FlowsionMS Down!

Futhermore, why bother hiring GMs at all if one programmer can wipe out all hackers for a patch?

I don't think it's that Nexon likes the lack of GM presence. It's just cheaper to take care of hackers by other means than brute force.

I beg to differ to a degree Fiel. A competent team of programmers with the appropriate testing team and/or test server can wipe out the latest hack effectively without affecting legitimate players.

That certainly has NOT been the case with Nexon's super dee duper glitched autoban system. And anyone who dares to say that you sometimes break a few eggs to make an omelet has no idea what good customer service is all about.

I can't speak to what Nexon likes or dislikes as I know no one at that company and all my customer service interactions have been via automated scripts or templates. In my humble opinion, relying on an autoban system to avoid having to hire real Game Masters simply shows that Nexon's doesn't get customer service. Unfortunately, there are too many young kids pouring their money or their parents' money into Nexon's coffers for my opinion to make any difference.

Frankly, Nexon and all other MMO operator will never be rid of hackers altogether. There are other ways to mitigate the risks other than an autoban system but those options tend to require more customer service on Nexon's part. (e.g. ip registration limited to a certain # of addresses, mass IP banning of known open proxy servers, convert to a subscription model, etc)

Like you said Fiel, it's just cheaper to brute force with an autoban system and hope you don't screw too many of your customers all at once. That maybe the acceptable choice for Nexon management, but it isn't for me.