Directly with the release of Bless Online, a bug emerged that allowed players to duplicate items. The developers have now identified the dupe bug and are punishing players who abused it. However, there will not be a rollback.
Shortly after the release of Bless Online, initial evidence, such as on YouTube, of the dupe bug was published. Players were quite upset about this, as the bug was already known from the Japan version.
Dupe bug abuse brings disadvantages for the game: Players who duplicate gold can quickly acquire top equipment in the auction house. This gives them an unfair advantage. The duplicate abuse can also harm the economy in the game if players can simply copy gold and items.
Neowiz identified the dupe bug and took action
In a statement on Steam Neowiz announced that they have found the cause of the bug. Moreover, consequences will be enforced for the players who abused the bug.
The following measures were taken:
- The items and gold that were duplicated through the bug will be collected.
- If the bug was used less than 10 times, a warning will be issued.
- If the bug was used more than 10 times, the account will be suspended for three days.
- If the bug was used more than 10 times and there is suspicion that this was done intentionally, the account will be suspended for 15 days.
The Bless team expects to encounter more bugs in early access: Additionally, it was stated that the team would do their utmost to fix the bugs. They are asking players to report any bugs and not to abuse them.
The measures are considered too lenient by some: “Bans and wipes would have been appropriate”
Players wished for a rollback and wipe of the servers: There is criticism that the accounts did not even receive a ban. The suspension is not enough for intentional abuse of the dupe bug. Some players would have preferred to see the affected accounts deleted and the bug fixed. They would have welcomed a server rollback afterwards to completely undo the damage caused.
A dupe bug fix did not appear in the latest patch notes: This makes players suspicious. Although several bug fixes are listed, such as a localization error fix, a dupe bug fix is not included. Now there are fears that the bug may still be present in the game.
Others say: “After two days, the economy is not yet destroyed”
Other voices say that it is enough to remove the items from the game so soon after the bug fix: A short time span is not enough to destroy the entire economy of the game. Now would still be the right time to implement the measures that have been enforced.
Bless does not have a “real” player economy: Some players also point out that trade in Bless only works through an auction house. Additionally, there is a min-max limit on selling items. This means that there are only relatively narrow amounts for trading. It can be imagined similarly to Black Desert Online In this way, the economy cannot be destroyed so quickly.
Neowiz is taking the right path: These players say that Neowiz acted quickly and correctly.
Whether the bug is truly fixed in the long term remains to be seen. The promised 15-vs-15 PvP mode is already in the game.
