Did Huntgate Set a New Tone in How Cryptic/PWE Will Handle Exploits in the Future?

In the whole mess that is Huntgate it nearly went unnoticed that a user named “Blister” called out the upcoming changes to Salvage in Module 15 before the official feedback thread went up. They obviously weren’t willing go into any specifics about the “source”, but given that they were right, we think it’s fair to hand out some credibility here. That assumption is important, because the user later followed up by making additional statements about the handling of Huntgate:

[su_quote cite=”Edited for clarity / readability” url=”https://forum.nwo-uncensored.com/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=2380#p21676″]According to my source, the blow back on this has generated some heat from higher-ups and from partners. The concern is that it looks too sloppy to hammer on this specific exploit. Rather than admit any wrongdoing however, the emphasis instead will be on being more consistent with bans for various ToS violations. This includes power leveling, selling AD or items for real world currency (apparently, Facebook groups will be targeted), glitching bosses/traps/other mechanics in dungeons, and having multiple accounts (or GT/PSN ID). Those will not happen all at once, but they’re going to check regularly and have cycles of suspensions and bans in the near future. I don’t understand the reasoning here – exactly how many players do they have that have never done ANY of this? Not good.[/su_quote]

Here’s a Little Historic Context

This is certainly an interesting quote, because it actually fits history fairly well. The devs for the longest time did not care too much about banning players. At least that was the overall perception. Back in the day, the “Legit Community” was build around the fact that you could literally not run dungeons without using some sort of tricks. Exploiting was the norm, and specifically dungeon exploits were hardly sanctioned at all. The devs always banned for stuff that directly impacted the economy or their own wallet, but the list of boss glitches that went unpunished is long. Over the years major dungeon exploits became less common, but the impression that support doesn’t properly deal with cheaters remained.

That’s also one of the reason why we around here have decided to post exploits. It was to apply some pressure to fix stuff, to hold the devs accountable. Not properly dealing with exploits in the past also is key to understand why the punishments in some cases this time around were labeled draconic, and the shitstorm, although the devs just got rid of a bunch of cheaters, was insane. Comparing the Huntgate infractions, AD generated mostly, with earlier stuff almost makes them look negligible. What might be the case however is that we witness a shift in how the devs deal with exploits altogether.

Some Concerns Remain

If the post above is indeed true, it means some higher-ups want to fight the environment the game itself created, that they change their approach from reactive to proactive. That’s certainly a good thing, but as “Blister” in the last paragraph correctly points out, comes with concerns nonetheless. Banning for something that was “accepted behavior” for the longest time at least feels weird, even if it is technically covered by the ToS. Now we’re of course back at the ongoing controversy of who’s to blame, the players for exploiting or the devs for letting them?

We do however assume that they’re not banning for exploiting Valindra in Module 2, but for more recent, and more obvious, stuff. If there’s indeed a change of approach however it definitely can’t hurt to also become a little more transparent about what is considered an exploit and who has been punished. Then this could really be a major gain for both the game and its community.


What’s your take on this topic ? Will the devs now ban more frequently, and for a wider range of violations? Share your thoughts and experience on our social channels, in the comments below, or visit our message board!

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9 thoughts on “Did Huntgate Set a New Tone in How Cryptic/PWE Will Handle Exploits in the Future?

  • September 24, 2018 at 10:38 am
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    Sounds like a lot of time and effort to track down rascals, when they should be fixing the bugs in the first place.

    They need to focus on the bigger picture. If they have this much trouble with this “known bug”, they’re gonna have way bigger problems down the road.

  • September 24, 2018 at 1:52 pm
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    So does this mean they are targeting end game players from glitches in the past, or are they starting now. It seems to me if they are including things like Drufi from FBI, and making it retroactive then all those who had bans with the hunts are libel to see their accounts banned permanently. The only people who could have used the Drufi boss glitch are the end game players of today. Is this just a way to get rid of all the amassed AD these players have accumulated and thus have them start over and buy their way back to the top. Seems like a possibly shady way to get a glut of end gamers out.

    • September 24, 2018 at 2:17 pm
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      Please note that this is unconfirmed and coming from a “source”. Even if true, we don’t expect somebody to get banned for exploiting FBI back in the day. That would be comical.

  • September 24, 2018 at 3:16 pm
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    Doesn’t help that there is no transparency in the official forums regarding exploits. Even messaging cryptic directly about how the LOL artifact set was over performing would not garner a response or a definitive message in regards to whether it was WAI or how long it would stay functioning that way.

    Often times the best indication you could get is from the forum mods but they have also proven to be unreliable on the subject and they are not employees so its not like you can take their responses as binding.

  • September 24, 2018 at 3:22 pm
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    I hear and it would indeed be comical, but would you actually put it past them based on prior examples of decision making? Anyway, I appreciate this site and the information you allow to be posted. Keep up the good work!!!!

  • September 25, 2018 at 8:56 am
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    Can anyone confirm is doing an easy Stronghold Siege technically against TOS? ASKING FOR MANY, MANY FRIENDS.

    • September 25, 2018 at 9:08 am
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      I don’t think SHS is a terribly big issue, as it’s a weekly. Now, if you had a way to get the reward multiple times on the same toon, yeah, you’d probably be facing the banhammer. As it is, you get some campaign currency, a token amount of rAD, and 5k RP per week. Not that huge, given the time it takes, and not out of line with, say, the DR weekly.

  • September 25, 2018 at 9:11 am
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    A bit more transparency would be nice, but so would some consistency. Based on anecdotes, Person A exploits huge amounts, gets 3 days off. Person B does a similar amount, gets a permaban. Why the difference? Was there a difference? Did other factors come into play (i.e. previous warnings / bans)?

    That being said, I fully support a harder line on exploiters. I’m bathing in the tears of those who were banned, and those who came back to empty AD accounts.

  • March 2, 2019 at 7:32 pm
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    be nice if they just let everyone back this time and take some blame for it.. they are some fault on your end too. make it right.. release the accounts of ppl who didnt do videos or pages on the way to do it.. we want to be a part of the community but need to be released.. 2 yrs of account we stuck with u.. please release please

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