A Critique of Rule 7

[FireMage]

On Empire War, bugs are generally:
a) Accessible to everyone
b) Temporary
c) Infrequent
d) Benign

Have you ever heard people saying that they enjoyed V1 for the very reason that it was so unbalanced? Well, my suggestion is that allowing gameplay-related bugs will let people experience this to a degree, occasionally, without staff having to implement it. Some absurd bugs from time to time can add a bit of flavour to the game byby being ridiculous and/or overpowered.

I would like bugs to be sorted into categories, namely gameplay-related and performance-related. If a bug has a risk of crashing the server or messing up the plugins/causing long-term disruption, it should be banned. If it only affects gameplay, such as being able to use unimplemented classes or the item frame item storage bug, then it should be allowed. I understand that some people might find it annoying or disruptive in any case, but I enjoy occasional bugs for the sheer novelty they can bring.
Why ban a bug when you can call it a feature and get free temporary content?

 

[Tobberz]

Because whilst V1 was unbalanced to an extent, it was intentionally so, and it formed a wonderful symbiotic system with the rest of the server. Everything was balanced, in an unbalanced way.

When a Halberd can bhop around without slowness, when a Ranger can get a mage's staff, and when a soldier can get a bow, these are game-breaking as well as imbalanced. This is because they weren't intentional, and thus throw everything out of order. Why have a heavy tank Archer class when you could just be a soldier with a blow? Why sell donor classes if you could potentially access donor features through abuse? Why spend an age trying to delicately balance donor, point and free classes when a donor could just go rampaging round with Mageberdier?

On a further point. Bug abuse comes in two forms anyway. Accidental, and intentional. If you accidentally find a bug, and abuse it, then who cares. But if you then carry on abusing it, and carry on abusing despite moderator protestations, then a punishment ensues.

Finally, bug abuse is unfair because it benefits just a few players who are knowledgeable enough about the game, and who know about how to go and find bugs specifically to get an advantage (*looks at [user avatar="https://s3.amazonaws.com/files.enjin.com/187965/site_logo/small.png" name="Lord_GiacomoS"]19090311[/user] *).

So no, the rule stays as far as I'm concerned

 

[FireMage]

A lot of your argument seems to be based on the idea that there are constantly bugs that can be abused in the game, while they are rare to be discovered and usually fixed fairly soon after being found. A far bigger flaw with my idea that I now see is that it would incentivize the seeking out of bugs, which would mess up the core principle of infrequency.

 

[Tobberz]

I'm fine with incentivising the discovery of bugs, but only in order that they be resolved, not so that they may be abused.

The fact that there are currently thirteen active bugs, with many added in the past week somewhat goes against your claim that they are rare and infrequent and quickly fixed.

Indeed, there are certainly more bugs, but people don't report them for many reasons - laziness, incapability, lack of knowledge of the system, or simple want to abuse.

 

[De_Mik]

The fact that there are 13 active bugs doesn't mean all bugs are gameplay related. Most of the active bugs are just visual bugs or do not benefit the player in any way.

 

[Tobberz]

The fact that there are 13 active bugs doesn't mean all bugs are gameplay related. Most of the active bugs are just visual bugs or do not benefit the player in any way.

This doesn't detract from the principle argument in any way - that people shouldn't be allowed to wilfully break the rules by dancing round the map as a sprinting halberdier under any circumstances - whether it's a common occurrence or not.

 

[FireMage]

'Wilfully break the rules.' Only if using bugs is actually against the rules in the first place. I think this primarily depends on how common gameplay-breaking bugs are in the first place. Since I am not exactly aware of the exact statistics due to not being interested in searching for bugs, I can only guess at how frequent of an occurrence it is. If such major exploits are found every month or two then it should not be banned, however, if there is constantly an active major exploit then the rule should remain. A possible compromise might be to allow more benign bugs to be used, but ones that give an immense advantage to a few people who know how to use them should be disallowed.

 

[m4rine_semperfi]

This is dumb, no, abusing bugs should never be allowed. If tim saw this he’d just say “No. locked”

This post also basically only refers to the item frame glitch which is ridiculously broken and unfair. What other “bugs” are you taking about that are fun? Remember the gunda strength glitch, that was not fun it was game breaking.

 

[Tobberz]

This is dumb, no, abusing bugs should never be allowed. If tim saw this he’d just say “No. locked”

This post also basically only refers to the item frame glitch which is ridiculously broken and unfair. What other “bugs” are you taking about that are fun? Remember the gunda strength glitch, that was not fun it was game breaking.

I completely agree. Gunda strength bug. Halberd sprint bug. Item frame bug. That time there was a place in Edhellond only a few people knew about where you could hide items. They are unfair, unintentional, and don't fit with the intended gameplay. They may be fun for the person abusing them, but they are not fun for others.

Surprisingly enough, people are going to carry on being punished for ruining others' fun and breaking the game. No matter how infrequent it is.

*locked*