DCUO: the Ban Hammer
by Jin Lovelace, HSM team writer & filmmaker
I’ll admit it: I’ve cheated in some video games.
I’ve exploited the infinite-life glitch in Super Mario Bros, where you’re infinitely jumping on the para-trooper’s shell, netting you a string of lives. I was one of the Konami cheat-code users for such games like Contra, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II, Jackal, and Super C. I used the “Justin Bailey” code in Metroid to run around aimlessly in the main protagonist’s zero suit and with the best weapon available to defeat the Mother Brain.
I also owned the Game Genie for the Nintendo as well as my Gameboy, and would enjoy manipulating the game with all weapons accrued, infinite lives, and super jump through levels of many games like Little Nemo: the Dream Master and Strider. I even enjoyed never getting killed in Metal Gear solid 2, as long as I enabled infinite health with my Play Action Cheat Disc for the PlayStation 2.
I’ve done them all with little to no remorse, but the difference with all of it was when it came to two-player games: I knew when and how to disable them and play fair.
Recently, DC Universe Online was faced with several users that would exploit a gamebreaking glitch, which — when executed — would reward the player with unlimited money. This glitch had been nefarious with the PC servers and has spilled over to the European PS community. SOE have been very busy looking into the issues, and upon the discovery, gave the cheaters and exploiters a Christmas gift: a permanent vacation away from the DCUO servers.
Now within the community there are players who’ve been outraged by this action by the developer, possibly due to this being unfair. People with brains, however, can quickly surmise that this is the right thing that SOE has done and a step towards the direction in cracking down the rest of the exploiters and issuing them a lovely vacation of their own, while others felt the punishment is too strong for those who didn’t deserve it (we’ll touch upon that in just a moment).
For those who are outraged? There have been some known players who’ve received this memo and have created YouTube videos and petitions to plea their innocence, with validity of their contributions to the community and honest gameplay. While this goes up for debate, you can only imagine whether or not if the story holds truth to their word versus SOE’s but it’s between the accused, the developer and their own possible guilty conscience.
However, I wish to express my opinion on the matter for those that inquired my thoughts about whether it’s unfair that SOE have done what they’ve done:
Get over it.
I’ve come from a community where exposed cheaters were filmed on a weekly basis and subsequently blacklisted to the community for everyone to watch. The ones who have been accused would lie and proclaim that it’s “the system” that’s against them and spread their vitriol on how it’s the developer’s fault, not their own. It was surprising how the players would return back from their suspensions, only for them to do the exact same acts again, and for everyone to either believe the words of these glitchers and exploiters, or for this cycle to continue until the community is doomed — which is exactly what happened.
The problem here is that this glitch that was present in the DCUO servers had several players exploiting an in-game financial bug for their own selfish gain, denuding the entire economical structure for the whole community and leaving those who have worked hard and spent their real life cash into this game for an immersive experience to be left cheated out of their fun, thanks to these players.
While some have expressed their remorse over what transpired, I’ll be the one to say that I don’t. In fact I’m very happy that SOE made this decision. My reason being is that I’m one of those players who have expressed their excellent experiences with the game in this publication and I feel that even if you’re a friend and you were one of the hundreds that received SOE’s notifications of your vacation from the game, you won’t get any support from me.
I’m not stating at all that SOE have made acute investigations upon their research. Mistakes can be made, and those who were caught in this wave unfairly earn my deepest condolences. You should fight for your account back. However, if you are one of the many that have been found to exploit the glitch, then to announce your innocence publicly while acknowledging your own devious actions only makes you look like an utter fool, pissing in the wind.
The fact is that there is a process that not many will believe — and, to SOE’s defense, they did what they had to do to build some structure of balance to this game. It’s bad enough that there are outlandish Broker prices for in-game items and most of us don’t fully comprehend how it damages the community in general. Just because you’ve spent over $500 cash on DCUO doesn’t entitle you to exploit this glitch; you play by their rules much like everyone else. If the shoe was on the other foot, you would be one of the many others that would laud Sony Online Entertainment for doing this deed and feel no sympathy, but because they are your friends doesn’t means they receive special sympathy; you do the crime, you do the time.
There are only a couple of solutions to this: start over or simply move on. Casting insults at SOE over banning cheaters in the game won’t help your character. If a mistake has been made it’s between them and the company. If not, it’s one of sole reasons why I will utter this next line: get over it and move on.
January 11th, 2014 by Jin Lovelace | 4 comments
Jin Lovelace is a machinimist and team writer for HomeStation Magazine, as well as the founder of Twilight Touch Inc. -- http://twilighttouchinc.com and http://youtube.com/twilighttouchinc. When not found in PlayStation Home, Jin studies graphic design and illustration (character design and fashion), gaming, and the culinary arts.
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I don’t advocate cheating by any means, however, I would like to note that the GM’s for this game do little to get after the scammers who steal materials promising mods, as well as the rediculous broker prices. And, they expect you to spend replay badges trying to get a style drop, only to give you the piece for the opposite role. What can a healer do with tank pants? Only to salvage them and get residue when you need complex? For 15 bucks a month, why do I loose an entire day of play because the update is glitched? Or why do I always dc trying to do the oolong speed feat? While people are being banned, where are the consequences for the game constantly messing up on the players who do play fair?
There is a lot of cheating going on in Final Fantasy 14 as well. There are people selling levels and gil, the currency of the game, everyday for real life money on the internet. They have been getting permanently banned at a huge rate for many weeks now, as have those who choose to exploit it and buy these things.
I choose to report them and blacklist those who somehow send private messages through the system everyday to everyone in the vicinity. I agree with you, cheating is cheating and if it upsets the game balance and you have been told not to do it on pain of ban and still do, you deserve what you get.
:^/ Cheaters should never prosper. It is refreshing when they get caught. It’d be a welcome thing for this to happen to PSHome, as well.
Its alway the consequences that the cheater doesnt see, A glitch, hack or mistake that causes any developer to go back in and change something in an emergency, costs real developement money which is
taken from the profit margin of that product and could make future developments unviable. Even the cost of hunting the offenders down is more unseen profit loss. As most of the spaces on home seem to be border line whether it makes a profit or not, the spaces that do make money dont get neglected and theres far more neglected spaces personal and public than ones that get updated. Because of that I dont expect to see home starting perma bans.