NCSOFT's MMORPG 'Lineage M' is currently embroiled in controversy following allegations of 'abusing'—that is, exploiting bugs or match-fixing for illicit gains—within its siege warfare system. The developer's lukewarm response has only fanned the flames, leading to a series of protest trucks rolling out.

The 21st Aden Master Siege took place on the 7th. During the event, a live stream by an internet broadcaster caught everyone's eye. Multiple users teleported into the Aden inner castle, which wasn't even the primary front, only to be promptly wiped out by the defending side. To many players, this hardly looked like genuine gameplay; it smacked of an 'abusing' scheme to farm 'Aden Medals'.

Lineage M's siege is a classic tug-of-war between attackers and defenders. Defenders hold the line, while attackers must smash outer gates, breach the inner sanctum, and seize the guardian tower. Aden Castle features a rather unique 'War Tax' system. It is a pool of diamonds capped based on trade volume in the exchange, distributed according to 'Aden Medal' points earned by killing enemies during the siege. Crucially, these points are only awarded for kills made within the 'inner castle'.

In the 21st siege, the defenders held an overwhelming advantage. While some attackers initially teleported into the inner castle, they were quickly pushed back to the outer gates, making re-entry nearly impossible. Logically, the Aden Medal count shouldn't have spiked. Yet, the broadcast showed mass teleports into the inner castle followed by a massive slaughter. Since the attackers didn't even attempt to strike the guardian tower or the defenders, the whole thing felt bizarre.

Suspicion of organized abusing has circulated for some time, as users have previously been spotted with suspiciously high Aden Medal counts. However, lacking video evidence and given that inner gates were often broken in past cases, it was hard to rule out accidental friendly fire or standard kills. This time, the evidence was glaring.

The difference this time is that the inner castle gate remained intact, making teleportation the only way inside. Many players believe the defenders pulled their own allies in via teleport just to farm kills and inflate their share of the war tax. By intentionally attacking allies to game the system, they arguably hit a design loophole that qualifies as 'abusing'. NCSOFT’s own operational policy defines abusing as 'any act to intentionally manipulate match results' or 'avoiding design limitations to gain an unfair advantage'.

As the situation spiraled, the developers addressed it during a live broadcast on the 15th. Jo Jae-kyung, the Design Director for Lineage M, stated, "Because war tax is distributed by ratio, it isn't a structure where diamonds are being duplicated or generated from thin air." The Design Director added, "Applying overly strict standards could cause side effects, as everyone has likely hit an ally by mistake, and we might even have to remove 'lord replacement tricks' which are considered a strategy." The Design Director further noted, "It will take time, but we are approaching this more carefully than other issues, and I apologize for the initial design flaws." In short, NCSOFT is hesitant to label this act as 'abusing' just yet.

Meanwhile, one of the internet broadcasters who brought the issue to light has launched a protest truck demonstration in front of the Korea Fair Trade Commission. The broadcaster stated that the protest was timed to coincide with the inauguration of the new Fair Trade Commission Chairperson, aiming to draw attention to the issues of 'negligence regarding super account investigations' and 'abusing'.