Exploits

[unclemike]

Effective Immediately (as of Jan 15 2017 10:00am EST)

The following exploits have been corrected and now apply for all games:

• Groups may not intercept your own kingdom group
  
• Emissaries may not rebel their own kingdom controlled popcenters
  
• Trades with other kingdoms now have the following limitations: (1) only one trade is permitted with a kingdom per turn, and (2) maximum resource amount to be traded/received is 100,000 (that's before Trick of the Trade bonus so if the Halfling receives 100,000 gold from another it'll actually be 125,000 gold after the trait bonus is applied). The resource limit does not apply for trading with the open market (order #200) but does for gifting another (order #215).
  

I apologize if this isn't enough of time to adjust your actions for an upcoming turn but these exploits have to be fixed immediately or current games may become further unbalanced if they continue. The trade situation in particular resolves a serious issue where certain players are exchanging rather large amounts of food/gold in a transaction fairly early in the game and its tripping my alarms in the code.

I placed some tripwires to detect excessively large transaction amounts for a turn (like trading over 200k gold before turn 10) but some of them are even being tripped as early as turn 5! If this occurs in a single player Steel game, such combination of two treasuries among friends will offset the balance of the game for the others. So the problem had to be fixed quickly or games will become further unbalanced. Hence, the immediate response to these exploits but I do apologize for not being able to provide a more advanced notice to adjust your actions for an upcoming turn.

Press your browser refresh button to pick up the latest order entry validation code.

BTW, if you identify a way to exploit the game, please send Support an email about it and we'll address the issue as soon as we can. Let's try to make the game better in that respect and provide the means for fairer competition for everyone!

[Drogo]

It's good that you cannot cross seas with groups (without sufficient fleets) intercepting your own kingdoms groups. This needed to be fixed but do you have to kill all 732 orders with your own groups to do it? In early games I like to issue 725 orders together with 732 orders to combine troops. That seems like it should remain if possible but it's a much bigger deal to fix the exploit so if that is the only way to do then it's worth it.

[Atuan]

okay i understand steel games for trading but you have greatly impacted trades on team games(warlord etc) and that is a problem that impacts games as well with zero warning!!!! What is the issues with emissaries rebeling their own PCs. That has been in the game for such a long time.

[unclemike]

okay i understand steel games for trading but you have greatly impacted trades on team games(warlord etc) and that is a problem that impacts games as well with zero warning!!!!  What is the issues with emissaries rebeling their own PCs.  That has been in the game for such a long time.

Yes, both Rick and I understand the impact of quickly fixing exploits where they may cause a situation for an upcoming turn but we also have to consider the disaster of leaving exploits in games for several turns/weeks and such causing a snowball effect on them. If we act now then we avert a disaster of games becoming unbalanced by a large margin.

We also discussed the single player vs team aspect in possibly allowing free, unlimited trades for team games and their impact on others during gameplay (or for those who want to cannibalize a position to favor of developing the other two in a warlord game).

We also discussed different alternatives such as a laddering effect for trades of allowing say 50k resource transfers for turns 1-10, 100k to exchange hands during turns 11-20, and unlimited amounts after turn 20.

In the end, after considering all of the above factors and more, it was decided that the best approach was to make the 100k resource limit apply for all games (both single and team) and only allow one trade transaction per kingdom per turn.

About the no-warning situation, I placed additional error messages relevant to the new changes on the order entry website which will display when you validate your orders. In the future, we'll have an email alert messaging system where all the players are notified via email of the change but we're hoping that this sort of situation doesn't happen very often. We really do try to give as much of an advanced notice as possible to all whenever possible but we also ask everyone to try to understand that at times, we will need to update the system fairly quickly if the situation requires us to do so.

[VballMichael]

Thanks for fixing exploits.

[Ry Vor]

I really value sportsmanship and to play within the intentions of the game, and I am very negative on exploits.  I'm disappointed they aren't reported.  Seriously, does someone think multiple trades with the same kingdom to create gold out of nothing to take advantage of a loophole in Trick of the Trade is just fine, taking advantage of your fellow players?  Have your Baron tell your people to rebel against your king?  Intercept your own group to nullify a terrain restriction?  Come on.  It feels like cheating at golf.  Yeah, maybe Rick should have anticipated every possible breach, or Mike should have had more trip wires, but really, this is about the integrity of the game and I am adamant.  I will be disappointed if someone supports these exploits.  I haven't been hot in quite a while, this is close though. 

There is a game, Star Web by Flying Buffalo.  They have 1.5 pages of rules (maybe 8 paragraphs, not atypical for Flying Buffalo games) and there are four different actions you can take.  They don't have loopholes.  So, is that better design?  I can give the url if anyone thinks that's their kind of game. 

We try to create the most engrossing, entertaining, deep, unpredictable, exciting turn based strategy games anywhere among humans instead of AI.  And we work all the time to make it even better. We like to think we succeed, and have the trophies and reviews to back up the claim.  I want to keep it that way. I've asked Charles (Suspense & Decision) and others to let me know what other "major" PBEM's have done in the last five years to improve their game experience. Have no answers.

[RELLGAR]

I Didn't Realize ToT  was an exploit. I think there's  many better ways to limit it than what it used now. Why not just program a 100k resource cap on the ToT Bonus? This way all other 200 orders will still work like intended. The way it is now affects  many other kingdom orders and limit other aspects of the game that has nothing to do with ToT. You don't  get any ToT bonus with a gift, so why would be affected Anyhow? If this change can be fixed, please let us know. If not then I see many kingdoms being dropped and much loss of players and revenue. 

Rellgar

[RELLGAR]

I really value sportsmanship and to play within the intentions of the game, and I am very negative on exploits.  I'm disappointed they aren't reported.  Seriously, does someone think multiple trades with the same kingdom to create gold out of nothing to take advantage of a loophole in Trick of the Trade is just fine, taking advantage of your fellow players?  Have your Baron tell your people to rebel against your king?  Intercept your own group to nullify a terrain restriction?  Come on.  It feels like cheating at golf.  Yeah, maybe Rick should have anticipated every possible breach, or Mike should have had more trip wires, but really, this is about the integrity of the game and I am adamant.  I will be disappointed if someone supports these exploits.  I haven't been hot in quite a while, this is close though. 

There is a game, Star Web by Flying Buffalo.  They have 1.5 pages of rules (maybe 8 paragraphs, not atypical for Flying Buffalo games) and there are four different actions you can take.  They don't have loopholes.  So, is that better design?  I can give the url if anyone thinks that's their kind of game. 

We try to create the most engrossing, entertaining, deep, unpredictable, exciting turn based strategy games anywhere among humans instead of AI.  And we work all the time to make it even better.  We like to think we succeed, and have the trophies and reviews to back up the claim.  I want to keep it that way.  I've asked Charles (Suspense & Decision) and others to let me know what other "major"  PBEM's have done in the last five years to improve their game experience.  Have no answers.

I like all the fixes except for ToT, basically the way it was fixed. It's now broken.

[Ohman the heartless]

Please explain to me why the sale of an artifact, or the ransoming of am emissary in the same turn is an exploit. I totally agree with the exploits outlined above should be addressed. But the limitation to 1 trade only between the same kingdoms seems a little excessive to me. Why should I have to wait 3 turns to ransom 3 different emissaries if I have the gold, and the prisoner holding kingdom is in agreement. Tides of war change, and if the enemy of my enemy wants to return the emissaries he captures from that same enemy to me all in the same turn, why is that an exploit. Convince me please!

[Ry Vor]

Please explain to me why the sale of an artifact, or the ransoming of am emissary in the same turn is an exploit.  I totally agree with the exploits outlined above should be addressed.  But the limitation to 1 trade only between the same kingdoms seems a little excessive to me.  Why should I have to wait 3 turns to ransom 3 different emissaries if I have the gold, and the prisoner holding kingdom is in agreement.  Tides of war change, and if the enemy of my enemy wants to return the emissaries he captures from that same enemy to me all in the same turn, why is that an exploit.  Convince me please!

You make one trade with a given kingdom per turn.  If this was basically any other board, PC, or PBEM game among humans, they certainly wouldn't have allowed it.  And its clearly an exploit.  "Send me 100,000 gold in trade and I will send you back 125,000 for your artifact.  Trade me again the same trade.  We just made a fortune."

Come on.   Trick of the Trade is not supposed to be Alamaze's Channel / Fireball.  You can make maybe 25,000 extra gold per turn when you have your rails greased.  That's what it's intended to be at maximum, not some really bad form.