So you, and anyone else, should be allowed to abuse a game mechanic in a manner not intended in order to gain an advantage over other players (textbook definition of an exploit, by the way) for as long as they like, as long as they report it before it's officially declared an abuse? And they get away scott free? Really? Is this the sort of behavior we should be encouraging?
Should we be encouraging people to report abuses? Yes. Absolutely.
Edit: Should just point out that you did not report this abuse, either. You mentioned it it passing because it was relative to the thread, and in a manner stating it was a perfectly legitimate thing to do. If this thread had never been created, you'd have happily continued using this exploit for months or years, so don't try to paint yourself as the abuse-finder here.
No, I didn't report it, as in, I didn't bring it up as "I think this might be abuse..." because I
didn't think it might be abuse. But because I believed there was a social system in place where honesty was rewarded, I felt comfortable telling the truth about what I did. Yes, if I had never had any reason to think it was abuse, I would have kept doing it. Obviously. Equally obviously, I was mistaken.
You know what? I don't think you did it maliciously. Well, no, you did, I guess. You were deliberately trying to hurt those realms you were a part of in a manner that carried no consequences for you.
Again, please separate IC/OOC. Yes, my character(s) was/were acting maliciously. I completely agree. Their targets were primarily individuals, not realms, but that's not important. The point, though, is that I
as a player was not acting with malice. Please, please, please separate IC and OOC.
But I don't think you actually thought of it as abuse. I don't think you'd volunteer the information so freely if you thought what you were doing was actually abuse. Unfortunately, stupidity and ignorance has never been an excuse to get away with crimes. Anyone with the power to actually reason things through logically should have been able to tell this was blatant abuse.
If I had thought it was abuse
then I wouldn't have been doing it in the first place. If I had thought it was abuse and I was doing it anyways, no, I wouldn't have confessed.
But that's an irrelevant hypothetical. I made a mistake, I argued my case, I realized I was wrong, I am convinced of it. What I did was abuse. But, as I understand it (maybe I am wrong), you seem to be saying that I am stupid and ignorant, incapable of reasoning through things logically, and maliciously using a game feature to gain some kind of OOC power. And I don't understand where these accusations come from. One error does not an idiot make.
Am I correct in believing that you regard me as stupid and malicious? And, as I asked earlier, am I correct in believing you intend to take this IC? I ask because two of our characters share a realm, Kindara, and I want to know if it would be wiser for me to emigrate or pause.