A massive (and almost game-breaking) exploit has been found and dealt with in EVE Online - and done so clearly and openly.
Exploits and the result bannings that follow there uncovering are nothing particularly new when it comes to MMOs. We've all heard of gold farmers' accounts getting suspended in WoW, and similar tales from all major players in the market are common.
What's not common is when the devs are as open as the EVE Online crowd has been about some of its recent issues.
An exploit that had earned some sneaky types in-game currency to the value of thousands of real dollars was discovered back in December last year, and CPP Games promised to pursue the matter. Well, not only have they done that, but they've just released their findings, and they are... exhaustive.
I'm no EVE player (I kind of subscribe to Yahtzee's opinion of the game), but the sheer openess of the manner in which CPP has handled this exploit and its fix - and the possibility of future exploits - is frankly heartwarming. Well, if your heart is as fond of MMOs as mine is.
For the full frank disclosure, you can check out EVE's Dev Blog. A warning, though - it's not light reading and I'm sure even hardened EVE fans might find it tough going. But it's still worth skimming, if only as an example of community accountability.
Issue: 133 | February, 2012