SimplyMonk wrote on Aug 31, 2012, 15:44:
I'm not really all that bothered if a few miscreants disappear into the shadows never to be heard of again. As with most things though, I might have a different opinion should the Eye of ANET ever turn on me in a way I don't feel is justified. At which point, I quit giving them my time and money.
I was one of the people who discovered the infinite swiftness rune bug. What did I do the second I discovered it? I confirmed that it was reproducible. Then I reported it with a screenshot. After that, knowing I still wanted the rune's intended effects and my weapon intact, I logged off for the night rather than risk being reported or being forced to use another weapon.
Guess what? I woke up to a patch that fixed it and didn't get in any trouble. Likewise, when I saw an item obviously undervalued (karma vendor, and then the trading post bug), I stayed the heck away from it. Note that my policy is because I'm an honorable player, but now this will become the de facto behavior of players instead of them lulzseccing it.
People also need to realize that games like this, Diablo 3 (RMAH), etc., are a different breed than WoW's illegal gold trade. When you enter real money, you also enter in governments and criminal misconduct. This means ANet holds some liability for potential problems like massive money laundering, so they have to make sure people take it very seriously. If anybody wants a nice analogy, imagine a bank's ATM breaks and spits out $20 bills, if you don't think the government would crack down on you like apes on a banana than you're dreaming.