Age of Conan at Ten Ton Hammer - Taking MMOG Gamers to the Next Level!

For as long as there has been competitive gameplay there have been players who are willing to exploit in order to one up the competition.  It is the nature of the beast that we all have to have the bad assiest characters, the best armor, and the bigger stats. Even in MMOGs such as Age of Conan where you can't really "lose" the game, we all strive to win in our own little ways.  There is definitely nothing wrong with wanting to excel, but when does PvP strategy step into exploiting and who makes that call?

The AoC community recently got a major case of smack-downitis when Funcom responded to some in game exploiting on the PvP servers.  Those who couldn't get an edge any other way took advantage of questionable mechanics so that they could flex their pixels and declare themselves "Better Than You".  Funcom dealt with the exploiters swiftly and issued this statement:

Although we are unable to go into specific detail about the process, what we can say is that we used information gathered from our Database to identify those players that gained what was considered a "substantial" amount of PvP XP during the time frame where such a thing was possible. These cases we then investigated further. We have then taken what we consider to be appropriate action against those players by reducing their PvP Levels to what they were before it was possible to take advantage of this flaw and removing all PvP Gear.

There were many cheers from the players but inevitably there were those who cried foul over the bleak unfairness of it all.

Can You Spot a Cheater?

Was it the typical jilted girlfriend QQ, or do these outraged players really have a leg to stand on? After all, there was the widely spread screenshot of the GM conversation where a Funcom official seemingly dubbed the exploit as "legal".  It adds to the confusion when no one seems to understand where the line is drawn, so how can we know when we step over it?

First, let's have a chit chat about what exploiting actually is.

The Book of Savanja (a very reliable source I hear) says that exploiting is using any in game mechanic in a way unintended by the developers to the advantage of yourself or others.

This could mean a bug, a glitch, or a completely legit mechanic being used in an unexpected way. Exploits tend to live in those very shady gray areas where, quite honestly, the only people who are able to determine if they are an exploit for sure would be those who created the game.

So then is it possible to exploit the game without knowing it?

Oh for sure! I promise that many of those caught exploiting will staunchly stand by the notion that they had no idea whatsoever that they were doing something uncool, but we really aren't completely in the dark as long as we keep an eye out for the clues of unfair gameplay.

• Are you using a feature in a way most don't?
• Are you gaining from a mechanic that seems somewhat broken?
• Are you giggling while you do it?
• Did you tell all your friends about it but swear them to secrecy?

If these things apply then you could be an exploiter too! 

Developers are bound to make mistakes or fail to catch every possible angle of use for any given mechanic, but just because they do sometimes let things slip through this doesn't give us license to abuse it and if caught, they have the power to do unspeakable things to your hard-earned characters.

Which brings us to our next point; the developers are judge, jury, and executioner when it comes to exploits.

Every time a Player Exploits, God Humiliates Another Kitten.

These virtual gods own our in-game souls and they will feel quite free to hurt you if you made gains that you shouldn't have. They can see everything we do and how we do it.  When hundreds of players bring it to their attention, you can be certain they will dig deep to get some answers.  Yeah, I feel a little bad for those who were silly enough to cite a GM in defense of their actions, but if you have to ask a GM if something is an exploit, then you likely already realize that what you are doing isn't quite right and you SHOULD be smacked down.

There will always be those who get caught up in the punishments unfairly or perhaps you did exploit but really didn't know that you were.  Your best course of action in this case is to petition Funcom, explain everything, and beg for mercy.  They have the tools to see what went on with your character and if you really are on the up and up, they will see that too!

In the end, caution is your friend. We should all be combating game exploits by doing our best to bring bugs to the attention of the developers, letting officials know when people are cheating, and not participating in it ourselves.  After all , isn't it better to actually be good at something rather than abusing the system to pretend we are good at something?

For those who do persist in exploiting the game, we are watching for you and will whine, shout, and stomp until you are caught!  Luckily for all of us we are playing a game where the law is tight and the penalties are harsh. I, for one, am comforted by that and I give a solid cheer to Funcom for dealing with this particular situation quickly and fairly.

Just be very thankful that this spiteful gal doesn't hold the banhammer.

*whack*

If you have questions, comments, or love poems regarding this editorial or any other that Savanja has written, please feel free to contact her directly.