I'm troubled.. re the abuse of exploiting - WTH?

[Cosmos]

So long story short.. there have been massive exploits going on in game for very long time.. It started in Alpha/Beta, and believe me I tried to ring the alarm bells, but was met even by Frontier by a 'meh' type response.

Those baffling bounties people appeared to have were a result of massive exploitation.

In any other game scenario this would have been nipped in the bud.. But apparently, Frontier is okay with this? Because despite all the upset those who have blatantly exploited have not been dealt with.. In any way..

We basically have a huge bunch of players cruising around in the game with vast wealth, which they didnt earn by playing the game, they did it by exploiting.. in direct violation of the code of conduct policy - which at this time seems apparently worthless.


SO my question now is directly to Frontier.. How is this going to be addressed?


I don't like having to do this, but someone needs to speak up.

This is a total joke..

I can exploit too.. but is this how the game is going to be defined? I'm so fed up with this.

 

[Nonya]

And how - EXACTLY - is affecting you in-game? The only correct answer is "it's not".

 

[Cosmos]

And how - EXACTLY - is affecting you in-game? The only correct answer is "it's not".

It affects everyone my friend.. but are we saying that cheating and exploiting is aight? You'll have to elaborate upon that.

But okay, lets play YOUR game.. it affects me, when I have to consider my option in an enagement against other players when they have INFINITE resources and I dont.

I'm rather too polite to tell you what I really think..

but this whole situation is utterly screwed up/

 

[SpySat1]

If ya can't beat 'em, join em! find a friend, have him rack up a crazy billion credit bounty, log in a system out in the sticks, bazzam blow him up and collect the free monies! wash, rinse and repeat, this time let your friend cap you for the gazillion credit bounty! It's all legal and part of the current rules.

 

[Cosmos]

So we're building a rat ship?

 

[PotatoOverdose]

And how - EXACTLY - is affecting you in-game? The only correct answer is "it's not".

Well, and this is just for starters, those that have used the exploits have ousted non-exploiters from getting the AA level rewards from recent community goals. Nothing forces you to cash in all of your ill-gotten bounties immediately, you know.

 

[iain666]

an enagement against other players when they have INFINITE resources and I dont

That can't actually happen with a player who got rich from an exploit. If they're playing the same game as you (no cheats) then you have the ship you're in and that's it. Doesn't matter if you have 85cr and they have 85,000,000,000cr. You both have the ships you're in. At the point of contact extra credits in the bank have no impact. If you end up in a fight with someone who has you out gunned and out skilled you're going to lose, however they paid for the guns and if you have them out skilled and aren't too far behind in guns then you'll win however many credits they have in the bank.

 

[kurush]

If ya can't beat 'em, join em! find a friend, have him rack up a crazy billion credit bounty, log in a system out in the sticks, bazzam blow him up and collect the free monies! wash, rinse and repeat, this time let your friend cap you for the gazillion credit bounty! It's all legal and part of the current rules.

The entire bounty mechanics is an indication that somebody was not thinking straight when designing it. They give us the only way to transfer credits in a MMO and it appears to be through a crime spree. Really?!

 

[Nonya]

It affects everyone my friend..

I'm not your friend. If I see you in-game, I'll probably attack you on sight.

but are we saying that cheating and exploiting is aight? You'll have to elaborate upon that.

I'm sorry, I don't understand gibberish. Are you trying to say it's "alright"? If so, then here's my take on it - as long as it doesn't affect me then I don't care what others do.
And the way this game is designed so far it's not affecting ANYONE but a bunch of whiners who are probably - to use your colloquial slong - "jelly" they can't figure out how to do it.
Life is hard and it sure isn't fair. Wear a helmet.

But okay, lets play YOUR game..

No, no, no, you continue to fail to understand my point - don't play MY game, play YOUR game. Play it how you want to. Because you playing your game does not affect my game in the slightest.

it affects me, when I have to consider my option in an enagement against other players when they have INFINITE resources and I dont.

I don't think you know the difference between an "exploit" and an outright "hack" and are confusing the two.

I'm rather too polite to tell you what I really think..

Come on now, don't get all shy on us now.

but this whole situation is utterly screwed up/

No it's not. Again, a CMDR with a billion credits and every ship in the game completely maxed out does not affect my game - or anyone else's - whatsoever.
If they're hacking then you REPORT them, bounce into solo mode, then fly to another system.
If they're not hacking and just using an "exploit" then you're within fair rights to use that same exact exploit to nullify their attack, but all you really have to do is just jump in SC, log off to the menu, then log back on in solo mode and move out of the area.

It's a video game made by imperfect humans. There will always be exploits in there somewhere. But I'll be darned if I'm going to waste a whole lot of time just hunting for those exploits.
I'm too busy playing my game.

- - - Updated - - -

Well, and this is just for starters, those that have used the exploits have ousted non-exploiters from getting the AA level rewards from recent community goals. Nothing forces you to cash in all of your ill-gotten bounties immediately, you know.

Odd. I never participated in the "Clipper Discount" community event but somehow I still benefited from it. So if "exploiters" were indirectly responsible for me getting a cheap Clipper, then bravo! Good show!

 

[SpySat1]

The entire bounty mechanics is an indication that somebody was not thinking straight when designing it. They give us the only way to transfer credits in a MMO and it appears to be through a crime spree. Really?!

It's the fastest way to make money in Elite Dangerous.

Hold up in solo, pew pew everything you see in an independent system. rack up the payola. Jump in a small bit of sidewinder, have your friend blast you and collect. then return the favor. You get the fun of combat and blowing things up, and the guy who kills you gets the fun of lots of money. Also gives you a reason to own two CMDR accounts... then you don't need friends, and Frontier's sold the game to you twice!

everyone is a winner! (Except for the OP)

 

[Nonya]

It's the fastest way to make money in Elite Dangerous.

Hold up in solo, pew pew everything you see in an independent system. rack up the payola. Jump in a small bit of sidewinder, have your friend blast you and collect. then return the favor. You get the fun of combat and blowing things up, and the guy who kills you gets the fun of lots of money. Also gives you a reason to own two CMDR accounts... then you don't need friends, and Frontier's sold the game to you twice!

everyone is a winner! (Except for the OP)

I like you. Wanna rack up some beeeeelllion-dollah-dollah-hollah bounties with me and annoy the OP even more using a perfectly legal tactic in the game?

 

[kurush]

Also gives you a reason to own two CMDR accounts... then you don't need friends, and Frontier's sold the game to you twice!

everyone is a winner! (Except for the OP)

So, there must be a conspiracy to sell twice the number of licenses! I bet this is why we are not allowed multiple saves as well.

- - - Updated - - -

I like you. Wanna rack up some beeeeelllion-dollah-dollah-hollah bounties with me and annoy the OP even more using a perfectly legal tactic in the game?

OP, are you sufficiently annoyed? Or do I need to mention that my cat approves this tactics?

 

[Nonya]

OP, are you sufficiently annoyed? Or do I need to mention that my cat approves this tactics?

I like your cat. Does it want to rack up some bounties with me?

 

[PotatoOverdose]

Odd. I never participated in the "Clipper Discount" community event but somehow I still benefited from it. So if "exploiters" were indirectly responsible for me getting a cheap Clipper, then bravo! Good show!

The global reward (in this case the cheaper clipper) always happens regardless of performance in every CG. Also this wasn't the Nu CG but another on where an exploiter turned in an 88 mil bounty a day after the event started (source), thus precluding other non-exploiting commanders from attaining the AA reward you get for being among the very top commanders to contribute to a CG. There were several threads on these forums and on reddit about this particular case.

You asked for how these exploits affected other commanders. I provided a concrete example of how they do just that.

Also, frontier has in the past (particularly in gamma) removed ill gotten gains from commanders - and frontier does consider this an issue as per many posts in this thread.

So, those of you that have ill gotten gains, I wouldn't rest on your laurels just yet.

 

[Steve50]

You'll never get rid of low life cheats and exploiters, even with a company that worked hard on removing them, it's impossible to stop all of these people.

They do affect our game though, you cannot deny that, either directly or indirectly.

I wish we still had a single player offline option.

 

[Archvillain]

Last I checked, Wall Street exploiters exploited so many billions they crashed the entire economy, and that really DID affect people in, massive ways. When alarm bells were rung, the response was "Meh", and nearly a decade later the exploiters have not been dealt with...

So the realishness of the E-D simulation: Looking pretty darn accurate.

That might be a humorous take on the situation, but there is an element of truth to it - in any society you find yourself in, there will be bad people abusing it, profiting handsomely, and never suffering rightful comeuppance. You are right to act (ring the alarm bells), because action is the only thing protecting every society. (But at the same time, take care not to get so caught up that you sacrifice your own happiness and enjoyment. Don't make bad people ruin your fun more than they already do :-/ )

 

[Cosmos]

People should understand things in all walks of life: but NEVER mistake kindness for weakness.

This has gone on for too long..

Frontier.. where are you?

 

[Patagon]

If this is a legal tactic, why don't make it even easier ? Just let each CMDR choose the credits they want to have ... right ? It won't affect your game. Let everybody have the credits they want, I'm sure FD will be OK with this.

 

[PotatoOverdose]

I like your cat. Does it want to rack up some bounties with me?

Can't rack up more than a million at a time now (source) - probably faster to kill stuff in res sites now. And that's assuming Fdev doesn't remove your ill-gotten gains (source) like they did to exploiters in gamma.

- - - Updated - - -

If this is a legal tactic, why don't make it even easier ? Just let each CMDR choose the credits they want to have ... right ? It won't affect your game. Let everybody have the credits they want, I'm sure FD will be OK with this.

But it does affect them, as per my post here.

 

[Cmdr Thrudd]

Need to keep in mind that a TINY percentage of players are being nefarious don't let the fear of a few people spoil your view of the majority. Most folks are going to enjoy the game the way it's supposed to be played even though they COULD exploit they wont because they know it only spoils their game.