A power-gaming exploit that needs fixin

[ColonelPanic]

I know (at least I have been told in game that this is what is going on), that some players actaully take turns logging into certain accounts, to in effect allow a character to be "on-line" 24-7 in order to power-level faster than the rest of the population.

What this adds up to is an exploit that allows a group of people, to get the advantage over the rest of the playing population in the early period of the worlds'existance. This is not speculation, its a fact.

This would not be too tough to prevent either.
You state in the rules that this behavior is considered an exploit, and being found doing it can result in having that account banned.
If you log the IP and the time logged in you can tell this activity is happening.

Unless it is the game designers intentions to let a tiny minority of powergamers dictate and dominate gameplay in the early months, something should be done, after all isn't about not letting a small group of people kill the fun for everyone else? yeah sure some people play alot, but no-one plays 24-7-365

Or
set a max level achievable over periods of real-time, and if a character hits that cap, they earn no more xp.
If they wanna keep playing that char, no problem, go ahead, have fun, just no group-power-gaming it up. Or the same person could play another char or check out another faction, or get a job like the rest of the general population.

jsut my 2c

[JesterOI]

BS.

If they put the time into the character, they should get the benefits.

Where in the rules does it state that you and a friend can't play the same character?
http://www.nsrealm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?t=26

Now, don't make me pull the baby out on you!!!

[Gil-Este]

if thats what they want to do i see no problem with it. sure those characters are going to level up faster, but there are also going to be numerous people vying for the privilege of playing that character at any one time. so in my mind there are two courses of development. first, after doing this for a while most players will realize its more fun to have exclusive rights to a character than to have to share a more powerful character with the people who have access to that account. second, if they still want to be able to level characters really fast and want to function as a group to do so, they will have to level multiple characters using this technique, basically negating much of the benefits of quickly leveling a single character using multiple people because in essence they will need multiple characters to correspond to the number of people. (sorry if the above sentence doesn't make any sense i'm pretty tired)

moreover, this is essentially no different than the single player who is on "24/7." do you think we should limit the amount of time any one player is allowed to spend on the mod because it allows for an "unfair" advantage?

[Æ]

Wow, Neversummer is really dead... this doesn't feel right at all

Hey maybe they're brothers sharing a character or something, and probably little kids who don't have to work

I have a very good job thanks, likely making far more than you do and making more of a contribution... argh.. so many condescending arrogant people around here lately. Don't be so blantantly jealous, it's really rather pathetic

[OkieWanKenobi]

Who's spamming? I have plenty of valid points to make... besides I'm working and making money right now at home (god i love my job lol) that's why i can occasionally look at these things and add to them... And my goal, as should be the goal of all posters here, was to offer suggestions on how to improve the world... which I think is alot more productive than trolling the forums insulting people, without anything of worth to contribute to the conversation, like you ferret.

Hmm, I thought you were leaving. Guess you changed your mind? If not, can I have your rapiers?

[Æ]

Mz talked me into coming back after the beta, because she loves me lol, and I love her --runs from Mr and his scythe-- lol

I won't be around much but I'll be back to give it one more chance when things develop more... not that you care, and I don't care if you do

And that picture to the left is one of my old NS3 characters, if those vorpal rapiers are what you mean }: )

[JesterOI]

You seem fine to me except for seeming to take things too personally. I had a bit of that problem when I first started too. At present though, I'm probably at the opposite end, I take almost nothing personally and forget that other people can (but they SHOULDN'T).

[powerferret]

awwwwww...my pretty pic got deleted...oh well, next time ill find a smaller one in hopes it might slip by the spam police

[KillingSheep]

I know (at least I have been told in game that this is what is going on), that some players actaully take turns logging into certain accounts, to in effect allow a character to be "on-line" 24-7 in order to power-level faster than the rest of the population.

What this adds up to is an exploit that allows a group of people, to get the advantage over the rest of the playing population in the early period of the worlds'existance. This is not speculation, its a fact.

This would not be too tough to prevent either.
You state in the rules that this behavior is considered an exploit, and being found doing it can result in having that account banned.
If you log the IP and the time logged in you can tell this activity is happening.

Unless it is the game designers intentions to let a tiny minority of powergamers dictate and dominate gameplay in the early months, something should be done, after all isn't about not letting a small group of people kill the fun for everyone else? yeah sure some people play alot, but no-one plays 24-7-365

Or
set a max level achievable over periods of real-time, and if a character hits that cap, they earn no more xp.
If they wanna keep playing that char, no problem, go ahead, have fun, just no group-power-gaming it up. Or the same person could play another char or check out another faction, or get a job like the rest of the general population.

jsut my 2c

Amazing how people give a sh*t about the most mundane of things.

[JesterOI]

Who gives a sh*t!

[KillingSheep]

Who gives a sh*t!

Hitler and Jesus.

[DM Clang]

The only problem developing from this would be in-direct.

Lets say 4 people keep a fighter-type char always logged in till he hits mid 20s in level.

Then they make another one this time caster type.

By the time the caster hits Mid 20's (both getting 4 people playing them and using very loose math) the vast majority of the server will be well under 20th level.

The boredom having that kind of advantage will most likely lead to things that would be considered player griefing.

It also will end up as meta-gaming...
Using those characters to supply individual "personal" characters.

MY PROBLEM with meta-gaming.
I got a uber leveled tank with some xtra gear that has no small value.
Why in the world would that person, if real, "GIVE" stuff to another char.

[Myad]

you're right clang. Sadly, NS4 isn't RP so metagaming has no real moral.

I'm pro-RP on NS for that reason and others.

As for sharing accounts... So what? It's seriously not that big a deal, and the same as getting in a party and going to a harder area than you usually would be able to.

[AndrewCarr]

I don't see how this idea would work.NS apparently prides itself on being available to all internet users, or most, those with 56k and up connections. By tracking ip addresses and log out times, all you'll do is hurt dialup players that play often as their ip's change all the time.

[Gil-Este]

yeah but all the ips will be more or less the same. and the pattern of ip changes on any one account could be tracked according to an algorithm to determine irregular change patterns. especially if there are two or three constantly changing IPs with one static one stuck in there. especially if the character is online almost 24/7, because then the ip address wouldnt change so much