What is considered cheating

[Mikara]

I would like to tell you what happened this weekend and get some info back from you all...

I am a crafter in these games, its what I enjoy since making money and helping my guild are the best things out there for me.

So when I found out (by process of elimination) what the best thing to craft was, I went ahead and made a bunch of that item... it did require alot of time and danger (I died many times and thanks to Khain and Commodos for helping me get back 5 shards) harvesting or buying the resourses and/or having others help gather them. The best return for the money was thread at an output of 12 copper and the time spent running around finding roots, for a return of 1 silver 25 copper when sold back to the NPC in the crafting rooms.

I did not set the price for this item, the programmers did.
In my oppion part of being a crafter/merchant is finding out what the best return for you money is... I find what people need and make it or buy it from someone else and re-sell for a profit. Most of the time I donate a percent to the guild or make so many items per run for guild use. this usually benifts everyone.

This weekend the crafting of thread was suspended by the devs untill further investigation. This also but a hold on any armor I was crafting and a lot of furniture and weapons that needed this item, I think that was uncalled for.

I dont think that what i was doing was wrong, I was crafting all day Thursday/Friday and most of the day Saturday while my fellow players were out leveling up there fighters. I did not make an enormous amount of money (maybe 70s) and probally not as much as some fighters did while questing during that time. I did not cheat the system by programming or macro-ing or by cheating another player. what I did in my oppion was an honest deal.

Anyway I was accused of cheating by a player who sold me roots for 10c each and since I do not want to bring a bad reputaion to the guild I need to ask what you guys think about this...

Is (in your oppion) finding the best deal, an exploit? and should I not craft for a profit?

I will honor the majority decision and continue my craft or cease crafting dpending on what you all say...Thanks for your input on this.

Mikara

[Renvik]

Always always always, without a doubt find the best deal. That's the life blood of being a crafter, and as long as you are there clicking the keys, you are experiencing the game how it was designed and that is in no way cheating.

But along with this should come the knowledge that anything that can be exploited in these games will be. While you are making the items honestly, someone out there will figure out a way to make them dishonestly (macroing, 3rd party programs, etc). Personally I draw the line when 3rd party programs come into play, but as long as you're not taking advantage of a game bug (like item duping) then you go and do as much as you can, but be prepared for a nerf since the devs will typically shut down anything that is found to have an excessive return fairly quickly.

So in short, in game crafting prices are deffinitely fair game as long as you are physically making each one of them, and take advantage while you can cause they will most likely be shut down.
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[Smawl]

the same thing can be done with some of the alchemy combines. it was brought to the devs attention, and like your situation it's being looked after. now i read about it, and did consider "farming", but passed on the "opportunity".

if you came across the bonus payday through your own honest efforts and did the leg work (sounds like you did) then it's legit. if you read about the 'exploit' and ran out and started crafting with the pure intention of making profit then I'de say let your concious be your guide... only YOU can judge YOUR intentions/actions.

now if you went out a wrote an autobot script and farmed half a million platinum while you were sleeping... then I'de say that was outright cheating.

and if you feel really bad you can give me all the silver and everything will be better
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dead drunk monk

[Jazz]

NOT cheating IMO for all the same reasons the windbags above said.

[Tanadil]

Did Jazz just say that!! HAHAHA!
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Tanadel Talonleaf - Great Grandchild of Tanadil Truecaller of EQ1---lvl 54 Ranja
Luthyien - lvl 23 cleric (wishes could be a Fury)
Anyone want a slice of /Pizza Click to enter and WIN!

[Buchalter]

There's an old saying that goes, "If you ain't cheatin' you ain't tryin'"



If they put it in the game, it's fair game. It's not your fault you found a good deal and a way to make money. When I played EQ1 there used to be a blacksmithing combine called "Silvered Long Swords". They cost about 30 plat to make and sold for about 150 plat. With a blacksmith and an enchanter working together you could easily make about 3000 plat per hour - 3500 if you didn't fail too much. I personally worked with another former ES member to make a lot of decent money this way. Do I think I cheated? Absolutely not. I wasn't doing anything that wasn't allowed within the rules of the game - I bought materials, I pressed "combine", and I sold what I made back to merchants.

That being said, as soon as it became pretty well know that this existed, the devs quickly changed the resale on Silvered Long Swords to about 10 plat. The party was over.

The ONLY time I would consider it cheating is what Lud said - when you use a macro that does all the work for you while you're AFK. That's NOT something that they put into the game - that's something that you added to get the advantage. That, in my book, is cheating.

But again... read my first sentence!

[Kaerai]

Everyone goes out to find the best bang for their buck. IRL or in game. If I found an item that cost me little to make and could sell it for a lot I sure as heck would do it. So would anyone else. We are talking MINIMAL income here. Average drop in antonica whether it be meat or bones or weapons sells for between 30 to 60 copper. So 4 dropes of canine saliva equals 1 item you crafted. It probably takes just as much time to craft that stuff as it does to go out and kill 4 gnolls. I think it is something that will be nerfed eventually. However, it's not like you are making a "killing". We are talking a little over 1 silver profit. Not an exploit. An exploit is where you can make MASS amounts of money in little time with minimal effort.

Don't feel guilty. The person who claimed you were cheating is probably out there right now looking for the exact same components to "cash in" himself. You didn't set the price or the required components. It's not a massive eploit. In fact it is so minimal that I wouldn't be suprised if the devs put it on the back burner to take care of more critical matters. Eventually they may nerf it, but so long as you are not breaking any rules I say continue on and let the whiners go find some tissue.
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[Kyrith]

They'll get rid of it as soon as they find it, because it's bad for the economy, but I wouldn't worry about doing it. It was a mistake on their part, and it's their fault for not checking that sort of thing. You think they'd learn after doing this many, many times in EQ1.

[Mike]

/bow Mikara...Good job girl. All you are doing is playing by the rules they established. No blood no foul. and tell whoever is whining to shut their hole cause they didnt figure it our first haha

[Jazz]

I knew the other windbags couldn't resist not replying.

You frigging people type to fast. (this took me every bit of 30 seconds to type)

/wtb typing class

[Mikara]

Well they put it back up and now we take a loss of 10c to sell it back, but I am making armor for anyone who wants it, all I need is to cover the cost of materials...

[Sathak]