Gilded Lotus in Standard and Legacy Decks Exploit (10/2/18)

Mburn7

bobby_2613 said:

I've been a MtGPQ since the begining but I've been really casual.  Since last month, I've started to play more but to be honest, I don't event know the difference between Standard/Legacy.  I'm pretty sure people not coming to Forums don't know this too.  So when you're saying there's an exploit, I hear you.  But I don't even know which set are ok or not.

Now this is the real problem.

@Brigby this is why the devs need to use more in-game communication.  Everybody should know exactly what is going on in the game at any given time.  If there is an issue, they should know.  If there is a change coming, they should know.

Right now only players on the forums or in large coalitions seem to have any clue as to what is going on, and even we are left in the dark about a lot of things.

Thanks @bobby_2613 for the fresh perspective!

bk1234

bobby_2613 said:

I've been a MtGPQ since the begining but I've been really casual.  Since last month, I've started to play more but to be honest, I don't event know the difference between Standard/Legacy.  I'm pretty sure people not coming to Forums don't know this too.  So when you're saying there's an exploit, I hear you.  But I don't even know which set are ok or not.

@bobby_2613 — you can verify the requirements for an event by clicking the circle with the "i" in it on each event. 



It will then show you in-game which sets are allowed --



Also the event deckbuilding system restricts you from using sets that aren't allowed -- as long as you are using that, you should be fine. 

The exploit being discussed required players to take extra steps outside of the in-event deckbuilding system in order to play cards that weren't allowed. 

bobby_2613

TY @bken1234 !  I knew I could look at the i for the rules but I always relied to deckbuilder to choose the right cards I could use.  So when people talked about problems with it I was like... could I've done something wrong??? 

bk1234

bobby_2613 said:

TY @bken1234 !  I knew I could look at the i for the rules but I always relied to deckbuilder to choose the right cards I could use.  So when people talked about problems with it I was like... could I've done something wrong??? 

As long as you were using the deckbuilder, you are fine  

GrizzoMtGPQ

bobby_2613 said:

TY @bken1234 !  I knew I could look at the i for the rules but I always relied to deckbuilder to choose the right cards I could use.  So when people talked about problems with it I was like... could I've done something wrong??? 

You absolutely could have. The "exploit" in discussion here would happen any time you used a deck slot. If you started an event, it would check whether your deck was valid. If you then modified that deck in any way it would not check the next time you played the event with that deck.

That's why the whole idea that this was an exploit is just maddening. The game failed to enforce it's own rules and by simply playing the game you could inadvertently use cards you were not supposed to. Since there was no in-game communication the only way to know it was cheating was to read all the posts here and try to stay up to date. Pretty bogus if you ask me.

khurram

The way to know if it were cheating was using common sense. 

Using the exploit was anything but "simply playing the game". There was nothing inadvertent about it. The benefit of doubt for accidentally using it can be given once, maybe twice at most. The devs relaxed it up to 10 times even. Can't see why people are trying to make it sound like some kind of atrocity has been committed against the cheaters.

Sarahschmara

bobby_2613 said:

TY @bken1234 !  I knew I could look at the i for the rules but I always relied to deckbuilder to choose the right cards I could use.  So when people talked about problems with it I was like... could I've done something wrong??? 

Absolutely! It was very possible to do by accident unfortunately. 

Also, the little i for rules is one of the most commonly overlooked things to update so they are frequently wrong. 

This is one of the reasons we’ve been pushing for more communication in game. It’s terribly inefficient to have to dig through the forums to find answers to important questions hidden on page four of a tangentially-related post. 

Sarahschmara

khurram said:

The way to know if it were cheating was using common sense. 

Using the exploit was anything but "simply playing the game". There was nothing inadvertent about it. The benefit of doubt for accidentally using it can be given once, maybe twice at most. The devs relaxed it up to 10 times even. Can't see why people are trying to make it sound like some kind of atrocity has been committed against the cheaters.

Actually, it was quite possible to do accidentally. Anyone who played story mode between charges could’ve activated it.

I’m not complaining about an “atrocity,” I’m complaining about a real lack of communication between the devs and the player base. 

While many people did recognize the problem and report it right away, they were told that “devs are aware” and “please don’t tell anyone else.” Which is a bunch of ****. It should’ve been detailed in the number one post in bugs from they day it was confirmed until the day it was fixed. And it should’ve been mentioned in game. 

Although I have noticed that you can now access the forums in the game (thanks for that!), it is hidden behind two menus. It is absolutely ridiculous to rely on the playerbase reading the forums; we know we’re in the minority here.

UweTellkampf

Sarahschmara said:

While many people did recognize the problem and report it right away, they were told that “devs are aware” and “please don’t tell anyone else.” Which is a bunch of tinykitty. 

This is not true for my case. After I reported, I got reassured very fast not that the devs are aware, but that they are working on a fix. Also, no one told me, not to tell about it anyone else. I decided (and those who knew) not to tell anyone in order to stop it from spreading. And as you can see by the mention of numbers of people who got their awards taken back: It was a working strategy.

bk1234

UweTellkampf said:

Sarahschmara said:

While many people did recognize the problem and report it right away, they were told that “devs are aware” and “please don’t tell anyone else.” Which is a bunch of tinykitty. 

This is not true for my case. After I reported, I got reassured very fast not that the devs are aware, but that they are working on a fix. Also, no one told me, not to tell about it anyone else. I decided (and those who knew) not to tell anyone in order to stop it from spreading. And as you can see by the mention of numbers of people who got their awards taken back: It was a working strategy.

This is 100% true. Uwe was one of the first to report it, along with me and a handful of other people, the weekend 2.8 was released. We were never told not to tell anyone, that was a community decision -- and like he said it was an effective decision because the use of the exploit was (as Brigby explained), minimal. 

Of course there were people who might have accidentally used it, but it seems only erroneous users were punished. 

Also I remained in contact with support for the weeks between the release of 2.8 and the fix and they regularly asked questions and reassured me they were working on a fix. It is one of the few interactions I have with them that I have very little complaints about. 

Kinesia

"Exploit" is the word used specifically. "Exploiting resources", "Exploiting bugs", "Exploiting legal loopholes", it's _always_ about things you can actually do but that other people looking at you would complain about and you are doing these things KNOWING they are dodgy. It's about intent, always.