[EVE] Dev admits BPO creation...

[Rotanee]

*credit to FoH ingame channel*

EVE Online | EVE Insider | Dev Blog

reported by CCP t20 | 2007.02.09 15:50:42 | NEW | Comments
As you might have read and heard, there were recently some allegations posted regarding developer misconduct that basically come down to:
Developers helping (an) alliance(s) gain information they otherwise would not have.
Developers having an unfair advantage of game mechanics.
Developers helping themselves acquire goods in-game by means of in-house tools, otherwise not available to regular players.
All allegations mentioned above are untrue, except one. Sadly enough, the allegation regarding unlawfully obtained blueprints are, in my case, true. I’m here, laying out the facts of what happened in June 2006 so this whole issue -- which jeopardized my colleagues, my company and our community -- can be put behind us, I hope for the better.

The blueprints in question will be returned to CCP and reintroduced through a new raffle in the future. Specifically, these are:

Flameburst Precision Light Missile Blueprint
Phalanx Rage Rocket Blueprint
Havoc Fury Heavy Missile Blueprint
Bloodclaw Fury Light Missile Blueprint
Spike L Blueprint
Sabre Blueprint
Regrettably, my actions inevitably led to a shadow of suspicion being cast on a number of my co-workers, as well as Reikoku and Band of Brothers. I wish to make it clear that I acted alone and my co-workers and corp/alliance mates have been cleared of any alleged wrongdoing.

As much as this is a confession it is also a request for your forgiveness for events of which I’m truly sorry.

[Kiroy]

Bad for business in a single server game...

[Tripamang]

Wow.. :P

Really I didn't expect the BPO thing to be true, this came as a total surprise. I give props to T20 for admitting it, but this is definitely a black eye on eve.

[Gotenks]

If your not cheating your not trying. He should have kept the blueprints.

[eggrollking]

Where does it say he got shitcanned?

[forge]

Looks like AnthonyZ is getting the last laugh. So wait.. you cheated.. and now you're saying that we should believe that you didn't cheat with anything else just uhh bpo's because their traceable or something right.. Good job. So recap kugutsuman is a liar and all this info is false.. CCP bans him for ?? and now the dev admits that at least SOME of his made up bedtime stories turn out to be truth.

[Malakriss]

So ammunition are the most valued T2 BPOs? Either way, shame on him.

[Rotanee]

Wasn't sure this needed it's own thread.

I doubt this was the only thing T20 did wrong in game. His word is meaningless at this point, as he has every motivation to deny what he is accused of to save his job at CCP.

Information passed through conversations, etc., has to be nearly impossible to prove. The BPO creation is the only thing with a so called paper trail.

Out of pure speculation, I suppose it is possible CCP knew about this a long time ago and was going to wash it under the rug. I only would guess at this if T20 gets to keep his job, since they fired someone else for a very similar thing about 7 or 8 months ago. Unless I am mistaken and the person who spawned a ship with rare fittings is still at CCP.

edit: What also makes me think CCP might have known about this before is the fact T20 was forced to give up his characters recently, according to Kug. Before Kug made this all public even. Someone can look this up or correct me. I will look for it myself.

[Tirinal]

Originally Posted by Rotanee

Out of pure speculation, I suppose it is possible CCP knew about this a long time ago and was going to wash it under the rug. I only would guess at this if T20 gets to keep his job, since they fired someone else for a very similar thing about 7 or 8 months ago. Unless I am mistaken and the person who spawned a ship with rare fittings is still at CCP.

If you're referring to the GM, he was canned.

As for BPO creation... meh. I always rather liked t20 personally. I wouldn't want to see him fired since he is fairly competent, but it's still an asshole thing to do on a single-shard universe. Punishment should be Hilgar putting on the kilt he wore at Fanfest and sumo smashing t20 to the ground anime-style.

Really though, if there was anything that could have brought even more universal hostility towards BoB this was it. When they get fucked, and fucked proper, stuff like this will just make it all the sweeter.

[Rotanee]

Originally Posted by Tirinal

If you're referring to the GM, he was canned.

Yah, that's it, thank you.

[forge]

This is all complete bullshit.. so this is the guy who is also leading about bob's cap fleet.. But clearly has no advantage over anyone else either. So now we know he's a confirmed liar and cheating. And he also had about the most power anyone could have in the game at his fingers. But yeah.. everything else is certainly fair.. I feel bad for anyone bob's steamrolled with him at the wheel. Also what about all the money that's been made about from the bpos, and the mystery zealot bpo or trade that anthonyz hinted about.

[Yermum Onceme]

He is so OBVIOUSLY covering for SOMETHING else. If you buy that grabbing some shit was all he did illegally, you're crazy or stupid.

I'm sorry, but if you don't have the scruples to keep from taking items in an mmo, I have zero reason to doubt he used information only available to devs for a personal or team advantage.

[Rotanee]

I was right about CCP knowing long ago.

Ask yourself, if they knew last week, what F'ing took so long to respond to this? Cool down period? Testing the waters? Make your own call.

Part of CCP CEO Hilmar's response, I highlighted the part I am referring to:


"Most recent events have given me an opportunity to clarify CCP’s official position on the subject of unethical behavior by persons in the service of CCP.

Throughout our history, there have been a handful of cases where our employees or members of our various volunteer and partner programs have taken advantage of the proprietary powers they are granted through access and knowledge. These cases have been investigated, prosecuted and judgment rendered. Usually the punishment has been quite simple: termination of employment.

A pivotal case was uncovered last summer during a routine investigation of developer accounts. Unfortunately CCP did not act with the same decisive consistency we have used on previous occasions. Those left at the helm chose to react cautiously, as sometimes is appropriate under these circumstances, leading to more leniency and understanding than we are used to in these matters. Upon review I personally would have chosen to act differently, but what's done is done. Difficult decisions always have to be made, and we cannot always second guess how these would appear if, in part, they are revealed to outside parties who do not have the same information to base their choices on.

This particular case, involving a single developer, underlined where improvements needed to be made and we have since focused our efforts on reinforcing rules and processes so that consistent ruling is assured. As of the beginning of January this year, we have been building up a special institution within our company similar to the Internal Affairs divisions of law enforcement agencies. For this team, we have assembled the most ardent hardliners in our ranks. They all fully understand the enormity of what they have accepted to do and we are certain that they will be able to shoulder this responsibility."



The rest of the long winded post can be found here.

[xmod2]

Originally Posted by Rotanee

As you might have read and heard, there were recently some allegations posted regarding developer misconduct that basically come down to:
Developers helping (an) alliance(s) gain information they otherwise would not have.
Developers having an unfair advantage of game mechanics.
Developers helping themselves acquire goods in-game by means of in-house tools, otherwise not available to regular players.
All allegations mentioned above are untrue, except one. Sadly enough, the allegation regarding unlawfully obtained blueprints are, in my case, true. I’m here, laying out the facts of what happened in June 2006 so this whole issue -- which jeopardized my colleagues, my company and our community -- can be put behind us, I hope for the better.

It's pretty obvious from the forum logs that RKK had some drama due to a leak of future event information from CCP. Sadly enough, it's also pretty obvious t20's not being honest in his confession.

[Rotanee]

Let's not forget last week CCP posted telling the community they were investigating these allegations. Yet, CCP already knew the answers.

CCP banned Kug, the whistleblower.

The only reason I point this out is it is a good lesson of how people operate in their own self interests, and how companies likewise can operate in the corporate world.

(I am going to Edit to add this: I think what Kug did is wrong as far as potentially breaking real life laws in many countries. Perhaps for those reasons he should be banned. However, CCP never weighed in on why they banned Kug. That is to say, perhaps they didn't have proof of what Kug did was actually a bad as it really appeared. Kug said he got the logs from BoB legit by a server dump, or some such thing. This isn't the first time hacking has gone on in Eve, and espionage is allowed. That leaves, to me, an impression CCP could have banned Kug for bringing up an issue that CCP didn't like. )