My goodbye forever rant

[Ragz]

Nah I'm not even leaving; that title was just too provocative to pass up. I'm just posting this log in the interest of transparency. I don't think a warning is a big deal for people that aren't intentionally bad actors, so I was perfectly happy to let the issue drop after the warning was issued. This is really all the information we have regarding this issue.

Together with a few of my closest associates, in secret, we formed what would later come to be known as "The Coraesine Cabal." That's what some people's interpretation of the message from staff would have you believe anyway. The truth is way more lame, unfortunately. Here's a log of my time in the slammer:
https://pastebin.com/LmAT7vFN

Aaaand that's about all I know. The "pretty damning evidence" has yet to make an appearance, but the best we can figure is that someone found some chat on our discord server that was construed as malicious intent.

tl;dr
The log is the only communication I've received from staff on the matter.

[Parkbandit]

• >report Hello! I have been in the Consultation Lounge for over four hours and have not seen or heard anything from anyone. I understand that I have done something wrong and am not a priority. Is there a time I could arrange to come back to meet someone.. or what?
  
• REPORT should only be used to notify the GemStone IV staff of emergency situations or gamewide technical errors. Please use ASSIST for general support.
  
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• Message sent to all online game staff. While no staff members are currently on duty, there are likely to be several lurking behind the scenes to investigate your report. If you feel the need to speak with the staff, please type ASSIST for a list of options.
  
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• Note that only GameMasters receive reports, not GameHosts.
  
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• SEND[Mazreth] I'll be with you in just a moment.
  
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• You say, "Hello sir."
  
• Mazreth says, "Afternoon."
  
• You nod to Mazreth in greeting.
  
• >l maz
  
• Mazreth says, "Sorry for the delay, I needed to figure out why you were in here."
  
• You see GameMaster Mazreth.
  
• He appears to be a Klingon.
  
• He appears to be one super fly dude dressed in a mezmerizing combination of awesomesauce and golden win.
  
• He has a pair of white-feathered wings protruding from his back and wrapped protectively around him.
  
• He has several gnarly tattoos of nymphs in various stages of undress frolicking up and down his arms.
  
• A palpable aura of intense badassery emanates from his very person.
  
• He is in good shape.
  
• He is wearing an ensemble too impressive for you to fully comprehend.
  
• Mazreth asks, "Though I suppose you already know?"
  
• You nod understandingly.
  
• You say, "I have a suspicious."
  
• You say, "Err."
  
• Mazreth says, "If not we can go over it."
  
• You say, "Suspicion."
  
• You say, "I would very much like to go over it."
  
• Mazreth says, "Sure."
  
• You say, "However."
  
• You say, "I know your time is valuable."
  
• Mazreth says, "So you are here to be issued an official warning for Game Mechanics Abuse bsed upon exploitation of an enchanting bug."
  
• Mazreth says, "That's as sussinct as I can make it."
  
• You say, "Okay."
  
• You say, "I understand and accept the punishment."
  
• Mazreth says, "There's no lockout or anything else with the warning based upon your relatively good prior record."
  
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• ***
  
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• ************************************************** ******
  
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• Ragz, this is an official warning, that engaging in system mechanics abuse is against GemStone IV policy. If you persist in ignoring these warnings, you risk losing permanent access to GemStone IV on all of your accounts.
  
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• If you feel this warning was received in error, please speak to a GameHost by typing ASSIST REQUEST.
  
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• You can also learn more about GemStone IV policies online, by typing POLICY while in the game or by visiting http://www.play.net/gs4/gamepolicy.asp.
  
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• ************************************************** ***********
  
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• Mazreth says, "If you haven't read the post from Coase concerning GMA in general I can link you to that as it might better explain policy regarding bugs."
  
• Mazreth says, "Http://forums.play.net/forums/GemStone%20IV/GemStone%20IV%20Announcements/Important%20Announcements/view/3446."
  
• You ask, "For my own edification, may I please be directed to the "documents and version notes" referenced in GM Coase's Policy post?"
  
• You say, "Yes, sir, I have read it."
  
• You say, "Many times."
  
• Mazreth says, "Now you're going to make me read it."
  
• You say, "I don't understand why I'm being punished here, but I don't want to make you have to explain it to me."
  
• You say, "I know that's not your job."
  
• You say, "So I will glady go over the documentation if I can just be directed to it."
  
• Mazreth says, "Well, since all I have are the notes to go on, I can say that a discussion about intentions to exploit the bug before it was discovered are the primary reason anyone and everyone involoved is getting a warning."
  
• Mazreth says, "Let me see if I can find the documentation he's referring to."
  
• You say, "Yes, sir, I understand that it's been labeled as intentions to exploit the bug, but I don't understand how I am supposed to have known it was a bug."
  
• You say, "I only cast the spell."
  
• You say, "I didn't even get an item."
  
• Mazreth says, "You've played long enough to know what metals shouldn't be enchantable and if they are...."
  
• Mazreth says, "You should know beetter."
  
• You say, "The 925 spell was just updated, sir."
  
• Mazreth says, "You didn't just start playing this game."
  
• Mazreth says, "I realize that, but nowhere was it released that suddenly you can enchant new things."
  
• You say, "We were encouraged to experiment on old previously unenchantable items."
  
• You say, "Respectfully, I disagree sir."
  
• You say, "I can link you the forums posts."
  
• Mazreth says, "So what Coase is referring to by "documentation and version notes" is Policy 7 specifically."
  
• Mazreth says, "So if you've read policy 7, you've read what he's referring to."
  
• You say, "Okay."
  
• You say, "I have read it."
  
• You ask, "It is understood that I did not profit from this action?"
  
• Mazreth says, "It is."
  
• You say, "Thank you."
  
• Mazreth says, "You're welcome."
  
• Mazreth says, "I just happened to see your report and didn't want you to languish in here. If you'd like I can set you up with an SGM referral to speak with Coase about it."
  
• Mazreth says, "Or you can reach out to feedback."
  
• You say, "I would consider the issue closed at the end of our conversation here unless escalating it is required."
  
• Mazreth says, "It is not required and that's fair by me."
  
• Mazreth says, "I just wanted you to have the option."
  
• Mazreth says, "If you desired."
  
• You say, "Perfect."
  
• Mazreth says, "In that case, I jknow your time is as valuable as mine so I'll set you back down."
  
• You say, "Thank you."
  
• Mazreth says, "You're welcome. Thank you for handling this professionally."
  
• Mazreth says, "I appreciate it."
  
• Mazreth says, "Have fun, report all bugs."
  
• Mazreth winks.
  
• You say, "Yeah."
  
• The world grows blurry and indistinct. After a moment everything becomes clear again. Looking about, you see...

[Parkbandit]

Just in case it goes poof later on before I can read it.

[Parkbandit]

There has to be more to it than that though. If you just tried to enchant coraesine and found it to now be enchantable, I don't think that is what the announcement was about... especially given your reasoning of: "We were encouraged to experiment on old previously unenchantable items."

[Murrandii]

Many people suspected high ranking among the HotA. Guess we were right!

Big respect Ragz for your coming out clean

[Fortybox]

The GM was right. Someone like Ragz should have known that an item like this shouldn't be enchantable (or at the very least EXTREMELY difficult), yet they did so anyways.

I love the lawyering in the log though.

[m444w]

I too am one of the Evil, H@Z0r, Coraesine Cabal!

Here is a lovely post by Naos on the official forums:

The intention is to open up more items to be potentially enchanted that strictly could not have been even tempered in the past due to their properties.

Many items will still not be able to be enchanted due to any number of factors that are intended. Some materials are not enchantable; some scripted item are not enchantable, and so on.

When I say this, I don't mean "difficult to enchant and you might be able to enchant them with effort".

I mean literally not able to be enchanted because we don't want those items to be enchanted, for whatever reason.
-- Naos ---

http://forums.play.net/forums/GemSto...zard/view/1134
[formatting is mine]

I interpreted this post as though it was up to us to experiment and figure out what we can and couldn't enchant going forward.

Here is a few of my personal logs from experimenting:

Level 66 wizard:

You sense that the coraesine spear already bears an enchantment and that this enchantment is completely beyond your abilities.

Level 100 wizard (150 wizard ranks):

You sense that the coraesine spear already bears an enchantment and that you can only fail to enchant it if you are horribly unlucky.

It's not like a level 25 wizard could enchant these things with no effort, nor was this some infinite enchanting bug.

They were very hard to enchant for the average (not post capped) wizard through my experimentation, though I admittedly did not have access to any wizards between 66 & 100 for testing.

Low steel and high steel also became enchantable during this release, and apparently that is now confirmed not to be buggy (until Coase changes his mind again).

Guess it's my fault for being an idiot and not knowing this was an obvious bug.

[Suppa Hobbit Mage]

Without explicit spell update notes, I don't see how SIMU could punish anyone. If I understand correctly, new materials could be enchanted that previously were not and no one said explicitly these are now enchantable (therefore identifying those that remained NOT enchantable).

Maybe SIMU should provide real QA and spell notes/documentation instead of blaming their paying customers.

[Parkbandit]

The GM was right. Someone like Ragz should have known that an item like this shouldn't be enchantable (or at the very least EXTREMELY difficult), yet they did so anyways.

I love the lawyering in the log though.

Was the GM right though? Literally, a new version of enchanting comes out and literally GMs were saying that this will open up new materials to be enchantable and that the players should experiment.

Players experimented and they found items made from coraesine were now enchantable.

If I were one of these players that received a warning.. and that's really the extent of what happened.. I would fight the warning.

[Fortybox]

I too am one of the Evil, H@Z0r, Coraesine Cabal!

Here is a lovely post by Naos on the official forums:


http://forums.play.net/forums/GemSto...zard/view/1134
[formatting is mine]

I interpreted this post as though it was up to us to experiment and figure out what we can and couldn't enchant going forward.

Here is a few of my personal logs from experimenting:

Level 66 wizard:


Level 100 wizard (150 wizard ranks):


It's not like a level 25 wizard could enchant these things with no effort, nor was this some infinite enchanting bug.

They were very hard to enchant for the average (not post capped) wizard through my experimentation, though I admittedly did not have access to any wizards between 66 & 100 for testing.

Low steel and high steel also became enchantable during this release, and apparently that is now confirmed not to be buggy (until Coase changes his mind again).

Guess it's my fault for being an idiot and not knowing this was an obvious bug.

STFU - you're full of it.

Reply Reply
The intention is to open up more items to be potentially enchanted that strictly could not have been even tempered in the past due to their properties. Many items will still not be able to be enchanted due to any number of factors that are intended. Some materials are not enchantable; some scripted item are not enchantable, and so on. When I say this, I don't mean "difficult to enchant and you might be able to enchant them with effort". I mean literally not able to be enchanted because we don't want those items to be enchanted, for whatever reason.

Someone like you, especially you, should know that coraesine shouldn't have been that easy. Stop being retarded.