Item Stack Resale Exploit

[TUXs]

I believe what he meant was the ones that actually performed the exploit not the ones that obtained the items cause that would take way to long to fish out the legit people that used / or reselling them tbh.

 

The problem becomes - what about those who created false accounts to do this? What about the guys who used their main account to list 1 page of single junk items on the GTN for 10,000,000 credits ea, then logs onto his exploiting account and buys them? What if someone takes the time to actually try to mask what they did? My example sucks...these guys are far more clever than what I posted...how do you track them?

[TX_Angel]

The problem becomes - what about those who created false accounts to do this? What about the guys who used their main account to list 1 page of single junk items on the GTN for 10,000,000 credits ea, then logs onto his exploiting account and buys them? What if someone takes the time to actually try to mask what they did? My example sucks...these guys are far more clever than what I posted...how do you track them?

 

You don't, you take the servers offline 5.5 weeks ago and emergency patch the game.

 

Even if they got 75% of the credits, they would be missing far, far too many. The economy will never be the same again.

[Theeko]

You don't, you take the servers offline 5.5 weeks ago and emergency patch the game.

 

Even if they got 75% of the credits, they would be missing far, far too many. The economy will never be the same again.

 

more like within the same hour 4.0 started

[Neglience]

I've got to agree. The fact that they didn't shut this down with an emergency patch, blows my mind...

 

Why didn't they move quicker? The only way I'm able to justify their gross incompetence is, this will increase Cartel Market sales. 5mil won't go nearly as far any longer, so players won't need to get that one lucky draw of a rare item, they'll need several lucky draws...this has GOT to be why they moved so lazily.

 

I have another theory. If you take a look at the stuff they needed to hotfix today, it is clear to me, that this is some kind of social experiment on how crappy a company can run a service, before the customers leave in masses.

 

Maybe BW is doing some fieldtest for EA?

[Jherad]

Hahahah. So I'm beginning to think the lesson from all this is - when someone finds an exploit, use it HARD and then spend all the credits before the next patch (I heard a few got their credits wiped, but nothing else).

 

At most you'll get a short vacation and a slap on the wrist, and you get to keep everything you bought. Playing by the rules (as many of us have) is a sucker's game.

 

GG.

[Neglience]

Hahahah. So I'm beginning to think the lesson from all this is - when someone finds an exploit, use it HARD and then spend all the credits before the next patch (I heard a few got their credits wiped, but nothing else).

 

At most you'll get a short vacation and a slap on the wrist, and you get to keep everything you bought. Playing by the rules (as many of us have) is a sucker's game.

 

GG.

 

Yeah, exploit often and exploit early is the message BW is sending out - again.

 

So far, the general opinion of the exploiters is, that it was worth it.

Edited December 10, 2015 by Neglience

[Quraswren]

I've got to agree. The fact that they didn't shut this down with an emergency patch, blows my mind...

 

My take on it from who I talked to seemed to think it would be handled just like the ravagers exploit. So they said, it's easy as hell to exploit, BW does very little to them anyways, they got to keep the bulk of their spolis so why not.

 

Turns out, they were right. At this rate they will never stop exploiting the game when exploits are found. It's a video game, there not all that worried about some minor punishment it seems.

 

Why didn't they move quicker? The only way I'm able to justify their gross incompetence is, this will increase Cartel Market sales. 5mil won't go nearly as far any longer, so players won't need to get that one lucky draw of a rare item, they'll need several lucky draws...this has GOT to be why they moved so lazily.

 

That I find more interesting. Just like ravagers, why didn't BW just on this a bit faster? It's not like it was hidden for 6 weeks.

 

But you are right, it really does play into the cartel market by letting it go a bit. When it gets to much (6 weeks later), slap them on them wrist. Smart gamers got to keep the spoils and the others got just a minor annoyance.

[Jherad]

Yeah, exploit often and exploit early is the message BW is sending out - again.

 

So far, the general opinion of the exploiters is, that it was worth it.

 

[Quraswren]

Hahahah. So I'm beginning to think the lesson from all this is - when someone finds an exploit, use it HARD and then spend all the credits before the next patch (I heard a few got their credits wiped, but nothing else).

 

At most you'll get a short vacation and a slap on the wrist, and you get to keep everything you bought. Playing by the rules (as many of us have) is a sucker's game.

 

GG.

 

I am starting to think you are more right than I care to agree with.

[Theeko]

 

Who knows if they're telling the truth or not though its just text no proof

[Jherad]

Who knows if they're telling the truth or not though its just text no proof

 

Sure. Maybe. But the overwhelming consensus on reddit is that mule accounts weren't touched, at all. So it's completely plausible.

[Quraswren]

Who knows if they're telling the truth or not though its just text no proof

 

That is true but in his original post he has a screen shot of nearly a billion credits. Sure you can then start claiming photoshop and what not but I doubt it. Like most it seems, he also says he never kept more than so much on any one toon and moved it all around on alts and a separate account IIRC. Just like the others that claim to have kept their gains.

 

There really just isn't much reason to not think he was being truthful. Even if it's not 7 billion. If he amassed a billion, you can bet he just kept going because.... why the hell not.

Edited December 10, 2015 by Quraswren

[DawnAskham]

Who knows if they're telling the truth or not though its just text no proof

 

True - though I have noticed the past two days a fair number of new sellers in multiple markets dumping everything from materials to crafted items like augments (as in char names I've never seen with pages of listings all below current market rates), so something fishy is going on post exploit (IMO people converting items bought with exploited credits back to credits).

 

Also I have an alt in a small guild on the faction I don't play that hasn't had much activity in the past several months (other than a few more people online at times since 4.0), and which never had much in the gbank other than junk CM items and some stims and boosts, and only had the capital world stronghold.

 

Anyways, I was cleaning out a couple of tabs of old CM junk and had some items that appeared worthless and went to dump in in the guild bank a couple of days ago, only to find all tabs full of bounty contracts and grade 6 gifts, and the guild bank balance close to a billion credits, along with a guild ship.

 

This morning I checked again and the guild bank is still filled with the items, and the balance is still close to a billion credits, and while I don't know for sure this is all from the exploit, it sure seems like it is and it sure seems like it wasn't removed.

[Theeko]

That is true but in his original post he has a screen shot of nearly a billion credits. Sure you can then start claiming photoshop and what not but I doubt it. Like most it seems, he also says he never kept more than so much on any one toon and moved it all around on alts and a separate account IIRC. Just like the others that claim to have kept their gains.

 

There really just isn't much reason to not think he was being truthful. Even if it's not 7 billion. If he amassed a billion, you can bet he just kept going because.... why the hell not.

 

Yeah don't get me wrong its pretty easy making creds I'm a reseller in game and iv'e prob poured nearly 2-3b into decors in my strongholds, not including the 1b I have total in credits right now so I just saw no reason why someone would need to exploit to gain credits.

[Linyivee]

Regardless about all of BioWare's prior warnings, the problem is that their slow response made everyone a victim. While its good to see these exploiters punished, the overall issue still currently remains. BioWare needs to take some sort of responsibility. Even though a group of players exploited the system, BioWare's slow response was also apart of the problem. If this was in an actual court of law, BioWare may also be held accountable.

 

So, the overall questions remain: (1) how many people were affected, (2) how many people took advantage of the system, and (3) how much 'physical' money did it cost the players? Was there an exchange of 'physical' cash at some point?

 

Innocent players would have to buy c-market items, so they can sell them on the exchange for credits. After they got their credits, players would need to use them to buy these exploited items, right? If the exploited items were overpriced, the victims would have lost out on credits and physical money. How much physical money was lost?

 

Prior to finding this post yesterday, I didn't even know that an exploit existed. I still don't fully understand the exploit. Did an in-game email get sent out? Was there an in-game notification? Did BioWare send their consumers personal emails?

 

Someone from the FCC, FTC, DA's office, and/or consumer protections agency needs to get involved.

 

Players have to know: (1) the extent of the issue, (2) if they were a victim, (3) if they lost physical money, etc...

 

Whenever the potential of physical money is involved (especially fraud), the door opens for possible legal action. Someone has to be the voice of the consumer. Someone needs to be held accountable. BioWare cannot just push this issue under the rug.

 

BioWare's slow response was also a violation of trust. If BioWare cannot protect their consumers, what will stop these exploiters in the future? Will more innocent people lose physical money? Even though I may have issues with the game's design, I have always trusted BioWare on some level. Now, I have lost faith in this company. How can consumers continue to buy subscriptions and coins? Trust has been tested and lost.

 

Finally, why is this issue buried in the forums? Why is there not a statement posted on the homepage?

 

So, what is next? How can this issue get resolved?

Edited December 10, 2015 by Linyivee

[SackTheCoruscant]

wow what a ****** time I chose to return to this game

[Quraswren]

Yeah don't get me wrong its pretty easy making creds I'm a reseller in game and iv'e prob poured nearly 2-3b into decors in my strongholds, not including the 1b I have total in credits right now so I just saw no reason why someone would need to exploit to gain credits.

 

Because of the theory on path of least resistance and we humans fall for it all the time. Especially in video games where it doesn't matter except some personal entertainment.

 

The exploit is just to easy. No real punishment it seems when you do exploit and it's just so easy to make billions. No matter how easy you did it, you had to put more effort into it than this exploit.

 

There is just no reason to think any of the ones on reddit are faking.

[MiguelGx]

 

If this was true the less they could do is to take any picture showing the evidence.

[Quraswren]

If this was true the less they could do is to take any picture showing the evidence.

 

There is a pic of nearly a billion in his original thread over there. You can still claim photoshop and whatnot but way to many are saying a similar thing for me to think it's fake and none of them are going to show enough information to ever be back tracked.

 

However, I do think BW would down play it as best the could and that is exactly what they did in their post. Give the honest gamers a false sense of, it wasn't as big a deal as others have made it out to be.

 

I call BS on that of course.

[Theeko]

If this was true the less they could do is to take any picture showing the evidence.

 

Yeah its so simple to post a screenshot, the least they can do is show one

[Icestar]

It must be a massive thing to sort this out but I have faith that they will get those that used this exploit and do what the rules state they will be punished with. Edited December 10, 2015 by Icestar

[Jherad]

It must be a massive thing to sort this out but I have faith that they will get those that used this exploit and get what the rules state they will be punished with.

 

Like they did with the previous exploit? Heh.

[Sathid]

No I'm not saying that at all.

 

What I am saying is that those in the 'ban them all and ban them for good' crowd are not thinking straight as Bioware is a business, and a business has to consider impacts to its bottom line in its decisions.

 

An account which spends hundreds a month on this game and used the exploit to get a few gifts for themselves but didn't generate credits is probably not someone Bioware wants to lose, regardless of how you or I feel, and thus will probably get a suspension or warning.

 

At the same time, I would expect accounts that generated a billion credits while posting stacks and stacks of gifts on the GTN flaunting the exploit will get banned permanently, regardless of how much they spend.

 

In both cases though, I am saying that Bioware will consider their bottom line, including the potential loss of revenue, in making those decisions.

 

These exploiters spend s 100's$ a month,,,,what the hell,how the hell do you figure that,the people that spend a ton of money do NOT exploit,they do not need to,they BUY CM stuff and sell it,you honestly think they would run the risk of losing what they have to do an exploit? i do not think so,matter of fact i bet you,your logic is so flawed it amazes me.

 

What these exploiters have done is inflate credits across the game,that means those that yah know SPENT REAL MONEY (You following me TUXs too?) just got a big slap down,yah those WHALES ,when some exploiter can dupe stuff and walk away with who knows how many credits WITHOUT spending any REAL MONEY you hurt many things.

 

For instance i was going to buy a few hypercrates of the recent one and open some and sell some,,NOW! not likely,,that's real money,yah you can even view what my credit card statement would of looked like,,not now,,,i wonder what these exploiters credit statements look like,if they even have one.

Edited December 10, 2015 by Sathid

[IslanderRebel]

Hahaha, suckers!!!

 

I was wondering over the last few days how this one guy on Harb, had 300 to 400 grade 6 companion gifts for sale per day. He had best prices and I bought a couple stacks from him one day. He immediately replaced those two stacks of gifts that I bought with two new ones....

 

I asked in chat about a crystal exploit or something, because there's no way to earn coms that fast. Many actually replied that there was a way....

 

Good riddance to all of you, rot in hell, hahaha!

 

 

Hey Dethla,

 

I was one of those who saw your chat on Harby.

I ran 15 alts through the ringer doing close to 20, 25 heroics as fast as I could when I was on vacation from work when FE came out.

of course, there was no way I racked up enough Common crystals to purchase 300 to 400 companion gifts like the guy/gal you bought those two stacks of 99 from.

if my alts received what 5 common crystals from every heroic and they ran 20, that would be only 100 commons for each and that would be 1,500 and that would take several days due to lack of time in a day.

If dude or dudette had 300 gifts x 30 crystals a pop that's 9,000 crystals!!!!

I took close to a week to get one comp to 50 because you get the supply crates, turn them in and then get at least 1 comp gift for your reward but they weren't all Rank 6 gifts, that's for sure.

Plus, those 100 commons only got me 3 rank 6 gifts at a time.

So 15 alts would have only got me 45 gifts from the vendor.

Yeah, whoever you bought those stacks from had to have some kind of helacious exploit.

I know I didn't because the heroics are Weekly now not daily.

Edited December 10, 2015 by IslanderRebel

[Sathid]

But hey then again maybe i will spend some money on the cartel stuff while the INFLATION of credits is out there and jack everything up,so players that want stuff better get cracking on dailies or whip out that credit card or find a EXPLOIT!