• Hail Guest!
    We're looking for Community Content Contribuitors to Stratics. If you would like to write articles, fan fiction, do guild or shard event recaps, it's simple. Find out how in this thread: Community Contributions
  • Greetings Guest, Having Login Issues? Check this thread!
  • Hail Guest!,
    Please take a moment to read this post reminding you all of the importance of Account Security.
  • Hail Guest!
    Please read the new announcement concerning the upcoming addition to Stratics. You can find the announcement Here!

NEWS NLS Newsletter #5

Naitch

Lore Master
Stratics Veteran
Awards
3
Someone told me that the new fountains will be able to enhance bandages like the ones we have now. If so , that's pretty good. Gives us more choices for our houses .

Might be worth picking up a few of those.
 

Luc of Legends

Lore Keeper
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED
I wish things would continue to be available so that I don't have to tell a newb, "Sorry, that's no longer available, you had to be there, sux to be you."

This post is going to make others wish that there were an unambiguous "thumbs down" on Stratics with which to react to posts.
THIS! This is why I said that items from Past events SHOULD BE MADE FOR SALE IN THE STORE!

However as long the "MY RARES! MY RARES!" crowd continues to control UO it ain't ever gonna happen. Sux to be the poor, unwashed, PEON PLAYERS.
 

Maximus Neximus

Certifiable
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
THIS! This is why I said that items from Past events SHOULD BE MADE FOR SALE IN THE STORE!

However as long the "MY RARES! MY RARES!" crowd continues to control UO it ain't ever gonna happen. Sux to be the poor, unwashed, PEON PLAYERS.
I disagree about purely deco items, titles, and maybe one day dyes. Any wearable, equipable, or consumable item with stats needs to remain available and not limited time.
 

Xare

Seasoned Veteran
Stratics Veteran
UNLEASHED
THIS! This is why I said that items from Past events SHOULD BE MADE FOR SALE IN THE STORE!

However as long the "MY RARES! MY RARES!" crowd continues to control UO it ain't ever gonna happen. Sux to be the poor, unwashed, PEON PLAYERS.
I disagree about purely deco items, titles, and maybe one day dyes. Any wearable, equipable, or consumable item with stats needs to remain available and not limited time.

Agreeing with Luc here. What absurd basis would you defend the "No, you can't have it because you weren't here" with?

Even deco; this is a game all; there is absolutely no reason to forbid it that goes beyond "protecting" the market (which, LOL the market is soooo beyond screwed with current gold inflation, etc etc)
 

celticus

Crazed Zealot
UNLEASHED
Partially agree with all. But counterbalance this with -
-Not all newbies are interested in the high end content, right from the start. They need to learn the game, and then some to get the items after they put the effort in.
-Old event items. How old? Are we to include Sorc Trinket, and some of the old things that are now available in some other form from Blackthorn? They are still available, but in different form. Some are even better. But they involve the effort/time to get these.
-Many old items are relics, and they have game value beyond their mods. Consider them as RL antiques.
-I don't have any EM Rares, but why knock them? They are just that rares that add interest to the game for some folks, and mostly they bring people together. So what if they end up with the ones with deep uo pockets? It's the process of getting together with others in a way.
-Are we asking the Devs to go full speed ahead RMT by having lots of the older drops on the UO store? We already have RMT websites at least 3-4 likely, and some of the old returnees are already customers there i bet you.
-The economy was messed up 10+ years ago, and the game is still alive today. I suspect if the devs attempt to put some caps on the economy one way or another, it would cause a massive outcry and possibly serious harm to the game.
-Every game MMO or otherwise has higher or "high" end items and valuables. Part of the game is to try to achieve these with game-play, or buy them from other players at some point if they are not available now.
-Newbies and not so newbies need to just learn the game and enjoy it just for what it is afterall : Just a grindy and complex PITA video game, that is tough by nature. Just enjoy the process of the game and the available content.
-Not too many people newbies or otherwise would like to see Rares, Rubble, full Sampire weapon sets, Sampire Suits, Leurocian's Mempo, 120 PS, and similar items in the UO store.
Few years ago I saw a newby in newbie gear in new Haven, and offered him starting gold, gear and advice, His response was 'No thank you, I want to learn this game myself and get the gear and gold I need by myself" Now that's a player with the real sense of gameplay : The purpose of the game is to have fun most of all IMHO.:)
 

Luc of Legends

Lore Keeper
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED
Partially agree with all. But counterbalance this with -
-Not all newbies are interested in the high end content, right from the start. They need to learn the game, and then some to get the items after they put the effort in.
-Old event items. How old? Are we to include Sorc Trinket, and some of the old things that are now available in some other form from Blackthorn? They are still available, but in different form. Some are even better. But they involve the effort/time to get these.
-Many old items are relics, and they have game value beyond their mods. Consider them as RL antiques.
-I don't have any EM Rares, but why knock them? They are just that rares that add interest to the game for some folks, and mostly they bring people together. So what if they end up with the ones with deep uo pockets? It's the process of getting together with others in a way.
-Are we asking the Devs to go full speed ahead RMT by having lots of the older drops on the UO store? We already have RMT websites at least 3-4 likely, and some of the old returnees are already customers there i bet you.
-The economy was messed up 10+ years ago, and the game is still alive today. I suspect if the devs attempt to put some caps on the economy one way or another, it would cause a massive outcry and possibly serious harm to the game.
-Every game MMO or otherwise has higher or "high" end items and valuables. Part of the game is to try to achieve these with game-play, or buy them from other players at some point if they are not available now.
-Newbies and not so newbies need to just learn the game and enjoy it just for what it is afterall : Just a grindy and complex PITA video game, that is tough by nature. Just enjoy the process of the game and the available content.
-Not too many people newbies or otherwise would like to see Rares, Rubble, full Sampire weapon sets, Sampire Suits, Leurocian's Mempo, 120 PS, and similar items in the UO store.
Few years ago I saw a newby in newbie gear in new Haven, and offered him starting gold, gear and advice, His response was 'No thank you, I want to learn this game myself and get the gear and gold I need by myself" Now that's a player with the real sense of gameplay : The purpose of the game is to have fun most of all IMHO.:)
these items.

Okay I agree with you in part. However, when players are paying 40 PLATINUM for a tram castle on Atlantic then the UO Store should be selling the items also I

I think they should start selling gold/plats through the Origin Store. Think about this : one of those RMT sites sell 1 Plat for $150 USD and someone paid 40 Plats

for a castle. 40 x $150 = $6000. I don't know about you, but I'd rather see $6000 go into the UO coffers than into some random RMTers' coffers to buy a second RL

house or a boat. If you don't think RMT doesn't pay look no further than the infamous MARKEE DRAGON. The IRS doesn't go after some dude making few dollars

a month - Nuff Said. Also the game is more fun when the playing field is level.
 

Lord Frodo

Stratics Legend
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED
these items.

Okay I agree with you in part. However, when players are paying 40 PLATINUM for a tram castle on Atlantic then the UO Store should be selling the items also I

I think they should start selling gold/plats through the Origin Store. Think about this : one of those RMT sites sell 1 Plat for $150 USD and someone paid 40 Plats

for a castle. 40 x $150 = $6000. I don't know about you, but I'd rather see $6000 go into the UO coffers than into some random RMTers' coffers to buy a second RL

house or a boat. If you don't think RMT doesn't pay look no further than the infamous MARKEE DRAGON. The IRS doesn't go after some dude making few dollars

a month - Nuff Said. Also the game is more fun when the playing field is level.
And how do you propose that UO gets its Castles, all IDOC are owned by UO now so they can sell the houses in UO Store.
If UO starts to sell gold then the marked will become more flooded because alls UO will do is print more gold.
Also understand that the only people that will get rich off this deal is EA because BS/UO DOES NOT collect any real money so you will be buying gold with sovereigns that you buy from EA for real money along with the houses you buy from UO with Gold/sovereigns.
 

The Black Smith

Seasoned Veteran
UNLEASHED
Can we switch chars without retyping our password...we used to have the save password option, can it come back?

No, to protect account security we cannot allow this.

So, are they going to ban Pinco's UI then? since that has the save password option.
 

Keven2002

Babbling Loonie
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED
Also the game is more fun when the playing field is level.
I disagree to a point on this. Truth is there are many high end content things that would be taken up if the playing field was level which would mean you would in the best case scenario have to take turns with the X other people doing it or more likely everyone just jump in which would mean you'd end up with like 2 pieces of loot and 200gp. Examples here would be Miasma (not super high end but good enough drops); I've gone several times and 1 or 2 people there so I just leave. Fun for me is actually having a challenge (I actually liked the treasures of paragons bc they aren't impossible but you certainly need to pay attention); if everyone is jumping one or two things because they all have the gear to survive and there is no longer a challenge then it becomes boring (to me at least).

Also, just because people have the gear that I have doesn't mean their understanding of the game / game play is the same as mine so the field isn't really level and honestly the people who are buying all the stuff I have from UO instead of earning it are likely the ones with no clue. These are the people I see in Doom who run around from the dark father casting spells on it making undead spawn everywhere and can't kill it by themselves so they run over to where I am (bringing the DF they ran down to attack first) and getting everyone killed.
 

petemage

Babbling Loonie
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED
Can we switch chars without retyping our password...we used to have the save password option, can it come back?

No, to protect account security we cannot allow this.

So, are they going to ban Pinco's UI then? since that has the save password option.
It's just the cheapest cop-out ever. I got passwords to more important services stored on the computer, yet for a video game it's way too risky. Sure Bonnie. Less work for them, more time to waste in emails.
 

petemage

Babbling Loonie
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED
It's like they couldn't care less about people getting scammed, bullied in chat or getting RSI from excessive grindfests. But when it comes to having to actually work once, they only don't do it for our own good.

:troll:
 

Picus of Napa

Certifiable
Supporter
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED
Paying for items sucks, always has and always will.

These limited time items, which are now shard bound????, suck also. Talk about being behind the 8ball, how is one expected to make a "current" character if only 50% of the top items are farmable, 25% might come back at one time if you stay around for the next year and the last 25% like pre-patch will never be available without what I think the kids call green gold....

Reflection has me wanting to add that at least once a year to get the item is far better than before when it was all "pre-patch" or nothing(SSI cloaks being first to my mind).
 

Drakelord

Grand Poobah
Governor
Alumni
Stratics Veteran
Awards
3
When we had the 20 anniv tokens there was all those past items on there, and that is something they should continue to do (like ever 5 yrs), only add what was given in game between those periods. That way the list continues with the growth of each year anniv gift.
 

Uriah Heep

Grand Poobah
Alumni
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED
Can we switch chars without retyping our password...we used to have the save password option, can it come back?

No, to protect account security we cannot allow this.

So, are they going to ban Pinco's UI then? since that has the save password option.

yeah that's ********, that anyone can see
 

Lore

Babbling Loonie
Stratics Veteran
UNLEASHED
I was taught not to allow it either, personally. Some of my apps won't even save your username anymore. Blame the people stealing stuff.

They had an option to do two things and chose the one some don't agree with. I wouldn't call it BS. It's just a different opinion.
 

John Knighthawke

Seasoned Veteran
Stratics Veteran
It's weird to see the contrasts between some players who want UO news to be "all NL all the time" and players like me who prefer their focusing on, you know, the game that's live right now. Both camps get upset. (I try to be mild-mannered about it but...)

This isn't a case where compromise is easy to achieve because the "all NL all the time" folks are, well, all NL all the time. And folks like me see any focus on NL as focusing on a pipe dream to the extent of what we actually have right now.

Oh well.
 

celticus

Crazed Zealot
UNLEASHED
A bankroll of 40 Plats or 1000 Plats for RMT site?
Interesting how the RMT got to have 1000-2000-10,000 Plats for sale to the really really real-life financially endowed!

Either there is a duping machine somewhere or there might be some under the table Plat generation of Plats?

"I'd rather see $6000 go into the UO coffers than into some random RMTers' coffers to buy a second RL". A little birdie on the tree whispers quietly that this UO coffer stuffing may be already happening without the need to sell Plats on UO store. We will never really know the truth. (Hint-hint). Shhhhhh!! Its a secret! :devil:
 

Pawain

I Hate Skilling
Governor
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED
A bankroll of 40 Plats or 1000 Plats for RMT site?
Interesting how the RMT got to have 1000-2000-10,000 Plats for sale to the really really real-life financially endowed!

Either there is a duping machine somewhere or there might be some under the table Plat generation of Plats?

"I'd rather see $6000 go into the UO coffers than into some random RMTers' coffers to buy a second RL". A little birdie on the tree whispers quietly that this UO coffer stuffing may be already happening without the need to sell Plats on UO store. We will never really know the truth. (Hint-hint). Shhhhhh!! Its a secret! :devil:
Where do you get your info from.

Here is the msg you get from one that spams on Atlantic:
1612321760284.png
 

celticus

Crazed Zealot
UNLEASHED
Agree. This is what the RMT fellow says. But we will never see their books to see how many Plats they sold. Just the fact that this type of phenomena are not actioned upon enough if any by the Dev team.

Definitely a silly comment on my part, as this is not affecting my gameplay whatsoever, especially 40-Plat Castle on on Atl, and my 2 little homes there are plenty for me.:D
 

Lore

Babbling Loonie
Stratics Veteran
UNLEASHED
I would be super surprised if people can still dup huge sums of gold without getting caught easily. It all goes into one pool per account and should be easily tracked.
 

Xare

Seasoned Veteran
Stratics Veteran
UNLEASHED
I would be super surprised if people can still dup huge sums of gold without getting caught easily. It all goes into one pool per account and should be easily tracked.
[Falon Foster]: why is it you allow some duped items but not others?
[Falon Foster]: such as duped glacial spell books. but not duped insane tinker leggings
[Mesanna]: because we have not caught them yet
[Falon Foster]: caught what
[Falon Foster]: the people duping
[Falon Foster]: ?
[Falon Foster]: or the items themselves
[Mesanna]: thank you for your questions but I am not talking about duping with you
[Mesanna]: have a good evening
Sorry, we're not allowed to ask about duping.
 

Lore

Babbling Loonie
Stratics Veteran
UNLEASHED
Sorry, we're not allowed to ask about duping.
I don't see how what I said and what you replied with are related in any constructive way to what I was talking about except they both have dup in the sentences.
 

Lord Nabin

High Council Sage - Greater Sosaria
Professional
Supporter
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED
Glorious Lord
Sorry, we're not allowed to ask about duping.
Looks to me like the question was allowed to be asked and it was straight up answered.

Not sure what the stupid drama is about other than people didn't hear what they wanted to.

Keep asking questions and maybe try respecting the answers followed up with how can I help.

*stokes the fire and sips his glass of Good Old Moonglow Red*
 

Xare

Seasoned Veteran
Stratics Veteran
UNLEASHED
I don't see how what I said and what you replied with are related in any constructive way to what I was talking about except they both have dup in the sentences.
I mean, I was going for the cheap, quick hit, but sure, I'll engage you on this. Duping has been an on going issue since the game's inception. Anyone who believes that it is not still going on is either delusional, senile, or ignorant. Granted, you will almost surely point out that I have no evidence to support this claim, and that is true. I can only offer personal beliefs and you can dismiss them as you choose. My evidence is just circumstantial, based on the prevalence of gold buying, sheer amounts of it, and the (apparent) inaction by the development team to counter it.

Maybe I'm wrong, and they're doing a lot about it, but I'm too cynical to see it right now.

Looks to me like the question was allowed to be asked and it was straight up answered.

Not sure what the stupid drama is about other than people didn't hear what they wanted to.

Keep asking questions and maybe try respecting the answers followed up with how can I help.
Question was why are some items allowed and some not. Answer was because we have not caught them yet. This answer runs very contrary to history however, where items that were at some point illegal where made legal, hence why this question was even asked (if I had to guess; I'm not the questioner).
The more broad, and unasked question that was part of this, was more along the lines of what steps have been taken to combat the duping that we as players believe is going on. Choices of appropriate answers would have been something like "We don't discuss our actions against duping, but we are actively penalizing it when discovered." or some variant thereof. She could even have tried to claim that there was no duping, but that would only have exposed her as more out of touch with the game she is the Producer of.

Mesanna takes a very "trust Mommy to do what's right" approach to leadership, and that's just not acceptable if she wishes for me to pay to support this game. If your not so restricted, by all means, continue on, but don't tell me that just because I disagree with her style means I can't question it.
 

Lore

Babbling Loonie
Stratics Veteran
UNLEASHED
I mean, I was going for the cheap, quick hit, but sure, I'll engage you on this. Duping has been an on going issue since the game's inception. Anyone who believes that it is not still going on is either delusional, senile, or ignorant. Granted, you will almost surely point out that I have no evidence to support this claim, and that is true. I can only offer personal beliefs and you can dismiss them as you choose. My evidence is just circumstantial, based on the prevalence of gold buying, sheer amounts of it, and the (apparent) inaction by the development team to counter it.

Maybe I'm wrong, and they're doing a lot about it, but I'm too cynical to see it right now.
What does that have to do with account pooled gold and being able to track huge sums being dup'd? I don't need proof of dup'ing.
 

Luc of Legends

Lore Keeper
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED
What does that have to do with account pooled gold and being able to track huge sums being dup'd? I don't need proof of dup'ing.
Everyone that has NO IDEA what Xare, Celticus, and Lore are talking about: RAISE YOU HAND! :party::party::party::party::party::party::party::party::party::party:
 

railshot

Slightly Crazed
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED
I mean, I was going for the cheap, quick hit, but sure, I'll engage you on this. Duping has been an on going issue since the game's inception. Anyone who believes that it is not still going on is either delusional, senile, or ignorant. Granted, you will almost surely point out that I have no evidence to support this claim, and that is true. I can only offer personal beliefs and you can dismiss them as you choose. My evidence is just circumstantial, based on the prevalence of gold buying, sheer amounts of it, and the (apparent) inaction by the development team to counter it.

Mesanna takes a very "trust Mommy to do what's right" approach to leadership, and that's just not acceptable if she wishes for me to pay to support this game. If your not so restricted, by all means, continue on, but don't tell me that just because I disagree with her style means I can't question it.
I did ask myself a similar question - is it possible that all the gold sold on the RMT sites is created through botting rather than duping. But, of course, that is not the data that I would be privy to. But then Mesanna herself answered that quesion. In the very first newsletters where they started publishing disciplinary actions listed bans for duping. So clearly it is still happening. People, including myself, started asking questions like - how is it that in a 20-year-old game duping is possible at all? That is a critical vulnerability that should be patched before any other development is done. But Mesanna's famous "sweep it under the rug" way of solving problems means that "we don't talk about duping". Magically, since those questions appeared, there were no more duping bans in newsletters after that. Miraculously they must have been able to finally fix the issue... after letting it fester for 20 years.
Oh, and in case you are wondering, that stepped-up enforcement, be it for botting or duping, had zero effect on RMT gold prices. It's business as usual there. To the explanation, I remember at least one newsletter where one category of transgressions was listed twice... and with different numbers. Couple that with the refusal to answer simple questions pertaining to the matter, and it very much starting to look like they are making up the enforcement numbers as they go along. Players wanted transparency? Players got an illusion of one.
 

Keven2002

Babbling Loonie
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED
it very much starting to look like they are making up the enforcement numbers as they go along. Players wanted transparency? Players got an illusion of one.
I agree with that. Just look at this newsletter alone. In December there were only 24 bans for solicitation (ie RMT??); given I've seen Avatar/Chuck Norris/John/Johnz spamming relentlessly almost 24/7; between those 4 toons I'd have to think that is at least 4 bans a day (x31 days). And that is just on ATL... I know they are on other shards too (not sure if it is a different account or not).

So rather than 100+ bans we see only 24, so to me that either says the number is made up from just a wild guess (which happens to be very low) or they just aren't banning these accounts for solicitation and allowing them to go days using the same account freely clogging up Gen Chat with their soliciting.

There were 87 bans for macroing which could be banning bots but could also just be banning people unattended macroing a skill (rather than buy a mythic token). Whatever the reason, in the month of December the macroing bans were 3x the amount of solicitation bans and that seems very lopsided to me.
 

celticus

Crazed Zealot
UNLEASHED
Here is my take on this:
Who do you think is playing the game? I am willing to guess all sorts of people from all walks of life, well almost. They need to be able to pay for the subs.

Some are software engineers, and not only from Russia.
Some are brilliant young daredevils, highly proficient in their "art" that usually do it for just the hack of it. We call them hackers.

And-

If you think Duping and Exploits are the privilege of this 20 year old game, very incorrect. Actually there is a lot of duping and code manipulation in Most if not ALL MMO games. Many examples out there. No real need to list them. No need to be a 20-year old game at all. Actually the expertiese of some of these MMO players far surpass the programmers' expertiese to prevent and even catch these cheats.
And in many of these that also involve RMT, it is not unreasonable to assume the Developers of these games have some "interest" in there one way or another. Cannot be proven or disproved.

I really doubt that any online MMO is bulletproof for duping and cheating, as long as there is the interest in some extremely capable people to just do it.

I play my own game : I go to Doom a little bit, do Roof with others a little bit, T-Hunt a little bit, Craft a little bit, Tame a little bit for profit, Champ spawn in Fel a lot of a bit, and now I Fish quite a bit for now. My game is my game. I am not in competition with others for Plats, items, shinies, deco with myself or others. My next project if and when I get the time is to get a decent home and lose the dumpster that I have now possibly. I just have too much fun playing the actual game to just sit still and house design and decorate etc.
But thats my game : To have fun. To play with the team, to get PKed at spawns at times, etc. I do not care if some one cheats or even if the Devs have any interest in RMT. It really does not affect my game. Even if it does one way or another who cares? I just have my fun anyway. I suspect that the cheaters just cheat themselves of real game experience. Its just a videogame afterall!
 

Lord Nabin

High Council Sage - Greater Sosaria
Professional
Supporter
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED
Glorious Lord
*Tilts his hat and gives @celticus an approving nod. Raises his glass of Good Old Moonglow Red in salute before taking a long sip and settling back into his chair by the cozy fire.*
 

Stinky Pete

Babbling Loonie
Supporter
Stratics Veteran
UNLEASHED
A game tester walks into a bar:
He orders a beer.
He orders 0 beers.
He orders 17483246538568305830129094301418508567325`612362889246924 beers.
He orders -1 beers.
Satisfied with the results, he leaves the bar.
The first real customer walks in and asks, "Where is the bathroom?"
The bar explodes, everyone dies.

Not sure why that joke came to mind, but it did, so I told it. I still hate you @celticus.
 

celticus

Crazed Zealot
UNLEASHED
A game tester walks into a bar:
He orders a beer.
He orders 0 beers.
He orders 17483246538568305830129094301418508567325`612362889246924 beers.
He orders -1 beers.
Satisfied with the results, he leaves the bar.
The first real customer walks in and asks, "Where is the bathroom?"
The bar explodes, everyone dies.

Not sure why that joke came to mind, but it did, so I told it. I still hate you @celticus.
I am honored! :devil:
 

railshot

Slightly Crazed
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED
If you think Duping and Exploits are the privilege of this 20 year old game, very incorrect. Actually there is a lot of duping and code manipulation in Most if not ALL MMO games.
Let's not conflate duping and your garden variety exploit. Pretty much every game, MMO or otherwise has exploits. Duping is a whole another matter. Something like duping can destroy a game, and is taken extremely seriously, as in "we are not doing anything else until this is fixed, and bodies are hanging from the castle wall." Were there other MMOs with duping issues? Yes. But I doubt there were that many. At least UO is the only MMO that I played that has this issue. And I am not aware of a single game that tolerated the problem for years, much less decades.
 

petemage

Babbling Loonie
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED
Here is my take on this:
Who do you think is playing the game? I am willing to guess all sorts of people from all walks of life, well almost. They need to be able to pay for the subs.

Some are software engineers, and not only from Russia.
Some are brilliant young daredevils, highly proficient in their "art" that usually do it for just the hack of it. We call them hackers.

And-

If you think Duping and Exploits are the privilege of this 20 year old game, very incorrect. Actually there is a lot of duping and code manipulation in Most if not ALL MMO games. Many examples out there. No real need to list them. No need to be a 20-year old game at all. Actually the expertiese of some of these MMO players far surpass the programmers' expertiese to prevent and even catch these cheats.
And in many of these that also involve RMT, it is not unreasonable to assume the Developers of these games have some "interest" in there one way or another. Cannot be proven or disproved.

I really doubt that any online MMO is bulletproof for duping and cheating, as long as there is the interest in some extremely capable people to just do it.

I play my own game : I go to Doom a little bit, do Roof with others a little bit, T-Hunt a little bit, Craft a little bit, Tame a little bit for profit, Champ spawn in Fel a lot of a bit, and now I Fish quite a bit for now. My game is my game. I am not in competition with others for Plats, items, shinies, deco with myself or others. My next project if and when I get the time is to get a decent home and lose the dumpster that I have now possibly. I just have too much fun playing the actual game to just sit still and house design and decorate etc.
But thats my game : To have fun. To play with the team, to get PKed at spawns at times, etc. I do not care if some one cheats or even if the Devs have any interest in RMT. It really does not affect my game. Even if it does one way or another who cares? I just have my fun anyway. I suspect that the cheaters just cheat themselves of real game experience. Its just a videogame afterall!
Of course no game is bulletproof. It's naive to think there is absolute security. There never is.

The difference is: In most other games if you go too far with cheating, you will get punished.

If you go too far cheating in UO, you get tasked to run the swag shop for Mesanna. With 20 paid accounts you are basically free to do whatever you want in UO. Nobody will touch you.
 

ShriNayne

Babbling Loonie
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED
Awards
5
If you go too far cheating in UO, you get tasked to run the swag shop for Mesanna. With 20 paid accounts you are basically free to do whatever you want in UO. Nobody will touch you.
I just sprayed cola on my monitor, thanks Pete! It wouldn't have been so funny if it wasn't true. UO - rewarding cheats since 1997!
Just think on all the changes the Dev team have made that enabled cheats to have an easier life than the honest players. :(
 

celticus

Crazed Zealot
UNLEASHED
Let's not conflate duping and your garden variety exploit. Pretty much every game, MMO or otherwise has exploits. Duping is a whole another matter. Something like duping can destroy a game, and is taken extremely seriously, as in "we are not doing anything else until this is fixed, and bodies are hanging from the castle wall." Were there other MMOs with duping issues? Yes. But I doubt there were that many. At least UO is the only MMO that I played that has this issue. And I am not aware of a single game that tolerated the problem for years, much less decades.
No. Actually this is a universal problem. Actually if you find one that does not have major duping issues and cheats, please let us know. And they also have these problems for decades. Cheating duping, botting etc, are not easily counteracted. Lots of times with these games the jury is "he said, she said" etc. no definitive proof of the cheater doing the cheating. Sometimes its an item with ungodly powers, sold and passed on to someone else who passed it on to someone else. Very hard to find the cheaters, and resources are limited. These online games are not and cannot ever become bulletproof.
To solve the cheat and correct things is also pretty hard. For instance, take our example here in UO of the taming cheats : 2-Slot Cu's. If there are like 300 of them out there how would you fix that? Some people spent 300-500 M for PS and the pets. "Punishing" the present owners you would think? Doubt that.
Duping and cheating methods change, also.
No sir, cheating and duping are not exclusive to UO.
It may surprise you that the UO level of cheating and corruption is just a tiny fraction of what is going on just about in all MMOs.
 

Xare

Seasoned Veteran
Stratics Veteran
UNLEASHED
Why shouldn't we punish the owners who foolishly bought something they knew was a scam? IRL, anyone who has counterfeit money loses the money if found out, regardless of how they came across it. This is an even easier case; any tamer who's not a total idiot knows the stats of a Cu. Suddenly one is here with more(or less if they're buying it at a 2 slot) and they should freaking know better.
 

petemage

Babbling Loonie
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED
For instance, take our example here in UO of the taming cheats : 2-Slot Cu's. If there are like 300 of them out there how would you fix that? Some people spent 300-500 M for PS and the pets. "Punishing" the present owners you would think? Doubt that.
Believe it or not, when I played Ark, they actually deleted pets that where aquired by shady means. No matter if you traded your base for them.

From all the dozen online games I played, UO has been the worst regarding to ToS enforcement. I wish I could say otherwise, but I'm not going to lie here. It's so obvious that the big gold sellers and scripters have nothing to fear at all. Even half of the UO community finds excuses for them, let alone BS moderators and developers.
 

celticus

Crazed Zealot
UNLEASHED
Why shouldn't we punish the owners who foolishly bought something they knew was a scam? IRL, anyone who has counterfeit money loses the money if found out, regardless of how they came across it. This is an even easier case; any tamer who's not a total idiot knows the stats of a Cu. Suddenly one is here with more(or less if they're buying it at a 2 slot) and they should freaking know better.
Yes but it is possible that the Devs would be punishing the victims i.e. the buyers that got ripped off to pay xxx M for the exploited item. The buyers may not be necessarily reading Stratics, or even the "main" uo boards. At best they may be barely able to play uo 3-4 hours per week if that due to work.
It seems that it just happened also, if you look at the Tamer forum. The poster there seems sincere, and not aware what he got, either free or paid a 2 slot Cu. He was innocently asking about this "unusual" 2-slot Cu..:)
So punishing the owner may not be the best solution, or the right solution necessarily and not always. There are very intelligent players that just do not have the time to know everything about the game, and least of all, exploited items. Punishing the victims is not a solution, and creates a toxic environment, and does not generate new subs.
I very strongly believe, that the people discovering the exploits should be rewarded VERY WELL with in-game content, be it gold, advancing 1 year of Vet rewards, game-time tokens some type of title or something useful etc. This may make it an incentive to report exploits so they are corrected quickly.
Exploits are a major cause for headache to the Devs teams of all on line games and MMO's. Very difficult to solve from a sofware/programming aspect most times.
 

Xare

Seasoned Veteran
Stratics Veteran
UNLEASHED
Yes but it is possible that the Devs would be punishing the victims i.e. the buyers that got ripped off to pay xxx M for the exploited item. The buyers may not be necessarily reading Stratics, or even the "main" uo boards. At best they may be barely able to play uo 3-4 hours per week if that due to work.
It seems that it just happened also, if you look at the Tamer forum. The poster there seems sincere, and not aware what he got, either free or paid a 2 slot Cu. He was innocently asking about this "unusual" 2-slot Cu..:)
So punishing the owner may not be the best solution, or the right solution necessarily and not always. There are very intelligent players that just do not have the time to know everything about the game, and least of all, exploited items. Punishing the victims is not a solution, and creates a toxic environment, and does not generate new subs.
I very strongly believe, that the people discovering the exploits should be rewarded VERY WELL with in-game content, be it gold, advancing 1 year of Vet rewards, game-time tokens some type of title or something useful etc. This may make it an incentive to report exploits so they are corrected quickly.
Exploits are a major cause for headache to the Devs teams of all on line games and MMO's. Very difficult to solve from a sofware/programming aspect most times.
Ok, I can back off a harsh stance of "they should know better", but I ask you what's the most fair solution? You can't let them keep the pet. You can't give them back the money, since the game doesn't track that, and if I say I paid x for it, you can bet I'm adding a zero or two to that total. So I ask, what do you do? Reset the pet to its default state? If we accept what Mesanna has said, they can't/won't do that.

As unfortunate as it is, deleting the pet or just resetting it as a 5 slot pet with default stats as someone in that thread said happens, is the fairest option for the game as a whole. Does it suck for the victim? Hell yes.
 

celticus

Crazed Zealot
UNLEASHED
Ok, I can back off a harsh stance of "they should know better", but I ask you what's the most fair solution? You can't let them keep the pet. You can't give them back the money, since the game doesn't track that, and if I say I paid x for it, you can bet I'm adding a zero or two to that total. So I ask, what do you do? Reset the pet to its default state? If we accept what Mesanna has said, they can't/won't do that.

As unfortunate as it is, deleting the pet or just resetting it as a 5 slot pet with default stats as someone in that thread said happens, is the fairest option for the game as a whole. Does it suck for the victim? Hell yes.
Yep. No easy solution. Actually this is what I understand they did in some cases. 5 slots, and default stats. Ouch! Byers be ware.
 

Keven2002

Babbling Loonie
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED
Why shouldn't we punish the owners who foolishly bought something they knew was a scam? IRL, anyone who has counterfeit money loses the money if found out, regardless of how they came across it. This is an even easier case; any tamer who's not a total idiot knows the stats of a Cu. Suddenly one is here with more(or less if they're buying it at a 2 slot) and they should freaking know better.
Has this changed? Ie - do they not delete bugged pets anymore (or adjust them)??

I think I was one of the first people to figure out (way back) you could bola the faction mounted guards and tame their black horses (and anyone could control)... I gathered up probably 6 or so between 2 accounts. Of course I had to show off my "bootleg nightmare" a short time after and of course someone paged on me at which point the one I was riding and the 3 in my stable were deleted. They were technically an explouit which was illegal so the GM said he wouldn't ban me but he was removing the exploits... I was pissed but thought to myself "well at least I have 2 on my other account" but would never be able to actually ride them...

A few years later after I had returned from a brief hiatus I was going through my pets in the stables on the 2nd account trying to see if the other ones were still there and they weren't so I figured that the GMs probably did some sort of sweep while my accounts were still active a removed them.

I also at some point had a medusa hued dragon (that stone color) that I hid away when that was a thing. I don't have that anymore, it's regular color now.

Long story short, those pets were deemed "exploited" pets so they deleted them or adjusted them... I find it hard to believe that a Cu with impossible stats (or a bane...I saw someone claiming someone had a counterfeit one in chat but could have been trolling) wouldn't be deleted on sight or something that's out of the normal wouldn't be adjusted. They won't adjust a pet to be stronger but they damn sure have adjusted them to be weaker from my experience.
 

MalagAste

Belaern d'Zhaunil
Alumni
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED
Campaign Supporter
From what I understand as far as that Dragon is concerned I think they back-ended fixed that so it would revert to its original hue... if I recall.

As for the horse, I know a lot of people who had them... and probably still do as well as the rats from the Cavern of the Discarded when you could tame them.

I would think they would delete any pet that was over stats or revert it back to 3 slots or something... If they do indeed exist.
 

petemage

Babbling Loonie
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED
Does it suck for the victim? Hell yes.
Can't stress enough how often I have seen stuff deleted in other games. People get over it and realize they got scammed. Sure, 1 out of 10 throws a tantrum about how he didn't know, but they rarely get anywhere with it.

I mean just going by @celticus logic, all I need to do is pretend I didn't know about an exploit to get away with it. Because poor me didn't know so please don't touch my ill gotten gains. In case of those pets discussed here, it is fairly a no brainer to reset them. Just it won't happen because they are considered "rares" I guess.
 

Keven2002

Babbling Loonie
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED
Just it won't happen because they are considered "rares" I guess.
Seems like there is a lot of flip flopping by the Devs on this though. In my example of the black horse; mine were deleted back when it was a "fresh exploit" but to @MalagAste point people have them now-a-days and it's no big deal bc they are considered "rare". I don't know enough to speak on it personally but I think the glacial stuff also falls into this camp. I've heard some glacial stuff has been deleted but then I see glacial spellbooks on auction... so who knows.
 
Top