OK, so this is my version of it, and should in no way be construed as the absolute truth. I'd be pretty interested in hearing the other side of it, particularly from Altarboy. This is going to be a long post...
Turbine put in capture the flag PvP, and didn't test it in quite creative enough ways. It made it live where you could go into a raid, split into teams like you were in the PvP pit, and then proceed to run the raid. However, you didn't get a completion. You got to loot the chest, and I think you even got xp. However, your timer didn't start. So you could wash, rinse, repeat, and ransack the raid chest. The code word for it was Blue Flag, since someone got assigned to the blue team and that bypassed the timer.
So like most features, it probably started out with a few players and mushroomed. One day it hit the big time, and all of a sudden everyone and their brother was doing it, including at least a few TA/TD.
OK, so now the behind the scenes TA stuff. Since we run most of our raids in guild, sometimes we are the last to find out new things. Most of TA was really late to the blue flag party because most of us were on timer from guild runs. However, I'm certain that a few were in on it from early on. One of the days when there were about 6 LFM's up for the Demon Queen we finally put together a raid and tried it. I remember we had to explain how it worked to Riot, and this was a couple of days into the loot fest.
Outside of TA, you had a hell of a time getting a completion run on a raid. People were putting up LFM's for completions, and they were sitting unfilled while everyone joined the other raids. You also had a hell of a time getting a group for anything that wasn't a raid, for the same reasons.
Inside TA, there was an effort to clean up our image going back for months. We were trying to live down being the guild that did Alt-F4 titan completions, even though we had long since started beating it legit. We had a no exploit policy that Riot takes really seriously. At the time I was an officer, so we asked in the officer forums, "everyone is doing this, do we let this go?" We kicked it around for a day or two, weighing the pros and cons. Then Riot ignited the firestorm (Strakeln, do you have a link?).
Riott posts in the Khyber forums his missive on cheating. Basically it was "We are TA, we don't cheat. If you see someone with a TA/TD tag running the blue flag exploit, tell me and I'll boot them." There was a lot of strong language basically infering that everyone outside of TA was a bunch of exploiters. I am pretty sure that part wasn't intentional, but it read the way it read. Now keep in mind that at least a few TA were running the blue flags along with everyone else.
So from the other side's point of view, I'm sure this was the pot calling the kettle black. But Riot's post was also the first ruling if you will that we had on it within TA. Our position was that from that point on, members were not to use the blue flag exploit, under risk of getting booted. The other side's argument was that we were cheating too, our argument was that we weren't cheating now. (I'd love to go back and read those threads, and see if what I remember is correct. Or hear from Altarboy...)
We looked like a bunch of hypocrites. And we definitely got called on it. Altarboy in particular was going back and forth with Riot big time. Since we were talking about exploits, Riot got slapped down first. Thread locked, etc. Well, that just got him stirred up. Rampant cheating and I get points for taking a stand against it? Righteous indignation, etc. More posts are thrown up, and people started dividing into sides.
To this day, I have no idea if the other servers were doing this too at that point, but once the shit got stirred up on Khyber. I'm sure word got around. So for about three days this war is going on in the forums. I bet there were more points given out, threads locked, and players banned that week than any other month for the rest of the game. And Turbine basically just buried their heads in the sand, sticking with the it doesn't exist, don't talk about it line.
At some point Riot got permabanned.
Quote:You have been banned for the following reason:
Blatant and repeated disregard for rules. Multiple violations
Date the ban will be lifted: Never
The cube discussed Riot's ban with another member of TA:
Quote:To clarify, the reason Riott got in trouble was for
- Attacking other users: Making attacks on others is never acceptable no matter what the subject matter is.
- Making accusations against other users: If someone feels a user is violating the CoC or exploiting, then a report is filed against that user privately. You don't come to the forums for a public lynching. Additionally, if the public accusations made are incorrect, you've created a life of torment for that player in-game. Conducting a forum version of the Salem Witch Hunt/McCarthy Trials is not appropriate behavior.
- Communicating the exploit: We have a very clear policy that users are not to communicate game errors. There is no such thing as doing so for the right cause. Many users try to circumvent this using innuendo, stating that "no one will know what I meant"... innuendo prompts a volley of PMs to be sent on "what they are talking about." Communicating game errors on the down-low is not any more appropriate than posting it to the public forums.
And the perma-ban was removed.
Quote:Dear Riot,
Recently you were banned from the DDO forums as a result of repeatedly making posts which violates the forum guidelines.
During this time, we realize that the Gelatinous Cube had not followed protocol perfectly. We have taken steps to prevent this from happening in the future, and we sincerely apologize for any problems that may have caused.
We're going to lift your permanent ban, because we understand that at times we can all get passionate about the things we love. However, please remember that passion is not an excuse to violate the forum guidelines and we hope that this second chance will not be something we regret in the future. If you ever have an issue with the way a forum violation has been handled, you can always contact Myself, or Tolero IN PRIVATE to discuss it, not on the forums.
To address your concerns about the exploit, we are aware of the issue and it will be fixed early next week. Please refrain from communicating these details, as it will only cause a flood of players to exploit as much as they can before we fix the problem. This is the very same reason we do not communicate about exploits on the forums. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.
We hope that you will be a long standing member of our community and look forward to having you back on the forums.
Sincerely,
Quarion
And the cube was disciplined?
Quote:As many of you are aware, there have been some very heated and controversial discussions in the last few days which have resulted in a rise in moderation activity, which in turn resulted in some members being temporarily and permanently banned from the forums.
We realize that as a community member, that times like these can be extremely frustrating, and emotions can get out of control.
This has even happened to one of our own. A particular situation grew out of hand, and was not handled in the best way possible by our beloved Gelatinous Cube, and for that we apologize. He has been smacked and threatened with a rolled up newspaper, and we are taking steps to make sure that the Jiggly One does not get too out of hand in the future.
That being said, we would like to remind you to follow the forum guidelines at all times and for those who have not read them for whatever reason, even if it is simply because you did not know they exist or have been unable to find them, that they are here, and posting on the forums requires that they be followed at all times, even in emotional or passionate posts.
Really, they all boil down to one basic rule. Respect each other and just be nice to each other! If you follow these two basic rules, there would be no need for any infraction system. We'd much rather be working on the great things we have planned for you, and working on communication, instead of spending our day's wrangling Kobolds and Cubes of ooze.
Regarding the topic of discussion over the past few days: We know that gameplay bugs upset you. They upset us too. We're aware of these problems and we are addressing them. We hope that we can rely on the community to refrain from spreading word that these bugs even exist, as that sets off a flurry of investigation by PM and behind the scenes to find out what you're talking about. Let us get them fixed and help us minimize the damage they cause by simply telling us about them, and nobody else. Thats enough to get them fixed. There has never been a situation like this, reported to us, that we have not taken seriously.
Lastly, it is indeed against the forum guidelines to discuss discipline on the forums, whether it is your own or someone else's. There are very specific reasons for this rule, but it's mostly because it's nobody else's business. We realize that the this rule was not exactly followed by our staff and again, please accept our apologies for that. It will not happen again. But also realize, its extremely difficult to get banned on these forums. You have to accrue quite a few points to do so, and nobody has ever been banned as a result of one incident. When someone is banned as a result of infraction points, it is only because they have already had a record of several infractions in the past.
We at Turbine really do want to make this a place that welcomes everyone, and we'll continue to strive for that goal. We also believe that members of the community will do their best to help achieve that goal too.
Thank you all for your patience, understanding and loyalty!
Sincerely
-Quarion
Overall, there were a ton of arguments. I know Riot got a one day ban before he got the perma-ban, so it went on for days. The moderators were completely flooded, there was no way they could keep up with it all.
This was all Dec. '07, so most of it is kind of fuzzy. I'd love to see the threads, just to see what sort of stupid things I said. Though I do remember being in PR/damage control mode, basically trying to justify our actions.
Ink
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The Blue Flag Story (Read 2300 times)
