A Message from Team Dalarnia to Our Valued Community
Hello, fellow miners!
While we are working hard on the next major update to Mines of Dalarnia, we want to discuss both the successes and challenges faced during the first week after launch.
In terms of user interest and network traffic, our first week was a great success with 8,000+ active players completing over 310,000 mining sessions. Our metrics regarding network activity are very strong and have been trending in an upward direction at all times that the servers have been online.
However, the attention the game has been receiving has also come with challenges. On Thursday and Friday, we began to receive reports and video footage that suggested some users were exploiting the game for monetary benefit in a way that could negatively impact the balance of the game economy.
Our first priority was to ensure that the vulnerabilities were not coming from the blockchain level via our smart contracts. Our investigation has not revealed any exploited vulnerability or hack to our smart contracts.
Security is of utmost importance for us, and before the launch of the game we acquired two independent audits, which were both returned with no bugs, exploits or other issues being detected. Rest assured, we will continue to treat every message and concern about smart contract issues with the utmost priority.
After ruling out blockchain based vulnerabilities, our next investigation was into the manipulation of the game client itself by end users. We have determined that the exploits being used were being carried out through two methods: (a) using bots to gain an unfair advantage and (b) hacking or otherwise modifying the game client software itself. In general, these exploits were used to achieve unnaturally high scores in a very short amount of time and take advantage of the mechanic that awards resources based on a player’s score on any given mining run.
We already have systems in place to detect botting and hacks, which will be improved continuously (starting with the updates we made to counter the recent exploits). However, we are also aware of the reality that a client-based game will always be subject to people attempting to use cheats, hacks, bots, etc. to attempt to game the system.
In order to deal with this issue in a sustainable fashion, we will focus on leveling the playing field between honest players and cheaters/bots. This process will begin with the next update, with further details provided in the patch notes. Long term, we will transition away from a ‘high score’ based system to a system that rewards a player based on the quality of the decisions they make during a session as well as how well they manage their resources. This transition will take time to fully manifest in the game, but every update will bring us closer to a game where botting and cheating does not give major advantages and in no way negatively impacts the experience of our honest players.
We are confident that the new mechanics and balancing adjustments included in the next update will return the Dalarnian economy to a healthy state and allow all of our players to participate in and enjoy the game.
It’s been a crazy first week for both our team and our community. We want to sincerely thank you for your feedback and support, and reiterate our commitment to continuous improvement and growth. Let’s hit the ground running, pick up where we left off and take the Dalarnia player base to new heights!
Visit our Website: https://www.minesofdalarnia.com/
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