Forums » General Pantheon Discussion

The time is now...

    • 510 posts
    May 29, 2017 12:05 PM PDT

    I really do appreciate all the great ideas I have seen over the past several months.  Some of you are truly amazing.  And most of you show clear, level-headed thinking when imagining "our" new world.  But, I think the time is now.  The time has come that all the new ideas are going to become a distraction from where we are.  We should be posting about what we are going to test, how we are going to test it, who we are going to test it with, and so on.  Don't stop with the new ideas etc., but try to be realistic in that most of hte surrent ideas won't make it.  Let's start organizing ourselves so that we have an idea as to what we want to do.

    As for myself, I can state that I will test EXACTLY what they want me to test - regardless of how many times they want it tested.  If not active in that specific test at that exact moment, I will be testing the Enchanter class.  Would love to meet up with you and test together whatever it may be.  But sometimes i will be soloing by design - don't get mad if I decline the invite - it isn't personal.  Also, I have a lot of background in back end design for Customer Service so i will be testing that as well.  I may ask you to /report me for what ever reason it is to test the peitioning system.  I might want you to /report me for KSing etc.  Again - nothing personal.  It will just be testing - I will always try to let you know that me being a complete jerk has to do with testing - really - I'm a nice guy!  I swear!

    There will be load tests etc. where we all log in and might not get to do much else.  Don't lose hope.  Those kinda tests usually are designed to fail as it allows a guage to be created on what the server capacity limit is.  There HAS to be an upper limit right?  We need to discuss the types of testing we will do.  Don't forget that you need to report what you find.  Even if it is just a spelling error (which is typically later in the testing when spell checks are made).

    Also, you will probably be required to submit your build to them.  They need to know what you are using and what you have running in the background.  They are not spying on you.  They honestly want to make a title that will run on as many system configurations as possible.

    I am not sure when Alpha starts, but I get the feeling it will be "soon" (tm).  Be sure to log in to the testing forums to share experiences.  And remember - it is TESTING, not playing early.  Almost nothing you do during testing will be there when launch starts.  Take risks.  And mostly, be excellent to each other.

    • 633 posts
    May 29, 2017 2:14 PM PDT

    When not doing directed testing, I will likely be spending my time trying to find exploits, especially duping exploits.  These are some of the worst bugs in my opinion that need to be fixed before release, because they create an unfair advantage for those that use them and shake people's confidence in a game.  They usually involve doing things that aren't normal, so they're less likely to be caught by internal testing teams.

    • 294 posts
    May 29, 2017 2:22 PM PDT

    I tend to agree Nephretiti. While new ideas are nice, the ground work has been laid and new ideas are not always applicable. It is time to start really thinking about the how, when, where, what, and why's to testing. I'm looking forward to working on the spit and polish that will help to make this game tuned up for a great launch.

    Anyone can invite me as much as you want to any grouping and situation. Help me to understand what is needed and expected, so that I can do a good job during the trials of testing. I want a fun game at launch and as wrinkle-free as is reasonably possible.

    • 2419 posts
    May 29, 2017 4:15 PM PDT

    I like looking for pathing exploits, finding those locations where either 1) you can attack NPCs but they cannot reach you or 2) their flee response pathing would send them into walls or corners.

    EQ1 had locations like that everywhere and at every one of them sat someone playing a necromancer.

    • 1468 posts
    May 29, 2017 5:14 PM PDT

    I agree. I'll be testing whatever they tell me to test. This isn't for fun but to try and find as many bugs as possible in order to try and make the game as good as it possibly can be. I'm still really looking forward to it though. It'll be a great team building exercise and we should all get to know each other pretty well during the testing phases.

    • 9115 posts
    May 29, 2017 5:53 PM PDT

    Nephretiti said:

    I really do appreciate all the great ideas I have seen over the past several months.  Some of you are truly amazing.  And most of you show clear, level-headed thinking when imagining "our" new world.  But, I think the time is now.  The time has come that all the new ideas are going to become a distraction from where we are.  We should be posting about what we are going to test, how we are going to test it, who we are going to test it with, and so on.  Don't stop with the new ideas etc., but try to be realistic in that most of hte surrent ideas won't make it.  Let's start organizing ourselves so that we have an idea as to what we want to do.

    As for myself, I can state that I will test EXACTLY what they want me to test - regardless of how many times they want it tested.  If not active in that specific test at that exact moment, I will be testing the Enchanter class.  Would love to meet up with you and test together whatever it may be.  But sometimes i will be soloing by design - don't get mad if I decline the invite - it isn't personal.  Also, I have a lot of background in back end design for Customer Service so i will be testing that as well.  I may ask you to /report me for what ever reason it is to test the peitioning system.  I might want you to /report me for KSing etc.  Again - nothing personal.  It will just be testing - I will always try to let you know that me being a complete jerk has to do with testing - really - I'm a nice guy!  I swear!

    There will be load tests etc. where we all log in and might not get to do much else.  Don't lose hope.  Those kinda tests usually are designed to fail as it allows a guage to be created on what the server capacity limit is.  There HAS to be an upper limit right?  We need to discuss the types of testing we will do.  Don't forget that you need to report what you find.  Even if it is just a spelling error (which is typically later in the testing when spell checks are made).

    Also, you will probably be required to submit your build to them.  They need to know what you are using and what you have running in the background.  They are not spying on you.  They honestly want to make a title that will run on as many system configurations as possible.

    I am not sure when Alpha starts, but I get the feeling it will be "soon" (tm).  Be sure to log in to the testing forums to share experiences.  And remember - it is TESTING, not playing early.  Almost nothing you do during testing will be there when launch starts.  Take risks.  And mostly, be excellent to each other.

    This is a really good post Nephretti, thank you :)

    It is pretty accurate with where we are at now too with idea's etc. as we now work to getting everything implemented and the servers ready to handle you guys testing! We love ideas, there is nothing wrong with posting an idea but at this point in time, it would be most likely that we pass it by as we work on our own or finish implementing the ones that have already been put forward from you all.

    As for testing, I am excited and can't wait to group up with you all, my Rogue gets lonely breaking things by myself!

    It is very important to remember that none of our testing phases is paid early access, thy are actual testing phases which will involve downtime, server outages, bugs, interruptions, limited focus testing etc. it isn;t for everyone and those who purchase pledges just to "play" will be frustrated and upset but we did warn you all, we need your help to make this game awesome and as bug free as possible for its release in the future so I wlook forward to seeing you all in testing soon :)

    • 187 posts
    May 29, 2017 6:14 PM PDT

    As an idea's guy, I can get behind this Neph. I've significantly slowed my posting due to this same feeling. I look forward to transitioning into more of a hands-on tester rather than a theory crafter. What a great and timely post. :)

    • 1399 posts
    May 29, 2017 7:18 PM PDT

    Exploits, such as duping are generally Taboo topics on forums. In this case I think it should be an exception. I have never been big on exploiting so I'm not real familiar with what to look for or how to even test for them. Obviously if 1000 gold mysteriously shows up on my character the try to trace my steps and reproduce it. But if I knew what exploits have been in other games it may give me ideas on what to look for/try/experiment with here when the time comes.

    As Pantheon is nother released yet there are no exploits, so you wouldent be giving away anything that is normally frowned upon on forums.

    Since the Devs are mostly all gamers themselves, they probably know all the duping exploits already and likely belive they have them all closed. If there are any that they are unaware of I'm sure they would like to know of them.

    Is this resonably or am I way off here?

    • 9115 posts
    May 29, 2017 10:37 PM PDT

    Zorkon said:

    Exploits, such as duping are generally Taboo topics on forums. In this case I think it should be an exception. I have never been big on exploiting so I'm not real familiar with what to look for or how to even test for them. Obviously if 1000 gold mysteriously shows up on my character the try to trace my steps and reproduce it. But if I knew what exploits have been in other games it may give me ideas on what to look for/try/experiment with here when the time comes.

    As Pantheon is nother released yet there are no exploits, so you wouldent be giving away anything that is normally frowned upon on forums.

    Since the Devs are mostly all gamers themselves, they probably know all the duping exploits already and likely belive they have them all closed. If there are any that they are unaware of I'm sure they would like to know of them.

    Is this resonably or am I way off here?

    I can say that if a significant amount of money shows up on your account, it will be flagged automatically for investigation, where we will read logs to see whether it was traded or earned legitimately, duped or bought from a gold seller.

    Exploits and cheats are strictly forbidden to be discussed on the forums unless they are under NDA testing environments, I am also in the process of setting up an email address specifically for reporting scripts/bot programs, cheats and exploits so they can be sent privately and in great detail rather than sharing it with other forum users who may have a part in creating or informing program creators and gold sellers of this information, so we are all over it, I can assure you and my Dream Crusher will be swung very hard if anyone is caught breaching any of our rules and guidelines, especially cheaters, dupers, exploiters and gold sellers.


    This post was edited by VR-Mod1 at May 31, 2017 2:59 AM PDT
    • 1468 posts
    May 29, 2017 10:56 PM PDT

    Kilsin said:

    Zorkon said:

    Exploits, such as duping are generally Taboo topics on forums. In this case I think it should be an exception. I have never been big on exploiting so I'm not real familiar with what to look for or how to even test for them. Obviously if 1000 gold mysteriously shows up on my character the try to trace my steps and reproduce it. But if I knew what exploits have been in other games it may give me ideas on what to look for/try/experiment with here when the time comes.

    As Pantheon is nother released yet there are no exploits, so you wouldent be giving away anything that is normally frowned upon on forums.

    Since the Devs are mostly all gamers themselves, they probably know all the duping exploits already and likely belive they have them all closed. If there are any that they are unaware of I'm sure they would like to know of them.

    Is this resonably or am I way off here?

    I cans ay that if a significant amount fo money shows up on your account, it will be flagged automatically for investigation, where we will read logs to see whether it was traded or earned legitimately, duped or bought from a gold seller.

    Exploits and cheats are strictly forbidden to be discussed on the forums unless they are under NDA testing environments, I am also in the process of setting up an email address specifically for reporting scripts/bot programs, cheats and exploits so they can be sent privately and in great detail rather than sharing it with other forum users who may have a part in creating or informing program creators and gold sellers of this information, so we are all over it, I can assure you and my Dream Crusher will be swung very hard if anyone is caught breaching any of our rules and guidelines, especially cheaters, dupers, exploiters and gold sellers.

    Sounds good. I like it that you guys are treating this so seriously. Cheating can ruin a good game faster than anything else.

    • 159 posts
    May 30, 2017 1:26 AM PDT

    Zorkon said:

    Exploits, such as duping are generally Taboo topics on forums. In this case I think it should be an exception. I have never been big on exploiting so I'm not real familiar with what to look for or how to even test for them. Obviously if 1000 gold mysteriously shows up on my character the try to trace my steps and reproduce it. But if I knew what exploits have been in other games it may give me ideas on what to look for/try/experiment with here when the time comes.

    As Pantheon is nother released yet there are no exploits, so you wouldent be giving away anything that is normally frowned upon on forums.

    Since the Devs are mostly all gamers themselves, they probably know all the duping exploits already and likely belive they have them all closed. If there are any that they are unaware of I'm sure they would like to know of them.

    Is this resonably or am I way off here?

    Some possibilities for duping bugs:

    - Storing items in bank/guild bank/container, or splitting a stack of items, creates duplicates rather than actually moving the items from one storage/stack to another.

    - Items obtained by clicking (e.g. harvesting nodes, quest rewards) can be clicked on multiple times, sometimes with the help of third-party programs to click at impossibly fast speeds.

    - Playing around with the UI while storing/trading items, e.g. closing UI windows at specific times, may cause items/currency to be duplicated.

    I'm sure there are many more, these are just the ones I've actually come across in games I've played.

    • 409 posts
    May 30, 2017 2:25 AM PDT

    deleted


    This post was edited by Nimryl at August 23, 2017 7:48 AM PDT
    • 9115 posts
    May 30, 2017 3:13 AM PDT

    Nimryl said:

    Kilsin said:
    It is very important to remember that none of our testing phases is paid early access, thy are actual testing phases which will involve downtime, server outages, bugs, interruptions, limited focus testing etc. it isn;t for everyone and those who purchase pledges just to "play" will be frustrated and upset but we did warn you all, we need your help to make this game awesome and as bug free as possible for its release in the future so I wlook forward to seeing you all in testing soon :)


    I honestly believe this community will probably be the best at testing out any outthere, just because of the resilience most of us have. One thing I feel the need to stress to you guys (the devs); back when I was a tester for another company for free... when I did report something it was just "closed" or ignored most of the time. I know when you personally close something Kilsin, you atleast state exactly why; which to me is common decency. All I ask is that the devs take as much time with us as we do with them; as in leave a reason why and never let things get ignored.  -- Maybe it was bad game testing policies of the last games company IDK.. but it really annoyed me that I'd put all this effort into detailed testing (even step by step videos/screenshots) and they couldn't even respond. -- I know things can get business but I don't think it's asking much.. especially when it's "free". It's common descency/courtesy.

    Absolutely and that is where I will try to use my communications skills to be the middle man so to speak, relaying info from the devs to you folks and visa versa. :)

    • 801 posts
    May 30, 2017 6:03 AM PDT

    I am all in favor of testing, bug submitting etc.. like i always do.... but how can we stop people from posting things like this?

    http://store.steampowered.com/app/542410/True_Blades/

    VR game of the future? will Visionary Realms support features like this in games? Offtopic discussion if you want to continue it, but its hard to restrict people and thier fantasies in MMO.

     

    • 3237 posts
    May 30, 2017 6:09 AM PDT

    Very happy to hear that a tough stance will be observed regarding cheating in all it's forms.  I have seen it single handedly destroy the economy or competitive raid scene of various games and always felt it was very important to "roll back" any progress attained through illegitimate means.  When players find some obnoxious dupe bug or way to bypass loot barriers it's for the good of the server and game as a whole that anybody caught doing those kind of things has any items/xp/money they acquired by cheating removed from their account and the server altogether.  It reinforces the idea of true and fair competition and lets people know that it's NEVER worth trying to get away with shady dealings.  Not only do you have all the ill-gotten rewards revoked but you're also warned or punished with some sort of temporary (eventually permament for repeat offenders) ban.  There should never be a situation where someone is willing to cheat because the ban "was worth it."  That is my one major gripe with how cheating has been dealt with, historically, in games that I have played in the past.  Players would get punished but the items/xp/money attained through shady methods remained in the game, sometimes yielding 3-4 months of false progression for those who participated.  I really hope that won't be the case in Pantheon.  One good example is a player finding a way to level to 50 in 3 days by using an XP exploit.  Don't ban them for 3 days and let them keep their level 50 ... that XP should be rolled back and the ban still enforced if it's obvious they knew what they were doing and replicated a bug over and over.

    • 24 posts
    May 30, 2017 6:21 AM PDT

    It sound like you will be very hard core on anyones a$$ and you should be but I was wondering.

    Will their be an appeals process?

    Will thier be a warning process for some infraction?

    Could a person have their account suppended for a period of time for some infractions instead of account ban?

    Could a person have the character deleted that made the infraction instead of account ban?

    I know that some infractions like gold selling and others, should be banned without appeals.

     

    • 232 posts
    May 30, 2017 11:02 AM PDT

    Nephretiti said:

    I really do appreciate all the great ideas I have seen over the past several months.  Some of you are truly amazing.  And most of you show clear, level-headed thinking when imagining "our" new world.  But, I think the time is now.  The time has come that all the new ideas are going to become a distraction from where we are.  We should be posting about what we are going to test, how we are going to test it, who we are going to test it with, and so on.  Don't stop with the new ideas etc., but try to be realistic in that most of hte surrent ideas won't make it.  Let's start organizing ourselves so that we have an idea as to what we want to do.

    As for myself, I can state that I will test EXACTLY what they want me to test - regardless of how many times they want it tested.  If not active in that specific test at that exact moment, I will be testing the Enchanter class.  Would love to meet up with you and test together whatever it may be.  But sometimes i will be soloing by design - don't get mad if I decline the invite - it isn't personal.  Also, I have a lot of background in back end design for Customer Service so i will be testing that as well.  I may ask you to /report me for what ever reason it is to test the peitioning system.  I might want you to /report me for KSing etc.  Again - nothing personal.  It will just be testing - I will always try to let you know that me being a complete jerk has to do with testing - really - I'm a nice guy!  I swear!

    There will be load tests etc. where we all log in and might not get to do much else.  Don't lose hope.  Those kinda tests usually are designed to fail as it allows a guage to be created on what the server capacity limit is.  There HAS to be an upper limit right?  We need to discuss the types of testing we will do.  Don't forget that you need to report what you find.  Even if it is just a spelling error (which is typically later in the testing when spell checks are made).

    Also, you will probably be required to submit your build to them.  They need to know what you are using and what you have running in the background.  They are not spying on you.  They honestly want to make a title that will run on as many system configurations as possible.

    I am not sure when Alpha starts, but I get the feeling it will be "soon" (tm).  Be sure to log in to the testing forums to share experiences.  And remember - it is TESTING, not playing early.  Almost nothing you do during testing will be there when launch starts.  Take risks.  And mostly, be excellent to each other.

     

    Really appreciate the post, mate.  It needs to be said.  

     

    To add for any first-time testers:

    I have full faith and confidence in VR and the vision of Pantheon.  From my past experiences, changes should be expected.  However, it seems that during early testing, we are at higher risk for feature creep, vision changes, and games making sharp left turns and heading a different direction.  There are many factors that typically contribute to this, including an influx of "public" on the forums once testing has been announced.  Newcomers to the community do not have the history or rapport with the developers and Kilsin that our existing community has. History has shown they likely won't use the search functions, they may make all manner of rediculous demands, requests, and even threats to not play if their needs are not met.  I've seen developers rush to appease the mass of potential players that have taken a sudden interest in their title, often casting aside what has become, by this point, a very small minority of early backers.  I hope VR keeps the forums as they are now as we move into testing; gated behind a minimal subscription fee or pledge for those investing in the games success.  I think this is one of the smartest moves VR has made with this community.

    Again, I have full faith and confidence in VR and the vision of Pantheon.  Another concern during testing is the possibility of investors applying pressure to speed up development which can have a negative impact, VR running low on development dollars and needing to change the game to accomodate, or VR feeling the need to accomodate a broader audience for sustainability.

    My point is, these are examples of scenarios we may face as testers and potential testers as the game moves into testing. Sometimes the pendullum swings in the direction of what you'd like to see, and sometimes it moves the other way. It's just how this stuff works. We need to remember this. Be prepared to test whatever is required, keep an open mind, and provide honest feedback.  

    • 595 posts
    May 30, 2017 12:39 PM PDT

    I generally agree.  I've taken a pretty significant step back from the forums recently simply because I've said everything there is to say about how I feel the game should turn out (though I am still clearly here to some extent, reading, responding on occasions, etc).  At this point I'm very ready for the transition into the testing phase so that there's something to discuss.  I feel the time for theory crafting has passed as we now move toward something tangible.

    • 94 posts
    May 30, 2017 1:09 PM PDT

    I have beta tested many games including EQ and SWG. I usually like to just play the game and see what happens. If something wrong happens I will note it and put in a bug report right then and there. Alot of times ppl test for the same thing over and over and miss whats right in their face ergo why I just go thru the motions of playing UNLESS they want us to test for a specific thing.

    My one question is concerning your account. I had a case a while back in a game not to be named where my account was hacked. I hope that never happens here BUT as far as I'm concerned anything can be hacked. My question is what happens if you do get hacked and THEY are the ones who cheated, etc. I had to prove to the developer, etc that I had no knowledge of what had happened and it took a while. It ended up with the dev replacing all my gear as it had all been duped and then sold. Then of course the money went elsewhere. Guess thats a question for down the road but I never want anybody to have to deal with what I had to deal with.


    This post was edited by sunstalkr at May 30, 2017 1:10 PM PDT
    • 2752 posts
    May 30, 2017 1:54 PM PDT

    sunstalkr said:

    I have beta tested many games including EQ and SWG. I usually like to just play the game and see what happens. If something wrong happens I will note it and put in a bug report right then and there. Alot of times ppl test for the same thing over and over and miss whats right in their face ergo why I just go thru the motions of playing UNLESS they want us to test for a specific thing.

    My one question is concerning your account. I had a case a while back in a game not to be named where my account was hacked. I hope that never happens here BUT as far as I'm concerned anything can be hacked. My question is what happens if you do get hacked and THEY are the ones who cheated, etc. I had to prove to the developer, etc that I had no knowledge of what had happened and it took a while. It ended up with the dev replacing all my gear as it had all been duped and then sold. Then of course the money went elsewhere. Guess thats a question for down the road but I never want anybody to have to deal with what I had to deal with.

     

    Really just hope they launch with multi-factor account verification. 

    • 1303 posts
    May 30, 2017 2:49 PM PDT

    sunstalkr said:

    I have beta tested many games including EQ and SWG. I usually like to just play the game and see what happens. If something wrong happens I will note it and put in a bug report right then and there. Alot of times ppl test for the same thing over and over and miss whats right in their face ergo why I just go thru the motions of playing UNLESS they want us to test for a specific thing.

    My one question is concerning your account. I had a case a while back in a game not to be named where my account was hacked. I hope that never happens here BUT as far as I'm concerned anything can be hacked. My question is what happens if you do get hacked and THEY are the ones who cheated, etc. I had to prove to the developer, etc that I had no knowledge of what had happened and it took a while. It ended up with the dev replacing all my gear as it had all been duped and then sold. Then of course the money went elsewhere. Guess thats a question for down the road but I never want anybody to have to deal with what I had to deal with.

    For the testing part of your question, there are many reasons for focused testing. Measuring load on a specific system being a primary one, let alone finding bugs. If you have 1000 testers playing normally you would have only a fraction of those hitting the banker at any given moment, for instance. If the devs want to understand the limits of that specific narrowly focused system, they need to direct as many people to utilize that system at once so they know where it will break from over-use. Banks, merchants, trading, auction houses, and crafting are commonly exploiteded systems. They need to hammer the hell out of those systems to see if lag or query times can create exploits. 

    On your concern about being punished for someone hacking your account and using your account to exploit, I don't really see that as a major concern. It's a relatively trivial thing to log IP's or routes to the servers from every connection. It should be pretty obvious that the user in  San Diego suddenly logged in from Taiwan. In fact, that alone should raise a flag and potentially automatically lock an account for review if enough criteria were met. Hell, I can't log from a new computer without half a dozen application sending texts to my phone to confirm its me. I don't see why a computer game shouldnt be the same. 

     

    • 94 posts
    May 30, 2017 3:24 PM PDT

    Iksar said:

    sunstalkr said:

    I have beta tested many games including EQ and SWG. I usually like to just play the game and see what happens. If something wrong happens I will note it and put in a bug report right then and there. Alot of times ppl test for the same thing over and over and miss whats right in their face ergo why I just go thru the motions of playing UNLESS they want us to test for a specific thing.

    My one question is concerning your account. I had a case a while back in a game not to be named where my account was hacked. I hope that never happens here BUT as far as I'm concerned anything can be hacked. My question is what happens if you do get hacked and THEY are the ones who cheated, etc. I had to prove to the developer, etc that I had no knowledge of what had happened and it took a while. It ended up with the dev replacing all my gear as it had all been duped and then sold. Then of course the money went elsewhere. Guess thats a question for down the road but I never want anybody to have to deal with what I had to deal with.

    Really just hope they launch with multi-factor account verification. 

    Agreed.


    This post was edited by sunstalkr at May 30, 2017 3:25 PM PDT
    • 94 posts
    May 30, 2017 3:28 PM PDT

    Feyshtey said:

    sunstalkr said:

    I have beta tested many games including EQ and SWG. I usually like to just play the game and see what happens. If something wrong happens I will note it and put in a bug report right then and there. Alot of times ppl test for the same thing over and over and miss whats right in their face ergo why I just go thru the motions of playing UNLESS they want us to test for a specific thing.

    My one question is concerning your account. I had a case a while back in a game not to be named where my account was hacked. I hope that never happens here BUT as far as I'm concerned anything can be hacked. My question is what happens if you do get hacked and THEY are the ones who cheated, etc. I had to prove to the developer, etc that I had no knowledge of what had happened and it took a while. It ended up with the dev replacing all my gear as it had all been duped and then sold. Then of course the money went elsewhere. Guess thats a question for down the road but I never want anybody to have to deal with what I had to deal with.

    For the testing part of your question, there are many reasons for focused testing. Measuring load on a specific system being a primary one, let alone finding bugs. If you have 1000 testers playing normally you would have only a fraction of those hitting the banker at any given moment, for instance. If the devs want to understand the limits of that specific narrowly focused system, they need to direct as many people to utilize that system at once so they know where it will break from over-use. Banks, merchants, trading, auction houses, and crafting are commonly exploiteded systems. They need to hammer the hell out of those systems to see if lag or query times can create exploits. 

    On your concern about being punished for someone hacking your account and using your account to exploit, I don't really see that as a major concern. It's a relatively trivial thing to log IP's or routes to the servers from every connection. It should be pretty obvious that the user in  San Diego suddenly logged in from Taiwan. In fact, that alone should raise a flag and potentially automatically lock an account for review if enough criteria were met. Hell, I can't log from a new computer without half a dozen application sending texts to my phone to confirm its me. I don't see why a computer game shouldnt be the same. 

     

    Obviously I know all about the focused testing and load testing the servers etc. That I would have thought would be a given. I meant once they get past that part of it. Thats also why I said UNLESS they ask us to test a specific mechanic.

    As to being hacked who says they are overseas? They could be down the street for all I know but again that is prob a question for a dif thread as this is about testing.


    This post was edited by sunstalkr at May 30, 2017 3:29 PM PDT
    • 9115 posts
    May 31, 2017 3:06 AM PDT

    rkwiles said:

    It sound like you will be very hard core on anyones a$$ and you should be but I was wondering.

    Will their be an appeals process?

    Will thier be a warning process for some infraction?

    Could a person have their account suppended for a period of time for some infractions instead of account ban?

    Could a person have the character deleted that made the infraction instead of account ban?

    I know that some infractions like gold selling and others, should be banned without appeals.

     

    We will have an internal process in place that I am currently in the process of writing up now, it will have various stages of disciplinary actions depending on the breach but cheating, botting, gold selling etc. will be instant and permanent bans, those people would have to purchase the game all over again, losing any items, character progress, money etc.t hat they built up to start again and if they repeated the breach, they would be banned again, we have things in place to track this kind of behaviour now as the technology these days is awesome, so those people can do it at their own risk but it will become quite expensive for them to cheat repeatedly in Pantheon, hopefully, it is  enough of a deterrent to minimise a lot of it.

    There are too many ways to exploit the system deleting characters, they can just transfer items to other characters or accounts and the resources it would take to engage those people, investigate, back and forth discussions, we have to draw a line in the sand and we will be tough on cheating, automated programs, gold selling, account selling, duping etc. there is no tolerance for that type of behaviour in a game like ours, it ruins the economy, the community and turns people away from our game which in turn is a loss of revenue for our company, so they will learn the hard way.

    • 1468 posts
    May 31, 2017 3:42 AM PDT

    Kilsin said:

    rkwiles said:

    It sound like you will be very hard core on anyones a$$ and you should be but I was wondering.

    Will their be an appeals process?

    Will thier be a warning process for some infraction?

    Could a person have their account suppended for a period of time for some infractions instead of account ban?

    Could a person have the character deleted that made the infraction instead of account ban?

    I know that some infractions like gold selling and others, should be banned without appeals.

     

    We will have an internal process in place that I am currently in the process of writing up now, it will have various stages of disciplinary actions depending on the breach but cheating, botting, gold selling etc. will be instant and permanent bans, those people would have to purchase the game all over again, losing any items, character progress, money etc.t hat they built up to start again and if they repeated the breach, they would be banned again, we have things in place to track this kind of behaviour now as the technology these days is awesome, so those people can do it at their own risk but it will become quite expensive for them to cheat repeatedly in Pantheon, hopefully, it is  enough of a deterrent to minimise a lot of it.

    There are too many ways to exploit the system deleting characters, they can just transfer items to other characters or accounts and the resources it would take to engage those people, investigate, back and forth discussions, we have to draw a line in the sand and we will be tough on cheating, automated programs, gold selling, account selling, duping etc. there is no tolerance for that type of behaviour in a game like ours, it ruins the economy, the community and turns people away from our game which in turn is a loss of revenue for our company, so they will learn the hard way.

    I heard you were planning on having a free trial up to level 10. What if gold sellers set up thousands of free accounts and use them instead of paying? I know you can't give specifics because that would undermine your security but it does worry me a little bit. I played Blade and Soul when it first came out in the west and the chat was just SPAM SPAM SPAM. It never ended and ruined the game for me. I'd hate to see something like that happen in Pantheon especially as it has such a nice community.