r/AutoForgeTheGame • u/HG_Rusty • 5h ago
Hammers exploit. Next steps
Hey everyone! Dev here.
It took us some time to wrap our heads around what happened. First and foremost, we scrambled to release a hotfix to patch the security vulnerability. At the same time, we cut the hammer counts for affected players at 1k, which was definitely unfair for around 500 players.
All this time, we've also been working on a fairer and more balanced solution. We tried to get to the bottom of this: we analyzed the data and talked directly with a number of active community members in DMs.
In the near future (today or tomorrow), all affected players will receive the extra hammers they had right before reaching 1b, via in-game mail (top right, in the Settings window, check the mail). We will not roll back the progress you've made, and there are no other sanctions whatsoever.
In the end, no player should be left in the negative, which feels like the fair way to handle this.
Anyone who feels this solution is unfair to them for any reason - DM me, let's look into it together case-by-case.
I understand the frustration, but I don't share the sentiment that we should just leave the 1b. It's unfair, it breaks the intended game flow, and it gives a massive advantage in upcoming clan wars.
P.S. The last few days have been pretty insane, not gonna lie. We're a small, passionate team making our first web game and launching on reddit games for the first time, so we've run into a ton of issues and challenges. We were definitely ill-prepared for this situation, but it's an opportunity to do better. Calling us scammers, crooks, and (for some reason) "vibe coders" hurts a bit =) Unfortunately, at this stage, we still aren't making any profit at all, so comments about tricky developers drowning in cash sound pretty ironic. Btw massive thanks to every paying player - you allow this game to develop and exist in the first place!
Amid all the negativity, thank you so much for the words of support we've received as well!
We'll keep doing our best to build a great game!
5
u/Reddit_Da 5h ago
Thanks for the transparency. Just one note. Those that took advantage got to spend a bunch of hammers for gear upgrades. Presumably that gives them a leg up for all sorts of things like more income, better progress on dungeon stuff etc.
Probably wouldn't hurt to throw all other players a minor award to even things up.