I do not agree with cheating however I voted for the moderators/developers to stop wasting their time on cheats.
I have played on-line games of one sort or another for over 10 years, most of these games have suffered from the same problems with the economy and power levellers. The solution lies not in constantly tweaking the game to eliminate cheats and balance the economy, but in developing the kind of game that makes this sort of cheating irrelevant.
Please allow me to explain.
The problems
1) economic balance
Economic theory states that inflation will result when the supply of money exceeds the supply of goods and services, so if someone sits their main character in Morcraven cave silver ore, and uses two mule characters to keep themselves supplied with fruit and chrysanthemums they will soon build up a great fortune. Having such people able to buy serps for inflated prices causes the price to rise until a serpent sword is unaffordable for anyone who doesn't cheat.
If one high level cheat uses mules to keep himself/herself supplied with raw materials to make steel swords in great numbers the time will come when everyone has a few of these swords and the market in this commodity will collapse. How do honest newbies develop their manufacturing skills in a market that has already been saturated by cheats?
2) Levelling beyond the game.
The use of mules allows characters to rise in levels faster that the game can produce new high level items to make/craft, so as the manufacture of plate armour becomes easy for a number of cheats, new items (i.e. titanium axes) have to be introduced to keep the manufacturers busy. The developers effort is then concentrated on servicing a few cheats instead of the wider community.
3) Envy.
Lower level players become discouraged when they see other players rise a level a day while they struggle to make it to level 20. Then they discover that the game is full of cheats and it all become clear.
The perceived (incorrect) solution.
1) Economic balance (incorrect solution)
In order to match the amount of production of items to the amount of consumption of items it is necessary make production slower and consumption faster. Production can be slowed by introducing delays in manufacture, reducing the use of 'mules' to harvest/deliver raw materials and changing recipes to include rare items. Consumption can be increased with 'breakage'
2) Levelling beyond the game (incorrect solution)
Effort can be directed into creating higher level areas and monsters without too much effort. Rabbit reproduced as fluffy rabbit and wolf reproduced as chimeran wolf save the effort of making real new monsters.
3) Envy. (incorrect solution)
Lower level 'honest' players can be convinced that the problem of cheats will go away, for instance creating a poll about 'mule' characters operating from the same I.P. address will give the impression that 'something is being done'.
What is wrong with the incorrect solution
1) Economic balance
Slowing production and increasing consumption make the game boring and frustrating. Spending a week making unwanted water essences to get an ewe to make an axe that breaks after two days does not give one a warm feeling inside, especially if you finaly get your girlfriend to play the game and help you gather ingredients only to find that she can't trade with you because her machine is on the same home lan as your machine.
2) Levelling beyond the game
Preventing same I.P. trading will have little impact on the fighters who use second characters to train with the main characters. There will always be players reaching higher levels than the game can cater for.
3) Envy.
In a game where a few top fighters can make a million experience points every few days while a new player struggles to make a thousand there will always be jealousy and incredulity.
The right solution
Here is what you should do:
Find ways to make the game more exciting and full of wonder! A few days ago I spent 15 hours straight exploring the mage school. It was one of my best on-line days ever. I cannot thank the developers enough for that wonderful experience. I mapped the maze down there and the two sub-mazes, found my way to the laboratory and out through the sewers. Great fun!
The game needs more of this - entertainment and experience that are not based on a race to gain points or the use of second characters.
What about making ingredients more interesting to collect and use, for instance a quest needing to be completed to get into an area that is the only location of one the the ingredients (quest should vary randomly each time you start it again). Ingredients that randomly explode whilst in your inventory. Some things can only be mixed at dawn. Harvesting that is faster but uses food quickly, and harvesting success drops dramatically when food level is negative. Ingredients that keep trying to escape.
Do you see where this is leading? Making manu/crafting more interesting rather than slower. Putting the fun in the process of making, rather than the points gained. You will be to busy enjoying yourself to be bothered running a second character. You wont want to manufacture A.F.K. in case you miss the fun.
Why not just let the 'cheating power-levellers' keep going till they run out of things to make at higher levels and monsters to hunt that are at their level, the rest of us can just get on with enjoying the game and having fun exploring.
Question: Should the server code developers be writing code to compare the I.P. address of trading characters when characters are still referred to as s/he and the buddy list not generally implemented? You have better things to do with your time.
A vote for cheating to be allowed is not a vote for cheating, it is a vote against a silly 'war on cheating'
