In a statement to the fans, Matt Firor, the lead developer behind the fantasy MMORPG The Elder Scrolls Online, has now addressed the problems plaguing his baby. There are many issues, most notably bugs, dupes, gold sellers, and bots. However, Firor is optimistic. While he acknowledged difficulties, he stated that the game is on a good path.

Gold Sellers and Bots as the Main Problems

Firor made it clear in his statement that he is not an out-of-touch armchair general who only hears about player complaints through emails or reports, but he and his staff also play The Elder Scrolls Online. They have also noticed the bots camping in caves, making it difficult for honest players to have fun. Zenimax is doing everything in its power to combat bots and gold sellers.

And the fight is already bearing fruit: First, gold sellers were in the chat, then in in-game mail, and now they have started fake guilds to invite players and harass them with their offers.

In the meantime, many bots have already been banned, and more are being banned. The fight against bots and gold sellers is not a sprint but a marathon.

The gold sellers are also responsible for some players being dissatisfied with support. Bots and gold sellers make up 85% of the support’s workload. Other issues sometimes fall by the wayside.

Firor Comments on the Dupes

Firor also addressed the two most recent dupes. Items in the game could be duplicated by exploiting a faulty guild bank mechanic or by errors in the system mail. In the first dupe, they reacted immediately, closed the guild banks, and removed involved players from the game. Wrongfully banned players were able to log in again after eight hours. According to Firor, they have contained the problem and it is not widespread enough to massively damage the in-game economy. The second dupe bug, which has to do with apprentices in crafting professions, was also resolved quickly and occurred in a much smaller dimension.

However, the two fixes for the dupes led to significantly more maintenance work than originally planned.

In conclusion of his letter, Firor also addressed the announced first content expansion Kargstein. The adventure zone for the endgame will soon be deployed to the test server and go live in 7 to 10 days. Firor attested that The Elder Scrolls Online is in generally good shape, which can only improve in the future.

Mein-mmo says:

Yes, this is the statement everyone has been waiting for, and it turns out as one could expect. The critical question will be whether the impact of the dupes on the in-game economy is really as minimal as Firor suggests. It would be very much in the interest of the game and its community.

Apparently, the first major blow against botters has now occurred with the internal loot timer for cave bosses. This is definitely a step in the right direction. The consequences of the dupes could probably only have been fully resolved with a massive intervention in the game—a rollback. That there is no talk of this was actually to be expected. One would have had to exorcise the devil with Beelzebub.

The game is now entering a decisive phase. Players face the choice of allowing their subscription to expire or renewing it. The prospect of new content with Kargstein is much more appealing than the prospect of a rollback.

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The fantasy MMORPG The Elder Scrolls Online is now fully in the sights of hackers and exploiters. After a first exploit was fixed over the weekend, new reports emerged on Easter Sunday that it was possible to cheat in the game. The hackers themselves are calling for a rollback. This would mean that every player would lose what they achieved in the last few days.

Sharks in Bloody Water

Hackers, cheaters, and exploiters are a bit like sharks in the ocean. Once they smell blood, they go into a frenzy. A triple-A MMORPG that is likely played by over two million people is highly attractive prey. After all, virtual gold can be converted into real euros.

The loot is even more attractive when the game seems to be so vulnerable and hurt. The Elder Scrolls Online is considered, as discussed in forums, to be a “Client-Trust-Heavy” game. This makes it susceptible to all sorts of tools and tricks that no longer work in other games.

At launch, reports of speed hacks and bots were already piling up. Zenimax acted quickly against it.

Guild Bank Exploit Fixed

On Good Friday, an exploit was made known that allowed players to duplicate items at will, a so-called dupe exploit. They are feared because they can massively disrupt the in-game economy. An item is simply worthless if it can be created out of thin air. Interestingly, the exploit could be used to craft items that not only provide a gold advantage but also a gear advantage.

New Dupes Have Surfaced Over the Weekend

After the exploit was fixed and some players were hit by the ban hammer, one might have thought that the commotion had come to an end. One would want that for the game. After all, Zenimax has its hands full. Every day, they are dealing with new issues. Just this morning, a patch was deployed to address the most urgent problems of the fantasy giant. Numerous dead-end quests are being fixed. Furthermore, during the latest wave of bans, they seem to have gone a bit overboard and have now unbanned some players. So they have fixed the worst leaks for now and can now breathe a sigh of relief, right? Not at all.

On Easter Sunday, reports surfaced in relevant forums that additional bugs in the game were allowing item dupes. This time even easier and in a way that can actually happen randomly. Probably the exploit came to light due to a recent bug. It is related to the loading screen where many players were stuck recently.

Exploiter Calls for Rollback

The impact on the in-game economy and the game remains highly dangerous and seems devastating. How Zenimax intends to control this is completely unclear.

An exploiter has detailed in a forum post which mechanisms he used to “wash,” “distribute,” and conceal the gold he “earned” through the first dupe bug from the eyes of the GMs. Apparently, he has learned quite a bit from mafia movies and documentaries.

Ironically, the exploiter is now calling for Zenimax to roll back. In his view, the game would otherwise be worthless, as every achievement and success is tainted by the illegally acquired gold and items in the game.

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Mein-mmo says:

As ironic as it sounds and as much as it will upset many “honest” players: The hacker is not wrong. A rollback would be the only “clean” method to push so much toothpaste back into the tube.

The new exploits are so severe that Zenimax is faced with the question of whether to accept a rollback or damage the in-game economy for months. However, a rollback would likely alienate many customers. Here, one is faced with the choice between plague and cholera. In the short term, a rollback would certainly be met with a terrible shitstorm. Every player would lose what they achieved in the past days. The middle way will likely be to ban as many cheaters as possible, remove as much duped gold and equipment from the game, but it will be nearly impossible to catch everything or even a large part. Hopefully, the “duped” money will not turn out too negatively for the players.

A creative solution is also circulating on the internet: Forbes suggests introducing new “legendary” crafting materials and devaluing the old ones. This would hit the currently “rich” players, but would hardly affect many “normal players.”

The critical question remains: How widespread is this? How much does it really affect the in-game economy and how does it impact each individual? And who can be banned this time? The newly discovered exploits are so simple in nature that the defense for a ban is obvious: I knew nothing about it.

It is to be hoped that a really good game will slowly navigate into calmer waters. But when you hear reports about “Client-Trust-Heavy” games, that seems a long way off.

A statement from Zenimax regarding the recent problems is still pending, we will provide it as soon as we hear something.

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UPDATE on 22.04.2014:  Zenimax has now confirmed that the server maintenance this morning is related to the exploit described here.

The maintenance this morning was to fix an issue with that was allowing unintended outcomes with crafting hireling mails.

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The fantasy MMORPG The Elder Scrolls Online turns out to be a true long-distance runner. Our tester Schuhmann rubs his eyes in wonder after more than 100 hours: “Still no end in sight?”

After more than a hundred hours, the game still has a lot to offer

We spared you a review right after the first week because we find it silly to speculate about the long-term fun of an MMORPG after just 20 hours. And that’s what most players care about. Especially when a game stands in the tradition of Skyrim, which has thrilled players with its long-term addictiveness.

Now, a bit more than 100 hours of playtime have passed. Of course, one still cannot make a final assessment or quantify it in exact percentages. The endgame is still missing. But I’m sure: The Elder Scrolls Online is not a game for just one week.

I fought my way through four areas in the service of the Aldmeri Dominion, worked my way up to the fifth rank in PvP (appallingly anonymous) and already did some serious crafting and trading.

Now it’s time to address a few things that might get lost in the steady flow of bugs, exploits, and problems.

[pull_quote_center]I admit: I was skeptical. But now I must say: The Elder Scrolls Online is a really good MMORPG.[/pull_quote_center]

The quest flow in TESO is excellent

What strikes me again and again in the game: I don’t check the EXP bar. While in other games it is always clear to me that I am playing an MMORPG and that I still need 22% to level up, and in three levels I will get the new ability to achieve this and that, this is not so important to me in TESO.

I have been surprised by many level-ups. Three times a day I’m in front of the skill tree, considering where to distribute the delightfully numerous points. There is really no shortage of them. In other games, one looks up on Google or thinks about what the best build will look like (Well, usually others think about it and you copy it). You constantly wonder how to distribute the few points, how to get from the minimal value X to the maximum value Y.

In The Elder Scrolls Online, I figure it out myself. If you look a little off the path, there are skill points everywhere that do not enhance combat power after a certain level, but rather make life a bit easier and more varied. I think that’s a great story in an MMORPG.

At first, I resisted with all my might (specifically: with claws and paws) to invest two precious skill points in the quest abilities of the Mage and Fighter Guild: I thought it was complete nonsense. I’d rather see if I can squeeze out 2% more damage somewhere. By now, I have had the abilities for weeks and wouldn’t want to miss them. And that’s how I feel about many skills.

Small quest jewels

It’s hard to recommend TESO to someone because it does many things right that should be standard for an MMORPG: It has great quests. This is the core business of MMORPGs, but it is often neglected. It happens to me rarely in other games that I really engage in a quest and dive deep into it.

To give an example of a quest that “caught” me (mild spoiler alert): A young man sits in front of a ruin, complaining to me that he deserves a magical treasure and that I should help him get his right. The dungeon is right next door and it begins. On the way to the end of the cave, there are a few ghostly warnings, the usual boo-hoo, I think. Now it turns out that this heirloom is a cursed helmet that immediately takes possession of him and transforms him into a monster. The man dies (has run into my arrow) and on the way out there are ghostly apparitions at various corners, ancestors of the accident victim, each of whom says only one sentence about what the helmet has seduced him into. Chills!

This way, there are many small quests where the developers have simply put in a bit more effort than necessary. It’s these small details that make me go that extra mile and postpone what I originally intended by twenty minutes.

Especially taken by the three main and guild quests that continue in the zones or come back every five levels. Of course, I can’t spoil anything, but they hit a narrative chord with me.

[quote_right]A work of art that you must engage with[/quote_right]At first, I thought: Can’t they include subtitles when dialogue is spoken in a cutscene? But no, this is a game that you play without a TV in the background or the chatter in Teamspeak. A game, almost one could say: A work of art that you must engage with. It does not shy away from that.

Items don’t play a big role

TESO takes an interesting approach in many aspects, which is why it does not feel like a “standard MMORPG”. While in other games items are extremely important, I don’t pay much attention to what I’m wearing in The Elder Scrolls Online.

Every five levels, I go to the guild store, take advantage of the well-organized display, and can completely re-equip myself for a little gold. Because so many items are tradeable, items do not play a big role in the game for me. However, I think this is one of the things that will become more appealing in the endgame. More and more, I’m now finding unique items with a proper name and a higher quality level that are also immediately bound.

Actually, I would have thought that this would bother me. But it’s one of those things that I don’t notice negatively. Just like the lack of a mini-map or the relatively small selection of combat skills. I don’t miss them. I also don’t need to be informed down to the last detail about how much DPS I’m doing with each individual skill and which rotation would be the most advantageous for me.

I find myself slightly not recognizing myself here. In other games, I stood for hours at the dummy, had my Excel calculator on and an extra program to see how much haste I can squeeze out of my gear to hit a crit sweet spot. Here I am back in the information Stone Age and feel wonderful about it. I’m just about ready to get a volleyball and name it Wilson.

No interest in theory crafting

This afternoon, I checked a forum and was taken aback by the typical theory crafting talk. As they spoke again in the Denglish of MMORPG gamer slang that the resto staff had the best AE damage and that the Nightblade was the weakest class for AE farming without a destro staff – and what else one says when the day is long, I felt like I was in the wrong movie.

I know this approach to a game, of course, but it would never have occurred to me to search for it in The Elder Scrolls Online.

The question is: Is it me or is it the game? Probably both.

It has become clear to me in the last hours in the game that MMORPGs can be this way too. That you can play them not only with your head but also with your gut. For that reason, however, some bugs and dead ends are particularly frustrating, which must not be overlooked. The Elder Scrolls Online is not a game for everyone and at the moment, some dead-end quests are ruining the fun for many people. And if you look at the game without affection and a certain affinity for it, weaknesses certainly become visible in some areas. A few have already been mentioned. It is clear that this is not an MMORPG where milk, honey, and mana flow.

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[intense_testimony_text]But at the moment, at level 43, I feel no saturation from this new flavor of MMORPG. I’ll check in again when I reach the endgame.
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Today morning the servers of the fantasy MMORPG The Elder Scrolls Online were taken down to stop an exploit that could harm and impair the game for months.

Some fan sites suspected an extensive patch during the server maintenance this morning, aimed at fixing bugs in individual quests. However, instead of resolving issues, the guild banks were temporarily disabled. This was because it enabled scammers to duplicate items at will. One of the biggest disasters that can befall a young game.

With the help of a third-party tool and the guild bank, it has likely been possible for a while to “dupe” items, meaning to duplicate them. This allowed players to earn an enormous amount of money by duplicating items and then selling them to vendors. However, the method is much more serious when valuable items, such as armor or weapons, are duplicated. In The Elder Scrolls Online, these are often not bound on pickup and can be freely traded.

Legendary items affected

Moreover, the method seems to have been primarily used to duplicate the legendary upgrade items. Because with them, some of the best items in the game can be crafted. In the current game design, they were intended as the most important trade goods. In The Elder Scrolls Online, it is possible through crafting professions to create always better versions of an item until they finally reach the quality level “Legendary”, the highest in the game.

This innovative concept could now become TESO’s undoing.

To bring an item to the highest quality level, a lot of upgrade items are necessary. Because with each one, the probability of the upgrade process succeeding increases. If it fails, the item and the upgrade materials disappear. This was supposed to make the items a coveted and rare trade good for years, which craftsmen could obtain from items or raw materials with great effort.

Criminal intent required

This means that for scammers, it was not only possible to cheat massive amounts of gold but also to craft the best gear in unlimited quantities and permanently destroy the economy. We do not want to go into the exact circumstances of the exploit here; as can be seen in corresponding videos, a certain criminal intent was necessary. Such a thing does not happen by accident.

Is a rollback coming?

At the moment, it is still unknown how Zenimax intends to remove the duped items from the game. In English discussion forums, there is even fear of a rollback. In this case, the server would be reverted to an earlier state, and each individual player would lose the progress they have made in the game since then.

How extensively the exploit was used and what measures Zenimax will take is not yet clear at the moment. We will keep you updated.

UPDATE: Statement from Zenimax at 11:30 PM. This is freshly from the official forum. The German community manager Kai Schober has posted this:

Measures against exploiters

Yesterday we were able to identify a bug in ESO that allowed items to be duplicated and that was abused by some players. We reacted quickly and have now fixed the bug. We show no tolerance when it comes to the deliberate exploitation of exploits; the accounts of all involved players have now been permanently banned.

We thank everyone who reported this problem to us. If you find any further exploit in the future, please let us know via /help in the game or through our help center: https://hilfe.elderscrollsonline.com/app/ask.


If you believe that you have been wrongly banned, you can appeal the suspension of your account. Here is how to do it: http://hilfe.elderscrollsonline.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/8541

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