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The sad truth: it WAS an exploit
mhall85
Member Posts: 2,852 Arc User1
First of all, I'm on a Mac, and can't play the game. Haven't been able to since DR launched. So, any issues over the ability to power level isn't getting sympathy from a player that can't even play the game. 
With that said, let's step back, take a breath, and do a little math:
With the launch of DR and the specialization tree, we are introduced to the idea that advancing one level earns you one point. So, moving from 50-60 earns you ten points. The fun doesn't stop there, however, as their are 60 abilities to unlock. So, in essence, you will need to advance 50 more levels to unlock everything (ignoring the issue of adding more specializations in later updates).
So, what this sounds like to me: only a week and a half after the launch of DR, you essentially have a certain number of players at Level 110.
That's insane. Given that the dev team said at STLV that you won't be able to "burn through content" once DR goes live, and that there is no Bonus XP event going on... yeah, if you've maxed out at Level 60 AND maxed out your specializations, that's an exploit. This doesn't make you a "bad" player, nor is it punishing you for teaming up with friends... it just means that something doesn't work, as the devs intended. They had to close the exploit, because this means that a certain number of players: (a) burned through content that wasn't meant to be burnt through at that speed, and (b) now have an easy path to gain dilithium, which could easily spell money out of Cryptic's pocket. At the very least, this door was open, and a real threat to them.
That's a double whammy in Cryptic's book... so, yes, stuff needed to change. Sad part is, this wasn't caught in beta. Should it have been? Who knows, but if it was, it would have saved us from a TON of drama. What's worse, the patch that was supposed to close this exploit seems to have created more problems (missing Specialization points, DIL exchange issues, XP reductions where there maybe should be increases?) You may not agree with it, and that is your right... pull your money from this game, if you deem that necessary.
I guess all I'm trying to say is that... this is a hot mess. And fix my Mac client, because it is broken.
With that said, let's step back, take a breath, and do a little math:
With the launch of DR and the specialization tree, we are introduced to the idea that advancing one level earns you one point. So, moving from 50-60 earns you ten points. The fun doesn't stop there, however, as their are 60 abilities to unlock. So, in essence, you will need to advance 50 more levels to unlock everything (ignoring the issue of adding more specializations in later updates).
So, what this sounds like to me: only a week and a half after the launch of DR, you essentially have a certain number of players at Level 110.
That's insane. Given that the dev team said at STLV that you won't be able to "burn through content" once DR goes live, and that there is no Bonus XP event going on... yeah, if you've maxed out at Level 60 AND maxed out your specializations, that's an exploit. This doesn't make you a "bad" player, nor is it punishing you for teaming up with friends... it just means that something doesn't work, as the devs intended. They had to close the exploit, because this means that a certain number of players: (a) burned through content that wasn't meant to be burnt through at that speed, and (b) now have an easy path to gain dilithium, which could easily spell money out of Cryptic's pocket. At the very least, this door was open, and a real threat to them.
That's a double whammy in Cryptic's book... so, yes, stuff needed to change. Sad part is, this wasn't caught in beta. Should it have been? Who knows, but if it was, it would have saved us from a TON of drama. What's worse, the patch that was supposed to close this exploit seems to have created more problems (missing Specialization points, DIL exchange issues, XP reductions where there maybe should be increases?) You may not agree with it, and that is your right... pull your money from this game, if you deem that necessary.
I guess all I'm trying to say is that... this is a hot mess. And fix my Mac client, because it is broken.
Post edited by Unknown User on
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How is that fair? Why shoud dwe be punished for their mistake?
Maybe because it was a lie or just PR, in the first place ... how would you not burn through just 8 New Story Missions ... or is shootin the same stuff for the "next 60 Levels" over & over, supposed to be content ...
... and I'm pretty sure you COULD STILL do that within a week, it's just a freakin pain in the A** ... so granted people at LvL 110, might be somehow borderline insane ... but that's their problem :P ...
still trying to wrangle yourself out of that hole you dug for yourself..
Been around since Dec 2010 on STO and bought LTS in Apr 2013 for STO.
1. I never said I agree with the decision, or the path they took that led us here. (I can't play the game AT ALL, how do you think I feel?)
2. Yes, they have essentially set up the sandbox for us, only to kick us out because they found a few scorpions in said sandbox.
You need 12-14 hours of straight playing to level a Romulan to lv50 with episodes alone. Are episodes an exploit because its fast?
But what would you expect from some apple-maniac... All hail whoever-made-what-i-use...
this ^^^^^^^
system Lord Baal is dead
Wait, are we in agreement, LOL? :P
Again, my only point is... it's a hot mess, and perhaps, you sleep in the bed you make. This includes people AND whole companies.
And fix the Mac client.
hahahaha. i guess its the one time where suspicious and logic are actually allies for once. :P
Been around since Dec 2010 on STO and bought LTS in Apr 2013 for STO.
The sad truth may be that someone fekked up, and the players are getting punished. At least we get a couple of kittens this weekend to help us forget that we were BAD players. I wonder what we'll be punished for next week.
Awoken Dead
Now shaddup about the queues, it's a BUG
Never said that. Neither did the devs. They know levels 1-50 are on a fast track. Just pointing out that it was their intention to slow leveling from 50-60... but that didn't happen.
Uncalled for. I'm not pushing an Apple agenda. I just want Cryptic to support and fix a piece of software that they have released.
How is he trolling?
There is nothing to say this is DEV punishment being handed out here.
"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."
Grinding Japori is not a bug.
In all likelihood this is a repeat of the problems at that we suffered recently when the entire player base was affected by a bug that rendered skill invalid. This resulted in an emergency patch to fix the problem that lasted 4.5hrs. Why it has affected some and not all I don't know, but I know people that are both over and under level sixty that are affected.
There is a bug that accidently removed more points then they should have but for those that had huge banks of dilithium and had capped those traits they fixed. Its just logic your playing a computer game on their servers producing all kinds of data they will find out eventually when things look wrong this will put up red flags.
Anyone playing the game normally was unaffected unfortunately people dont like getting caught when they break the rules its embarrasing so they get mad at the people who caught them to make them selves feel less uncomfortable. There was a thread about cognitive dissonance a few days back. This is just another example of that unfortunately.
LOL, cheers.
It was actually the only thing in DR that felt right & fun :P .. teaming up with random people, interacting etc ...
... DR-Patrols are obviously cheating, though ... and should be removed from the game ...
Exactly, and all well said.
I have no issue with power leveling. Once I get in-game (LOL), I intend to find the fastest way to 60 I can. That's not going to take me just a week and a half, however.
Lol yup Crypitic does share some of the blame for not catching it before they released the new content. And to the players doing it. They had to know it was wrong but they refuse to admit it and i don't blame them. Farming dil.cuts into PWE's pocket. Those players are lucky they didn't take it away from them.
Oops. And there you go.
Also, if they want to continue to give out free things to "make us forget" that we are BAD players... I'm down.
I saw your thread.
GL with that. I've been playing 4 hrs a day since DR launched and I'm only at lvl 56. Now that the skill rewards are 70% less than they were just 12 hours ago I see a few week grind ahead for those last 4 levels- just to watch ker'rat vanish. Any level beyond that is a long term investment in time I may not be willing to make.
Awoken Dead
Now shaddup about the queues, it's a BUG
Click to Join armadafleet.org/
Really hoping that is a bug, as well... sure sounds like it is, given the patch notes.
There are different ways to use the word "exploit". There's the common usage that sounds like "taking advantage of something for your benefit," but even there it has a slightly negative nuance to it.
When used in the context of games, however, exploits are most commonly understood as an egregious, intentional, illegitimate or illicit use of unintended gameplay behaviour to "cheat."
You're conflating the two uses here, which doesn't really help anything. Players aren't objecting to a use of the word "exploit" that conveys the more benign meaning. Players are always looking for the "optimal path" in games. There's nothing malicious or illicit about it. As long as it's working as intended, there's no harm. Players exploit a boss' weaknesses all the time; it's called strategy and tactics. Perfectly legitimate, because that's a legitimate path the developers have given you to achieve the goal of defeating the boss.
What players are objecting to is the felt accusation that they were intentionally cheating. I share this objection. Players found an optimal path and "exploited" or took advantage of it. They were not looking to cheat; they were using what they thought was a legitimate game experience to achieve their goals more efficiently.
That is not exploiting in the more malicious, illegitimate meaning of the word, and the devs could have taken steps in their messaging to avoid giving the impression that so many players were cheaters.
Thanks!