Riders of Icarus’ latest producer’s letter makes a grim admission: “Since Head Start, Riders of Icarus has been riddled with spammers and bots.”
“We understand that you are wondering why we’re adding more content when many of you are still frustrated by bots and spammers operating throughout the game,” writes Nexon’s Han Sol Junger, apologizing for being insufficiently transparent. “I want you to know that our team is aware and cares deeply about the overall health of our community and our game. […] Our intent was to quietly clean out those who hurt our community, while providing you with the experience you deserve. We understand now that we must have more open communication with you about the actions we are taking on these important issues.”
Consequently, Nexon says it’s embarking on a “new banning initiative” to take out spammers, farmers, botters, and hackers. To date, over 5000 bad accounts have been actioned. The initiative will include new game masters to fight in-game exploits, a reporting tool for players to use, and an automated system for catching hackers. The team is working on a real-time chat filtering system to squash spammers as well.
Unimpressed by those countermeasures? Maybe you prefer the studio name-and-shame cheaters? It’s doing that too.
“For better communication and transparency moving forward, those who are banned will be posted in a new ‘Weekly Banned Characters Report’, which will be updated every Monday. However, we will post our first report today, with a new report beginning our regular cadence arriving on August 15th. We will also provide you with updates periodically so the Riders of Icarus community can see our adjustments and give feedback on our progress.”
