Were we right to let you know?

Brit · 03-06-1999 8:45am #1

Planet-Tribes.com isn't afraid of breaking the mould - its something at the very core of our editorial ethos.

The other day, we took a decision to lay bare the so called 'inventory station cheat' in all its glory, complete with a demo.

This follows on from us doing the same with the Scout 'cheat', the rapid fire mortar bug, and various others.

Planet-Tribes.com is the only site to work this way. The other big sites prefer to go all coy and pretend that such problems don't exist, instead posting mystical messages about them having contacted 'the Dev Team'..

We also speak with the Dev Team, but like everyone else, they are normal people - none of this bull crap about sitting on info.

So, my question is this : Do you agree with posting such information ? Or would you rather see such stuff supressed ?

IMHO - publishing it is the best option. Cheating only works because you have an advantage that no-one else knows about. We operate on the principle that if *everyone* knows about it, the problem gets fixed quicker - and that we will always post information that is of use to the community (or affects the community) as a whole.

Your thoughts on this?

--Brit--
Editor, Planet-Tribes.com
Editor, Tribesplayers.co.uk
Editor, EuroTribes.com (don't ask!)

Dr_Teeth · 03-06-1999 9:22am

Security through Obscurity if fundamentally flawed. Of course you should publish - just as l0pht.com should continue publicising and producing exploits for Windows NT security holes.

Teeth.

SS 02 Coyote · 03-06-1999 9:23am

Agreed!

Now that my thought for the day out of the way I can get back to mindless work.

Regards,

[SS-02]Coyote
"Abandon All Hope!"

SS 01 Ripper · 03-06-1999 10:08am

yes..plus it's the only way it's going to get fixed. if no one knows about it, it wont be fixed, unless of course they do fix it, but we don't know about it, so we never knew anything was wrong, so it wont seem that they fixed anything...hmm...but yes..continue publishing

ChungKing · 03-06-1999 12:53pm

no yer right coyote - nobody who posts on these boards is argumentative at all...no really

lol

tHE vAGGABOND · 03-06-1999 1:16pm

yes they are

The Vaggabond of the Western World
Electric Mayhem
www.planet-tribes.com/em
www.tribesplayers.co.uk

Hobbes · 03-06-1999 1:26pm

While I agree not to sit on bugs, I also don't think they should be made availalbe for muppets until at least the Dev Team can sort it out. Jeez, you saw how much damage it did to the game for muppets to change sides and blow stuff up.. and that's legal.

Hope you included the No Fog/Auto trajectory/all health/all map cheats.

Brit · 03-06-1999 3:20pm

The Dev Team are always informed prior to us posting. However, there are other issues that mean we have to post stuff quickly (ie. before the other sites).

As for posting this topic in the first place? its always nice to have feedback from non-Americans.

--Brit--

Hobbes · 03-06-1999 3:57pm

This also has a downside. In Ultima Online there is a famous bug site called DrTwisters, so famous that people have no stopped sending him in bugs because the guy would send them onto the dev team and thier bug wouldn't appear until after it was fixed (or just prior to). Not that planet-tribes sit on thier butts like twister does.

Ehldas · 03-06-1999 11:13pm

Yes, you should definitely publish this stuff. Most companies simply refuse to acknowledge bugs until they're forced to, either by people ceasing to buy their product or by constant bad press giving them a negative image.

Giving specific details of how this stuff works makes it necessary for Dynamix to fix it asap. It also allows people to recognise such behaviour when they see it, instead of staring up from the floor through a red haze going 'WHAT THE **** HAPPENED THERE!?!?!?'

Ehldas

Cloud · 03-06-1999 11:15pm

I agree with what Ehldas says, it's best that such cheats are made publicly available, that way they will be disabled ASAP in future updates to Tribes.

SS 02 Coyote · 03-06-1999 11:35pm

OK, OK - I admit it. I'm bored, so I'll post one more thing on this topic

Why even bother soliciting feedback from us when the dev. team themselves have said they believe this is the best process since it gives them visibility of issues in advance.

I read this on one of the tribes newsy sites this morning *as I was researching work related material you understand*

and they are very clear about it.

I for one am not gonna argue with the team who are bringing us TRIBES 2. Would anyone?

Regards,

[SS-02]Coyote
"Abandon All Hope!"

Were we right to let you know?

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