Mendicant Cheating

[Penchant]

Your wish is my command

Awesome job, though if you want to give a moderator note to the likes of "Quit your bitching, this shouldn't have 8 pages worth of stuff to it. If bitching continues temporary locks of forums accounts will be done" that would be great.

[Kwanstein]

As you will it, so it shall be done.

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Oh, you wanted a moderator for this, okay.

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[Penchant]

stuff

I am just as guilty of it, but if you could be quiet then they tend to stop bitching when no one listens/responds. (Not trying to be mean, I just want them to shut up and if I start responding feel free/I encourage you to tell me to shut up.)

[Dishman]

Your wish is my command

Thanks, I know threads derail when big things are afoot and having an appropriate place to vent is good for those who need it. Catharsis is sometimes dirty, but necessary.

The only Mendicant account I dealt with was Kiyth in Swordfell, and I honestly didn't know he was a multi. He did a moderate amount of interaction and fair RP. If he put as much effort into all of his accounts, then it depresses me to see the potential Mendicant had leave battlemaster....if only he funneled it through 2 or 3 characters as we all are supposed to.

I know winning seemed like the 'goal' of cheating, but honestly if he had used all that effort towards making the wiki better and towards vivid RP in the realm then I'm sure most people would mark him as more of a winner than with Aurvandil's sordid history. If dicking people over was the aim, then I'm sure he could have accomplished that with 3 characters well played as villains. If he wanted total domination in a game...well he should go play a pay-to-win game and chuck cash at the host.

The heart of the game is that we are all friends, and some people feel betrayed by his actions. It sucks, but at least they cared enough to act like our friend. I'd rather see people so involved that they are compelled to cheat, than player apathy and eventual abandonment of the game. It sucks to see someone who was capable, active, and interesting leave...but refreshing to see cheaters snuffed, investigated, and demeaned.

[pcw27]

Do we have a full list of his characters and a summary of what they were up to?

[Zakilevo]

The heart of the game is that we are all friends, and some people feel betrayed by his actions. It sucks, but at least they cared enough to act like our friend. I'd rather see people so involved that they are compelled to cheat, than player apathy and eventual abandonment of the game. It sucks to see someone who was capable, active, and interesting leave...but refreshing to see cheaters snuffed, investigated, and demeaned.

Friends? You naive fool! 

[Tom]

As for paranoid - we pegged Aurvandil for cheating years ago.   It's not paranoia when you're *correct*.

We investigated it very carefully back then and found nothing. You may not have been correct back then, and are correct now.

And I would like to ask all of you to NOT call everyone who plays in that realm a cheater. We know for a fact that not everyone is (because at least two people there aren't - they are trusted players sent in by the dev team to get an "inside view" of the realm).

[Tom]

Tom disagrees with you. He stated that he would 3-day lock the characters that support reserving a spot of Mendicant's return.

That was a different context.

Anyone who wants the cheater to come back and is ready to give him back his positions is supporting him and should get a warning. But as a roleplay the way that Gondor in the Lord of the Rings kept its king a "regent" because they waited for the true king to return - cool. More depth, more history, more roleplaying.

As long as it doesn't mean the player of Mendicant can just walk in and demand "his" titles back, or if he would he'd be treated just like any new player doing the same, that's fine.

[Norrel]

As long as it doesn't mean the player of Mendicant can just walk in and demand "his" titles back, or if he would he'd be treated just like any new player doing the same, that's fine.

Mendicant can rejoin? I thought he was permabanned.

[Tom]

I'm highly surprised by how mild the penalties have been towards Mendicant's cheating, considering their very, very wide effects. It's almost encouraging others to try their hand at a similar scheme, because all you get is a proverbial slap on the wrist.

Uh. Killing your account is the worst penalty we have available. What else could we do to someone?

What you and others seem to be asking for is some punishment on the realm, because of illicit in-game gains. You miss the point that the cheaters are gone. They can not profit from those gains anymore. And those who potentially can, those who remain, are presumed innocent.

[Tom]

Mendicant can rejoin? I thought he was permabanned.

Of course he can, that is our official policy and has been for over a decade.

The list of people actually banned from the game is very, very, very short. I think it has two entries.

We have quite a few people in the game who were once locked for multi-cheating, started fresh and have been better players ever since. Some of them have become the most vocal opponents of multi-cheaters.

[Norrel]

Of course he can, that is our official policy and has been for over a decade.

The list of people actually banned from the game is very, very, very short. I think it has two entries.

We have quite a few people in the game who were once locked for multi-cheating, started fresh and have been better players ever since. Some of them have become the most vocal opponents of multi-cheaters.

That seems like a mistake. Mendicant can just come back to Aurvandil, spend a few months as the power behind the throne and then return to the self-infatuated jackass king he always was, retaining Aurvandil and all of his ill-gotten gains. His accounts didn't have the majority of his investment, Aurvandil did. The guy's poisonous to the game and always will be.

[Tom]

That seems like a mistake. Mendicant can just come back to Aurvandil, spend a few months as the power behind the throne and then return to the self-infatuated jackass king he always was, retaining Aurvandil and all of his ill-gotten gains. His accounts didn't have the majority of his investment, Aurvandil did. The guy's poisonous to the game and always will be.

The policy is there for two reasons.

One, I believe in second chances. Heck, I believe in third and fourth chances, and I sometimes wish life would've given me a few of them.

Two, it is unrealistic to believe it would work otherwise. So I declare him banned. What will happen? He'll create a new account with a fake name and play anyways.

[sharkattack]

I don't think its possible to permanently ban someone. There are many ways to circumvent ip bans and stuff like that

[Norrel]

The policy is there for two reasons.

One, I believe in second chances. Heck, I believe in third and fourth chances, and I sometimes wish life would've given me a few of them.

Two, it is unrealistic to believe it would work otherwise. So I declare him banned. What will happen? He'll create a new account with a fake name and play anyways.

Yeah, but he won't be able to bandy his name about, which means much of the prestige and influence he gained couldn't be regained without putting himself at risk.

Yeah he has to make a new family now but he just tells everyone who he is and he's trusted with power and the bizzaro Aurvandil culture finds a way to make him king again.