Comments on: If The IOC Was Run By Blizzard…

By: Stupid Is As Stupid Does

Stupid Is As Stupid Does — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 13:18:55 +0000

[...] have made my thoughts on using so called exploits clear before, I think it is Blizzard’s job to make the game fool proof and if anyone finds a [...]

By: Exploit or creative use of game mechanics? « Altadin

Exploit or creative use of game mechanics? « Altadin — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 16:09:41 +0000

[...] of Reflections From the Pond (a fantastic blog I don't see in nearly enough blogrolls) published an original and thought-provoking post about exploits — both in-game and in real life. What would happen if Blizzard ran the International Olypmic [...]

By: Tessy

Tessy — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 14:20:27 +0000

Anakiro, how are you supposed to know what is obvious? What is obvious to you might not be so to me or to others.

Sure, that a mage would be able to solo Naxx seems really odd, but it still is Blizzard’s responsibility to make that impossible if they don’t want that to happen.

How about four-manning a five-man instance? Three-manning? Two? Soloing it? How would you know what would be an exploit and what would not be?

To me, in this game, if it is impossible to do it, it is not allowed, but if you can pull it off, go ahead and do it – at least until Blizzard catches up and makes it impossible.

By: Anakiro

Anakiro — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 08:38:45 +0000

I think the main issue with Blizz comes down to, is it obvious something wasn’t meant to work that way? Someone mentioned Martin’s Fury. OF COURSE that wasn’t supposed to be in the hands of a player. Yet marching off and abusing someone’s mistake doesn’t deserve a slap on the wrist for cheating? The whole thing in Naxx with the mages, it’s OBVIOUS that a mage shouldn’t be able to solo Naxx. And thus it’s exploiting something that shouldn’t be there. Someone made a mistake, why is it okay to jump all over it when it’s obvious that’s what it is? I’m all for the adventerous types, but most of these people realise they’re onto a good thing (knowing it’s probably not supposed to work that way) and don’t even report the bug. They just reap the benefits over and over again.

Maybe I just have this opinion because I work in the games industry. But IMO, if it’s obvious you’re cheating and you go ahead and milk it – not reporting the bug or anything – you deserve everything you get. Cheaters never prosper.
Anakiro´s last blog ..A Cold Day

By: Tessy

Tessy — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 08:16:52 +0000

Thank you all! :-)

People’s creativity and ingenuity within the game should be encouraged, not punished. Especially, like you say, since Blizzard has the ability to set the rules in stone and clearly define what is allowed and what is not by their programming.

By: Elleiras

Elleiras — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 14:22:07 +0000

Excellent post!

I spun my comment into a blogpost since I can’t access your domain from work. I strongly believe that the onus should be on Blizzard. If you don’t want players to “trivialize the game encounter” (as one of my commenters put it), program the game encounter in such a way that trivializig (exploiting) it is impossible. Don’t punish the players for outsmarting the programmers. Hotfix it and move on.
Elleiras´s last blog ..Exploit or creative use of game mechanics?

By: The one with the pointless blog admin, the bunch of cool links and the complete lack of gay night elf porn « standing at the back in my sissy robe

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 10:15:39 +0000

[...] the ridiculous to the sublime, there’s a genuinely interesting post about the way Blizzard responds to rules exploitation in WoW over at Reflections from the [...]

By: Tamarind

Tamarind — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 21:57:41 +0000

This is a fascinating and thoughtful post.

I suppose what I find most disconcerting about Blizzard’s attitude to exploits is that they don’t seem to have any awareness of the hazy nature of the line they tread – which is one of the things you articulate so nicely in this post. As you say, where does ingenuity end and exploitation begin and from what I’ve seen of the way Blizzard has handled this sort of thing, as far as they’re concerned exploited is unquestionably whatever they say it is.

But if you follow this to its natural conclusion you find yourself thinking about things like Line of Sight pulls – that’s arguably an exploit (albeit a semi-sanctioned one) because it uses the mechanics of the game – the fact the game is a game and can’t compete with human intelligence and adaptability – against it.

Sorry this is slightly rambling. Late at night :)
Tamarind´s last blog ..why don’t you go where fashion sits

By: Middea

Middea — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 20:14:04 +0000

Nicely written and spot on. I also believe they should not be so ban happy…
Even the Shirt of Uber or Martin Fury shirt shouldn’t be a ban imho. Who wouldn’t want to take that baby out of the mailbox and own face with it? Apparently they banned even members of the guild that weren’t in the raids while it was happening. Go figure.

By: Exploit or creative use of game mechanics? « Fel Fire

Exploit or creative use of game mechanics? « Fel Fire — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 19:45:50 +0000

[...] From the Pond (a fantastic blog I don’t see in nearly enough blogrolls) published an original and thought-provoking post about exploits — both in-game and in real life. What would happen if Blizzard ran the International Olypmic [...]