In the very controversial Duped Item Wipe for pRO, we promised to compensate all those who possessed illegal duped items. There has been an influx of tickets and our CS agents and GMs have given this the highest priority. The goal was to make a process so that investigation and rewarding could be done in the soonest possible time.

I am proud to report that around 90% of such cases have already been awarded. The last 10% that are now pending are waiting because of limitations to the database. This is due to the fact that their trade logs for the items happened ages ago. This means that is difficult to prove or disprove such claims.

Nonetheless, in the interest of customer satisfaction and serving you, our players, even better, I have instructed the pRO team to prepare a blanket compensation plan to zero out all pending complaints and tickets. I have already approved the official statement for this. Expect to see it sometime soon in the ragnarok site and in ragnaboards.

Also, Waukeen is slowly focusing his efforts in preparation for Ragnarok 2. I am now tasked to take over Ragnarok 1 again. My first plan is to study the current programs and then involve the community once more for their feedback and recommendations. One of the things that I am monitoring are supposed bugs and exploits in the RPC 2007 Wild Card Voting System. I already forwarded some reports from the readers here so that they can be investigated and stopped.

For me, cheating has no place in a professional tournament.

Also, I plan to coordinate with Geonitz , the Communtiy Managers and the Game Manager so that the Midgard Police – which is similar to RF Vanguard (assistant GM) program will begin to see the light of day in the commercial servers. Expect to see more updates here in my blog soon.

GM T

As already announced in the Ragnarok site and at Waukster’s we are going to do a full item wipe of all illegal duped items.

I know there will be a lot of comments after this post and a lot will complain. But trust me, this is the right thing to do. Also, we are duty bound with our license agreement with the game developers (Gravity of Korea) to preserve the game intergrity and balance of Philippine Ragnarok Online. We have spent sleepless nights discussing, studying and simulating alternate solutions. The total solution, which will also be for the good of the majority, will be the complete and unequivocal wipe of the duped items.

I know the short-term benefits of these will affect a lot of players. But the  long-term effects not just for the game but for you, our customers – the community who makes up pRO will be beneficial and lasting. Remember, I also consulted with the community and asked you to take a stand by voting on a poll.

The official statement and more of my personal thoughts after the jump…

OFFICIAL STATEMENT (at www.ragnarok.ph)

Citizens of Midgard,

As most of you know, there has been rampant abuse of the dupe exploit by some individuals motivated by greed and personal gain. The effect of these illegal items within the game and to the economy is massively detrimental. In accordance with Level-up Games Inc.’s license agreement with Gravity, and our efforts to maintain pRO’s game balance and integrity, we have no choice but to do a complete wipe of all illegal items starting 8:30PM tonight, June 20, 2007. This is a continuous process that will last until 4:00PM June 22, 2007. We strongly advise EVERYONE to refrain from trading, vending, or even selling items to other players during this critical period. During the wipe, there is no need to do maintenance unless there is an emergency.

To players who have evidence of their trades and affected by the wipe, you can send a ticket at www.levelupsupport.ph and the GM Team will investigate. If the trade was legitimate and fair (meaning you got the item but DID NOT know that it was an illegal copy), then we will compensate accordingly. Please provide the following information in your ticket: Username, Character name, Server, and Screenshots (if ever possible). Take note that tickets with incomplete information will not be entertained.

We would like to apologize for the inconvenience this has caused everyone. But we at Level Up firmly believe that this is for the good of the majority and for the continued integrity of Philippine Ragnarok Online. Note that there are no alternatives at this point and we are duty-bound by our agreement with Gravity to take this course of action.

Thank you very much for your continued patronage and support of the game.

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It will be certain that there be a lot of “innocents” who will be affected – those who legally traded for items that they HAD NO IDEA that it was an illegal duped copy. We know this and we are already making a process where we can investigate and then compensate each on a case-to-case basis. This will be a long and ardous task and it will take some time.

We call upon your patience and understanding in this matter. Again, comments are welcome below. But please use the “golden rule” which I initiated at the Ragnaboards below… R-E-S-P-E-C-T

Thank you for taking time to read this and for visiting.

GM T

Whew!

What a long day… I never saw so many comments in a post! Anyways, thanks for those who sent positive feedback. The day was toxic here in the office as Wauks, me and the rest of pRO team and Gravity held a hundred meetings and came up with different scenarios in order to find a fair solution to the problem.

The servers are now up and there has been NO JUNE 1 ROLLBACK (except for a minor one, explained after the jump) and NO ZENNY OR ITEM WIPE. I guess that’s good news for most of you. But we are still aware of the dupe item problem and we’ve read and listened to your feedback and suggestions too throughout the day.

The official announcement after the jump. 

OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT 

First and foremost, we would like to apologize for the extended server maintenance for today, June 13, 2007. Throughout the day, Gravity was working closely with us to determine the best course of action and come up with a solution to the current problem brought about by the duplication “dupe” exploit which became rampant last June 1, 2007.  

We would like to announce that all servers are now up and operational and commercial worlds now have 3x EXP until June 20, 2007 as promised. 

There has been NO rollback (except for a minor one, see below) and NO item wipe. 

As many would have noticed, the illegally duplicated items resulted in a sudden crash of the in-game economy. We already have plans in motion to solve the problem but we want to verify first before we announce the details. Until such a time, we strongly recommend that EVERYONE AVOID trading, vending, or buying rare and powerful gear UNTIL we release an announcement. However, please be advised that the kafra, inventory, and zenny was rolled back to June 12, 2007 (12 noon) as a safety measure for those players who might have anticipated the announced rollback and did crazy things like throw away items and carelessly over-upgraded their equipment.  

We are still finding more ways to lessen the impact on innocent players who bought illegal items and we will be announcing measures for this in the soonest possible time. Also please take note that our Vanguard team will be investigating all the trade logs/item transfers and we will not hesitate to permanently ban players who are found guilty of illegally trading duped items. Our goal is to find a solution which would not affect innocent players and only punish those who are guilty of illegal item duplication, selling and trading. 

We apologize for the inconvenience that the extended downtime and for all the anxiety. Lastly, we would like to thank the community for their feedback, suggestions and support. 

Thank you everyone for your patience and understanding.  

Rok On!

pRO Team