A surprising new issue has come up for Tom Clancy’s The Division 2, that Ubisoft may be handling too heavy-handedly.
As revealed in this tweet from the official account for the Tom Clancy’s The Division franchise, the developers discovered an exploit in Descent mode, that allows players to join on someone else’s game and earn a disproportionate amount of XP and SHD.
Ubisoft has revealed their intention to punish the players who they have confirmed were using this exploit. First time offenders are getting a two week suspension from playing, and repeat offenders are at risk of getting permanently banned from playing the game.
Does this punishment seem excessively harsh for the offense? Tom Warren from the Verge thinks so. Quote tweeting the Tom Clancy’s The Division account, he said this:
“this is precisely why I stopped playing The Division years ago. If you have bugs in your game, don’t punish players for farming them”
The sentiment was shared in the comments, where other gamers pointed out that Bungie and Valve do not mete out punishments for this.
It’s certainly up for debate. The way Ubisoft described it, offenders were getting an unusual advantage over other players. If the sentiment between the players themselves is that they wanted to see these other players punished, then Ubisoft may be making the right decision.
However, exploits are not the same thing as using cheats, and Ubisoft should take pause and reflect is the punishment is proportional. Really, Ubisoft should be fixing the exploit in the first place.
If this turns out to be unpopular with the community, you can rest assured that Ubisoft will be doing that turnaround in the next few weeks.
You can read the full text of the message from Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 team below.
“Agents,
We want to take a moment to address an important matter concerning the Descent game mode. We are aware that certain players have been exploiting a bug in the game that allowed players to join another player already in Descent through the Ubisoft Connect interface and gain unfair amounts of XP and SHD levels.
We take these issues very seriously and are committed to maintaining a fair and enjoyable gaming environment for all players. We have thoroughly investigated the situation and identified individuals who have systematically used the exploits.
As a result, we will be imposing appropriate sanctions on the players involved in accordance with our policies. First-time offenders who have exploited this feature will receive a two-week suspension starting immediately and will be unable to play Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 during this time. Furthermore, sanctioned players’ accounts will be flagged, and any further offence will result in an increased super duration. Multiple offences will result in a permanent suspension.
We will also be taking action to roll back illegitimate players’ progression. Sanctioned players’ accounts will be rolled back, causing all account progress through the explot to be reset. We believe it is crucial to ensure everyone has an equal opportunity to succeed and compete on a level playing field.
Thank you for your understanding and cooperation. We are commited to upholding the spirit of our game and providing you with the best possible gaming experience.
The Division 2 Development Team.”
