Duped and purged

Editor's note: This article was originally published in number 2 of the digital print editions and written by tsun123.

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With one of the largest purge punishments in server history now in effect, Athera can rest safely knowing the elders have restored economic security. Eldric, also known as Roric and a whole raft of other names has fallen from grace as the once-powerful King of Winterheim and Virarith to his new place in the toiling inferno that is purgatory.

The new gruelling purge, thoroughly tested by Burri last week after his glitch abuse, now has a semi-permanent resident as it seems certain it will take a while for Eldric to mine his way to freedom.

The reason for the purge? Possibly the largest duping scam in server history, as players reacted with shock and in some cases excitement as the move had been expected for a couple of weeks. Sources revealed that investigations had been opened amid numerous complaints over Eldric’s excessive luxury spending spree amounting to more than 50,000 gems in under a week.

This coupled with payments to Blothera, Horsia and Western Renegades amounted to a spending spree well in excess of 200k Atlian Gems in under a month. Whilst it is certainly possible for one to obtain such Gem figures, it is highly irregular in such a short period of time, and expert players concluded it was ‘incredibly unlikely’ that Virarith put in enough effort to obtain such figures.

It is understood the elders launched a swift operation in the past week to crack down on the practise, imprisoning Eldric while fixing the bug and seizing all duped gems still in circulation. The fallout from this event is likely to be significant due to the international concern, and it is rumoured that Eldric plans to buy another account in an attempt to avoid repayment of yet more debts. This story is expected to develop in coming weeks.