I've read that SOE had an issue a few years back with some devs and a pvp guild in Everquest getting in trouble over some favoritism issues with gear. 

Here's something I've had a problem with since the launch of DCUO. 

We had a player that pretended to be a disabled young girl but got busted, eventually, in voice. This person, for the longest time, would flood chat with some of the most inane tripe. She/he/it had also decided to bug the hell out of me any time they saw me online...because I told them to can it. The player told me, one fine day, that I wasnever going to get any better. That their character would get stronger and none of mine would. I shrugged it off and went about my business. I have noticed, though, that my damage doesn't scale very accurately as I progress. I know that clipping/burst damage can cause a difference between players, but even some friends will watch me keep up, attack-wise, and still not burn enemies down as quickly or get nearly the amount of damage out as a similarly geared player. 

I'm nobody special but could a dev or someone actually nerf an account? Adjust settings to sort of downgrade someone?

I don't want to seem paranoid but it's just something that has bugged me. 

Also, the player that I had an issue with......they knew an awful lot about upcoming features that were almost a year away. 

wait wait wait OP,

what does the girl part of your story, have connections to the developers in your story?

It is unlikely they have a system developed to nerf a single character without the player having an indication of the nerf (like a debuff symbol or something).

No developer would waste time on that and if there was one, like he was bewitched by her, then he would never actually get his changes through the approval process. I mean, how do you explain that to your line manager? :)

The dev teams and GMs can do some crazy things. They made the game. There have been examples of bad behaviour in SOE games and by CCP that have made headlines with fans on more than one occassion. I think it very unlikely but I won't say no. A sure test would be to find a friend with the same character build, let him use your gear or aquire the equivalent, and measure the results against your own. I am not sure how I feel about a guy faking being a disabled girl. Kind of sad in more ways than one I guess. The bottom line is though, that if you feel bad or nervous playing a game then find another.

Its not the evil developers after you, or aliens, and I'm pretty sure the NSA didn't bug you're machine in retaliation for your l33t haxxor skills.

OP, face it, you're just bad at this game.

Originally posted by JesterSaint
Wow..... "l33t haxxor skills". While nowhere near the best, I'm not "bad". Was, more or less, seeing if anyone had seen something crazy like that before. It would only take one dev to jump on someone. I didn't assume it was devs, in general, more like a spiteful one. A one time coding. But keep up with the insults, guys, gives me something to lol at with the wife.

Being honest with yourself is the first step my friend

Is it possible the characters were nerfed?  Yes, I'd say so.  Possibly from mechanics left over in the engine from testing / debugging / balancing but not intended to be used after release.  There's probably no sort of paper trail on controls like that, so almost no way that the offender would be caught.  It would look like a glitch if anyone noticed the odd setting.

As for psycho-groupies getting tight with GMs?   Pfft... of course it could happen.  For all you know the psycho-groupie was a GM.  :-)

Do I think it really happened or was just imagined?  Who knows.  Wouldn't surprise me either way.

Lesson learned?   Try to avoid the psycho-crazies.  Those interactions seldom end well.

Originally posted by JesterSaint

I've read that SOE had an issue a few years back with some devs and a pvp guild in Everquest getting in trouble over some favoritism issues with gear.

A few years ago they gave an EQ character a full set of the best raid gear if he disclosed what the hack was he was using to bring the servers down.

Once people found out about it and started asking why there was a characterter running around with gear no one had yet, they quickly took back the raid gear.

Do a test with a character with precisely equal build and gear.

Certainly possible.  On MUDs, favoritism ran rampant.  Immortals could change the stats of a piece of gear or a character and no one would be the wiser.  Since there aren't many tools used to analyze damage and stats in MUDs like we have in modern MMOs, there's virtually no way to tell if someone has help from an imm. 

It's happened plenty of times.  Crooked admins giving their clique an advantage by giving them faction gear that is above and beyond the norm; hambeasts using their power to push their propaganda or plots on a roleplaying MUD; douchebags straight-up using the 'slay' command at will. 

Is it happening today?  Yep - CCP.

Are you a victim of it?  Test and see to feed your paranoia.  Either way, comparing your DPS will tell you if you're really screwed by a 'bug', or if you need to alter your rotation.

Originally posted by JesterSaint
Wow..... "l33t haxxor skills". While nowhere near the best, I'm not "bad". Was, more or less, seeing if anyone had seen something crazy like that before. It would only take one dev to jump on someone. I didn't assume it was devs, in general, more like a spiteful one. A one time coding. But keep up with the insults, guys, gives me something to lol at with the wife.

Every thread has it's trolls but most people responded more positively to your enquiry than I thought they would.

To the op, sounds like all of this is in your head. Maybe you should take a break for a while.

And yes Devs play favoriates, been like this forever. Look at CCP and Goonswarm.

DEV=Developer

You are talking about a possible GM and that i would say is highly unlikely.I am sure there are a couple that might actually like to play,but quite often i deal with any GM and mention in game stuff they seem like they have never played the game before.This is becuase MOST if not all GM support staff  is hired agencies outside the game.

The only time i have heard of cheating was in EVE online with a GM.

The only time i was skeptical about GM activities was in Lineage2 the GM's allowed the botters to roam free with never one being banned or removed.That was after i clearly reported MANy and my emails were confirmed and the NCSOFT rep said would investigate,but obviously never did,so i assume they were working with the RMT.

I do not beleive for a minute any high profile staff for a developer try to cheat or bother anyone.I do however beleive that probably EVERY developer has inside leaks becuase people with information just have a habit  of talking too much.I have witnessed first hand inside leaks that have no answer other than leaked by staff.