Any updates on what's being done about the first age symbol exploit?

[Evil_Chicken]

Thinking about subbing again and moving over from Ark, but I've heard that progression on the LS is pretty much shot now. Did Ithil get hit by exploiters as hard as Anor did?

[Vanyaerunanethiel]

Thinking about subbing again and moving over from Ark, but I've heard that progression on the LS is pretty much shot now. Did Ithil get hit by exploiters as hard as Anor did?

Wow, It's not an exploit , Majority of playerbase has no clue what a true exploit means. It was mistake from Standing Stone Games which allowed players to simply barter for First age Symbols provided one had enough Medalions to barter and if one logged in early on plus you need Master of the Guild stats and Westfold Crafting proficency. I do not believe Ithil got hit so hard as Anor, less players but I know several with FA already, probably more there are, why do you bother ever, Getting FA will be super easy.

Ha ha, go then sub because they have First agers, tsk tsk

[Elmagor]

Wow, It's not an exploit , Majority of playerbase has no clue what a true exploit means. It was mistake from Standing Stone Games which allowed players to simply barter for First age Symbols provided one had enough Medalions to barter and if one logged in early on plus you need Master of the Guild stats and Westfold Crafting proficency. I do not believe Ithil got hit so hard as Anor, less players but I know several with FA already, probably more there are, why do you bother ever, Getting FA will be super easy.

Ha ha, go then sub because they have First agers, tsk tsk

But developers already call Skrimish Camp legendary vendor as bug. Not as mistake. So everyone who use legendary vendor - bug users and exploiters

[Evil_Chicken]

Wow, It's not an exploit , Majority of playerbase has no clue what a true exploit means. It was mistake from Standing Stone Games which allowed players to simply barter for First age Symbols provided one had enough Medalions to barter and if one logged in early on plus you need Master of the Guild stats and Westfold Crafting proficency. I do not believe Ithil got hit so hard as Anor, less players but I know several with FA already, probably more there are, why do you bother ever, Getting FA will be super easy.

Ha ha, go then sub because they have First agers, tsk tsk

Every possible exploit is due to a mistake on the part of the game maker. That doesn't make it not cheating.

The people who did it knew it wasn't intended. I've seen screenshots of conversations with officers/leaders of both big kins on Anor who exploited them, and both admitted to knowing it was an error on SSG's part. They saw the mistake before RoI launch, didn't say anything about it, and got in there early to see if the bug remained.

[Altair6]

It was mistake from Standing Stone Games which allowed players to simply barter for First age Symbols provided one had enough Medalions to barter

"17. You will not exploit, distribute or publicly communicate any Game error, miscue or bug which gives an unintended advantage within the Game world."

[Evil_Chicken]

"17. You will not exploit, distribute or publicly communicate any Game error, miscue or bug which gives an unintended advantage within the Game world."

Exactly. In Moria, they banned a bunch of people for getting into Enedwaith and Mirkwood and doing some quests. And that wasn't anywhere near the advantage as people got here.

[Welney]

I've seen screenshots of conversations with officers/leaders of both big kins on Anor who exploited them, and both admitted to knowing it was an error on SSG's part. .

I highly doubt that you've seen screenshots of conversations with kin leaders talking about it, if so I'm wondering where, as I have no seen anything about it on Reddit.

However, I only know of one kin that used them. I know some got it to see if it worked.

I 100% doubt anything will be done about it.

[Evil_Chicken]

I highly doubt that you've seen screenshots of conversations with kin leaders talking about it, if so I'm wondering where, as I have no seen anything about it on Reddit.

However, I only know of one kin that used them. I know some got it to see if it worked.

I 100% doubt anything will be done about it.

Well, I guess if it isn't on reddit it doesn't exist!

It was world chat, linked in Discord by friends I have who play on the LS. Wasn't exactly investigative journalism.

They, too, are convinced nothing will happen. And you're probably right. It was so many people that they may as well close the LS for as much money as they'd lose.

I'm just wanting to know how they deal with it, is all. If they leave 1st Ages in there for everyone, I might be interested (though it sort of kills progression and difficulty), and if they ban cheaters and remove their 1st Ages, I'll probably pop over with the prospect of being on a level playing field. But if they just slam the door, lock 1st ages behind T2 content (where they should have been) and let people rule the economy and content with their ill-gotten gains, I probably won't bother.

[icefriend]

I do hope they just wipe whatever first age weapons and symbols there are on the server currently, if that is indeed possible. There are a couple people with legit ones already, but ya gotta break some eggs to make an omelette

[Laubgaenger]

I do hope they just wipe whatever first age weapons and symbols there are on the server currently, if that is indeed possible. There are a couple people with legit ones already, but ya gotta break some eggs to make an omelette

Or you start playing instances and pick up the 1st ages that already drop.


Do you need really a 1st age item to play the game?
Of course it is more fine, to have one if you reach level 75, but as i read it looks like nothing would work for you, if other have one and you not.
In the old times we did some Parts in T2 and others in T1. The Evening before the reset we clear the IDs we had left in T1 or T2, what was with the setup posibble.
We ran x-times the lighting Troll before we were able to clear the path to the Fat Orc on the top.
Yes i see also the Orthanc was down at the 2nd day of release, but does that bring down the fun for me?


An Exploid was e.g. that people use a bug to open essenceboxes that do not vanish. They get a Summerbreak and come back and had the stacks full of them.
I do not judge if that was a fair judge, but as i played the whole summer i get nearly not much essences as the backcomer.
On the funny side, i was really surprised how many player get a break.
But in a Multiplayer game you want to play with others and the server was very empty.


I play atm 3 level over me and there is less that can stop me.
I get killed once, as i picked the whole halforc camp. didnt see that many archers, else it would be worked.
I Main a Captain (My Captains in general believe they are a kind of a champion too).
I use 1st Age 65 Weapon and 1st Age 60 Symbol.
With some Finesse i even kill 75, one by one or at least few.
My gear is good as i Raid 60 and 65. But in core it is more important to use the skills you have, not the items you wear.


And by the way i did an instance and get a 1st age Symbol, even before i reach 75 :-)
Eru has an eye on me.


As i wrote that:
In the worldchat is an offer of a [Repaired Cloak Clasp] for 900g.
And the seller uses also Level 65 Items.

See you Instances. Play with friends and have fun.

[Evil_Chicken]

I mean, you can see how it could be deflating to see everyone else cheating and making their characters better with no effort, right? Especially when that cheating also make it easier for them to get more stuff and then sell it on the auction house, giving them first dibs on all the other good stuff, yeah?

What's worse is that the cheating was done by the biggest raiding kin on the server--the kin that was bragging back when I was playing in Moria about how they were the only good players on the server and were going to be the only ones able to complete T2. The ones complaining about how content was too easy is now cheating to make it easier. And one of their members started a forum thread today about making ToO instances harder, thinking that his kin was using L65 LIs.

[Awelina]

What's worse is that the cheating was done by the biggest raiding kin on the server--the kin that was bragging back when I was playing in Moria about how they were the only good players on the server and were going to be the only ones able to complete T2. The ones complaining about how content was too easy is now cheating to make it easier. And one of their members started a forum thread today about making ToO instances harder, thinking that his kin was using L65 LIs.

Yes, i made a forum post about difficulty of the LVL 75 instances, cause in my opinion they need a buff And no im not using LVL 75 first ages, you can come and inspect me if you want, im never anonymous.
And btw our kin doesnt use the first ages from the vendor. We got 2 first ages Symbols out of Orthanc T2. The rest of the players is using first age LVL 65 or second age LVL 75.

I dont know why people like you always have to make stuff up. You may not like this kinship, but this is still no reason to spread lies if you have no idea what you are talking about.

[Swillador]

Thinking about subbing again and moving over from Ark, but I've heard that progression on the LS is pretty much shot now. Did Ithil get hit by exploiters as hard as Anor did?

There was no exploit on the Legendary Servers. People calling what's happened an exploit are doing extreme mental gymnastics to call it that.

If you went to the Legendary Vendor, a legal NPC in the game, and you saw a First Age Symbol up for barter to be purchased, legally, with Marks and Medallions, that is not, in any way, shape, or form, an exploit. How don't we know that wasn't intended by the developers? What if they decided to implement a policy change whereby they were going to allow players to barter for First Age symbols instead of forcing players to mindlessly grind for them in T2 content? If I'm standing in front of a legal NPC and I have the option to legally buy something that legal vendor is offering, I'm going to assume the developer intended it, and there's nothing wrong with that whatsoever.

Lastly, how does any of this impact your ability to play the game? You can still play. You can still level. You can still craft gear. You can still do raids. You can still find First Age symbols. Why are you so concerned with what other people do and craft? It has literally zero impact on your ability to both play and enjoy the game. You're just choosing to create an issue where there is none. And no, I didn't get any First Age symbols. I'm using Third Age LVL 75 stuff I've managed to find until I can find symbols and make First Age stuff myself. And I couldn't care less if anyone else has First Age stuff already. I'm still able to play the game and enjoy it just fine.

[tgs81]

Who checks the legendary skirmish vendor within minutes of an update for first age tokens? When the skirmish vendors have been level gated from day one.
Who then buys a few dozen of them? And spams the AH with them for 1k+ gold?
Someone trying to cheat.

It impacts everyone because its, shockingly, a multiplayer game. This should have been rolled back as soon as it happened but it seems the legendary servers will die with a whimper instead.

[Evil_Chicken]

Yes, i made a forum post about difficulty of the LVL 75 instances, cause in my opinion they need a buff And no im not using LVL 75 first ages, you can come and inspect me if you want, im never anonymous.
And btw our kin doesnt use the first ages from the vendor. We got 2 first ages Symbols out of Orthanc T2. The rest of the players is using first age LVL 65 or second age LVL 75.

I dont know why people like you always have to make stuff up. You may not like this kinship, but this is still no reason to spread lies if you have no idea what you are talking about.

Seen a number of screenshots suggesting otherwise, as well as reports of a suspicious number of your kin going anonymous all of a sudden. You might not be using them personally since you're a guard, iirc, but let's be real. They didn't barter for these things to not use them.

How don't we know that wasn't intended by the developers? What if they decided to implement a policy change whereby they were going to allow players to barter for First Age symbols instead of forcing players to mindlessly grind for them in T2 content?

Who's doing mental gymnastics here? "Let's release the best instance/raid cluster we've ever made, but make one of the most desired rewards drop from the skirmish camp for a negligible amount of currency because...reasons."

I guarantee not one person who bartered for a symbol the first hour of launch did so because he or she thought it was intended. Especially the people who got dozens of them. And I doubt you're *really* fooled by their feigned ignorance.

[Swillador]

Who checks the legendary skirmish vendor within minutes of an update for first age tokens? When the skirmish vendors have been level gated from day one.
Who then buys a few dozen of them? And spams the AH with them for 1k+ gold?
Someone trying to cheat.

It impacts everyone because its, shockingly, a multiplayer game. This should have been rolled back as soon as it happened but it seems the legendary servers will die with a whimper instead.

People who are smart will check the vendor to see if they're there. Again, there's nothing wrong with that, because for all we know, being able to buy symbols with marks and medallions may have been intended by SSG.

This impacts no one. You can still get them as drops from raids. You can still raid without FA weapons. You can still play the game. Again, this is zero impact on you and your ability to play and enjoy the game. Period.

[Swillador]

"Let's release the best instance/raid cluster we've ever made, but make one of the most desired rewards drop from the skirmish camp for a negligible amount of currency because...reasons."

Absolutely, 100%. SSG has made numerous bone-headed decisions in the past. How am I not supposed to know this isn't just another one of those bone-headed decisions? For all I know, they made a decision that, due to the limited amount of time available to play content before the next area is released, they wanted to give players more time to enjoy playing with First Age gear and less time mindlessly grinding for resources of said gear, never or hardly getting to use it before the next update is released, and so because of that, they decided to make the symbols vendor-able. That's not at all an unreasonable perspective to take.

You don't have to like the situation or agree with the people who got them, but that doesn't mean it's an exploit and that certainly doesn't make them cheaters. In doing so, you're just using the language poorly to craft a narrative you WANT to be true so you can be outraged.

[Onyi]

I 100% agree that the symbols being available was a severe mistake. But mistakes happen and I think SSG reacted fast, which I appreciate. Regarding future decisions I am not in the know of which options they have - I hope they are able to track vendor interactions and reset those accordingly.

With this being said - I really don't think this is the place to accuse others of cheating and lying in regards to how content is approached. In Mirage we have a very clear policy to not use any of the bartered symbols and none of our instance-runs include a single member using these. As previously stated we have 2 symbols due to completing ToO T2C Lightning, the rest of us are using lv. 65 FA or lv. 75 2nd age. If you don't believe me - there are countless hours of me streaming Instance-runs with the Kinship whilst discussing overall balance as well as this very specific issue.

There is even video footage of me and ariama discovering that the symbols are available and discussing in length what impact it would have on the server as well as us reacting to the vendors being disabled.

So YES to hoping there is some sort of roll-back for any vendor transactions made on launch and NO to anyone believing that balancing issue's pointed out by kin-members are in any way, shape or form connected to us using ill-gotten symbols to undermine the natural progression of the expansion.

[Heilfels]

Seen a number of screenshots suggesting otherwise, as well as reports of a suspicious number of your kin going anonymous all of a sudden. You might not be using them personally since you're a guard, iirc, but let's be real. They didn't barter for these things to not use them.




Who's doing mental gymnastics here? "Let's release the best instance/raid cluster we've ever made, but make one of the most desired rewards drop from the skirmish camp for a negligible amount of currency because...reasons."

I guarantee not one person who bartered for a symbol the first hour of launch did so because he or she thought it was intended. Especially the people who got dozens of them. And I doubt you're *really* fooled by their feigned ignorance.

First of all this thread is the definition of trololo because NO ONE CARES , no one ... literally ... cares (haha he said literally).
Anyway i'd like to add a few cent, i do not have any proof of what i'm saying tho so trust me or not.

When RoI was released on LS it took ~20 minutes til the first splurted out in discord 'fa are available for barter in skirm camp' - one representative of mirages leadership answered to that within less than a minute: 'Write a ticket and create a forum thread'
SSG for once did not react like treebeard and disabled the legendary vendor really quick yet a few minutes after they did some people tried to sell the freshly bartered fa in /trade - none of them was member of mirage - so you are - L I T E R A L L Y - talking bull####. REPORTS OF A SUSPICIOUS NUMBER OF PLAYERS GOING ANON - i would say this made my day if it were not 2 am, go ahead inspector gadget

back to topic: no one cares

[LotroVidz]

I think there are more important issues on the LS right now. Like why they cant balance stuff on landscape and in instances.
SSG disabled the vendor really fast and I dont think that many people got it, I didn't. And I rather grind for it than instant barter it. We have months to go so..

[Cordovan]

Cleaned up some particularly inappropriate stuff including naming and shaming. The thread's done.