The ARK: Survival Evolved player and YouTuber H.O.D Gaming posted a video where he showed a long-known exploit from the online game that is still not fixed. Following this, he received a ban that the developers rolled back after an outcry on Reddit.
Why was the YouTuber banned? YouTuber H.O.D Gaming showed in his video that a bug has still not been fixed, which has existed in ARK: Survival Evolved for over a year. After that, he could no longer log into his account.
Studio Wildcard had banned him. When logging in, the message appeared: “You have been globally banned” – that is: “You have been globally banned”.
H.O.D. Gaming demonstrated the exploit on a private server but was banned on the official one.
An unjustified ban
What exactly did he show? H.O.D Gaming demonstrated the so-called “meshing”. This allows players with certain items like the grappling hook to get underneath the actual map to attack an enemy base undetected. This bug has been known for over a year.
What reaction followed? After the player’s ban, there was a wave of criticism from the community. H.O.D Gaming’s video was not meant to encourage exploiting this exploit, but to alert the developers that this bug is still in the game even after many updates.
This is clearly evident from the video, in which the YouTuber repeatedly explains that this bug urgently needs to be fixed.
However, when the ban occurred, the community criticized the developer studio on Reddit.
- worldgate says: “That sounds exactly like Wildcard. An overreaction to something demonstrated on a private server to draw attention to a problem.”
- you-mom-gay asks the simple question: “If meshing is such a problem, why don’t they just fix it?”
The apology followed promptly
How did the developers respond? Studio Wildcard has since lifted the ban. The developers apologized. They reacted too quickly, and only upon reviewing the video did they realize that the ban was not justified.
Such videos are in a gray area, which is why the initial reaction was simply to ban quickly. Therefore, it’s better to alert the developers to exploits through regular channels.
When this bug will finally be fixed, the developers of ARK: Survival Evolved did not say.
