Info: Two Exploits in Lootable PVP to help you survive until MA fixes them!

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Kayla Mystique Sinclair
It's no shock that this game has bugs. Sadly when you report bugs they do not get fixed most of the time (see yog case which was reported 2 years before it was fixed). Only revealing the bug on forums and the ensuing community backlash got the bug fixed (almost immediately). So I am going to bring to light 2 well known exploits in PVP (one is very well known and one is more recently known at least to myself). My hope is that MA will fix them sooner rather than later.

When in Lootable PVP -

Exploit #1 - If you take more than 50% damage from either mobs or yourself, you cannot be looted. You are 100% safe from being looted. The only way to lose loot is for a pker to run up, heal you, and then shoot you. This is not very practical since it takes a long time to run up to someone heal them and then shoot, not likely to happen before they can TP away or die to a mob. It is exploited by many many many people in both Aegis and Akmuul PVP on Calypso. You can blow yourself up with a rocket and even if someone gets the finishing kill on you, your loot is safe as long as you did more than half of your HP dmg. Have seen this happen multiple times with multiple people and have taken video recordings of it and submitted to MA without any action.

Exploit #2 - This one was brought to light to me by someone because it was being used against me by someone who was recently unbanned from being banned for a year for cheating in mayhem (shocker, I know right?). If you create a sticky note, and paste Avatar Link into it, when you are in radar disabled PVP (Aegis) you can see different menu options if someone is on your radar vs not (Team Invite pops up as an option if someone is not on your FL). That means that you can be running around in disabled radar zone, spamming right click on a name link until you see "Team Invite" and then you will know they are within 200m. This is not nearly as egregious as the "Follow" function that was a bug many years ago, but same concept. It really kind of destroys the ability to hide and wait for prey when they can do this all day long and know you are coming.

I don't know how these can be fixed and I'm not a developer. But, I do know that these are two bugs that are not intended to be "features" of the game (at least as far as I can tell). I wish MA would fix them as I know they've been reported multiple times to support especially the first one, but maybe bringing some attention on the forum will help to nudge them in the right direction. If I am wrong and these ARE intended to be features could I please get a MindArk rep to confirm that so I can start mining nonstop safely with a mob train on me to keep me below 50% HP?

I won't name names but thanks to those who have reported these bugs and/or brought them to light because as long as they remain unfixed you have to know what you are up against in the zone.

-Mystique, your friendly neighborhood pk-er
 
I support this thread! I don't pk or mine or hunt in these locations, but I want to. I just don't bother because I know these bugs exists. I enjoy pvp but this is just a huge deterrent for me getting involved in it.
 
Exploit #2 - This one was brought to light to me by someone because it was being used against me by someone who was recently unbanned from being banned for a year for cheating in mayhem (shocker, I know right?). If you create a sticky note, and paste Avatar Link into it, when you are in radar disabled PVP (Aegis) you can see different menu options if someone is on your radar vs not (Team Invite pops up as an option if someone is not on your FL). That means that you can be running around in disabled radar zone, spamming right click on a name link until you see "Team Invite" and then you will know they are within 200m. This is not nearly as egregious as the "Follow" function that was a bug many years ago, but same concept. It really kind of destroys the ability to hide and wait for prey when they can do this all day long and know you are coming.

This wonders me. :unsure:
How do you actually know it was used against you?
How can you know that someone is spamming the name link?

Good thread btw. Thanks for bringing this in the open!
 
@ wizz

When you go fight someone in pvp3 and suddenly they know you are around they will run with the loot and come fight without :)) Thats how you figure out something is fishy.

So i was part of the that pvp when was radar and vehicles. Was a total mess (because players were recalling vehicles with loot) back then so MA made this change > remove radar+vehicles. Good part there are no known bugs for radar and it was not used. Then people figure out they can still see people around if they use the link.

So lets make pvp great again and fix this radar near issue.
 
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@ wizz

When you go fight someone in pvp3 and suddenly they know you are around they will run with the loot and come fight without :)) Thats how you figure out something is fishy FIRST.
Well could be of course.
But he (/she/it/them or whatever) could also just had a visual on you or not?

Also, how do you know he was spamming the link and not doing it through yet another bug?
Isn't it just an assumption that he was using this bug?

Lol, it also always wonders me how people actually find these bugs.

Maybe I should get a rocket and visit PVP 4 for a change, just to have a look around...now I still can, before the bugs are fixed :p
 
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Well could be of course.
But he (/she/it/them or whatever) could also just had a visual on you or not?

:p

Thing is with the right settings if someone enter your radar (200m) and is open area you see them. Now you have an advantage since they will still be a bit focusing on mining. So over time people got a bit more sneaky. At start they were mining most in open areas and i still was able to ambush them. Now they are hiding and with this radar link exploit they will just run outside fast.
 
I just wish MA would fix these issues. Until they do, might as well let everyone be on a level playing field so we can all cheat together until it's fixed!
 
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MA doesn't care about this stuff.

Lootable PvP doesn't make them much money (if any at all), and that's why things that have been asked for years aren't even studied seriously.

It's kind of the same thing with Oil Rig in the other way.
What's going on there is absurd, and makes no sense, but there's probably still more money spent (ammo/decay/heal/repair/ME/etc..) than oil dropped.
So if it's a bit profitable for them, they won't change anything.

Find something that costs them money, and then the problem will be fixed in a snap. 🤑

How many threads have been made asking for changes and adjustments to PvP, and MA has never said a single word.
Nothing, every time it's a dead silence. :sleep:

I applaud the effort for making the thread, but it's like pissing in a violin.. 😶
 
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well like I said, if MA would just confirm that they don’t care and these exploits are okay, then give us the green light to stop trying to play fairly or by the rules.
 
MA doesn't care about this stuff.

Lootable PvP doesn't make them much money (if any at all), and that's why things that have been asked for years aren't even studied seriously.

It's kind of the same thing with Oil Rig in the other way.
What's going on there is absurd, and makes no sense, but there's probably still more money spent (ammo/decay/heal/repair/ME/etc..) than oil dropped.
So if it's a bit profitable for them, they won't change anything.

Find something that costs them money, and then the problem will be fixed in a snap. 🤑

How many threads have been made asking for changes and adjustments to PvP, and MA has never said a single word.
Nothing, every time it's a dead silence. :sleep:

I applaud the effort for making the thread, but it's like pissing in a violin.. 😶

You are wrong here, they fixed stuff but slow. There was no buff leaving a pvp lootable area so on Arka was exploited hard - they added 30 sec as old days. They locked some exploiters.
 
You are wrong here, they fixed stuff but slow. There was no buff leaving a pvp lootable area so on Arka was exploited hard - they added 30 sec as old days. They locked some exploiters.

It's not an adjustment or a change as what I was talking about..

We're talking about the thing that makes it so that at less than 50% HP you're not lootable.
It's been asked to be removed in probably 50 threads over the last few years.

How many exploiters of this have been banned ?

I was also talking about the Rig (will not explain again, there is alooot of threads about that non sense zone..)


What you are talking about is a bug, something that is supposed to work in a certain way, that was broken and has been fixed.

So no I'm not wrong.


They are definitely doing everything wrong about PvP. (n)
 
Insta teleporting in pvp4 was fixed fast, few avatars was abusing it . GD > they were teleporting instant.
 
It's not an adjustment or a change as what I was talking about..

We're talking about the thing that makes it so that at less than 50% HP you're not lootable.
It's been asked to be removed in probably 50 threads over the last few years.

How many exploiters of this have been banned ?

Just wondering, since I have no clue about pvp and I totally suck in it, but what if they would remove the 50% HP cap?
Couldn't it then be used to exploit it another way?
Could there be reasons they introduced this "feature"?
 
Just wondering, since I have no clue about pvp and I totally suck in it, but what if they would remove the 50% HP cap?
Couldn't it then be used to exploit it another way?
Could there be reasons they introduced this "feature"?

Well, if they remove it, peoples would stop cheating in this way to mine pyrite for example.

They could still go mining if they wanted to, but at the risk of being looted by someone stronger than them. (the whole purpose of lootable zones..)
So they will have to try to be smarter, by hiding for example when there is no radar, or by forming teams, or any other "legal" means.
And PvP would become what it should be, a place where the strongest (or smartest) wins, and not the most cheater.


If there was a reason for this feature ?
There probably is.
And in my opinion it's quite simple to understand that it's exactly the same as the +50% that existed for mobs hunt, i.e. whoever does the most damage to the mob gets the loot (for non-shared mob)

This could be usefull if there were many people constantly playing and fighting in lootable, which is far from being the case.

The best thing would be to remove this feature completely.
But if not, it shouldn't be hard to make it work ONLY when the player is first shot by another player, NOT by mobs, nor by themself.

There would still be players who would cheat by being shot by a friend before entering the zone.
But it would still reduce the number of cheaters considerably.

And then make it so that this feature only works if the guy is shot by another player in the previous 30 seconds only.
If the player is shot by someone else, after 30 seconds the effect doesn't exist anymore.
Whoever got the kill got the loot.

In this case, the only way to cheat would be to go whith a friend following you and shooting at you every 30 seconds.. :giggle:
 
In this case, the only way to cheat would be to go whith a friend following you and shooting at you every 30 seconds.. :giggle:
So you kill the miner. and the friend that just looted the miner right after. DOUBLE KILL!
 
MA doesn't care about this stuff.

Lootable PvP doesn't make them much money (if any at all), and that's why things that have been asked for years aren't even studied seriously.

It's kind of the same thing with Oil Rig in the other way.
What's going on there is absurd, and makes no sense, but there's probably still more money spent (ammo/decay/heal/repair/ME/etc..) than oil dropped.
So if it's a bit profitable for them, they won't change anything.

Find something that costs them money, and then the problem will be fixed in a snap. 🤑

How many threads have been made asking for changes and adjustments to PvP, and MA has never said a single word.
Nothing, every time it's a dead silence. :sleep:

I applaud the effort for making the thread, but it's like pissing in a violin.. 😶

People complained about Quads moving faster while holding strafe, and that was changed. That annoyed me personally because I only used it to get places faster on-planet. But yeah, I don't see how MA could have been losing money on that one.
 
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Can the first tactic be used in space to fly safely from planet to planet?
 
Can the first tactic be used in space to fly safely from planet to planet?
So I have heard (together with a Thorifoid helmet):

Various bugs made it possible to remain unlootable while traveling equus, for example the thorifoid helmets and predamageing tactics used by some hunters to remain at low health so getting killed by another player that player wouldnt have done the majority damage and couldnt claim the loot - while this tactic became common knowledge others remained less known and shall remain in support case only hoping they get their attention in time.

Edit: Not sure this is possible anymore since the max regen debuf is like 60% or something now...
 
hate to break it to you but seriously MA doesn't give a shit about pvp anymore. just wasting time typing out "features" that won't be changed unless by accident.
 
hate to break it to you but seriously MA doesn't give a shit about pvp anymore. just wasting time typing out "features" that won't be changed unless by accident.
No exactly, so I just want everyone to be able to cheat equally until they fix it.
 
To all you PK'ers whining about everything not set up in your favour:

The 50% HP thing is not a bug, it's a feature.

It's been a part of PVP4 as long as I can remember.

Lots of bugs have been fixed thru the years. This have not been fixed, BECAUSE IT'S NOT A BUG.

Also, think about it: What will happen if miners have no chance in PVP4?

You got it, no miners for you to kill.

I know some of you want PVP4 all for yourself, but you seriously think this is what MA want?

So spare me the crocodilletears, and find a way to kill me.

gl,

Skelethor
 
More than likely Mindark isn't going to do anything about any bugs til 2 years after the new game engine is here and they've worked through the jumbled mess of support tickets it causes when entire virtual universe is rearranged and upside down as it was at vu 10 when the current game engine was put in to place.
 
To all you PK'ers whining about everything not set up in your favour:

The 50% HP thing is not a bug, it's a feature.

It's been a part of PVP4 as long as I can remember.

Lots of bugs have been fixed thru the years. This have not been fixed, BECAUSE IT'S NOT A BUG.

Also, think about it: What will happen if miners have no chance in PVP4?

You got it, no miners for you to kill.

I know some of you want PVP4 all for yourself, but you seriously think this is what MA want?

So spare me the crocodilletears, and find a way to kill me.

gl,

Skelethor
If I recall correctly, I’m pretty sure MA did post here at some point saying using the helmets to do this is not allowed (without saying how much it is actually enforced). Someone who follows the subject more would probably have a link if it wasn’t posted in this thread already.
 
BTW: Has this new Tezla-pet being adressed yet? I was thinking would it be possible to use it as a very fast selfkilling tool if there is not mobs around or cliffs to jump over? :)
 
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