Hi, I am curious what types of cheating there is and what is being done to stop it and what it's importance is as far as being resolved (maybe would be a nice poll-rank the cheating resolution priority). I also think that many of these issues, if not all, need to be worked on, possibly at the same time because it is like a hydra and if you leave an issue unaddressed the others are really unaddressed as well.

cheat (from Merriam-Webster):
1 : to deprive of something valuable by the use of deceit or fraud
a : to practice fraud or trickery
b : to violate rules dishonestly <cheat at cards> <cheating on a test>
2 : to influence or lead by deceit, trick, or artifice

These are what I know of:

Bug Exploitation: Self-explainitory. I would put this as a close second on my list or resolution priority because of a few reasons. First is that UO is supposedly plagued with bugs. Second, it is my opinion that it has been this way a long time and bugs are time consuming to fix.

Duplication (Duping): Making duplicates of items is in my opinion the first cheat that needs to be dealt with. Based upon supply and demand, and the fact that UO is so item based and has a huge collectors aspect to it, and duping destroys rarity, not to mention you can't destroy extras of items fast enough to make them more rare, I would deal with this one first, since it's a time issue.

IDOC tracking [and various other forms of tracking] (This structure is in danger of collapse tracking programs): Simply, like all cheats, it's not fair. I don't think I need to explain this one.

External Scripting: Just another way to cause imbalance to the playing field via third party programs. The automatic player (more or less a robot, not really you playing the game).

Speed hacks: Making your character faster than the game is designed to allow via hacks. A problem for PVP, etc. The weak person's way of making themselves think they are good or the lazy person's way of fighting.


What can be done (as players/as a corporation)? Honestly I don't really know what is being done and what works and what doesn't. I am presenting this as more of a think tank and opinion thread so maybe some ideas come up.

EA could (and I am sure many of these are not viable for various reasons, but as I said: think tank):

Use programs to track/stop/or hack the hacking/scripting programs.

Bugs could be fixed.

Violaters must be banned, and have all their accounts, characters, items, houses, and gold deleted.

Put their name/info on a list that doesn't let them rejoin.

File law suits against the makers of the programs that cheat the game.

Build a better coded system.

Make life a living hell for cheaters.