How long will the exploits go on?

There's a part of me that wonders if shutting AE down when exploits like this are discovered and not reopening it until they're fixed is a viable option. I mean, it's like first aid. The very first thing to do, is to make sure the problem doesn't get worse. Then you start fixing it, if you can. Same here. Shut down the AE server access, fix exploit, restore AE. That's the way to cause the least "damage" to the game, although PR wise it might not be the smartest idea.

There'd be rage over this, of course, both from those who make and play stories and for those who farm, both normally and exploitive. However, if the Devs are up-front about the reason "Closed down to fix exploit", it could create a new environment in AE pretty fast. Because if you find any exploit and want to keep using it, you don't share it with anyone. If you do, AE shuts down until it's fixed and you lose at least an arc slot. Because while one or two people using an exploit isn't really that big a deal, looking at the game as a whole, it's when the exploit becomes the standard that it's a problem. And by then it's too late to prevent it from damaging the game, mostly though even more inflation, not to mention the risk of burning out new players before they get to know how to actually play the game.

It seems a little excessive, I'll admit, but it's also getting pretty clear that the current approach doesn't work. Alternatively, they could just shut off XP in AE temporarily, but I'd guess it's easier to just sever the server connection, and it sends a stronger message, too.

I haven't read all of the posts in this thread, but it is nice to see people address exploits. Asking people not to post about exploits is like asking people not to talk about crime. Personally, I'd like the team at CoH to be informed about exploits as soon as possible so that they can fix exploits as soon as possible.

I don't want to determine how anyone has fun in this game, but if you allow exploit users into the marketplace, then it affects everyone who uses the marketplace. Prices on many items have dropped to near zero levels as people running monkey farms get thousands of tickets per minute and use them for rolls then flood the market.

Is this a market opportunity? Sure. But personally I am not having fun. So I'm sitting on my front porch shaking my cane at you darned kids who are exploiting the bugs in the game!!!!

Here is the relevant portion of the original Positron post. Whether they follow through with it or not, this is what we were told could happen. The only way to argue that it could not happen is pure wishful thinking. I'm not saying this to tick off the potential violators, but to help them understand why this is an issue and what steps they should take to avoid trouble, now and in the future. Even if the odds are just 5% that they actually follow through, we all know how the RNG hates us.