A Reddit user by the name of Commander Rinzler o7o7o7 has posted a criticism of combat logging in Elite: Dangerous, as well as Frontier Developments' response to the issue.
Rinzler o7o7o7 firstly clarifies what combat logging is: "Combat logging is the act of forcefully quitting (by either program task-kill or forced internet disconnect) the game while engaged in combat with another player. Frontier has clarified this act as an exploit, and a bannable offense. Combat logging to the main menu/desktop via the 15 second timer is a different matter and discussion to be had entirely. Currently, this action is confirmed by Frontier as "legitimate", and as such is not being addressed in this post."
Later on in the post, Frontier's stance on combat logging is detailed. "After much consternation and discussion involving the relative legality of combat logging with the devs, community, and community managers, Frontier ruled the action of combat logging to be "exploiting" and as such is punishable by shadowbanning offenders (a "shadowban" is a client restriction preventing them from accessing "open play," which is the online mode with other players.) After this ruling, Frontier has encouraged the reporting and documenting (usually with a YouTube link and supporting chat screenshots) of CMDRs engaging in exploiting. This reporting is done via the support ticketing system, and is usually accompanied by confirmation from Frontier that they have received, and are reviewing, the case of exploiting: they have a stated response time of "usually within 48 hours" for reviewing tickets and supporting documents related to the case."
Then came the investigation. Rinzler o7o7o7 recorded the offense happening in the game, uploaded it to YouTube (in an unlisted state, so only those directly linked to it could see it) and then submitted it to Frontier, who confirmed they had received it. After a week, Frontier said they had completed the investigation, however, Rinzler o7o7o7's video had no views.
"We found that in all instances of reported exploiting, Frontier failed to view any of the video evidence in the reports a single time, even after several weeks and confirmation that they had in fact investigated the reports," Rinzler o7o7o7 said.
"Not only is it disconcerting that Frontier tacitly approves of exploiting (as they have defined it themselves) in their own game, but it is unethical that Frontier is willing to not only lie about their anti-exploit actions, but actively encourage players to take the time to record, upload, and file tickets reporting exploiters, knowing full well they will do nothing with the reports," they continued. "Frontier's unwillingness to police their own game against exploiters while blatantly lying to the playerbase about it is uncharacteristic of Frontier's friendly public image, and is a detriment to the player community as a whole."
"Unfortunately, it is impossible to get Frontier to change policy or quit lying about their actions (with respect to exploiters and the community) without exposing their malfeasance for the players to see. We have tried many times through the appropriate channels to get Frontier to either take action or go public with their endorsement of exploiting, but they have lied and dodged every step of the way in order to placate the playerbase. Sometimes it is necessary for players to take it upon themselves to try and improve a game that is under threat; we were forced to do this with the heat meta, and will do it again as necessary. In this instance, it will be by publicising our findings to relevant media sites until Frontier decides to take action."
Have you been annoyed by combat logging?