Exploit or creative use of game mechanics?

Tessy of Reflections From the Pond (a fantastic blog I don't see in nearly enough blogrolls) published an original and thought-provoking post about exploits — both in-game and in real life.  What would happen if Blizzard ran the International Olypmic Committee? she muses.  Would athletes like Dick Fosbury be stripped of their medals and banned from the games for coming up with new and innovative ways of doing things? 

Personally, I think that anything that is possible (without altering the game's code) should also be permissible.  The onus needs to be on Blizzard — not on individual players or guilds — to determine what is and is not an acceptable strategy for a particular bossfight or encounter.  More importantly, that distinction needs to be communicated not via retroactive sanctions, but via programming. 

In other words: if Blizzard doesn't want the world-first Alone In The Darkness to be achieved by soulstoned paladin and a DI'd warlock pulling healing aggro from inside Yogg-Saron's brain, then Blizzard's programmers need to make it impossible to do so.

Does this mean I expect Blizzard to anticipate all possible "creative uses of game mechanics," and code around them? 

No, of course not.  But I don't feel that public remonstrance accompanied by a 72-hour ban is an appropriate response to the sitution, either.

A sheepish grin and hotfix?  Sure.  The proverbial banhammer?  No.

Anyway, it's a great post from Tessy.  Definitely check it out.