LordXenite

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  1. LordXenite

    What demon/?

    I want Demon Summoning / Radiation Emission!
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    Lots of stuff that buffed, debuffed, or did damage when it blew up was replaced by the same object that didn't. Most destructibles do damage. I don't know why the generator is so special.

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    Possibly because it would take some time to actually replace the object in the AE pool, and the Devs wanted to kill two exploits in one patch, one that was already widely used (Mitos) and one that possibly could've become a bigger problem once people put their minds to it (objects).
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    Thanks Lord Xenite! I'm glad it all tied together. I've tidied up some things you noted in game too, very much appreciated.

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    Always glad to help!
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    The game knows who I am. It should know who my other characters are. While it's not particularly realistic to go see what salvage character B has while logged in with character A, there's no reason the game wouldn't be able to tell that sort of information, and I don't see what advantage they'd get from making you log out A and log in B to check.

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    It's called game-immersion, but... more than that, imagine you're actually sharing the same CoX account with a family member. The fact that you cannot access more than one character at a time, even to view its' information, means that it's more difficult to "steal" stuff from your family member who is sharing the same account as you.

    While account-sharing is against the EULA IIRC, there's nothing NCSoft can actually do to prevent it, but they sure don't have to oblige anyone in ways that would aid it either.
  5. The patch notes actually state that certain destructible objects were pulled because they were affecting both players and enemies in unwanted ways; i.e. either buffing, debuffing, or generally doing damage when they blow up.
  6. So, as this threads' title suggests... there are definitely harmful farmers.
  7. And to think all of this could've been avoided had the Devs removed those objects from the list before even releasing AE...
  8. I've already replaced the generators in my mission. Luckily for me, I originally never referred to them as "Generators", so it was relatively easy to replace them with something else. However, I feel really sorry for those of you who actually referred to "Generators" in your story-arc text fields. As you know, search-and-replace tools, or any other meaningful text editing tools aren't functional on an already published story-arc.

    Here's another fine case where AE could've used some refinement. Maybe in I18 we'll get even better editing tools, but I do wonder, how many authors out there will have simply given up on their arcs by then...
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    The power gamers aren't going to waste their time figuring out all the exploits in Beta just so the exploit gets fixed before it gets to live. That's like playing chess and continually telling your opponent the next five moves you are going to make.

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    Wow.... you've just given the best possible accusation against those power-gamers by essentially calling them harmful parasites that are feeding off the exploits and actually having a vested interest in broken game-systems being published to live-servers... you're so cool!
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    Did you even read the patch notes?

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    Nah. It's simply easier to go blame someone else.

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    Here's the quote from the patch notes:

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    Removed powers from Destructible Object mission objectives that harmed or affected players in some way. These objects should simply explode upon reaching 0 health and have no secondary effects like buffing or debuffing players or causing damage to either [u]enemies[u] or players.

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    Read the emphasized portions time and again, and see that I was absolutely right in my assumption. Those Destructible Objects were pulled because they were affecting both players and enemies with buffs and debuffs, as well as causing extra damage! All of which could be abused.

    That's exactly what I already *said* in my post!
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    You presume they're using SQL. What if this isn't the case?

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    I presume they're using some sort of queryable storage mechanism, SQL simply being the most obvious one. Even XML allows queries, heck... even a flat-file CSV system is still queryable.

    Where there's input, there's output, you just have to ask the right questions and use the right tools, oh... and you should consult your data before you act... you know?

    EDIT :: By the way, just had to add this. My story-arc had to be changed tonight after the patch because the Generators were pulled out of the AE pool. I don't know exactly what prompted the Devs to remove the Generators, perhaps it's the idea that one could create a mission where a tank would herd NPC's around a Generator, then the team would debuff them, lock'em down and simply destroy the Generator thus creating an AoE that would add to the ease of defeating the NPC's... maybe that's it, maybe not. Point is... yet again my creative effort is affected by an exploit, real or imagined, and the Devs' reaction to it.
  12. [ QUOTE ]
    Hindsight is 20/20.
    Why didn't YOU find this exploit in open beta? That's what beta is for, but no, you didn't live up to expectations. You let it slip through.

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    Sorry to burst your bubble about this particular problem (Mitos) because when I actually was in Open Beta, you couldn't even set the min/max levels for a mission.

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    They probably didn't realize that the Mitos were left in. They don't spend every waking hour staring at this and looking for exploits. They have other things that also need doing.

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    No, they don't even need to. All they need to do is run a SQL query to "discover" which critters are left in the AE pool that could be vulnerable to a min/max-level-range exploit.... And if you're going to try and tell me the Devs don't have everything server-side organized in SQL tables... I'm just going to... do what my father used to do!
  13. So, the Devs were not aware that the added feature where one could select the min/max level of a mission, coupled with the fact that the Mitos were left in the AE pool only have their attacks at higher levels, would cause a booming exploit...?

    Not that I'm saying you're wrong. Of course it's going to be an enormous job to remove all exploits, but... as a software developer, I already know that anything that's given to an end-user can, and eventually will be, exploited. So, if preventing exploits is as important to the Devs as their response (locking characters, or deleting them) should lead us to believe... I for one would have preferred a system where less exploiting would have been possible because the rewards would have been lessened initially and gradually brought up, rather than forcing confusion upon my playerbase because the NPC's they rely on in their mission are here today and gone tomorrow.
  14. [ QUOTE ]
    So I ask of you guys: please fill me in on what Warshades can do in the upper levels. I'm sure things will become awesome, but I want to know ahead of time so I can plan this stuff out in advance.

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    Woah d00d!!!!

    Consider the following TriFormShade™ possible attack chain:
    Black Dwarf Mire -> Eclipse -> Sunless Mire -> Gravity Well -> Unchain Essence -> Gravitic Emanation -> Dark Extraction -> Stygian Circle.

    Whatever is left standing after that is either disoriented or on its way to a defeat because of the little fluffy energy ball of black/purple awesomeness, not to mention because Stygian Circle can refill both your HP/Endurance bars and leave you fresh and allow you to happily rinse and repeat the whole thing again!
  15. EB's should scale IIRC.

    If an enemy is supposed to be fought, it should fight back. Anything else is, for obvious reasons, considered an exploit AFAIK.
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    If it were me, I'd rollback AE entirely until I could make sure it didn't have any exploits available, but I've never been strictly business-oriented.

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    A few people using the MA are going to wind up overlooking exploits. Thousands of people who are obsessed with finding the maximum reward/minimum effort formula are going to find every one of those exploits and put them to use.

    The best way to find exploits is to put the program into the hands of those who will diligently search for and gleefully use them.

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    This (times infinity)

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    Ha ha ha... as if it wasn't possible to foresee how easily exploitable AE would be. If we're supposed to pay a fee for the right to beta-test stuff, at the very least, I'd expect NCSoft to not lock/delete peoples' characters, or do you truly want to tell me the Devs were so naive to think farmers wouldn't exploit things?

    I've often said right after the release of the Captain Dynamic vids that AE would be swamped with exploiters, the vids sure hinted at it and made fun of it.

    Whether the Devs truly did not know the exploitation would reach the scale it did, or they simply thought they'd be able to contain the Genie in the bottle, fact is, a lot of time was spent on doing things the "wrong" way and we all pay for it one way or another so farming as a concept may be one of the pillars upon which MMOs stand, but the potential exploitation has already turned farming into a harmful habit.
  17. The Generator is gone?!!?!? You mean I gotta re-edit and re-publish my story-arc yet again? Sheesh... with the amount of adjustments we need to do for our published story-arcs, I'm starting to think there is some truth in saying NCSoft should now start paying us for maintaining our story-arcs in proper playable condition!
  18. Seriously guys, the whole AE Browser is wonky at best. The sort-by-rating button does not sort the whole list truthfully by rating first and vote-numbers second as it should!

    As a developer, I understand why this is so, but I don't have to like it. I do understand however that it's not an issue that is truly urgent so it may be taken care of come I18 or something like that... if at all, but as long as the sort-by-rating function doesn't work properly, I can't trust the Arc Browser as a tool. Not yet...
  19. Bag'em & tag'em anyway I say..
  20. Of course there is no end-content because this is an MMO and MMO's aren't supposed to end, so there is nothing that once you accomplish it ends the game.
  21. I think the OP would generally like to streamline the effort of moving items/INF from one character to another... and I doubt that would happen any time soon, if at all.
  22. [ QUOTE ]
    I never did. For every good pug I ever tried I can remember at least 2 failing miserably due to a variety of factors such as noobish teammates who knew nothing and tried to tell you they did, to people unwilling to have the star attached to their name, to just being morons.

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    Believe me, I've seen and been in those PuGs and the thing about this game is that at least for me, the failure is just as fun as the success, or else why even bother playing the game at all?? Now, granted, if a team fails miserably time and again, the failures have to be truly epic and so funny that I'd stay with the PuG for the comedy-value alone, but that usually doesn't happen anymore... it seems to me people are just taking the "farming game" way too seriously these days...

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    Not to mention, papers were just an inefficient farm map. it gets really boring on the 4th or 5th freakshow mission. ;/

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    See what I mean about people taking the farming game way too seriously?

    And Freakshows getting boring?! How can you say that they're so hilarious! especially when they insist on rezzing right before you only to be hit again... they're like the Evil Clowns NPC's of CoX!
  23. LordXenite

    Who's the tank

    Best thread I've read all year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!