Patch 5.4 patch notes
Virtual Realms feature revealed
The Proving Grounds are coming
The latest patch 5.4 newsEnsidia temporarily banned for exploits
by Eliah Hecht 
Feb 4th 2010 at 10:40AM
The story is that Ensidia made use of Saronite Bombs to "bypass The Lich King fight mechanics" (Saronite Bombs and similar items were disabled in a hotfix last night). In addition to the temporary ban, all items and achievements they gained from downing Arthas have been revoked. Before the ban (but after the hotfix), Ensidia put up a post claiming that they didn't think the bombs were an exploit; Blizzard obviously isn't buying it.
Meanwhile, Muqq, the Ensidia player who posted about the ban, has taken this as an opportunity to quit WoW (and rant a bit at Blizzard about "half-assed encounters"), saying "to ban people when they do not know what's causing the bugs is just a [expletive] joke."
Update: It's worth a mention that the language Muqq used at the end of his post is identical (save places and names) to this post by Tigole (scroll to the bottom -- it's the last thing on the page), written of EverQuest in 2002. Be warned, neither of these are safe for work.
Filed under: Guilds, News items, Raiding
Reader Comments (Page 19 of 20)
Jellyfish Feb 4th 2010 6:02PM
People are getting too caught up in the whole "Ensidia" part of this. If it was any other guild would people be thinking the same way?
DavidGX Feb 4th 2010 6:12PM
Very funny stuff. Just what they deserved.
jfofla Feb 4th 2010 6:18PM
If a professional gamer nerd rages and quits....
does the Prince still give him a paycheck?
Azairel Feb 4th 2010 6:24PM
I would just think a world first kill doing the fight the way it was intended would mean more to me than using a bug to win, and Its not because Ensidia is Ensidia is why people is ragging on them, its because they made a reputation for themselves as being the best and used a bug to win even though they claim they didn't know. The only way they are going to pick themselves back up and shut everyone up to do do it without the use a of a bug. They reported a guild I believe Exodus back in Ulduar that killed Yogg no lights for cheating, now they are in the cheating spotlight. I disagree with ban but I do agree with the achievement and loot took away.
ozone Feb 4th 2010 6:41PM
up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A, B, A, start
Good thing I never got banned by Capcom
jaredlaynenelson Feb 4th 2010 8:29PM
Congrats Muqq,
You just beat World of Warcraft.
Now work on beating life.
Bloomindraal Feb 4th 2010 8:09PM
Sounds like Blizzard had enough of Ensidia exploits and banned them for what is dubious to call an exploit. I think the ban was for previous deeds, a ban they should have served patches ago.
The rant from Muqq is priceless ... a bit of copy and paste here, a few hundred swear words there.
loltrainz Feb 4th 2010 7:47PM
Wait wait wait. So Ensidia, the people who gave that one American guild so much crap for exploiting Yogg for the world first One Light in The Darkness, are finally caught and banned for exploiting? HAH Thats golden. =) I couldn't care less about world firsts, but that is some funny stuff. Oh the Irony.
prenden2 Feb 4th 2010 8:45PM
I believe that Blizz has evidence that Ensidia deliberately used the bomb exploit, probably due to someone typing it in in-game chat.
Assuming that this theory is correct, I'd expect whichever raider announced the bug in-game to be gkicked. So, in 3 day's time, a scan of Ensidia on a site such as wowprogress.com to show member churn could potentially give us the identity of the supposed 'culprit'.
froop Feb 4th 2010 8:55PM
I'm quite surprised by the amount of backing Blizz is getting on this. The core problem is them not doing their job right: delivering software that works as they intend. They failed and should actually *reward* players uncovering sloppy coding.
Michael Feb 5th 2010 1:29AM
You *can* use the long-ball tactic in football.
That doesn't mean you should.
A bug is not a legitimate excuse. Seriously, gaming is the only hobby I know of where cheap tactics that take advantage of exploitable mistakes (and there's not a coder alive that could make something completely exploit-proof) is actually encouraged and considered a good thing.
It's a bit sad, really.
mysticx Feb 5th 2010 7:58AM
I''m pretty sure Blizzard encourages reporting bugs, it's exploiting said bugs to score "ZOMG world first!" before reporting that crosses the proverbial line...
One of the Ensidia-members said on his/her/its blog that they KNEW it was a bug, but continued on regardless because, well, "World first!" and all that stuff, and that's against the terms of service we all agree to when we start playing, now they learn the hard way that being l33t doesn't mean being exempt from the terms of service...
Shadow Feb 4th 2010 9:09PM
Going based on past experience data and precedent with Blizz, it seems very likely to me that there was more to the reasoning behind the ban than just the exploit of the bug.
In the past, guilds which have exploited to get past major boss raids and get the achievements, have had the achievements removed (and any loot from the raid or rewards) but weren't banned. The few cases where the guilds were banned, it always seemed that there was some kind of damning evidence against them. For example, we all know the story of the "i win" (forget its real name) dev shirt that was accidentally sent to a guy. In that case, they knew it was a mistake, but exploited it anyway. However as was shown here on WoW.com, it wasn't just one time, but several times.
For Blizz to ban in this situation, I would wager they have more evidence to the story that suggests further exploiting. It's entirely possible, and probable, that Blizzard has either a chat log or even server logs, that point to the guild having done the same or similar things prior to this last run.
In the case of the Guild's own posts, I find myself looking back to Shakespere, who said in one of his plays "Methinks he doth protest too much." I've found, both in my own experience, and from anecdotal experiences of others, that when someone starts protesting and posting as this guild did, then they know full well they are guilty, and are trying to scream the loudest to cover the fact.
I applaud Blizzard for its ban, as well as revocation of the award. However, I think Blizzard should take a harder stance on this. Personally, I feel all cheaters should be perma banned, and lump this guild's exploits in with that.
dyre42 Feb 4th 2010 9:27PM
Let me get this straight...
They got banned for getting the Lick King bombed and taking advantage of him?
dyre42 Feb 4th 2010 9:32PM
*Lich King
WTB edit button
Joester Feb 5th 2010 12:58AM
Needless to say. But I'm with Blizzard on this.
I'm sure Ensidia was playing on the PTR and found this glitch out during Raiding of the Lich King. And just abused this power on Live.
Michael Feb 5th 2010 1:27AM
The Lich King wasn't available to fight on the PTR.
I don't agree with what Ensidia did, but what you suggested isn't possible.
AlexW573 Feb 5th 2010 2:15AM
I'm almost willing to bet the reason behind the copied text is a direct stab at Blizzard, pointing out how similar a thing it is.
Aislingi Feb 5th 2010 6:51PM
Scotland Yard know you're here?
tulipblossom Feb 5th 2010 4:32AM
I definitely feel that there's a difference between exploiting a bug and creative use of game mechanics. That being said, I believe a person (group) can certainly fall into the trap of unintentionally doing both at the same time. And, more often than not, I think there's still a gray area that falls somewhere in between all three of these.
I believe that banning anyone for these types of exploits (whether intentional or not) is unnecessary and a poor way to handle the situation. However, I feel that removing any achievements, gear, gold, etc that's earned from said encounters is completely justified and a great way to handle the problem. If the person (people) in question is truly guilty of an intentional abuse, then they are rightly punished. And, if the person (people) involved simply fell into the trap of thinking they were creatively using game mechanics, when in fact, they were exploiting a bug, then the proper adjustments are made; and, no one feels jilted or punished. It's a simple problem with a simple solution.
However, there are some situations where banning is quite justified. If a person accidentally falls off of a high area and slips down through the crack of a wall and finds themselves somewhere interesting and unknown, that's unintentional. And, if they're responsible and mature, they will report the issue or ask to speak with a GM, to see if it is actually a bug. In this case, no one should be punished. But, if that same person does the action again and again, knowing full well that they aren't supposed to be, then a ban is a completely valid form of punishment.
Again, all of that being said, it seems really obvious that Ensidia was not just using the saronite bombs the way that their rogues normally would in a regular situation. They were throwing the bombs into open space. Being as experienced as they are, they had to know that they were doing something that could quite possibly be an exploit, if not most likely. They behaved childishly. They've gotten away with exploits in the past and just assumed that they would be able to do the same this time around. When you let someone get away with something wrong, over and over again, they will most likely continue to press their luck. They have never faced punishment for their exploits in the past and grew cocky.
Now, that doesn't mean that I feel a ban is an appropriate punishment. As I said above, I feel that exploits like these are open to such gray interpretation that it's a poor and misguided way to handle the situation. But, I do feel that it's quite right that they had their achievements and items removed. It's only fair that those things would be reset, being as that they were obtained in a away that Blizzard believes to be illegal.
Also, I have no idea who this Muqq person is, but I get the sense that his rant, and attempt to appear clever, was meant to shame Blizzard. But, all it really ended up doing was making him look foolish and like a very sore loser. Seriously, who is Muqq and who is Ensidia? Does their raiding or playing of WoW do anything important in this world? Absolutely not. Their reaction and desire to appear self-important is laughable.