News: PSA 2 Event and Exploits Update

[Charlie|MindArk]

Since there are a lot of questions and discussion around recent events here is some follow up information in one place instead of spread out answers in multiple threads.
Around 20 players were temp banned for the exploit with the "Gemologist" bonus mission. Warnings were also handed out to some not directly benefiting from it but with some level of involvement.
If a rare token was gained it has been taken away.
Those who completed the Gemologist mission this way have had it uncompleted.
If they want to get the rare token they will have to abandon their active Gemologist mission and the main Resource Mayhem mission in order to activate Gemologist again when they pick up the main mission. Once they have all bonus missions completed and 10000+ points they can receive the rare token from support.

As for questions regarding randomly getting banned for things you don't know are an exploit or not. We look things over closely and don't punish unless it's clear that it's intentional and not something accidental and whether the player reports it as a bug/exploit/concern. Not everyone who had anything to do with a gem and pvp was banned, such as only dying with a gem and never looting one.

For some more positive stuff:

Gems were made a bit more common with the start of the event, not by a huge amount but it is a bit easier than it has been in the past as to not be insanely difficult to complete during the event time.

Four players have gained the rare token (legitimately) so far.

The 3 most completed bonus missions are: Extract resources >Tier 3 Orders > Nanocubes
The 3 least completed bonus missions are: Refine Gemstones >Tier 1 Orders > Gemologist

Amount of Mayhem tokens in game have increased by 3.7% since event start.

The most crafted items since event start are (by TT value of items created, not count):
Explosive Projectiles > D-Class Mining Amp (L) > Level 5 Finder Amplifier (L) > Shrapnel > ArMatrix Extender P20 (L) > ArMatrix Extender P15 (L) > Terra Amp 6 (L) > Tech Gizmo 8 > ArMatrix LP-15 (L) > Terra Amp 8 (L) > Simple 1 Conductors.

 

[Angela Draniie Cloud]

If they want to get the rare token they will have to abandon their active Gemologist mission and the main Resource Mayhem mission in order to activate Gemologist again when they pick up the main mission. Once they have all bonus missions completed and 10000+ points they can receive the rare token from support.

I would really hope this statement changes.
There is no reason that they should be able to get the rare token still or regular mayhem tokens during this event.


Thank you for further information pertaining to this event. We really appreciate you communicating with us more Charlie and have enjoyed seeing numbers and information pertaining to the game from a first party source.

 

[Mike Kaffeslukarn Morazi]

@Rimmer

 

[Mike Kaffeslukarn Morazi]

Since there are a lot of questions and discussion around recent events here is some follow up information in one place instead of spread out answers in multiple threads.
Around 20 players were temp banned for the exploit with the "Gemologist" bonus mission. Warnings were also handed out to some not directly benefiting from it but with some level of involvement.
If a rare token was gained it has been taken away.
Those who completed the Gemologist mission this way have had it uncompleted.
If they want to get the rare token they will have to abandon their active Gemologist mission and the main Resource Mayhem mission in order to activate Gemologist again when they pick up the main mission. Once they have all bonus missions completed and 10000+ points they can receive the rare token from support.

As for questions regarding randomly getting banned for things you don't know are an exploit or not. We look things over closely and don't punish unless it's clear that it's intentional and not something accidental and whether the player reports it as a bug/exploit/concern. Not everyone who had anything to do with a gem and pvp was banned, such as only dying with a gem and never looting one.

For some more positive stuff:

Gems were made a bit more common with the start of the event, not by a huge amount but it is a bit easier than it has been in the past as to not be insanely difficult to complete during the event time.

Four players have gained the rare token (legitimately) so far.

The 3 most completed bonus missions are: Extract resources >Tier 3 Orders > Nanocubes
The 3 least completed bonus missions are: Refine Gemstones >Tier 1 Orders > Gemologist

Amount of Mayhem tokens in game have increased by 3.7% since event start.

The most crafted items since event start are (by TT value of items created, not count):
Explosive Projectiles > D-Class Mining Amp (L) > Level 5 Finder Amplifier (L) > Shrapnel > ArMatrix Extender P20 (L) > ArMatrix Extender P15 (L) > Terra Amp 6 (L) > Tech Gizmo 8 > ArMatrix LP-15 (L) > Terra Amp 8 (L) > Simple 1 Conductors.

Thank you!

 

[B-K-K]

There is no reason that they should be able to get the rare token still or regular mayhem tokens during this event.

And at the same time there is no reason why we shouldn't

 

[Angela Draniie Cloud]

And at the same time there is no reason why we shouldn't

You cheated and stole from others? And your punishment was a temp 3 day ban that did nothing.

So you'll still get to benefit and earn rewards and items even after cheating?

The "punishment" was nothing compared to what happened. Circumventing thousands and thousands of peds and hurting the in game economy.

 

[Charlie|MindArk]

I would really hope this statement changes.
There is no reason that they should be able to get the rare token still or regular mayhem tokens during this event.

We feel like its better to let them redo it with lost progress if they want to so they can still partake in the economic aspect of the event which helps everyone else who are selling resources and such. There is no need to punish everyone else for their and our mistake.

 

[Angela Draniie Cloud]

We feel like its better to let them redo it with lost progress if they want to so they can still partake in the economic aspect of the event which helps everyone else who are selling resources and such. There is no need to punish everyone else for their and our mistake.

Is this a mistake on your end that you will fix for ALL missions involving the PVP exploit?

 

[dimod]

So the take from this is.

Always first try to think out of box "find loop holes/cheat/abuse mechanics" instead of following rules. If you get away with it you win. If you get caught the worse that can happen is you have to do it the right way just like others. Not even disqualified from the event.

Funny thing is those who actually play by rules can never even catch up to those who cheat. Because they have years of experience and they will always be the first ones to find a loop hole to abuse.

This is disappointing....

 

[Sulje]

So the take from this is.

Always first try to think out of box "find loop holes/cheat/abuse mechanics" instead of following rules. If you get away with it you win. If you get caught the worse that can happen is you have to do it the right way just like others. Not even disqualified from the event.

Funny thing is those who actually play by rules can never even catch up to those who cheat. Because they have years of experience and they will always be the first ones to find a loop hole to abuse.

This is disappointing....

Exactly how it worked for last 20 years.

 

[Art Jennifer]

Love the stats in all the years I’ve been here the past couple have by far been the best for communication so keep it up and thanks for sharing this!

 

[deathception]

You cheated and stole from others? And your punishment was a temp 3 day ban that did nothing.

So you'll still get to benefit and earn rewards and items even after cheating?

The "punishment" was nothing compared to what happened. Circumventing thousands and thousands of peds and hurting the in game economy.

and now MA has given them the chance to achieve the points by spending ped and tt loss, if they don't participate then, that is potential MU that they are either not buying the resources directly from miners/crafters, or resources they dont buy to do the crafting/ mining amps themselves as well as turn in points. EU is a game but more importantly MA requires TT loss/cycle. at the end of the day if the game doesnt have a flow of ped inside the game being spent on MU or grinding, economically it also has an effect on the game , there will be oversupply if nobody is buying resources the MU will go down and all small players making potential Mu will face less potential profits to make up for the tt loss

 

[dimod]

Love the stats in all the years I’ve been here the past couple have by far been the best for communication so keep it up and thanks for sharing this!

It was actually better when they didnt communicate. We were under the impression that they dont know and its not that easy to figure out who is cheating. Now we know for sure they have all the information but they still choose to let them do it because it benefits them both.

 

[Jhereg]

Since there are a lot of questions and discussion around recent events here is some follow up information in one place instead of spread out answers in multiple threads.
Around 20 players were temp banned for the exploit with the "Gemologist" bonus mission. Warnings were also handed out to some not directly benefiting from it but with some level of involvement.
If a rare token was gained it has been taken away.
Those who completed the Gemologist mission this way have had it uncompleted.
If they want to get the rare token they will have to abandon their active Gemologist mission and the main Resource Mayhem mission in order to activate Gemologist again when they pick up the main mission. Once they have all bonus missions completed and 10000+ points they can receive the rare token from support.

As for questions regarding randomly getting banned for things you don't know are an exploit or not. We look things over closely and don't punish unless it's clear that it's intentional and not something accidental and whether the player reports it as a bug/exploit/concern. Not everyone who had anything to do with a gem and pvp was banned, such as only dying with a gem and never looting one.

For some more positive stuff:

Gems were made a bit more common with the start of the event, not by a huge amount but it is a bit easier than it has been in the past as to not be insanely difficult to complete during the event time.

Four players have gained the rare token (legitimately) so far.

The 3 most completed bonus missions are: Extract resources >Tier 3 Orders > Nanocubes
The 3 least completed bonus missions are: Refine Gemstones >Tier 1 Orders > Gemologist

Amount of Mayhem tokens in game have increased by 3.7% since event start.

The most crafted items since event start are (by TT value of items created, not count):
Explosive Projectiles > D-Class Mining Amp (L) > Level 5 Finder Amplifier (L) > Shrapnel > ArMatrix Extender P20 (L) > ArMatrix Extender P15 (L) > Terra Amp 6 (L) > Tech Gizmo 8 > ArMatrix LP-15 (L) > Terra Amp 8 (L) > Simple 1 Conductors.

Man, I really thought gemologist was easier based on the first post you made....it hurts so much

 

[Jhereg]

We feel like its better to let them redo it with lost progress if they want to so they can still partake in the economic aspect of the event which helps everyone else who are selling resources and such. There is no need to punish everyone else for their and our mistake.

The reason to not let them redo it, is because it encourages exploiters to try again later to find more exploits. It only matters when they get caught, and if the consequence is not sufficiently harsh, there's no incentive not to try. You don't catch every exploit, so those that exploit often will continue to try and find other ways to take advantage of the system, as long as they realize that they will not get more than a slap on the wrist, and it is in their advantage to do so despite the consequence.

Bottom line is, if the punishment is small and not substantial, there is no reason to not abuse new exploits when they come up because it is likely not to get caught and even if they are caught, the consequence is so tiny.


If I was to be cynical, the temp banned players are amongst the heavy cyclers in the game, and you did not want to remove their cycling from the universe because it affects your bottom line as well.

 

[Xen]

So the take from this is.

Always first try to think out of box "find loop holes/cheat/abuse mechanics" instead of following rules. If you get away with it you win. If you get caught the worse that can happen is you have to do it the right way just like others. Not even disqualified from the event.

Funny thing is those who actually play by rules can never even catch up to those who cheat. Because they have years of experience and they will always be the first ones to find a loop hole to abuse.

This is disappointing....

Probably if someone does something like this a 2nd time the penalty will be more harsh.

 

[Angela Draniie Cloud]

Bottom line is, if the punishment is small and not substantial, there is no reason to not abuse new exploits when they come up because it is likely not to get caught and even if they are caught, the consequence is so tiny.


If I was to be cynical, the temp banned players are amongst the heavy cyclers in the game, and you did not want to remove their cycling from the universe because it affects your bottom line as well.

EXACTLY.

 

[Bubba Crowley]

You cheated and stole from others? And your punishment was a temp 3 day ban that did nothing.

So you'll still get to benefit and earn rewards and items even after cheating?

The "punishment" was nothing compared to what happened. Circumventing thousands and thousands of peds and hurting the in game economy.

Really, you lost so many peds have you? How much have you lost?

BKK has almost 9.5 million on tracker and you have 100k and you talk about economy...

 

[Angela Draniie Cloud]

Really, you lost so many peds have you? How much have you lost?

Don't deflect. This is not about me, but the community and economy as a whole. It always has been. I just have the guts to actually speak against the cheaters.

 

[sorinel89]

Really, you lost so many peds have you? How much have you lost?

BKK has almost 9.5 million on tracker and you have 100k and you talk about economy...

It was BKK's choice to lose more than other players. A lot or not we all lose peds here, there is no justification for a player that has lost more to cheat his way to obtaining better stuff. We are all in this together, more or less, it doesn't matter. Cheating your way should carry harsher punishments.

 

[Bubba Crowley]

Don't deflect. This is not about me, but the community and economy as a whole. It always has been. I just have the guts to actually speak against the cheaters.

Oh, I'm not deflecting, just asking for numbers and looking at numbers. People who have more experience have already pointed out some systemic flaws with this mission and have pointed out that this thing was reported years ago. But Mr 100k Uber has climbed the Moral Mountain lecturing about economy in EU. Continue, please, you fit well with my drink today

 

[Suza]

Man, I really thought gemologist was easier based on the first post you made....it hurts so much

I finally completed gemologist after what I estimate to be 65k ped cycled on crafting. I did ~10k ped on EP3 condition and hit a gemless 3.6k hof. Followed that with about 4k EP4 on quantity where I got a gemless 1.3k hof. next tried ~5k on ep4 cond and ~5k on ep4 qty. Two 20k EP4 qty runs finished it off. Sad part is I got 3 hofs in the last 25 mins of crafting and got a diamond, an opal and 3 garnets to complete it.

 

[The Mind]

Let's assume half of them (like myself tbh) wouldn't even have gone for the rare token, if they had to craft to get those gems.

I would really hope this statement changes.
There is no reason that they should be able to get the rare token still or regular mayhem tokens during this event.

And at the same time there is no reason why we shouldn't

Damn, opinions change fast here.

 

[Bubba Crowley]

It was BKK's choice to lose more than other players. A lot or not we all lose peds here, there is no justification for a player that has lost more to cheat his way to obtaining better stuff. We are all in this together, more or less, it doesn't matter. Cheating your way should carry harsher punishments.

Afro, you are well aware that some people who have commented here are the scumiest in game. Punishment was given. Will lessons be learned, we will see.

 

[sorinel89]

Afro, you are well aware that some of people who have commented here are the scumiest in game. Punishment was given. Will lessons be learned, we will see.

I don't care about scummy or not, we are all different, what I care about is proper punishment for those who abuse the mechanics of the game because they are the right knowledge on how it might work. It is not fair on the little player or the bigger player that sticks to the rules. It affects everyone. No one forced anyone to lose massive amounts of peds in the game, it was their choice only, and those who made that choice should not feel entitled enough to abuse the games mechanics. It was their choice and hopefully they own it.

 

[Angela Draniie Cloud]

Oh, I'm not deflecting, just asking for numbers and looking at numbers. People who have more experience have already pointed out some systemic flaws with this mission and have pointed out that this thing was reported years ago. But Mr 100k Uber has climbed the Moral Mountain lecturing about economy in EU. Continue, please, you fit well with my drink today

I never said I was an uber, but you can see how much I've cycled since I've started and we all know it's less than others, especially 24/7 botters.

That does not mean my opinion is invalid towards cheaters/exploiters etc.

I apologize if I don't have as much time or resources to cycle as others.

But again, this is not about me. This is about the community, economy and future of Entropia.

 

[Angela Draniie Cloud]

I don't care about scummy or not, we are all different, what I care about is proper punishment for those who abuse the mechanics of the game because they are the right knowledge on how it might work. It is not fair on the little player or the bigger player that sticks to the rules. It affects everyone. No one forced anyone to lose massive amounts of peds in the game and those who did to feel entitled enough to abuse the games mechanics. It was their choice and hopefully they own it.

Exactly, it's really as simple as that. Just because you're a poop head, doesn't mean you automatically have your opinion invalidated. I am the biggest asshole in the game according to some because I will always wear my heart on my sleeve. I trust everyone until they give me a reason not to trust them and that's burned me. I've helped others and never asked for a penny back because that's just how it's supposed to be in MY opinion

But cheating is cheating.

 

[Bubba Crowley]

I don't care about scummy or not, we are all different, what I care about is proper punishment for those who abuse the mechanics of the game because they are the right knowledge on how it might work. It is not fair on the little player or the bigger player that sticks to the rules. It affects everyone. No one forced anyone to lose massive amounts of peds in the game, it was their choice only, and those who made that choice should not feel entitled enough to abuse the games mechanics. It was their choice and hopefully they own it.

I get your point but that exploit was reported many times. And it is easily fixable. Also, this is the only gambling mission in whole mission chain. It is crazy that people do not see that gambling mechanics are being introduced more and more in EU. But OK, talk about "cheating" and economy all you like

 

[Bubba Crowley]

Exactly, it's really as simple as that. Just because you're a poop head, doesn't mean you automatically have your opinion invalidated. I am the biggest asshole in the game according to some because I will always wear my heart on my sleeve. I trust everyone until they give me a reason not to trust them and that's burned me. I've helped others and never asked for a penny back because that's just how it's supposed to be in MY opinion

But cheating is cheating.

Pat yourself on the back some more

 

[The Mind]

I get your point but that exploit was reported many times. And it is easily fixable. Also, this is the only gambling mission in whole mission chain. It is crazy that people do not see that gambling mechanics are being introduced more and more in EU. But OK, talk about "cheating" and economy all you like

Whats wrong with rng mission?