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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsExodus punished for exploiting Yogg-Saron encounter
by Zach Yonzon 
Jun 29th 2009 at 10:47PM
Contrary to some reports, however, Exodus released a statement on their website that members of their guild were not banned, clarifying that Blizzard meted out a 72-hour suspension for their abuse of game mechanics. They argue that the encounter wasn't beatable to begin with, similar to the C'thun fight in Ahn'Qiraj before it was fixed, prompting the exploit. In the same statement, Exodus also points at Ensidia's arguably hypocritical stance of complaining about the abuse considering Ensidia used similar questionable methods to achieve other World Firsts. Serennia mentions this behavior in his column at wowriot, as well, bringing into question Blizzard's apparent double standard when meting out punishment.
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Cheats, Guilds, Blizzard
Reader Comments (Page 8 of 8)
L33T15T Jun 30th 2009 11:20AM
As far as I'm concerned, unless Exodus lost the loot and the achievement for this feat, they still are the world first for achieving it; exploit or not. All other guilds had the same opportunity to do that before the hot fix. Is it cheating, yes? Do cheaters sometimes win? Absolutely. Just ask Captain Kirk.
What's up David? Jun 30th 2009 11:48AM
Why is it that any mages that did a spellsteal exploit in naxx received a ban and deserved it, but when Ensidia does a spellsteal exploit there's not only no bans (or slaps on the wrist even), but they get a pat on the back.
TanarisDruid Jun 30th 2009 12:12PM
Agree 100%, everyone keeps talking about how 1 exploit isn't 'as bad' as another... They're all exploits... punish the same.
Salimar Jun 30th 2009 12:15PM
Am I the only one thinking that Ensidia is paying off blizzard?
vrondeau Jun 30th 2009 12:39PM
Rofl< I hope they lost their mounts also. If you have to exploit to win, you aren't any better then a leveling guild.
jacksongm20 Jun 30th 2009 12:51PM
Facts
1) Exodus cheated
2) Exodus attempted to conceal the fact they cheated.
3) Ensidia cheated and either Ensidia is better at concealing or the fact that they often report how they down content allows them to be blizz's baseline.
I'm assuming the suspension is from the fact that exodus clearly attempted to conceal the way they did it.
Ensidia are the whiniest of the whiners tho
threesixteen Jun 30th 2009 1:02PM
i think blizzard banning paid accounts is ridiculous period. TOE notwithstanding, it's ludicrous to create a punitive environment for players who figure out loopholes in code. If i use cheat codes on a PS3 game, is Sony going to ban me from using the console?
I suppose for some hardcore types, that 'firsts' are a big deal and they probably have a vested interested in seeing these types of loopholes closed. I would support this POV, while not caring personally about it, because i can see how it would be important to a dedicated wow player.
I'm especially bewildered how the guild/person that was mailed the Martin's Tunic gear was banned. Why should anyone who recieves an item from a fail blizzard employee have to endure a ban when he did what anyone would have done. Used the item.
Gabriel Jun 30th 2009 1:12PM
Exodus cheated. Plain and simple. The fact that they didn't tell people how they did it shows the mens rea (legal term for guilty mind, used for establishing intent) of the group, they didn't tell anyone because they *knew* it was wrong. They used an exploit knowing full well that they should not have done so,a nd they attempted to hide it from people. They got off light and they should be thankful.
On the Ensidia side of the debate, like them or not, they obtained gear from Hodir using a method that was not intended, then proceeded to use that gear to benefit them on later encounters. While their reporting of the issue is more upstanding, they still trivialized (if only marginally) future encounters by having better gear than should have been available to them at that point, obtained via a method that was not working as intended and is not available to anyone else, I don't feel that the Hodir incident should have resulted in a ban, but at the very least, anything they did from that point should have been reset to allow them to try the encounter and future encounters the way they were intended. The fact that the Spellsteal has been fixed is evidence enough that Blizzard did not intend for people to do that, so allowing Ensidia to retain their achievement and gear obtained through this method and use that gear on later fights is a major oversight on the part of Blizzard.
That Ensida admitted that they did not view it as a world first shows that they too know it should not have been done that way, but unless every single member deleted every item they got from the encounter, it's dangling perilously close to flat out cheating as well.
Xanwryn Jun 30th 2009 3:02PM
I love guild drama. Reminds me of how many fucking morons are in the world. This is a game, the fact people are getting all uptight over it is pathetic. Who cares if Ensidia didn't get banned or suspended? It's not like they're ever going to now is it?
These guilds just sound lame. Both Exodus and Ensidia are bloody lame, all they do is bitch and whine at each other instead of live with each other and do what the game was intended form: To have fun. Not to bitch about how much some other guild sucks or not.'
Exploit or not. If Exodus hadn't found it some other guild would have. How do people think exploits are found in the first place? Can't be by people DOING IT can it?
lawlzcake Jun 30th 2009 3:33PM
lol u should chance the "Suspended" letters on the image to "PWND!"
Adaroit Jun 30th 2009 5:43PM
For all of you who are claiming that MC'd a mob to assist during a boss encounter is not an exploit seem to fail to recall the Void Reaver fiasco back in the BC days. It was found that you could MC a Tempest-Smith and use it to down the VR in ten seconds. Blizzard jumped on that and warned that anyone who used that "exploit" would be subject to banning.
Ad134 Jul 1st 2009 7:10AM
If there's one thing that gets on my nerves, it's hypocrisy.
It's one thing to use exploits to get a kill of a boss, and it's another to attack a different guild for doing it. They still both glitched the game to achieve their own selfish fake pride.
A lot of people defend Ensidia, because they "still had to use the rest of the fight". For a few seconds, maybe. The amount of DPS that the spellsteal gave (or at least, from what I'm seeing) would instantly make any fight trivial.
Both Ensidia and Exodus should have been suspended or both been let off. Suspending only one of them is hypocrisy of the highest calibre.
Rastley Jul 1st 2009 8:47AM
So many people of limited intelligence around here.
I will try to put it in simple words and use caps lock for emphasis:
ENSIDIA: SPELLSTEALS A BUFF, REPORTS IT TO THE DEVS =THEMSELVES=
EXODUS: BYPASSES 90% OF THE ENCOUNTERS MECHANICS AND LIES ABOUT NOT USING A GLITCH IN THE DESIGN BY SAYING IT WAS LUCK
Can you see the difference now?
If exodus just reported it, they would have gotten anway with it just like Ensidia did.
If you can't get your head around that, sweet lord have mercy on the gaming community.
Jay Jul 3rd 2009 10:31PM
Blizzard is severely discouraging me right now. The fun in the game is not "do the strategy exactly as Blizzard designed it to be done".
Labomba Jul 6th 2009 3:04PM
I recall MC'ing mobs inside LBRS to gain a fire resistance buff to help against Ragnaros. Was that ever considered an exploit? Sounds similar to what Ensidia has done.
Aislingi Jul 8th 2009 9:29AM
I love the whole fanboy reasoning of Ensidia came out and admitted it.
Since when is a bank robber rewarded for admitting they robbed a bank?
Ensidia DID NOT come out with it right away.
What Ensidia DID DO, is keep it to the themselves, used the exploit to get their kill. THEN -and only then- did they report anything. This is a shameless cover to make themselves look moral AFTER THE FACT. Children do this all the time. Benefit from the crime first, then make sure you do the right thing after.
They're putting on this psuedo-noble "this is no victory" bullshit. If it wasn't then why do it at all? If it's such a tarnished first then request Blizzard revoke it. No? Didn't think so.
Blizzard are biased hypocrites, Ensidia are arrogant hypocrites and, their fanboys are stupid hypocrites.
The only real difference here is semantics, which Blizzard can manipulate to benefit and punish whoever they want.
Aislingi Jul 9th 2009 2:25AM
Bottom line. The only way out of a punishment is to report the exploit BEFORE you don't do it.
Calling the cops and reporting the murder you just committed doesn't make the murder go away.
(and you fanboys know that I know damn well I'm not saying murder is the same severity of crime as a video game exploit. That's not the point and you know it, so forget about that strawman)