Gold scam: Why the Atom bomb was not an option !
Lone Star
In the last 48 hours the eWorld has been stunned by a number of events taking place throughout the world, related to the monetary system.
Although there are doubts since the introduction of Erepublik Version 1.0 about a number of issues and among them the quantity of gold that seems to be accessible to a number of eCitizens, the issue got totally out of hand when a programming problem, that could be exploited in the monetary market to basically invent or create GOLD, became widely available.
The problem was replicated throughout the world, mainly by Spanish users with people having enough money to just cover every offer of money placed in the monetary markets in many world nations.
The inevitable result of such a catastrophe was inevitable. The large amounts of GOLD that suddenly appeared in Erepublik's markets, in possession of many users, was like an "Armageddon weapon" pointed at the world's economy, and to the very heart of Erepublik as a whole.
Erepublik societies run around the economy of each of the nations, and the interactive relations they establish among them.
GOLD and national currencies, are the blood that keeps those nations afloat.
Administrators action
According to an information published by Erepublik administration, an increase in the quantity of GOLD in circulation was detected on Sunday. Such increase, estimated by the Administrators at 8% was (according to them) reason for an investigation, and resulted in the suspension of all monetary markets in the eWorld.
As we publish this article, the monetary markets are still closed and the eWorld citizens still have no idea about when will it be reopened if at all.
eCitizens doubts
Although Erepublik administration claimed that a number of eCrimes, perpetrated by what they called "snakes" were already detected in the past and handled, many in Erepublik are finding that difficult to accept.
For some reason, the abuse seems to have originated in eSpain, a country known for a number of strange events in the last months, among which we count, massive accusations of multi accounts, massive use of decoders and creation of decoders, existence of large number of super-soldiers (which can only be created with massive amounts of GOLD). It is important to note that the existence of lot's of money in eSpain was for long considered a result of multi account creation, although proof is merely circumstantial. People are supposed to be innocent until proven guilty.
It would be of course absolutely naïve to think that should the problem originate in eSpain, eSpaniards were the only ones who eventually and allegedly could have been responsible for wrong doings.
eSpain going to war with fake GOLD
Yet, as if confirming the relation of many eSpaniards with the Gold crisis, the reaction of the eSpanish citizens to Administration's actions was quite violent. As we speak, many of the eSpanish leaders are vowing vengeance, and discussing plans to destroy Erepublik while preparing to declare war to every nation they can using the GOLD they have kept.
Already they have attacked neighbouring ePortugal for the 10th time and have started a war of resistance in eItaly (actually eSwiss territory occupied by eItaly).
Many eSpaniards have already admitted that they have received and are using quantities of fake gold, and that the only thing they are now going to do is to ##### Erepublik while it lasts and while they are not banned.
Admins allegedly still don't know exactly what happened
Various sources, point to the fact the up to now, Erepublik administration still has no idea about how the eSpaniards were able to obtain hundreds of thousands of GOLD units in so little time.
While banning a small number of Spanish users, Admins warned some of them that expulsion would be temporary if some Spaniards actually informed them about the exact mechanism that was used by so many Spanish users to get hundreds of thousands of GOLD pieces.
The Atom bomb can't be used
While the Spanish are now using most of the stolen gold in attacks, because they can't distribute it, it is clear that the possibility of reseting Erepublik is at the moment remote.
While it could be a possibility if we consider de advantages, once it would wipe out much of the dirt , it is nevertheless true, that a large number of users actually invested their time and their Real world money in order to support their characters and their companies.
Those who spent REAL money would be the greatest victims
While there may be exceptions, those that used real money to buy Erepublik GOLD are among those that actually believed that there would be some correspondence between the spent money and the Erepublik GOLD value.
If one has the capacity of creating large amounts of fake money, one is not going to spend Euros or equivalent US Dollars buying something, that many have the ability to create out of thin air.
Therefore, while the Atom bomb would be an option, it would be tremendously unfair to people that have trusted Erepublik team.
It is also important to say, that a Browser game, has problems that other online programs just don't have.
We will have to wait for solutions, remembering the games Administration, that fairness must prevail, and that we will not be satisfied with the banning of two or three players.
We have the right to ask for guarantees, and action against those that, as we write these lines, are bragging about how clever they were, and how they are going to use the GOLD pieces that they were left with, because Admins didn't get them soon enough.
Comments
Good article, voted and agreed.
Voted. Very good article.
Monetary Market is btw working again.
I remember there is an article where how to duplicate the gold was written in. But it was deleted. Can't the admins find out how to from that article?
Alfonzo, they could but it would be like finding the guy who invented crack cocaine, sure you got the guy who started it but that doesn't mean they aren't people making/selling it XD
Rather than an atomic bomb they should deploy a time machine. They should make regular backups of all the information that makes up the eUniverse. When something funny happens they could restore an earlier dataset. This would be a good compromise between a-bomb and doing nothing. In addition, certain properties which have not been subject to manipulation (e.g. skill) could be exempted.
It's like in Windows. When something screws your system you don't reinstall the operating system. You go back to an earlier restore point.
Voted.
I dont understand why anyone saying their using hacked gold arent banned. If I where an admin seeing that is admiting guilt and would result in perm ban. This shouldnt be that hard to track in the major countries where the problems persisted. All you need to do is monitor their articles, forums and IRC channels. Atleast this would force them into underground communication channels that they cant inform most of their country about.
Bann the cheaters its the solution.
I was very confused by the labour market and how foreign companies could afford to pay so much for their workers. I was also amazed to find so many people accept a position at GrainGrainGrain over the last 24-48 hours at a wage that just two days ago was well below the standard.
That a wave of new hires coincided with the discovery of the Gold bug, and that many foreign companies were owned by Spaniards can be no coincidence! Spain was using gold to undermine the economies of other countries, securing their wealth in goods and foreign currency. It was a money laundering scam of unprecedented scale!
We suffered far more than war at the hands of the Spaniards; their economic assault has been going on for several weeks.
Ataulfo, you FAIL
THE TRUTH ABOUT EREPUBLIK… THAT GREAT SWINDLE
http://www.erepublik.com/en/article/the-truth-about-erepublik-that-great-swindle-versions-english-spanish1-725009/1/20
Blink-az has been banned now! don't know if it has anything to do with the money scam...
Also its not related but how did osku get 3000+ points in 2 months with only 1 fight?