Developer Update - details on the LeMat issues and our next steps.
[h2]LeMat Issue details[/h2]
As mentioned in our video yesterday, the team has been working hard to resolve the current issues with the LeMat as a top priority. We also wanted to answer some questions that we have seen on our channels to give as much context as possible.
First and foremost here is what we have been doing since this was reported:
- We have been working on a fix for the last couple of days and submitted this to review early this morning.
- We planned to release this hotfix today, however during the testing & review phase we found this did not resolve the problem, so we needed to look at other avenues.
- We looked at other options such as disabling the weapon from all aspects of the game and found that this was not a simple and straightforward process. The only way to completely remove the weapon from everywhere would involve a larger update to the game.
- Something like this would take several days from removing the items from all in-game systems, creating the new build internally, then testing & reviewing it to ensure everything works as intended. But doing these kinds of changes also comes with other possible risks to several systems in the game which could have a much bigger impact.
- The next option we looked at was a partial disable of the weapon. This is something we are currently in the process of trying to do, but it has proven to be somewhat difficult/limited, and we need to make sure that doing this will not cause any bigger unforeseen problems.
- The partial disable will only remove the weapon from the Arsenal section but it would still be available through other means such as through weapon spawns in game.
- This option is still currently being investigated by the team as we are unsure of the impact a change like this could have, or know what knock-on effects could potentially be encountered by trying this, so we must proceed with caution to avoid further disruptions.
- The partial disable will only remove the weapon from the Arsenal section but it would still be available through other means such as through weapon spawns in game.
[h3]Current plan to resolve this issue: [/h3]
After further investigation, we found that this issue was introduced with the last hotfix and was an unexpected side effect of fixing the single-shot weapon reload issue.
Our plan now is to revert this fix to remove the possibility of the Lemat being exploited further, but in doing so, the previous bug to single shot weapons will return.
We plan to release this fix tomorrow afternoon and, in the meantime, will continue to work on the partial disable to see if we proceed with that option to help mitigate the current situation.
We will be sure to provide more details on our progress as we receive them.
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[h2]Questions:[/h2]
[h3]Has this issue been a priority?[/h3]
Yes, this has been our top priority since it was first escalated to us. We know this is incredibly frustrating and we have been working nonstop to come up with the best and fastest solution to address this problem.
[h3]Why has the Lemat not been disabled?[/h3]
As mentioned above, fully removing a weapon from all aspects of the game is not an easy process. It actually takes more time and resources when compared to attempting a hotfix. When you factor in all avenues in which you can acquire a weapon and the work involved to remove and verify that all aspects are not accessible, as well as testing and verification would take several days and that time would be better spent on reverting the fix that introduced this issue, which is the current plan for tomorrow.
[h3]What is being done with those exploiting this?[/h3]
We have so far taken action on between 80-100 accounts and are continuing to investigate/take action on every report received. The minimum ban length for abusing this is 14 days, 30 days if it's a second offense, and a permanent ban if it's a third. This is a manual process so if you have sent in a report, we will get to it as soon as possible. On top of the ban, we are also reverting any kills that have been earned while using this exploit.
[h3]Will I be banned if I do it by accident?[/h3]
Our support team and the systems they use provide the needed information to determine if someone is consistently using the exploit or if it happens accidentally. Our best advice is if it happens, avoid using the weapon and extract when possible, and do not use any instances of the LeMat that you may already own.
This way there is no risk of it accidentally happening or potentially being banned for it accidentally happening.
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We understand that this has been a frustrating experience and we are doing what we can to resolve it as quickly as we can. We want to sincerely apologize for the inconvenience this has caused and will provide further updates once more information becomes available.
~The Hunt Team
