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|  | Posted By: Sanya Thomas | 2002-07-19 19:31:54 |  |
| |  |  Time for some grab bag goodness:
Q: What is Mythic’s policy for third party program users? Are there any exceptions?
A: Taken from a post of mine on the Vault regarding this very subject:
We have a one strike, you're out policy, as our rule of thumb. There are exceptions, generally due to the "proof" aspect of our internal policy. There are also (very rare) exceptions, such as information gathering.
We will suspend someone as long as we have some proof, even though the investigation may not be complete. However, we will NEVER ban someone for hacking or 3rd party programs without absolute proof. And that proof must come from in-game. We do not accept logs or screenshots that were not taken by a Mythic employee as absolute proof.
We will happily look at logs and screenshots, and give the submitting player the benefit of the doubt. We will use such logs and screenshots as a reason to open an investigation. But those are never the grounds for banning a player in and of themselves.
If you think about it, you'll appreciate that - you would not enjoy being banned based on a potentially altered log, eh?
We have a number of methods by which we catch people using these programs. Please rest assured that none of those methods involve invading your computer - as easy as that would make catching cheaters, it's unacceptable to all of us at Mythic who are at our cores players first. (I personally would quit before I'd work for a company that used such blatant invasions of privacy.)
Finally, a number of players from the Dreds have been busted for Jedi, Telepathy, Ronald McDonald, Kreskin, or whatever the hell people are calling it this week. All banned. Banning cheater accounts is a priority everywhere, but it's especially important in a full PK environment. If enough cheater accounts crop up and require banning from the same player, eventually we kick into "ban by IP/credit card" mode. We do not need or want these players, because they end up chasing away more people than they represent.
Feel free to /appeal anyone you suspect of cheating. (Please, though, put more than "NameofCheater" in your appeal - "I believe that Soandso of such and such guild is using a speedhack, because I am in XXX zone and watching him as of 11:30 PST" is much more helpful.) If they remain in the game after two or three weeks, either they aren't cheating and they're just that good/organized/clever, *or* we could not definitively prove that they were cheating from within the game.
Q: Is fighting from a roof in the frontier considered an exploit or not?
A: I just love these “it depends” answers (not), but until we have a code solution, our CSRs are in the extremely uncomfortable position of having to judge each “roofer” on a case by case basis.
Basically, I would recommend no one fight from a roof. Doing so is a quick and easy way to get a reputation as an exploiter, and to invite scrutiny from our staff. For those of you who do not mind a reputation, here’s a quick and dirty way to tell if you’re exploiting: If you cannot be targeted, hit, or if you can only be hit by one type of attack, you’re exploiting. Get down.
For those of you who do not appreciate sharing server space with these creatures, here’s how to tell if you should /appeal someone and get an investigation going: Get an archer, a distance caster, and a point blank caster. If only one or none of you can hit the roofer, he’s exploiting. Appeal him. And even if he’s gone before the CSR arrives, don’t sweat it too much, because the fine fellow is now on our watch list.
I know that’s not a very satisfactory answer, and we’re working on better solutions, but it’s what we do at this time.
Q: I hit this guy and he went right back into stealth! I thought you fixed that bug?
A: We did. If he’s an infiltrator, that’s not a bug, that’s a realm ability called “Vanish.”
Q: About blocking or parrying styles – can you or can’t you?
A: Yes, you can. Your chances of doing so are best when you are solo, trying to block or parry a style from someone who is also solo. The chances of doing so decrease with grouped, simultaneous attackers. How much this chance decreases is something we are looking at very closely as part of the melee improvements for 1.52. Bolt users may recognize this issue as similar to their own, and to them I say you are correct, it’s the same piece of code involved.
Q: Once spellcrafting is in, will you be able to take the spellcrafted item to an enchanter and get further bonuses applied?
A: Yes, but why would you? The spellcrafter will be able to enchant items the same way the NPC does, for less cost.
Q: I use the critical strike style “Achilles Heel,” which lowers the target’s attack speed. Does this mean my target will now hit for more damage per attack (in order to maintain their DPS, which is now slower due to my style)? Also, what is the duration of this debuff? Finally, does it break as snare does the next time they get hit?
A: No (the DPS is also lowered as part of this debuff), it varies due to your level vs. target level so I can’t answer without more information, and no, once the target is debuffed, he stays debuffed until it wears off unless he purges.
Q: Another combat resolution question for you – where does Guard/Intercept happen in the order of resolution?
A: At the very beginning, since the “real” first event in a resolution chain is “Hit = yes/no.”
Before I take off, I just have one side note – gang, if you send me email, make sure your inbox is not so full that your provider is not allowing you to receive any more messages. I had several bounce back to me today as a result. Taking a technique from Dear Abby: Confidential to “SUSPENDED?!”: We do send out notices to your email address of record the instant we suspend your account explaining what we did, why, and what your avenues of appeal are. When the notice bounces back, you may be left with the impression that we didn’t give you an explanation. I’ve been trying to let you know for two days what happened – empty your box and try again, please?
Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!
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