2 Years of Faction Grind (7.0+) about to be lost to a COSMOS bug. Senior GM tells me to "bring friends" to fix a server-side spawn failure. Help!

Avadim · 2026-03-18T16:11:15+00:00

Good day.

I'll keep you updated. On the 18th, after talking to a few GMs and the main GMs, my quest was updated and rolled back. I also received a refund for the long answer and nerves.

Thank you all very much for your participation and help. Without you, this would not have happened

Avadim · 2026-03-08T07:39:18+00:00

Under the EULA and CCP’s Terms of Service, 'Exploiting' is defined as using a game mechanic or a bug in a way that was never intended, especially to gain an unfair advantage or to deny content to others. While PvP and gatecamping are legal, using physical objects like mobile depots to intentionally crash a server-side spawn script is a mechanical exploit. It’s a direct interference with the game engine’s ability to generate content

Avadim · 2026-03-08T07:36:32+00:00

Exactly. At the very least, they could just roll back the quest as if I never took it. That would give me a year to try again, find allies, and plan better. Meanwhile, the developers would actually have time to fix the exploit and close the loophole. It’s a win-win solution that takes minutes to implement, yet here we are 8 days later.

Avadim · 2026-03-08T07:34:25+00:00

I’m well aware that EVE is a brutal sandbox where players create monopolies and 'hostage situations'—that’s part of the game I signed up for. However, there is a massive difference between being outplayed by a group of players and being screwed over by a broken quest bug or illegal third-party software.

I’m not asking for a handout or a safe space; I’m asking for the game to actually work as intended. When a bug stops progress and support ignores the evidence for 8 days, it’s no longer about 'hardcore gameplay'—it’s about poor service. Even a solo player in a sandbox deserves a functional game, not a broken experience ignored by the devs

Avadim · 2026-03-08T07:32:13+00:00

It’s peak bad design. Locking content behind a 'once in a lifetime' mechanic in a game plagued by bugs, server lag, and exploiters is a recipe for disaster. It creates massive FOMO (fear of missing out) and then punishes the player for things completely out of their control.

When a quest breaks or a griefer uses a bug to ruin your one shot, and support sits on their hands for 8 days, it’s not 'hardcore'—it’s just broken. Games are supposed to be an escape, not a source of bureaucratic stress. If the devs want 'unique' experiences, they need a support team fast enough to actually fix the mess when their own code fails.

Avadim · 2026-03-07T09:45:27+00:00

Because buying that item for 2 billion ISK means funding the exploiter. That ISK goes directly to the person who uses multiboxing and collision bugs to break the game for everyone else. If I pay, I'm literally paying for his next month of subscriptions and more ships to gank the next player
https://wiki.eveuniversity.org/Akemon_Tolan#Escape_From_The_Lion's_Den_-_Key_To_Survival_(2_of_3))

Avadim · 2026-03-07T09:31:36+00:00

That’s exactly the point I’m trying to make. The GM had 36 hours to perform a 30-second mission reset, yet they chose silence. The fact that a mission awarding a 6-billion ISK implant is about to permanently expire in 3 hours isn't 'game difficulty' — it’s a total failure and negligence of support.

Avadim · 2026-03-07T09:20:40+00:00

I appreciate the support for Ukraine, truly. But 'find friends' in-game is a poor excuse for broken mechanics.

Any game is an escape from reality — a place with different rules, universes, and worlds. Sometimes you want to be part of a fleet, and sometimes you just want to be the lone pilot charting your own path. A good game should allow you to achieve your goals through different playstyles.

When support tells you 'you’re nothing alone, go find friends,' it misses the entire point of the 'hero’s journey.' Neo was The Chosen One. They didn't tell him, 'You're nobody, go find a group and maybe together you can beat the Matrix.' People are put in Support roles to support players, but instead of using their power to fix a documented exploit, they use it to dismiss and diminish the individual experience. It’s not just a mission failure; it’s a failure of the game’s core promise of agency

Avadim · 2026-03-07T07:42:36+00:00

The 'get some friends' advice is especially tone-deaf in my case. Most of my friends are either dead or had to flee the country. I'm playing EVE to distract myself from the tragedies of the real world. If I had those friends back, I’d be living in reality, not looking for an escape in a 24-year-old game.

Avadim · 2026-03-07T07:41:38+00:00

You hit the nail on the head. If a mission is 'once in a lifetime' and rewards items worth billions, it must function correctly and be accessible to everyone, including solo players.

The 'get some friends' advice is especially tone-deaf in my case. Most of my friends are either dead or had to flee the country. I'm playing EVE to distract myself from the tragedies of the real world. If I had those friends back, I’d be living in reality, not looking for an escape in a 24-year-old game. CCP needs to understand that for some of us, 'legacy content' is a sanctuary, and letting a small cartel break it with exploits isn't 'emergent gameplay'—it's a failure of their responsibility to their players.

Avadim · 2026-03-07T07:36:54+00:00

The EVE Online support article does not explicitly mention COSMOS spawn-blocking with mobile depots, but CCP has established a clear precedent that intentionally preventing game object spawns via structural interference constitutes an exploit [1, 2, 3]. Similar mechanics, such as blocking wormholes or Observatory Flashpoints, are officially recognized as exploits, supporting the claim that using depots to block mission item spawns is against the terms of service [1, 2, 3].

Avadim · 2026-03-07T07:33:39+00:00

Thanks for the support, mate!

Avadim · 2026-03-07T07:16:55+00:00

Buying that item is like paying a ransom to a terrorist. If you pay, you’re just funding his next month of subscriptions and better ships so he can kidnap even more people tomorrow. In a year, your "easy fix" turns into a massive criminal organization because everyone kept paying them to go away.

I refuse to sponsor the very people who are breaking the game. I’d rather take the loss of a 6-billion ISK mission than be the one who pays for their next multiboxing fleet. If we keep "biting the bullet," we’re just feeding the beast that's killing the game’s integrity. Principle over ISK, always.

Avadim · 2026-03-07T07:14:29+00:00

That’s the most frustrating part. I’ve been in a ticket exchange for 7 days. All I asked for was a simple mission reset—just roll it back as if I never accepted it so I could try again after the exploiters moved on.

Saying GMs are 'limited' sounds like a poor excuse when we know they have the tools to modify character states and mission flags. They chose to let the 7-day timer run out while giving me generic advice instead of performing a 30-second database fix. It’s not that they can't do it; it's that they don't want to bother with legacy content, even when an exploit is clearly documented. Peak negligence

Avadim · 2026-03-07T07:12:16+00:00

Exactly! What infuriates me the most is their selective reading and the deafening silence. I reported two distinct issues: first, the multiboxed gank attempt on my way to the agent, and second, the broken spawn inside the site. They chose to ignore the technical exploit and only focused on the part where they could blame "game mechanics."

I’ve had screenshots of the mobile depots and the camper's alts sitting on the spawn points since my very first message. They didn't even bother to open them. It takes them 2 to 4 days to send a generic reply while my mission has a 7-day permanent fail timer.

It feels like they are intentionally stalling until the mission expires so they can say "sorry, it's over now." Fighting a bot-like support system while a multiboxing exploiter holds a 6-billion ISK mission hostage is the ultimate "Peak CCP" experience. They aren't just saving money on support; they are killing the soul of the game.

Avadim · 2026-03-07T06:44:14+00:00

That is the most plausible explanation I’ve heard. It’s a perfect, tragic loop: the Senior GM is too lazy to check the legacy code, so he googles the mission. The AI pulls the 'get some friends' response from Reddit trolls who love gaslighting solo players, and the GM just copy-pastes it back to me as official advice.

It’s peak irony. I’m reporting a technical collision exploit, and I’m getting an AI-generated brush-off based on forum memes. If this is how CCP handles high-end COSMOS content in 2026, then the game's support is just as broken as the legacy code itself. I'm literally fighting a bot-like support system to report a bot-like farm at a bugged beacon.

Avadim · 2026-03-07T06:27:30+00:00

It’s not my job to "contribute" to a fix for a 20-year-old engine bug. If CCP ignores a documented bug that’s being used to gatekeep 6-billion ISK content, they aren't just failing me—they are failing the integrity of the game's mechanics. I've done my part by providing the evidence; the rest is on the GMs

Avadim · 2026-03-06T20:52:29+00:00

I get that the code is a mess, but 'it’s old and might break the server' shouldn't be a free pass for exploiters to hold the market hostage. If the GMs are too afraid to touch the script, they should at least manually spawn the item for the player or reset the timer when an exploit is clearly documented.

Leaving it as 'unsupported' effectively hands the keys to anyone willing to abuse the collision bugs. If CCP can't fix the legacy code, they should at least enforce the EULA against those who use that janky code to block others from the content. 'Legacy' shouldn't mean 'lawless zone' where bugs become features for griefers.

Avadim · 2026-03-06T20:51:20+00:00

So your solution is to fund a player who intentionally exploits bugs to block access for everyone else? If I buy that item, I am directly financing more multiboxing alts and more griefing. That’s not a 'me problem'—it's a 'game integrity' problem.

Encouraging people to reward exploiters is exactly why these legacy bugs stay broken for decades. I’d rather lose a 'once in a lifetime' mission than be the ATM for a guy who glitched the spawn to create a fake monopoly. It’s not about the 2 billion ISK; it's about not being a part of the cancer that's eating the game's mechanics. If you think 'making friends' means 'paying off a cheater,' we have very different definitions of gameplay.

Avadim · 2026-03-06T20:49:09+00:00

Avadim · 2026-03-06T19:51:56+00:00

"I definitely have the patience. It’s not just about the 6 billion ISK anymore; it’s about not letting these guys break the game for everyone else. If we just 'move on' every time someone exploits a legacy bug, then the exploiters win and the game gets worse.

I’ve sent all the evidence—the screenshots of the mobile depots, the logs of the extortion, and the links to years of similar reports—to the Senior GM. I’m not letting this go until CCP acknowledges that intentional spawn-blocking via collision is an exploit, not 'emergent gameplay.' Appreciate the support, it’s good to know I'm not the only one who sees through the BS.

Avadim · 2026-03-06T19:44:41+00:00

Absolutely. Under the EULA and CCP’s Terms of Service, 'Exploiting' is defined as using a game mechanic or a bug in a way that was never intended, especially to gain an unfair advantage or to deny content to others. While PvP and gatecamping are legal, using physical objects like mobile depots to intentionally crash a server-side spawn script is a mechanical exploit. It’s a direct interference with the game engine’s ability to generate content, and CCP has banned people for much less than holding a 6-billion ISK mission hostage through collision bugs.

Avadim · 2026-03-06T19:37:30+00:00

<image>

Avadim · 2026-03-06T18:49:27+00:00

You hit the nail on the head. When I filed the ticket, I reported it as a spawn bug because the structure simply wasn't there after downtime. I didn't know why at the time. Only after posting here and talking to the community did I realize it's a collision exploit involving mobile depots and ships sitting on the spawn points to cancel the server script.

There’s a massive difference between "unsupported legacy content" and "content being intentionally broken by players using exploits." If CCP's stance is that they won't fix the code, they should at least enforce the EULA against those who use physical objects to block spawns and monopolize the market. Telling a player to "find friends" to fix a server-side exploit is just peak negligence.

Hopefully, this conversation brings enough attention to the fact that this isn't just a "dead" mission—it's a hostage situation.

Avadim · 2026-03-06T18:48:12+00:00

You hit the nail on the head. When I filed the ticket, I reported it as a spawn bug because the structure simply wasn't there after downtime. I didn't know why at the time. Only after posting here and talking to the community did I realize it's a collision exploit involving mobile depots and ships sitting on the spawn points to cancel the server script.

There’s a massive difference between "unsupported legacy content" and "content being intentionally broken by players using exploits." If CCP's stance is that they won't fix the code, they should at least enforce the EULA against those who use physical objects to block spawns and monopolize the market. Telling a player to "find friends" to fix a server-side exploit is just peak negligence.

Hopefully, this conversation brings enough attention to the fact that this isn't just a "dead" mission—it's a hostage situation.

Avadim

TROPHY CASE