I must say that although I do not know all the facts of this event, it does sounds as if they were using a tactic that they KNEW would limit the mobs ability to fight back. It just sounds unfair to use a known bug to prevent a mob from hitting you JUST so you can claim that your guild was the first PROVEN group to complete the kill.
I feel that this is NOT just a hack and slash type game...it is a ROLE PLAYING GAME. And as such, this type of behavior takes a GREAT DEAL away from the realism of the game for everyone else. Sure, I have to admit, that I would LOVE to claim that I was the one that killed this mob, but I would NEVER want to do it using a strategy that includes using a known bug in my favor. Verant should have fixed this problem yes, but it was not and therefore....should not have been used to benefit the guild.
Besides...how many people even try this? Wouldnt Verant's time and resources be put to better use by developing new realeases and dealing with bugs that effect a larger portion of the player base? I am sorry but since I know I wont be going to this zone any time soon...I feel that it's more important to asure the majorities ability to play the game the way it should be played..using fair and honest role playing.
This is just an opinion that I have. One that I am sure is not viewed as the popular one but still...it is my opinion.
Perhaps instead of a complete banning...Verant should ban them from the zone and knock all of them down a specified amount of levels( say 10-15) and put them on probation. Just a thought...
The Sleeper is Awakened
The Guild Conquest awakened the Sleeper for the first time and promptly got banned for doing it. Verant claims they did it by using an exploit. I'll leave it up to you to debate whether or not that is what happened.
Here's the explanation they posted on their website:
We were fighting the 4th warder (ventani) and had it down to 60% or so when kerafyrm spawned, and wiped us out. Kerafyrm then killed the 4th warder.
Roughly 15 minutes laster, GM Valdelmar comes in and has this to say.
[Tue Jun 05 00:37:10 2001] Valdelmar shouts, 'Everyone that is in this zone, has a corpse in this zone, or was involved in the invasion of this zone is receiving a warning for Exploitation.'
Now this is where it gets good. When asked what exactly we exploited, here was the answer:
[Tue Jun 05 00:44:50 2001] Valdelmar tells you, 'We witnessed your clerics below the bridge keeping the warders agro by complete heal so that the tanks could safely kill. That's exploitation'
Now, anyone who plays the high EQ game or has a reasonable knowledge of EQ game dynamics knows that this completly IMPOSSIBLE to exploit.
The mobs summon ability negates this exploit 100%. If the clerics are top on aggro list, they get summoned up from below the bridge, and killed nearly instantly. The mob was on ME (the warrior) the entire battle, besides when it decided it was mad at my clerics - which is when it killed them in no time flat.
The full story, with screenshots, is at this link.