SwashbucklerHater wrote on Jul 3
rd, 2014 at 9:57pm:
Turbine should do both, because if people fear to get banned they are more likely to resist the urge of using an exploit.
But fixing the exploit(s) needs to have a higher priority than banning the exploiters. Because it doesn't help to ban them if they can just make a new account and continue using the same exploit.
The threat of consequence (banning) only works as a deterrent on about 70-80% of your population.
Consequence and active visible enforcement will deter another 10-15%.
But there will always be an element that either don't care or do not believe they will be caught. Increasing the severity of the consequence does nothing to deter this group.
Same as in RL.
So you're right, it does require a two pronged approach. The problem is focusing on consequence alone is not the solution. The consequence only occurs because of poor quality.
If your devs cannot fix the problem because it is "too hard", hire some who can.
Removing the exploit is 100% effective with no collateral damage (in theory - we know Turdbine fixes always fuck up something else). It also means that GM's can focus on helping players rather than trolling through accounts deleting random stuff. You don't lose many players by fixing exploits, you do thru bans.
Instead of having only 1 tool in your toolbox like a sledge hammer i(e. extreme prejudice), they could take a more moderate approach using escalation.
Warnings - we know you have been duping, your account (and IP) will be watched. Many people would stop at this point.
Infringements - 7-30 days timeouts.
Exploitation - really severe stuff that affects the game community more broadly (perma ban).
90 day timeouts are stupid. How is it different to a 30 day, other than sound intimidating.
I reckon it takes about 2 weeks before the psychological hooks the game has diminishes. This means any punishment over 2 weeks puts that person as a real risk of permanently leaving. I would say in a diminishing population, you want to do whatever you can to retain players (even the naughty ones) and find other solutions (like fixing exploits).