Important Announcement: Legendary Tokens Exploit

Salgy

fmftint wrote:

How long has this exploit been going on? Surely not just the last 3 months, I'd bet since 4☆s were bumped to 25%

Nope... Even longer than that... It's been "public" knowledge for almost 2 years... Here is a forum post dated 2/23/14 that details the exploit & even though the author issued a warning about the ramifications of the exploit, it was not fixed...

What's baffling to me is that they didn't feel the need to address this until now...

puppychow

Marty17 wrote:

Ah you know what would be even sweeter for us non exploitors? Free Legendary token(s) ;p

And pull another IW?

DrStrange-616

Salgy wrote:

fmftint wrote:

How long has this exploit been going on? Surely not just the last 3 months, I'd bet since 4☆s were bumped to 25%

Nope... Even longer than that... It's been "public" knowledge for almost 2 years... Here is a forum post dated 2/23/14 that details the exploit & even though the author issued a warning about the ramifications of the exploit, it was not fixed...

What's baffling to me is that they didn't feel the need to address this until now...

That's appalling. I don't even know what to say to that.

TLCstormz

lol. That thread just got SANDBOXED.

:+/

IlDuderino

I don't fully understand what the exploit is but basically what has happened is I and loads of others having been competing with our time and money (mine is about GBP150 to date and I can't imagine how many late nights and early starts) against cheaters exploiting cover drops from tokens for about 2 years and D3 knew about it the whole time?

Happy Holidays!!

Dauthi

I blew the whistle right before this, glad to see it helped, even if I got a warning from it. Hacks/exploits running amok will ruin a game, and putting the dirty laundry out in the open puts the spotlight on the problem forcing action.

viewtopic.php?f=7&t=36126&p=450758#p450758

Mawtful

DrStrange-616 wrote:

Salgy wrote:

fmftint wrote:

How long has this exploit been going on? Surely not just the last 3 months, I'd bet since 4☆s were bumped to 25%

Nope... Even longer than that... It's been "public" knowledge for almost 2 years... Here is a forum post dated 2/23/14 that details the exploit & even though the author issued a warning about the ramifications of the exploit, it was not fixed...

What's baffling to me is that they didn't feel the need to address this until now...

That's appalling. I don't even know what to say to that.

Thread gone. Quick, hide the evidence!

Don't worry folks, get ready for a new gameplay feature that's definitely launching some time in the future that we know you're going to love and definitely isn't designed to make you spend more money.

Nellobee

DrStrange-616 wrote:

Salgy wrote:

fmftint wrote:

How long has this exploit been going on? Surely not just the last 3 months, I'd bet since 4☆s were bumped to 25%

Nope... Even longer than that... It's been "public" knowledge for almost 2 years... Here is a forum post dated 2/23/14 that details the exploit & even though the author issued a warning about the ramifications of the exploit, it was not fixed...

What's baffling to me is that they didn't feel the need to address this until now...

That's appalling. I don't even know what to say to that.

Before, the rewards didn't affect things anywhere near as much.
Now, having a maxed 5* roster is just shy of god mode. Ergo, any exploit that helps achieve that is insanely good.

wuweird

IlDuderino wrote:

I don't fully understand what the exploit is but basically what has happened is I and loads of others having been competing with our time and money (mine is about GBP150 to date and I can't imagine how many late nights and early starts) against cheaters exploiting cover drops from tokens for about 2 years and D3 knew about it the whole time?

Well, based on some of the comments here, it's apparently because they wanted to ban everyone at once, otherwise the cheaters would know the gig is up and...I'm not really sure what they'd do. Hack the D3 servers and delete logs? Not spend any more money? **** impotently online?

Some of us were finding the P2W aspects of the game frustrating, but that's nothing compared to 2 years of known C2W.

It seems it's actually far easier to get banned for "attack" posts on the forum than exploiting the game itself.

Konman

OJSP wrote:

Dauthi wrote:

I blew the whistle right before this, glad to see it helped, even if I got a warning from it. Hacks/exploits running amok will ruin a game, and putting the dirty laundry out in the open puts the spotlight on the problem forcing action.

viewtopic.php?f=7&t=36126&p=450758#p450758

Dude.. I know you're probably feeling vindicated now.. but considering you've received a warning before.. perhaps you could edit the picture a bit and re-upload it?

I know, as far as I'm aware (without out of game communication), that player is nowhere to be seen at the moment (at least on top of my leaderboards).. But, it would be a shame to get into trouble due to something silly like this.

I had been watching that particular player as well, and discussed the ridiculous number of 5* covers they had. As far as I can tell, they are at least gone from their alliance, which appears to indicate a sandboxing, maybe. And that didn't happen until after a picture was posted (none of my posts about it mentioned any names) which had some hints at that identity of the player.

So bravo to Dauthi!

Cartz

Is the potential legal aspects to this? If proved the developers were aware but didn't address it for a long time would consumers be able to demand a refund? How many people spent a lot of money chasing covers to catch people that were cheating with an exploit developers knew about but didn't fix. Even banning or sand boxing doesn't help the people who have spent money to get ahead of cheats. They may not have spent the money or as much.

Seems like they let it go to make as much money as they could until too many over covered 5* showed up and questions were being asked.

wuweird

djsquillz wrote:

Quoted text removed by mod -DayvBang

Casual homophobia and racism. You sound like a real catch.

Dauthi

OJSP wrote:

Dauthi wrote:

I blew the whistle right before this, glad to see it helped, even if I got a warning from it. Hacks/exploits running amok will ruin a game, and putting the dirty laundry out in the open puts the spotlight on the problem forcing action.

viewtopic.php?f=7&t=36126&p=450758#p450758

Dude.. I know you're probably feeling vindicated now.. but considering you've received a warning before.. perhaps you could edit the picture a bit and re-upload it?

I know, as far as I'm aware (without out of game communication), that player is nowhere to be seen at the moment (at least on top of my leaderboards).. But, it would be a shame to get into trouble due to something silly like this.

Vindicated doesn't even cover it. I was ridiculed, warned, and and everyone who pushed against me upvoted, and I was absolutely right. Some even PMed me talking about how they believed these guys were legit. Practicality and reason went right out the window, for whatever reason.

Don't worry, I am positive there is no rule about linking locked threads. Then again, I didn't know that I would get tossed warning for addressing a serious and obvious issue. I quote Fight4thedream in my PM why I was warned: "You were given a warning for posting a thread making baseless accusations of rampant hacking." I'm not in the loop, I don't know that me accidentally leaving the last piece of their alliance was that bad, but I do know the average player couldn't get anything from it. It's impossible by searching the term in game.

But, you may have a point, sir.

DrLemniscate

The player in question from that screenshot is just taking a break. Their alliance is hardcore, so was kicked until they return. This has been confirmed by other alliance members.

The best sign of this exploit is a roster with a high amount of 5*, and very few 4* in comparison. I have seen one guy with over 30 5* covers, and no where near enough 4* to explain it statistically. Even less so when you consider all the 4* covers that come from other sources.

Keep in mind this exploit still had them only getting 1 cover per token. If they have all 4* fully covered but not leveled , and some well covered 5*, then it is probably a whale.

Dauthi

DrLemniscate wrote:

The player in question from that screenshot is just taking a break. Their alliance is hardcore, so was kicked until they return. This has been confirmed by other alliance members.

Really? Yeah, I guess it was a coincidence right when they crack down on the exploit. After spending 20k dollars on 5*s I would quit for awhile too.

Dwarfsteel

DrLemniscate wrote:

The player in question from that screenshot is just taking a break. Their alliance is hardcore, so was kicked until they return. This has been confirmed by other alliance members.

The best sign of this exploit is a roster with a high amount of 5*, and very few 4* in comparison. I have seen one guy with over 30 5* covers, and no where near enough 4* to explain it statistically. Even less so when you consider all the 4* covers that come from other sources.

Keep in mind this exploit still had them only getting 1 cover per token. If they have all 4* fully covered but not leveled , and some well covered 5*, then it is probably a whale.

If this is an exploit that has been around for two years, it's very reasonable to assume these individuals would be applying it to the 4*, 3*, etc. I don't see a well rounded roster as any more indication of non-cheating if their roster is abnormally "too far advanced". Sure it's plausible for it to be a mega-whale, but I'd question the sanity of anyone willing to drop 10's of thousands of dollars on a game that they don't actually own and could and likely will end at some point. So many more productive ways to spend that kind of money.

Linkster79

As usual time for me to take an unpopular view.

If players have been altering source code via the use of hacks or other methods to their own gain then they should be banned. If players have been using an exploit then it is the devs fault for allowing such code to exist, especially in this case an exploit that has been known to exist for a fair while.

The wording of David HiFi Moore's statement indicates that they have known for a while that this exploit exists and up until know not enough people were using it for the development team to use vital resources fixing it and they were willing to turn a blind eye. Now that a token exists that assure at least a 4* character more players are willing to use this exploit. In any competitive game some players will do whatever they can to get an edge, using exploits is certainly one way and is vastly different to cheating, it is making the most of the tools available to them.

All those who utilised this exploit should have their game left untouched and intact while the developers should chastise themselves for leaving such a thing left unchecked for so long.

Dauthi

Linkster79 wrote:

As usual time for me to take an unpopular view.

If players have been altering source code via the use of hacks or other methods to their own gain then they should be banned. If players have been using an exploit then it is the devs fault for allowing such code to exist, especially in this case an exploit that has been known to exist for a fair while.

The wording of David HiFi Moore's statement indicates that they have known for a while that this exploit exists and up until know not enough people were using it for the development team to use vital resources fixing it and they were willing to turn a blind eye. Now that a token exists that assure at least a 4* character more players are willing to use this exploit. In any competitive game some players will do whatever they can to get an edge, using exploits is certainly one way and is vastly different to cheating, it is making the most of the tools available to them.

All those who utilised this exploit should have their game left untouched and intact while the developers should chastise themselves for leaving such a thing left unchecked for so long.

If a store forgets or doesn't care to lock down an expensive item, making it easy to steal, does that give you the right to steal it? If (this is assuming your assumptions are correct) they turn a blind eye while you steal it, does that confirm that it is ok, or is it still stealing?

"Everyone was doing it," "It was so easy," or "they didn't care" does not constitute innocence. There are many people who knew but didn't participate, and so many that didn't know what was happening at all.

Dwarfsteel

Linkster79 wrote:

As usual time for me to take an unpopular view.

If players have been altering source code via the use of hacks or other methods to their own gain then they should be banned. If players have been using an exploit then it is the devs fault for allowing such code to exist, especially in this case an exploit that has been known to exist for a fair while.

The wording of David HiFi Moore's statement indicates that they have known for a while that this exploit exists and up until know not enough people were using it for the development team to use vital resources fixing it and they were willing to turn a blind eye. Now that a token exists that assure at least a 4* character more players are willing to use this exploit. In any competitive game some players will do whatever they can to get an edge, using exploits is certainly one way and is vastly different to cheating, it is making the most of the tools available to them.

All those who utilised this exploit should have their game left untouched and intact while the developers should chastise themselves for leaving such a thing left unchecked for so long.

Yes the devs should be ashamed for leaving this unchecked for so long and I would hope they do something to make amends (wouldn't hold my breath) but it does not excuse those who are taking advantage of it. It's not like anyone of them thought that this was the game "working as intended". They knew they were doing something wrong and continued to do it. If nothing is done they risk alienating the rest of the player base which, at least to me, is a far greater risk to the health and longevity of this game. Who would continue to support a game that does nothing to protect fair play?

evil panda

Linkster79 wrote:

As usual time for me to take an unpopular view.

If players have been altering source code via the use of hacks or other methods to their own gain then they should be banned. If players have been using an exploit then it is the devs fault for allowing such code to exist, especially in this case an exploit that has been known to exist for a fair while.

The wording of David HiFi Moore's statement indicates that they have known for a while that this exploit exists and up until know not enough people were using it for the development team to use vital resources fixing it and they were willing to turn a blind eye. Now that a token exists that assure at least a 4* character more players are willing to use this exploit. In any competitive game some players will do whatever they can to get an edge, using exploits is certainly one way and is vastly different to cheating, it is making the most of the tools available to them.

All those who utilised this exploit should have their game left untouched and intact while the developers should chastise themselves for leaving such a thing left unchecked for so long.

So it's not cheating as long as you're not altering source code? That's a mightily high tolerance you have there.

I do agree that if the devs knew about this for two years, then shame on them. But can't we have both? Bannings AND (put this on the list of) developer self castigation?