Honesty doesn't pay :(

[Randallw]

So, last night, through no fault of my own, I came across what I would consider a major exploit of the game. Being a naturally honest person I immediately sent off 3 emails.

1. One to Aaron telling him of the bug
2. One to the host of one of my games. The Host has a right to know about bugs.
3. Another warning to one of my other hosts

I recieved 3 replies.

1. One from Aaron thanking me and telling me it's being fixed.
2. One from my first game host saying he trusts me not to abuse the knowledge. After all if I cheat I'm just ruining it for myself.
3......and one from my other host saying he doesn't trust me, he's kicking me from the game and looking for a replacement. This post may sound petty but I imagine he is now telling the other players I got kicked for cheating . I was enjoying that game.

It's a sad reflection on today's society, and quite frankly a wonderful reward for being honest

[mac5732]

imho, that was pretty lousy of him kicking you out after you gave him a heads up on what you found. He should have thanked you for your honesty. Once warned, one can watch out for its use by others. He should have warned everyone in the game, of what was found and that use would not be tolerated once they were told about it.

[se5a]

Thats lame, who is this looser so I know not to ever play a game with him?

[Atrocities]

First thank you Randallw for not posting what the bug was. It is very refreshing to know that someone like you who finds an exploit does the right thing with the knowledge and doesn't share it with any who shouldn't other wise be informed. Hats of to you.

Secondly,

3......and one from my other host saying he doesn't trust me, he's kicking me from the game and looking for a replacement. This post may sound petty but I imagine he is now telling the other players I got kicked for cheating . I was enjoying that game.

Some people are just to insecure. Chances are he will use the exploit now and won't get caught because he kicked the one and only person who discovered it and would be able to tell if it was being used by another player. I would email each player and let tell them why you were kicked. For being honest about what you found. No sense in letting some shallow Hal ruin your well earned and honorable gaming rep.

That is sad. But your better off not being in his game if that is the kind of player he is.

[Randallw]

I didn't even think it necessary to tell the hosts how I did it. For the same reason as I didn't go tell everyone here how it's done. I thought it enough to warn them it could happen. The only person who has a legitimate reason to know how was Aaron and as it turned out he already knew.

I'm not going to name him because I don't feel I can legitimately claim to be honest while at the same time do something vindictive like tell everyone to blacklist him.

Once I get home though I will try to find previous messages with the players emails. Since I got kicked I don't have access via PBW to their adresses, but I do feel I have the right to present my case to the others in case they do get the impression I cheated. I'm not saying he has told them such but my integrity has been insulted and I need to explain to the others. No accusations just the facts.

I'm just mildly upset as I pride myself on being honest. I virtually have a nervous breakdown if I do anything even close to lying. Maybe I could have rephrased my email to him better. To be honest I couldn't help trying to be funny by suddenly saying the password and then asking if he knew what it was, although I did explain I was telling Aaron. His explanation was he didn't know me and although I might say I won't cheat I might find the tempatation too strong in future. I can sort of understand what he means so doubly I'm not going to name names.

so, experiments show that when you know a bug it is best not to let on, and that fact makes me sad . There's a 50/50 chance it will bite you. well 30/70 if one of the people you tell writes the thing

[Azselendor]

The sad fact of life is that some people are insecure. Sounds like the host that burned you is one such person, however I'm pretty sure if you out him or not, it won't be hard to find out who it was. After all, he'll need a replacement player.

But that doesn't matter.
What I wonder is if the PBW admins should also know about this bug so they can see if it's being exploited or not.

[se5a]

there are far easier ways to cheat than figuring out passwords too though. the whole issue is just stupid.

[Randallw]

Well it seems that no message in the last week from the game in question had all the players addresses. My junk mail folder deletes messages after 7 days. However one stroke of luck was that one of the players in the game in question just happened to be the same person running the other game, the host who understood I was just letting him know what was what. He seems amenable enough, so I asked him if he could please pass on an explanation to the other players. I simply do not want them to think me a cheat.

It seems the host somehow got the idea I used the master password to access other empires and find their passwords. That is so obviously cheating that even as I tested to see if I had the master I avoided that route.

[se5a]

pah, I'd be voting him off PBW.
ok maybe a little harsh, but comeon, strongarm tactics againsed people who stumble across exploits and report them is just stupid. there's enough of that sort of bs in the real world to have to put up with it in our games too.

[Glyn]

Randallw - Honesty doesn't pay, but then feeling good about your own actions is priceless. Keep up the good work and don't sweet the small stuff!

FYI - There is a post on the PBW site looking for a replacement player. You might ask the admin to edit it, if you are offended by it.