This has been bugging me for awhile.
Besides combat how much of being "good" at VO is just getting clued into various exploits?
I am always hearing about this person exploiting this or that person exploiting that, why is it that every veteran has an accusation attached to them?

Well being "good" at VO is what you define it to be. So, you're really the only one that could answer that question. If your definition of being "good" is finding exploits and using them, that's kinda lame. Anyone that plays in this manner isn't really getting the bigger picture, and they certainly aren't contributing positively to the game as a whole.

I'd say focus on what you enjoy most about the game and throw in other activities when you get bored. Personally, I've always felt that the "best" pilots in VO are those that have the most fun playing, and don't let others ruin their fun.

Darth, you're kind of missing his real question: why is it that every veteran has an accusation attached to them?

Simply put, because they've done it at some point if not right now. It's normal for a game to have glitches, from which exploits arise, especially small, struggling indy games.

It's all too easy to justify abusing exploits by appealing to the tu quoque fallacy coupled with a desire to "get ahead."

Assuming by "being good at VO" you mean how others perceive you: success can be achieved either with or without exploits. But I would say in either case it definitely involves the use of plugins.

Concerning vets and exploit accusations -- you only hear the accusations because not everybody is friends with each other. So jealousy, revenge, and envy play a role in the public accusations of exploits, which may or may not be true. The only way to officially confirm the veracity of an accusation is if the Devs confirm it, and they don't often do that because they don't want to inflame drama.

In any case, as JJ points out glitches that can be exploited happen all the damn time in this game, and if you play long enough you are more likely to explore them, if not to have an advantage over others, as simply a matter of curiosity.

"Besides combat how much of being "good" at VO is just getting clued into various exploits?"

Very little. What makes somebody good at VO is the same thing that makes somebody good at anything: understanding it.

Those with experience or the ingenuity to dismantle a challenge and tackle it in the most efficient manner possible naturally are called veterans.

It mostly comes down to personality traits, those who think/do for themselves get a lot more done then those who have to ask for everything and idle without assistance.

If you think someone exploits don't cry about it into each others shoulders in the shadows, just send a ticket in.

Blazzzy got away from Wash one time.. obviouslyy exploits..then they cried enough and now you cant use cap cells on anything but cappys

When I was new, I tried to raise my levels by hunting assaults with rag3, a mega posi, a jack hammer, and three rail2. Was this an exploit?

Back in the old Deneb border war, the more more players that joined the mission, the more xp everyone received. So I invited large numbers to join. Was this an exploit?

I could easily kill any number of any type of collector by script or plugin alone, while I stepped away from the keyboard. I am almost positive this would be an exploit, just not a very valuable one.

As far as player vs player combat, My primary plugin is enter/leave, which is now obsolete, because that functionality, and better, are now built into the game.

But my number one exploit? I swap the strafe left key with the roll right key, so that one finger controls roll and another finger controls strafe.

Being good at anything is often much about knowing what the hell you are doing, and when to do it.

If that last one is considered an exploit then those people can lick my boots. And i work with chemicals sometimes >.>

I'm not really sure where this "vets are exploiters and cheaters" opinion is coming from. Sure, there have been some bad apples like FiReMaGe, Lemming and sarahanne, but none of these cheaters even play any more. I guess Whistler or Phaserlight are still around, but they barely ever show up.

I dispute the argument that "every vet has accusations attached".

I utilise efficient methods to maximise framing and mining, but I doubt anything I've done could be called an exploit.

I did park an alt from my other account INSIDE the Odia M-14 station back when I was hosting Blargian BoomFests, to prevent my data-recorder from being accidentally killed, but that was hardly exploitative.

Not every good player is a cheater. You just hear about those that do cheat when others cry foul. Hell, needing to cheat to "win" disqualifies one from being considered good in the first place.

I doubt anything I've done could be called an exploit.

how much of being "good" at VO is just getting clued into various exploits?

0%

I'm no vet, but I think that some of these exploit accusations towards really skilled old players are just for a few people to satisfy their own ego and be in denial that the other person might actually be better than them, which is natural human behavior as people always tend to look down on other people....

Thank you for all the answers although I must say that it never occurred to me that people my interpret this as "all veterans are cheaters!" sort of statement. Naturally the more time you put into something the better at it and better rewards you get from it.

I asked this question because it seems from someone who has only been playing four (five?) years that VO is "patched" very heavily by its community. I wanted gauge your opinion on the communities use of mechanics and plugins. I did not, however, expect a unanimous "No" to my question. I should have specified an area of concern like trading or manufacturing but since you have all taken the time to answer and my follow up questions have answered by other players on discord I will simply thank you all for answering.

Thank you all for answering.