruneblade

origcaptainquack wrote: »

its good you fixed problem and supposedly dealt with the offenders. so why punish everyone by taking away reward for leveling up after specialization is comeplete?
if this is a neccessary resolution, then why not give us something like accolades for increasing after every 5 level ups to infinite? and if that is too much work for the developers then something else?

read the patch notes, they are reviewing internally and "may reinstate" the bonus.

gavinruneblade

Thanks for at least saying something and making it clearer that it wasn't the power leveling that was the issue.

vsilverwings1

So Cryptic you've decided that;

Players working together in an MMO
Playing officially made content
On an Elite difficulty setting applied by you
With only the restrictions/rules you set yourself.

Is an exploit.

Immediately I ask myself how much is too much? 1xp a minute too much? 1 minute or 1 mission too many times? This tells the community that what we do could be exploitative behaviour and will be penalised.

I blame this solely on you for not knowing your own game. I will laugh when the day comes if or more likely when you penalise everyone because logging in refines all their dilithum or something stupid. I expect more of this to continue to happen until people simply give up because whatever they do you could decide it affects your profit margin and rather than admit your failings you blame the players instead.

Shame on you Cryptic. Utter shame you're jst as bad as those that were intentionally looking to exploit.

unsacredgrave

can you start Fixing the specialisation bug now? and the invalid skills bug??

kerriknight

phantomeight wrote: »

These guys found a way to game the system.... they were told the stop, but kept doing it.

*Citation needed

:9

suaveks

Everything is an exploit unless it's buying Zen or gambling...

suuperduude

phantomeight wrote: »

Very simple, they don't want you to know the nature of the exploit because you could use that information to try to run a similar exploit. Idea's breed more ideas....

These guys found a way to game the system.... they were told the stop, but kept doing it. Knowing how they gamed the system would allow you to look around for other ways/places to pull off the same or similar hack.



Also, for all of you with poor reading comprehension skills.... they don't care that you used the patrols to level up quickly.... That should be clear.

When we're they told to stop? TD was yanked and then it stopped. Nothing said to stop...