Summer Mayhem Update

[DavinFelth]

Without knowing much about the buff, I think an argument could be made to defend people that used it in the sense that it would be hard to prove intent or knowledge of it being an exploit.
That said, resetting their scores is acceptable, but disqualifying from this competition entirely is probably more appropriate.

Thanks for the quick response, something like this is never great and seems they handled it as best they could

 

[Boo Who You]

I'd like to clear up the air a little to some accusations that where thrown around a little.

First off, thank you very much to all of the individuals who reported this exploit, there are about 6 that I know of who all came together and tried to get it corrected ASAP. After doing some asking around, it was brought to my attention that the bug was identified by Mystique (he was the first person to make it public knowledge). Knowing how big of an issue this could be, he then reached out to others (Vandal and Yippi members (now, if you know anything about the LG drama, the fact that Payn reached out to Yippi speaks for itself)) He explained the bug and how it worked. They all submitted tickets to try and get the issue resolved. This took place two days ago. (For big exploits like this, a ticket IS the correct step to getting it resolved, not posting on PCF and making everyone aware of it before MA has a chance to correct the issue). After the bug was not corrected, Mystique and Vandal then did before/after runs for documentation to show Mind Ark just how broken this bug is. At this point, the bug was STILL not corrected. This is when it started getting posted to PCF in hopes to gain more traction.

A few key issues in this are:

- Why are we hating on people who exposed this? Xen, Mystique for example made this public and tried to get the issue resolved. We need not not associate the individuals with the society they are in.
- Why do we have to announce exploits on PCF before they will be taken seriously by MA?
- Why are items being released without a quality control check? - We have seen it now with the M91 Aug and now this pet
- How long has this been an issue and will there be any form of punishment to the individuals that exploited it. It's clear that they were able to tell in this mayhem who did and did not exploit this bug. Do they have the records to review and see if other mayhems results were skewed? Swiftly they dealt with the DannyO issue, not only issuing him a 5 month ban but also stripped his skills.

Lastly, this is the exact reason why, I never have nor will I ever compete in mayhem. Sadly, it's like clockwork. Every mayhem we are dealing with some kind of exploit that skews the results. From pill stacking, to clock stopping to unnatural buff....just my two pec

 

[Thorns Rose]

Reading this is super disappointing. More than scores should be erased if there is a pattern of using the exploit in other mayhems and events. Just my two pec. For whatever it's worth.

Sad..Sad..I agree. How does this make those avatars/friends feel?

I would feel really bad if I won anything using that as an advantage, especially knowing my friends/soc were trying as well.

 

[VandalHand]

A few key issues in this are:

- Why are we hating on people who exposed this? Xen, Mystique for example made this public and tried to get the issue resolved. We need not not associate the individuals with the society they are in.
- Why do we have to announce exploits on PCF before they will be taken seriously by MA?
- Why are items being released without a quality control check? - We have seen it now with the M91 Aug and now this pet
- How long has this been an issue and will there be any form of punishment to the individuals that exploited it. It's clear that they were able to tell in this mayhem who did and did not exploit this bug. Do they have the records to review and see if other mayhems results were skewed? Swiftly they dealt with the DannyO issue, not only issuing him a 5 month ban but also stripped his skills.

Lastly, this is the exact reason why, I never have nor will I ever compete in mayhem. Sadly, it's like clockwork. Every mayhem we are dealing with some kind of exploit that skews the results. From pill stacking, to clock stopping to unnatural buff....just my two pec

 

[Theocles]

How long has this been going on MA? Are there any repercussions for those that have been doing this in the past? Its pretty clear when you look at scores of past mayhems those that have been taking advantage of this little gem of a bug. I am glad I do not do mayhem, but all the more reason after seeing this that I will not take part in them. In a RCE you would figure people who abuse the system would get punished, apparently that is not the case.

 

[unufain8]

Thanks MA for another Great competition!

EVERY NEW MAYHEM -> NEW ways to CHEAT !


i`m not on DannyO`s side, but as he was an EXAMPLE .. for these who was using this "BUG" on the past Mayhems, and was using them on Regular HUNTINGs why not do the same ? Give us the HOPE the game is not lost


Gain an unfair advantage by others, should RESULT on BAN -> Wipe Skills -> Recover Undeserved Rewards

In respect for us the rest, DannyO's punishment should be delivered to those who cheated, otherwise MA is taking the side of cheaters.

 

[MikeH]

Reporting exploit is our duty. From next time report , tell others to report but after reporting dont use the exploit to participate in mayhem.

People using the exploit may come up saying they were unaware of it but going thrpugh logs of mayhem it should pretty clear if it was intentional or unintentional use.

Those who found guilty should be banned from future event and prizes won previously should be given up atleast.

 

[unufain8]

Reporting exploit is our duty. From next time report , tell others to report but after reporting dont use the exploit to participate in mayhem.

People using the exploit may come up saying they were unaware of it but going thrpugh logs of mayhem it should pretty clear if it was intentional or unintentional use.

Those who found guilty should be banned from future event and prizes won previously should be given up atleast.

You cant take back prizes won before if they spent them.

 

[Evey]

You Preach high and mighty from up there, I want you to go back to every mayhem before and look at my scores.I have literally "placed" in 2 mayhems ever. I won easter defense without a Yog Horror (which you should know since you were running your second avatar "White Fantasy Jenna" against me. And I placed like 5th or 6th last summer in assault mode. Other than that, I placed, 26th in Annihilation at easter this year, and haven't had a competitive score literally ever in any annihilation.

You Should be thanking me for bringing this to light in the community. Just because I didn't bring it to YOU SPECIFICALLY or post it here on PCF, doesn't mean I wasn't collaborating with other people here to get MindArk to act swiftly on it. (For the record If they did not act I was going to post a video of how it worked here within the next week, which it obviously didn't have to come to). It's so easy for you to act like I'm the villain here, when in fact I just gave you ALL the most realistic chance you have to compete in mayhem this summer.

If you can't appreciate that, then kiss my ass.

Of course you cheat then accuse others of some bullshit, been seeing this tactic recently

White is not my alt, plenty know her, but I knew you suspected that since you wrote to her, during the competition last Mayhem, trying to intimidate her just because she is in my soc. White's a barely cat 5 avatar which almost beat you in defense in easter, with a pistol, even with your cheat Yog

I appreciate Xen got this to light, in the community, while you competed with the exlploit. Xen didn't felt the need to run with it in the event, end of story.

 

[K_rupT]

With every event there is always a glitch. Bug. Exploit. Cheat and again every event you all still compete in them. If it's so consistently disappointing. Then don't do it

 

[Taldur]

Good job on reporting it.
Sanctioning and determining who abused it, who used it at what point and who might have just been doing tests to confirm/reproduce the bug is not on anyone in this forum except the poor souls from MA that need to interact with it regularly.
Leave your pitchforks and let MA investigate. Innocent until proven guilty applies here and worked out well in the past.

 

[morgoth]

Good job on reporting it.
Sanctioning and determining who abused it, who used it at what point and who might have just been doing tests to confirm/reproduce the bug is not on anyone in this forum except the poor souls from MA that need to interact with it regularly.
Leave your pitchforks and let MA investigate. Innocent until proven guilty applies here and worked out well in the past.

Agreed!

and how about some good samaritan rewards for the folks that reported it, got ignored, then kicked the door in to be heard, all to help keep things fair. Mean they spent their own time doing MA's job for the sake of the community, be nice if MA kicked them back something even if only a public acknowledgement of their service.

 

[allarom]

In 2018, I mainly retuned to EU again cause of mayhems. Just to discover i have been getting !!!!! all that time, no matter how much effort i have put in. And resetting ONLY CURRENT scores is the solution? Is this a joke, MA?

MA should remove all the scores from previous mayhem results who used yog and it doesn't matter if they knew about the exploit or not, they still ruined the results. Compensate the rewards retroactively. Also, punish ALL who used it in mayhems or land crab by at least 5 months temporary ban (we have an example) AND addition to that let them play few years with -25% reload- Let them feel what others are feeling atm.

Why MA should figure out who exploited? 10% and 25% It is so obvious and you must be an idiot to not notice it and not report it. If you really have that low IQ, create a support case, explain that you indeed felt like taking out mining pet in instance or in pvp/hunting and figure out if they buy this BS

Maybe MA is planning some further action, maybe not, but actions has to be made to restore at least little bit of faith in this REAL CACH ECONOMY game

 

[Pelleman]

Wow. this scammers and cheaters should be forever banned, they are ruin the game for all others...
And what punishment, well reseted points........

If you compare this to what DannyO did, DannyO did nothing wrong but these guys did all wrong..
And DannyO was taken away skills and 5 months suspended..

Come on mindark, what is this?

 

[BackBone]

Wow. this scammers and cheaters should be forever banned, they are ruin the game for all others...
And what punishment, well reseted points........

If you compare this to what DannyO did, DannyO did nothing wrong but these guys did all wrong..
And DannyO was taken away skills and 5 months suspended..

Come on mindark, what is this?

Completely agree. DannyO's crimes were far less impactful and had a much bigger punishment.

These guys abusing the Yog's buffs should be banned, nothing less than that.

The credibity is MA's events is actually at stake now.

 

[StarGlider]

I hope this is not done and dusted as far as MA are concerned, a simple point reset.

We, (I hope we, being all) the paying customers, demand an proper investigation, and if the exploit was known and used, a permanent ban should be imposed, no matter how much the muppets have deposited in the past. Am sure Danny was a big depositor, look what happened to him. What's good for the goose, is good for the gander.

Get your act together Mindark. Read your own ToU agreement.

 

[allarom]

I hope this is not done and dusted as far as MA are concerned, a simple point reset.

We, the paying customers, demand an proper investigation, and if the exploit was known and used, a permanent ban should be imposed, no matter how much the muppets have deposited in the past. Am sure Danny was a big depositor, look what happened to him. What's good for the goose, is good for the gander.

Get your act together Mindark.

They don't permaban - all they care is their revenue, no matter what (+10% to +25% reload is even better for them). They have 0 respect for their players nor themselves. Their own rules does not apply to them. Greed

 

[Kerham]

How hard could it be to figure out that a mining pet it's odd in mayhem? What is MA actually checking, after all, and how?

To those pointing at ano, I would like to remind you about the repairable (L) mining amps.

It took killahbee (if I am not remembering wrong the ava, apologies if so) more than one year of reporting with screenshots and such until they did something. And they only moved after he went public and it became a huge shitstorm. Because we were all wondering how these two russian-named avatars popped out of nowhere using OA109 (the ancestor of lvl13) on cnd, moreso than were being produced daily. You could see what amp is by size of globals and you could see how many 109 were being produced because just as today every success was a global. Still so, with obvious clues, MA took a disheartening amount of time to react.

More recently, those horns from Monria. They were not supposed to be worn with helmets, save for combining them into specific helmets, but because of a bug, it was a possible. Free reload for everybody, they didn't moved a finger (at the time, no clue if it was addressed in the meantime).

It seems to me that they don't care if there's a bug which raises consumption, and they don't care if the ava gets or not an unfair advantage, be it in mayhem points or loot composition. They are happy because more $/hr and there's where their attention span ends.

 

[Steveyneo]

I've been out the loop for years now. I don't recall ever actually having properly participated in a mayhem event, except perhaps when they were first introduced however many years ago it was.

Since the lockdown meant I had more time at home (although I still have to work and we have two young kids to looks after, with the expectation to provide home schooling for the older one) I have slowly been getting back into the game. I am actively participating in the Summer Mayhem event but with no intention to be competetive - I am not going to spend my money or time trying to get any of the top spots but it's a bit of fun.

What is alarming is that we are in 2020 - I started over 15 years go. 15 years in Entropia. Yet the same problems are still going on. What on earth? I have been spending more time over the past few years flinging frustrated birds in a certain game on my mobile phone and the community behind that is just as passionate. That piece of entertainment also involves real money in so far as purchase of ingame stuff but it's not an RCE of course. That particular game is plagued with cheaters/hackers/exploiters and there appears to NOT be a level playing field.

Back to EU and it seems the same. Is there no level playing field? Has there ever been one? I take a break for some many years (since 2008 or so in fact) and play off and on but made a deposit in recent months which I've managed to sustain due to decent luck but what I read about the Mayhem evern scares the hell out of me.

Besides, I started with the event when it kicked off but there was a problem with the timer and I couldn't play until they fixed it. It's only been a few days but it's been down for maintenance two or three times already. And this is in 2020, over 15 years since I started in Entropia. What?!

I don't know what the point of this post is besides to say I find it incredible that MindArk appear to have the same issues year after year after year. I'll continue to have fun in the Mayhem event but I hope that it actually works when I have the time to play, as not everyone can sit in front of the PC 24 hours a day with unlimited funds.

 

[anonimity]

Of course you cheat then accuse others of some bullshit, been seeing this tactic recently

White is not my alt, plenty know her, but I knew you suspected that since you wrote to her, during the competition last Mayhem, trying to intimidate her just because she is in my soc. White's a barely cat 5 avatar which almost beat you in defense in easter, with a pistol, even with your cheat Yog

I appreciate Xen got this to light, in the community, while you competed with the exlploit. Xen didn't felt the need to run with it in the event, end of story.

You don’t even know what you’re talking about. Of course white is your alt. Using your gear. I did the community a huge favor and all you can do is think I’ve been the one cheating you all along lol. Go back and look at my mayhem placement results. I didn’t win because of some pet, I won one event because I spent time and money to figure out how the event works. It is THE only time I ever ever won shit in mayhem. Most mayhems I farm pyrite and don’t even compete.

Think about this, I could have said nothing to anyone and you ALL would be the Nike the wiser. The only reason this came to light is me. So really, shut the fuck up. You don’t know me and you don’t know anything about me so don’t pretend to.

 

[Starkiller]

You don’t even know what you’re talking about. Of course white is your alt. Using your gear. I did the community a huge favor and all you can do is think I’ve been the one cheating you all along lol. Go back and look at my mayhem placement results. I didn’t win because of some pet, I won one event because I spent time and money to figure out how the event works. It is THE only time I ever ever won shit in mayhem. Most mayhems I farm pyrite and don’t even compete.

Think about this, I could have said nothing to anyone and you ALL would be the Nike the wiser. The only reason this came to light is me. So really, shut the fuck up. You don’t know me and you don’t know anything about me so don’t pretend to.

Hopefully those with guilt will be punished and those without will receive a proper reward. I hope you and some others I consider friends are on the not guilty side.

Noble intention or not... It seems this is the only way to make MindArk fix exconomicaly advantageous bugs: by makig things public. I don't understand how this is good policy but whatever.

I'll say it again as I said about the Opal trader that wanted to withdraw (LOL): "Nothing to hide, nothing to fear."

 

[Elaina]

its true mystique told us and also told us to not keep quiet about it and actually spread it and report it - but oh boy do i hope theres an investigation who used this pet and who traded with who etc and proper deal with it

 

[niteflite]

It will help the general debate if we started to use the right terms. This is a RCE and consequently we are not dealing with simple "cheaters" here, this is a long-term fraud, and these players are fraudsters.

These thieves have being "stealing" peds and high-end weapons, which they have been using to steal even more peds and high-end weapons, both on a daily basis and during events. This is a criminal activity, which in any other situation would be investigated and prosecuted.

Just to clarify, in many countries anybody who becomes aware of critical software/hardware exploits and does not report them, let alone use them to their own benefit, are criminal offenders and will be prosecuted by the authorities, even on foreign soil.

I also take objection to the usual line that MA should/would take a light touch to these criminals, because they are big depositors. This is a perverse logic, which is swapping cause and effect. These thieves are big depositors because they are somehow "certain" to get 101%+ returns back through cheats, tricks, strategies, mixing with the "right" people, "those in the know", etc. It stands to reason that anybody would be depositing as much money as possible if they had such a guarantee. And just to be clear, there are plenty of big depositors who stay on the right side of the law and are major victims of these thieves.

A game this complicated is bound to experience bugs of this type over and over again, the only economic way to deal with it is to deter illegal activity, by setting clear guidelines on consequences and take retrospective actions, when applicable.

It is time for MA to take serious action for the integrity of the game, or else any genuine player will be left feeling as if their money is being stolen every day by gangs of crooks.

Please MA do not let this happen.

 

[GrannyKillz]

I'd like to clear up the air a little to some accusations that where thrown around a little.

First off, thank you very much to all of the individuals who reported this exploit, there are about 6 that I know of who all came together and tried to get it corrected ASAP. After doing some asking around, it was brought to my attention that the bug was identified by Mystique (he was the first person to make it public knowledge). Knowing how big of an issue this could be, he then reached out to others (Vandal and Yippi members (now, if you know anything about the LG drama, the fact that Payn reached out to Yippi speaks for itself)) He explained the bug and how it worked. They all submitted tickets to try and get the issue resolved. This took place two days ago. (For big exploits like this, a ticket IS the correct step to getting it resolved, not posting on PCF and making everyone aware of it before MA has a chance to correct the issue). After the bug was not corrected, Mystique and Vandal then did before/after runs for documentation to show Mind Ark just how broken this bug is. At this point, the bug was STILL not corrected. This is when it started getting posted to PCF in hopes to gain more traction.

A few key issues in this are:

- Why are we hating on people who exposed this? Xen, Mystique for example made this public and tried to get the issue resolved. We need not not associate the individuals with the society they are in.
- Why do we have to announce exploits on PCF before they will be taken seriously by MA?
- Why are items being released without a quality control check? - We have seen it now with the M91 Aug and now this pet
- How long has this been an issue and will there be any form of punishment to the individuals that exploited it. It's clear that they were able to tell in this mayhem who did and did not exploit this bug. Do they have the records to review and see if other mayhems results were skewed? Swiftly they dealt with the DannyO issue, not only issuing him a 5 month ban but also stripped his skills.

Lastly, this is the exact reason why, I never have nor will I ever compete in mayhem. Sadly, it's like clockwork. Every mayhem we are dealing with some kind of exploit that skews the results. From pill stacking, to clock stopping to unnatural buff....just my two pec

This could not be said better.

 

[allarom]

I'd like to clear up the air a little to some accusations that where thrown around a little.

First off, thank you very much to all of the individuals who reported this exploit, there are about 6 that I know of who all came together and tried to get it corrected ASAP. After doing some asking around, it was brought to my attention that the bug was identified by Mystique (he was the first person to make it public knowledge). Knowing how big of an issue this could be, he then reached out to others (Vandal and Yippi members (now, if you know anything about the LG drama, the fact that Payn reached out to Yippi speaks for itself)) He explained the bug and how it worked. They all submitted tickets to try and get the issue resolved. This took place two days ago. (For big exploits like this, a ticket IS the correct step to getting it resolved, not posting on PCF and making everyone aware of it before MA has a chance to correct the issue). After the bug was not corrected, Mystique and Vandal then did before/after runs for documentation to show Mind Ark just how broken this bug is. At this point, the bug was STILL not corrected. This is when it started getting posted to PCF in hopes to gain more traction.

A few key issues in this are:

- Why are we hating on people who exposed this? Xen, Mystique for example made this public and tried to get the issue resolved. We need not not associate the individuals with the society they are in.
- Why do we have to announce exploits on PCF before they will be taken seriously by MA?
- Why are items being released without a quality control check? - We have seen it now with the M91 Aug and now this pet
- How long has this been an issue and will there be any form of punishment to the individuals that exploited it. It's clear that they were able to tell in this mayhem who did and did not exploit this bug. Do they have the records to review and see if other mayhems results were skewed? Swiftly they dealt with the DannyO issue, not only issuing him a 5 month ban but also stripped his skills.

Lastly, this is the exact reason why, I never have nor will I ever compete in mayhem. Sadly, it's like clockwork. Every mayhem we are dealing with some kind of exploit that skews the results. From pill stacking, to clock stopping to unnatural buff....just my two pec

This must be the biggest BS ever

 

[Boo Who You]

This must be the biggest BS ever

Respectfully, Take a look at his screenshot which shows the date/time (10th) when the initial ticket was submitted. When I posted my response it was already the 12th where I live.

 

[allarom]

Respectfully, Take a look at his screenshot which shows the date/time (10th) when the initial ticket was submitted. When I posted my response it was already the 12th where I live.

Your boys knew that this shit is about to hit the fan or lost advantage cause of the excessive spread of this exploit. Coming up clean just now and sending screenshots about 2 days old support cases does not make any sense. At the time when this expoloit has been around for years

 

[Geo]

It was only reported after someone questioned why so many Yog Horrors were being used in a LG event 2 days before being reported to MA.

By the way, how's mining in fort event ?
Seeing all those spiders out there, I imagine the claims must be big and take alot of time to extract...

Hard to keep a secret forever.. So maybe was best to try and come clean before others report your actions.

The best way to exculpate oneself after using a cheat for 2 years would be to denounce it just when one feels that somehow it will be discovered.....

This exploit has been abused for years by certain individuals. Saying that you were doing it to show MA how easy it is to win Mayhems with the exploit, is a load of shit.

 

[allarom]

It was only reported after someone questioned why so many Yog Horrors were being used in a LG event.
Hard to keep a secret forever.. So maybe was best to try and come clean before others report your actions.

This exploit has been abused for years by certain individuals. Saying that you were doing it to show MA how easy it is to win Mayhems with the exploit, is a load of shit.

They were just testing it for few years to be extra sure before submitting support case just 2 days ago. This guy also found out it 2 days ago: https://www.planetcalypsoforum.com/forums/showthread.php?313515-Yog-Horror

 

[Alina]

This could not be said better.

why they had to use the bug and get scores then report it ? well doesnt matter imo the order, they used an exploit , they should get in trouble for it. From what i remember thats against TOS to use the exploit.