Question: What is an exploit?

After reading a rather hot topic on PCF today, I have become a little confused about how I identy an exploit ingame.

Using exploits to obtain economic advantages is a behaviour which is certainly in violation of the EULA and all participants are obliged to report bugs and exploits when found.

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Why is using a vtol to avoid getting hit an exploit? - it gives economic advantages?

why isn't using a couple of ML35s to hunt proteron ping-pong style not an exploit? - it gives economic advantages?
why isn't paying a fapper to heal you an exploit? - it gives economic advantages?

..but if everyone is able to do it using the ingame features available, then there is no advantage?


there has been no official word in the client loader from FPC/MA/Whoever about the subject (afaik) - there is only the reply that Optima did receive in a support case - which isn't much good to the player base that doesn't read this forum.

for someone that hasn't around along time, how do I tell the difference between a system working as intended and an exploit?

I think some things get labeled exploit just because someone doesn't like them. In the end MA is the judge of what is and isn't an exploit. I think the mission where people could do the mission repeatedly on RT has ended in that determination because the missions were shut down to correct it rather quickly. MA decided that was an exploit.

The whole Vehicle issue that some don't like in pvp seems to have gone on for a long time without any change from MA, so I would say that is not an exploit due to MA's non-reaction to the complaints. It just something some players don't like. Maybe MA will change their minds, but at this point it seems they are fine with people using vehicles for protection. Perhaps because you have to pay for that advantage.

My guess is that any advantage which carries a significant $, such as a great weapon or usefull vehicle, MA will not label an exploit.

For me, "using an exploit for economic advantage"....is MA's way of saying, don't use it for a reason it was not coded for. So yes there is black/white/grey/pink/green areas. And it will come down to whether MA think you were gaining an advantage unfairly or not. And they will act accordingly....unfortunately most expoits are obviously against MA's wishes and people take risks when using them.

I do like some people's excuses, "i didnt know it was an exploit". In most cases it is obvious, some arent though

Using two ml's to ping pong, obviously not an exploit for example

Rgds

Ace

EDIT: for most of them, use common sense and you will be fine. Funnily enough most people forget common sense when it comes to making a quick buck

I dont see Fappers as exploiting, neither is using "ping pong system" because its just tactics..
You get hit by the mob, but if u use VTOL its another thing in many eyes..

I know a cpl of persons trying this out, but they dont do it in regular basis but just to try it...

Although, using this exploit for regular basis is spoiling for all VTOL owners and Heli-owners because they are good using when you are tp-running or helping a person from a high spawned place....

Good Point
But here's the difference
Vehicles are used for mobility

Fappers, keeps you alive, in exchange of decay + fee if existence, so you are wasting PED on a tactic. Like why to heal urself? its an advantage? But its within the rules that's why there's a Paramedic Profession.

ML35, the gun eco is not that huge deal compared to others, and i doubt 90% of the ppl that uses them have decent skills to hunt with them, so you just pay for the uneco on it instead of fap decay, and you are using a gun FEATURE,
It says it has 130m, so why not to use 'em?

Vehicles like i said, are used for mobility. Instead, people are using them to skip dodging/evading skills. that is nto good either for the game or the players. For 500 peds which is the price of a VTOL Atm + -, u skip lots of months of skilling to kill basicly everything it seems.

I hope people stop going to dome 2

just to make sure - I'm allowed to drag mobs away from my mining claims using my valkyrie?

You are. since mobs follow you for decay. you are not being unreachable

Exploit is a term that MA uses to explain things that work in the game system the way they don't want it to work, but that they can't take the time to make the programmers actually program them to work the way they want... Basically, since the game is provided "as is" and it's dynamic and changes so often EVERY SINGLE THING THAT AN AVATAR CAN DO IN GAME IS AN EXPLOIT IN SOMEONE'S EYES. Similarly, EVERY SINGLE THING THAT AN AVATAR CAN DO IN GAME IS NOT AN EXPLOIT IN SOMEONE ELSE'S EYES!...

If it costs MA money or makes them less money, they will eventually get around to fixing it. If it makes life easier for participants, and lest costly in some way, they'll get around to fixing it too... If it makes them money or makes them more in decay costs, etc., you can bet it'll be a thing they won't fix for a while usually.

People will always find a way to get away with things ,
like those design drugs , they wont be shown on the drugs test and they are not banned yet

The use of ML35 are like tabaco and alcohol... it is wel taxed and it provides a good income for the guys in charge

In my opinion, an action can be labeled an exploit if the bug allowing the exploit to occur has been announced in the "Known Issues" section of VU Release Notes.

Davies Davies said:

People will always find a way to get away with things ,
like those design drugs , they wont be shown on the drugs test and they are not banned yet

The use of ML35 are like tabaco and alcohol... it is wel taxed and it provides a good income for the guys in charge

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EXACTLY MY POINT MATE!!!
Thanks for the excelent comparison!

When you shoot down some afrikan kid with ak-47 running away with diamonds in his pockets.

I think imp mk2 users are exploiting. Same for mod fap and a couple other items.... items are clearly bugged.

An "economic advantage" is not always an exploit, even tho the reverse is a perfectly valid statement:

An exploit is always an "economic advantage".


If you dodge costs (i.e. armor decay) it is unfair, whereas using a fapper (you do not avoid costs, it's just someone else decaying the fap) - ping-pong-ing a mob is good tactics, as long as the mob COULD still hit you (it doesn't always turn around and attack someone else) - whereas VTOL hunting is: The mob has NO chance to hit you at all.


(Older players are very well aware of these fine (yet important) nuances: it was still possible to wound trapped mobs back then, a noob could kill a trapped spider with an opalo... and yes, this happened more than once)


Just apply a little common sense, if it feels like "good there's noone around watching me doing XYZ", yeah, that's how it feels when you're taking advantage of an exploiting.
The vast majority of people are able to spot what's not right IRL, but ingame the sense for right & wrong gets somehow lost...