I’m of the philosophy that if you can do something in a game without actually altering the game’s code, then you shouldn’t be punished for it. It’s the developer’s fault if a flaw exists, and it’s their responsibility to correct the flaw. They should be thankful when people uncover the flaws so that they can be identified and fixed.
I agree to an extent. I disagree when this action negatively impacts other players experiences. For example, there have been many exploits which resulted in a massive influx of ecto’s or gold into the economy. This lowers the price of ectos or decreases the value of gold, and consequently, negatively impacts players who gain these items by legit means.
I do not mean negatively impacts in the case of the original poster, who was kicked for not following the strategy of the party. In this case, we are missing too many details to know exactly what happened/why he was kicked. If they simply kicked him, because he did not know the strategy, without saying anything, than that is more of a problem with the players than the code and strategy.
I was referring to more victimless crimes such as when people were jumping over the wall in CoF p2. Banning for that is just unfair.
In the case of an exploit affecting the economy, I think it would be better to fix the exploit than to worry about banning the exploiters. If they can’t exploit in the first place, then there’s no need to ban them.
Sure ban people for hacking, but if you think of the game’s code as a set of laws, and you are doing something within that set of laws that wasn’t intended, I don’t see it as breaking the laws at all. You are simply interpreting the laws differently.
I suppose that is a fundamental view where we differ. I do not view the code as a set of laws. I see it as backdrop environment for which we interact. I see the terms of service as a set of laws that we must adhere to. For example, the code may allow an inappropriate name or offensive language, but the terms of service do not. It is also part of the terms of service to
You will not exploit any bug in Guild Wars 2 and you will not communicate the existence of any such exploitable bug (bugs that grant the user unnatural or unintended benefits) either directly or through public posting, to any other user of Guild Wars 2.
This specifically addresses that there may be a bug within the code of Guild Wars 2, and that it is against the rules to exploit it. Naturally, sometimes it is unclear what is a bug, and what is not. Other times it seems quite obvious. For example, jumping from a platform is normal in Guild Wars 2. Teleporting through a wall is not. Therefore, if you can teleport through a wall, that is most likely an exploit, but if you jump off a platform, it is not.
As for skipping trash mobs, ArenaNet has said before that it is intended that people learn which mobs they can skip and which they cannot and then develop strategies around this.