I have a lot of concerns about the recent changes to the Diorite Not-Alrite pick. I feel like this tool was working fine for months, and was also working exactly they way it was demonstrated to all players by Wildercraft staff, only to have a vital part of it nerfed because a few players complained for some reason.

I also have concerns about how this change was announced. There was a post telling players there was a bug and that if they exploited the bug they would be banned.  It turned out the "bug" was that the pick was doing exactly what it was advertised to do, but had now been declared "wrong". This seems entirely inappropriate. 

Investments were made by players based on nothing more than the advertised functionality.  Then, without warning, that functionality was changed offering those same players no recompense for their investment.

This change has really effected the value of these picks.  From what I see in chat, it looks like someon just paid a large amount for one, and that value has been greatly reduced based on this change.

It's aslo affected the price of Diorite, with many players charging 3 or more diamonds for a stack, instead of the usual 1 for other buidling materials. Again, players were already accounting for the Diorite pick use in the cost, which has now been nullified by this nerf.

I don't undertand the compalint that the pick was OP. There was only a 5% chance that you would get a diamond block.  Out of a stack of Diorite, I would occasionally get NO diamond blocks.  On others I might see 5 or 6. It was luck of the draw.

As you have to either win a dice roll to get the thing (Wildercrate) OR buy the thing outright, how is this OP?

I know one of the complaints seems to come down to "it's not semi-vanilla enough" to which I say, if you feel that way, head off to Expanse.


 

Ranger_Lupus was banned by Coral_Papa on April 29 for abusing a known bug. The bug was that the Diorite Not-Alrite pick was not supposed to be able to mine placed diorite, only naturally generated ones. This became a problem when DarknessxRisen decided to buy a lot of diorite then place and mine it all. This has been a bug since the implementation of the pick. As seen in the twitch broadcast (https://www.twitch.tv/videos/560549340?t=0h7m36s )from 7:35-8:40 the staff member placed the diorite then mined it getting diamonds. I have personally seen both mods and players using this “glitch”, and nothing has happened to them. Also I have heard that staff members knew of this bug and still abused it. To us as the players we only knew of the bug at 6:12 on April 19 when coral_papa posted in the #lounge in dc. Ranger was involved with this conversation and knew that it was a bug. He wanted to finish mining the diorite that he had left and was going to stop after that. He then talked with coral in game and was subsequently banned. It is known that Ranger is very outspoken and not liked very much and I think that also led to his ban. After others and I posted in dc there was finally an official announcement saying to not use the Diorite Not-Alrite pick.

I posted this is Discord, and am reposting it here to echo my concern:
"
Today at 11:23 AM [Eastern]"
wait, so the "bug" for the Diorite Not-Alrite pick axe was that it could mine player placed blocks? I mean, that's literally what was done in the demo. Several people were hoping to get one because they "were glad they saved" their diorite, and no one said that wasn't how it was going to work. Someone just bought @DarknessxRisen's Diorite Not-Alrite pick axe for over 90 DBs, I believe. Was that person aware of the fact that it only works on naturally generating blocks? I'd have to watch the stream again, but I don't recall anyone ever saying that. I'll go watch now, in case I'm mistaken. Does anyone here remember any mention of that? Maybe I'm just mistaken?(edited)

[citing the video upon review:]
"If you mine any diorite" (emphasis added) in the stream. "Diorite for sale in my shop in 10 minutes" got laughs. "[if you find diorite] you might wanna save them" was said by the presenter(edited)

I'm really confused as to when this was supposed to have been communicated to the larger community, and if a person got a ban for it, I think the lack of communication about what the "bug" was should be considered
" (end of Discord quote: https://discordapp.com/channels/265770803172212736/265770803172212736/705439228406005760)

I'm also concerned that a player was banned for using it in a way that every single person I've talked to has said they were under the impression that it was supposed to be used. Further, from what I understand, the original "bug" was just that the pickaxe would break diorite in other people's claims, like the WilderSpaid could. Then, this change about player placed blocks seems like it was added to the item fix, and ruled as a part of the "bug" when it's really not.

Furthermore, it just makes sense that the item would function this way when we consider how people play Minecraft. When I go mining, I do so with a silk pick. I bring everything home, take out my fortune pick, and take my diamonds, coal, redstone, whatever, for the ore, in one go with all of it. Why would any player believe this pick was supposed to function any differently than that? That's the precedence, that's what was on display in the demo, and that's what we've seen since the item was added.

I think, if anything, the idea that this was a "bug" desperately needs to be decoupled from the actual bug, and the team in change of this item needs to admit that these things becoming convoluted negatively impacted the community, and was a bad call. 

I'll quote myself in a DM I had with SkinMilk today, this particular DM posting at 3:21 PM (Eastern) today:
"
I don't agree or disagree with how Ranger was handled specifically, mainly because I wasn't there to see the chat, and so anything he's said to me about how it went down has been taken with the appropriate grain of salt. I don't have chat logs, and don't care to see them. My biggest issue is with the item and how it was handled, especially considering the recent sales and purchases that several players have made regarding the pick, and that they weren't informed prior to buying them that the item was "bugged", and what it's new use cases would be. Surrounding that is the idea that this generally doesn't feel like a bug, but rather a change to it's intended use being called a bug when instead it feels like an "oops, this is too powerful, we need to change it." The latter is obviously acceptable, and absolutely required in many cases, but should take a vastly different approach from Mods to the player base.

Maybe that impression is wrong, possibly a result of how this was kept quiet in hopes of not advertising to players the issue until it could be resolved, but whatever the cause, that feeling is what makes me uneasy, and why I brought it up in the first place. I think everyone I've asked has told me they were under the impression this was how the pick was supposed to work, which certainly adds to that feeling.
" End Quote

This issue and how it was handled is a cause for concern. And people who try and play it off and say "It's just Minecraft" are clearly out of touch with what it means to be a part of this community of trust and mutual respect. 

I would like to see an offical answer from wildercraft on why ranger was banned and not anyone else, also why did this just become a bug.
Here is three anceints that are wondering the same with multiple other players also wondering why all this has come to light right now. I think I speak with everyone that we want some anwser to why this just happened.

It also isn't fair how plenty of people donated to the server to buy wildercrate keys, in hopes of getting the diorite not-alrite pickaxe that was advertised. They spent real money to get something, as it was shown, and then the functionality of it was changed. Also, if this was a bug and was NEVER intended to be used that way, then why was it not changed earlier? The pick has been out for plenty of time and there are lots of mods who could've reported it, but instead they went on using it themselves.

For the most part while i am newer to the server and bought my way to ancient due to loving the server i have a few of the same questions. 
As Yacob said if this has been like this for so long why change without discussion with everyone? it seems like two or three negative post about the pick and a sweeping change was made with no discussion.
While i know both sides of the stories about what happened with ranger. Its hearsay to me and as i was not on at the time watching its hard for me to say my opinion on the matter either way. If he was banned because he used the pick after being told not too cool...but if he was banned for being argumentative like he was for on discord why is that not his official ban reason on the server? If being argumentative was his ban reason i believe its needs to be changed to reflect that.

I feel like i need to input this as i'm sure everyone agrees i was the one to kick of this powder keg by posting about this in the lounge chat in the first place. 


I think all we would like is a clear and concise answer as to why this occured within less than a 24 hour period without even a by-your-leave and why an official announcement wasnt made until over an hour after the original banning and discussion in the lounge....Also Why was an official announcement not made on the server itself?

To address the concerns over Ranger_Lupus's ban:

A player was banned for using the diorite not-alrite pickaxe after they had been made aware that there was an issue with it and being told not to use the pickaxe. The player was told by multiple staff members not to use the pickaxe, but continued to mine diorite using the pickaxe on the server, even after conversing with staff in the lounge channel on discord. The ban was issued because at that point the player was knowingly exploiting a bug, unlike than the many unknowing participants. 

Thankyou capndiln for the response of why ranger was banned, I would still like to know why this just became a bug. I know you may not have the answer for it but if you could ask in your staff chat for an official anwser that would be very nice.

I am in no way defending ranger but i did make this anolgy of what happened.
So you bought a car(the pick) and want to fix some items, as the brand items are to expensive(finding diorite in the wild) you decide to buy off brand items(diorite to place). You are then told that you can only use brand items, but there is a no return policy for the stuff you already bought. So you still use the off brand items as you would lose money. The car company then takes the car away from you even though you own it completely.

I agree with Tolc, everyone had every reason to believe was an intended feature. Calling it a "bug" is inappropriate.

Between the way the tool was demonstrated by staff, the lack of comment from staff to the contrary, the use of the tool in this manner by staff and players alike for two months with no sign of backpedaling or repercussions from staff; using the DnA on placed diorite had ALL the appearance of being an intended feature, and should be treated as such.
If, months later, it is deemed too OP and needs to be removed, fine. But until such time as it can be removed, it's fair game and time for adjustment needs to be allowed. Slapping a vague "oh wait no" on the lounge of all places, months later of all times, and letting it fall on the players to bear the brunt of the inevitable confusion is a poor way to handle it. If you're gonna change a rule, it needs to be handled with *far* more clarity and openness. I had no idea about the restriction on using the pickaxe (in the most obvious way to use it) until somebody was banned for it. That ain't right. If you're going to only communicate a rule to certain people when everybody is already innocently using the pickaxe like that, and then ban them because now they know, it just looks like selective treatment. I'm not saying that's what it was, it's just not a good look.

I agree with a lot of what is being said here.

The Ban, while unfortunate, appears to be a bad reaction by a player to a bad situation that seems to have quickly gotten out of hand by the Mods.  I don't want to question a situation that may be more than it appears on the surface, but I wonder if there is an opportunity here for something other than a ban.

As for the nerf to the DnA pick, I agree with most of what has been said.  That it was suddenly deemed a "bug" seems inappropriate, especially when the season is likely going to end in the coming months. Was this change really necessary?  Could it not be end-dated to give players time get rid of any stores of diorite they have accumulated, thinking they could use the pick anytime they liked?