The Culture of ESO Exploitation and why it ruins the game

crazmadsci · May 2016

OP i definitely can agree with what you said there. I do not believe that ZOS has the man power to watch and script to police these things but in many cases i feel like nothing is done until some poor soul starts talking about the specific exploit on the forums and makes it public.

I've seen people who are definitely guilty of breaking TOS get a slap on the wrist and walk freely. I've seen people who are just that good at the game and farm a whole lot get banned over and over again. Some people who were banned get appealed but I don't think their police script is correct a good deal of the time.

If you are in the 1% of the game who just can farm materials, do crazy damage, or you are just that good you will commonly get caught in the net of ZOS as guilty.

I understand the system of ban first and prove innocence later to insure the whole community is safe from some crazy exploit however I would love to see more GM's in game. I know the GM's are invisible most of the time and I know some have watched a friend or two. Most of the time the GM told my friends they were just crazy good at the game and X number of people have been reporting him/her. However that event is very rare indeed.

I wish Zenimax would be willing to work with people who want to help improve the script to keep the innocent in game and the guilty outside of it but back to my original statement I just don't think they have the manpower.

Personally I don't care who people are if they break ToS then they deserve it. But I can name several names who have had to start all over over silly things and they understood and bought the game again. However there are people who are significantly more severe get a slap on the wrist but their accomplished goal was already achieved.

But the thing I would be torn about is if additional script was added to the game to stop exploiters and impedes the game for everyone I am torn if I would actually want it.

Turelus · May 2016

I would really like to see ZOS stand up and fight against this at last.

I understand that some bugs make skills stronger than they should be and as such we have FOTM builds which can't be enforced however there are a number of much more damaging exploits which have been abused over the last two years.

I have to agree in your assessment that the current meta of the game is to abuse until fixed. With most players I have spoken to really not having any fear of punishment. If ZOS take anything from the recent events I really hope that it's how weak their enforcement of the game looks and how it needs a firmer hand.

As others have speculated it seems that most of the issues arise from ZOS having a lack of any actual team which are employed to handle such things. The customer support seems outsources meaning any exploit reports probably don't land of the desk of the people who need them, the seeming lack of any logs or tools to track and punish those who have abused exploits.

Even a basic standard of being able to get information on what is and isn't an exploit would be a start. I am tired of this secrecy from ZOS regarding everything. Communication is key with your player base, especially communication on how you're handling issues as large as this.

I made a similar thread to this back in March with links to how other companies handle exploitation and cheating within their games. I will quote that as well as a recent discussion with another player below.

Turelus wrote: »

It doesn't take much to see that other games have far better deterrents and communication about exploiting, you can simply Google a games name and "exploit warning" to get a few hits. Below are several links to information on how this has been handled with other games.

SWTOR Exploit Warning Post
EVE Online Exploits Page
Diablo 3 Exploit Warning Post
Guild Wars 2 Reddit Comment

Additionally you can see how CCP Games handle their game with a dedicated security team in the following three videos. I really encourage anyone who has some free time to watch/listen to them as it's very enlightening just how efficient a GM/Security team can be.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Vd-CpnjvAM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CZR9w3ftjY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBD7CL9oQqE

GeertKarel · May 2016

probably not the manpower to do such things

kojou · May 2016

What I would like ZoS to do more of.

Calippe_Hac · May 2016

I think the problem is we like/love the Elder Scrolls idea and don't want to hold ZOS feet to the fire.

ZOS should rightly be castigated for this blatant example of incompetence (and the lack of personnel argument is a bit thin.)

What are ZOS priorities?

I bought an EOS+ account but that can easily be rethought.

Inarre · May 2016

Rylana wrote: »

The moderators of these forums do a pretty bang up job of making sure youre following ToS or youre out of here quicker than you can blink an eye, I should know, ive been sanctioned before. They do not play.

So why in game is moderation so ineffectual?

Simple answer:

The forums are free. You don't pay anything to part-take in them, they come as a package with your purchase of the game and are the cherry on top for game players. Zenimax loses no income by banning you from the forums.

The game is the money earner and by having access to the game you are a potential paying customer. By dishing out bans in game Zenimax loses subscriptions and crown store purchases and therefore money.

Though why there is obvious favoritism among certain players from Zenimax, I will never know. There are countless videos of the same player exploiting various things in game. I can only assume these players know people, or spend a LOT of money on crowns.