Well, let’s talk hypothetically then. I’ll leap to a few conclusions.
If you found a flaw in GoW that allows someone to perform better in GW than they should, you objectively should report it to the devs. I think, objectively, they should respond to that, even if they can’t tell you when they plan to do something about it. At that point I think your objective responsibilities end.
The stakes aren’t high here. This is a game people play for fun. There are no cash prizes. It’s all ego. The consequences of some guild cheating are that some numbers get shifted around differently in a database somewhere. The only paychecks and livelihoods at stake are the devs’. Nobody dies if GW has an exploit. Nobody even really loses their job… unless the exploit is widely known. Hence there are more risks to a public announcement than silence.
So maybe they don’t give a flip. Or maybe they’re working on a solution but don’t feel obligated to tell you when. Or maybe the solution is really difficult and they don’t have a timeline. Or maybe they think it’s difficult enough to pull off no one’s doing it. Maybe they’re investigating and want to see if the cheaters are spreading information so they can bust as many cheaters as possible at once. Or maybe there are actually multiple exploits they’re tracking, and they don’t want to let it be known they’re wise so they can catch more people. There are a lot of good reasons why you might’ve reported a serious flaw to them and received no response.
If you go full black hat and stream yourself using the exploit or dump all your proof, the game’s going to fall apart. There will be drama at an unprecedented level, lots of harassment targeted at you, and lots of harassment targeted at the devs. If they don’t know how to fix it, they’re screwed. They’re going to have to do something hasty, which is just as likely to open worse doors.
Even if you go grey hat and try to quietly announce you know there is an exploit and explain the extent of it without directly implicating anyone, a lot of the above happens.
It’d be most responsible to keep badgering the devs privately about it and get an answer with finality. Don’t play games in public and suggest you hypothetically know about an exploit that’s ongoing. When you act coy and sly like that, someone who is cheating and trying to figure out if they’re being detected knows you’ve detected them. If their next question is, “Did AWR tell the devs?” you’ve answered it for them. So now they know to lay low and avoid that exploit for a little while. If they were collaborating with other people, they’re going to tell everyone to lay low. If the devs were investigating, all the evidence is going to dry up. Then it’s going to look like you’re making things up.
So, hypothetically speaking, I think it’s best to be kind of quiet and keep your cards close to your chest. If you legitimately think there is widespread GW cheating then I can’t blame you for playing a few cards. You’re going to upset people and make life harder for the devs. People are going to threaten to quit the game then spend 800 gems on some goofy event. We’ll get a quick, hasty patch that opens an even bigger exploit.
Short story: you probably don’t have all of the information. Don’t go black hat, and keep in mind even well-intentioned grey hats have still caused massive casualties with their reveals. If you think the competitive integrity of GoW has been permanently breached and the devs are not going to address it, the most responsible and impactful thing you can do is move on to another game. The worst thing you can do is stick around anyway and fan the flames.
And stop letting the cheaters know you’ve detected their patterns. It tells them when their exploits are obvious and they need to find better ones.