FFXI DESPERATELY NEEDS BAN HAMMERS!

[Jerbob]

I agree that it probably can't be completely stopped. A lot more can be done, though, and making excuses for people who buy gil is not helpful. Less RMT is better than more.

The shouting is a symptom of the problem, and it's a minor irritation compared to the direct negative consequences of RMT. It's difficult to stymie it without rooting out the cause. Preventative measures like the /tell filter are fallible, as we all know, and restricting /yells by means of the methods mentioned here hurt legitimate players too. We need to go for the origin.

I fail to see where it is a necessary evil. If the players who are supported by RMT suddenly disappeared I'm sure there would be some disruption because, unfortunately, the current state of the game is that some of the top-tier players are in that position due to RMT. RMT dependency is co-morbid with tool abuse, so some of the "Best" (read: most effective cheaters) would be gone. Stuff would get more difficult for some people who depended on that. But without them, the game can continue to develop properly, and we'll all be in a better place.

I reserve judgement on your point that RMT that aren't allowed to act without impunity might resort to other tactics, as I have no evidence, but if that is the case, that's why we need the STF on point - that's something that needs to be worked on actively.

[Pixela]

No one is advocating RMT, it's just something that cannot be stopped. and a necessary evil.

But the blantant shouting every 30 seconds, for entire months can and absolutely should be stopped.

Agreed, made a post about it.

[Sirmarki]

I'm not quite sure how to react to posts of people actively advocating RMT, buying gil and botting. It's a little shocking.

Exactly my thoughts.

I'd rather have no game, than a game full of RMT selling everything under the sun.
And let's be honest. There are many cases historically where games died a tragic death due to being overrun by cheats and RMT.

[Zehira]

When FFXI was new it was filled with people with more time than money, now FFXI is 16 years old it's filled with people with more money than time. Actually this is still true for almost any mmorpg in 2019 (as shown by ffxiv with its cash shop)

These people buy gil because they don't have time to farm it and they want to make progress on their REMA and whatever else so they effectively pay others to farm their gil for them, if RMT is abolished these people can't make progress (They aren't going to work less hours or not spend time with their kids to grind gil) so they will just quit playing. You know this is true because they buy it now, RMT would not exist if the demand was not there.

Exactly, thank you. Wait, I don't buy/sell gil.

The players I know quit to take a break or play FFXIV. Not to say they quit and will never come back. That's why we have discord to keep in touch with. The trouble is... some FFXI vets can be addicted to FFXIV.

[Alhanelem]

Not really. It works both ways. Everytime square has done something to thwart RMT they hurt the playerbase, and the playerbase gets smaller. It's an impossible battle.

I do not believe the playerbase has ever gotten smaller as a direct cause of SE doing anything about RMT. This is an incredibly dubious statement on your part.

[Alhanelem]

No one is advocating RMT, it's just something that cannot be stopped. and a necessary evil.

But the blantant shouting every 30 seconds, for entire months can and absolutely should be stopped.

I agree that it can not be completely stopped, however it is not "a necessary evil." Unless you're suggesting our community has so many gil buyers that we actually depend on them and that banning them would actually measurably affect player counts (which i don't believe for a second is the case), that statement makes no sense.

The majority of players are rule-abiding citizens of Vana'diel, more or less, and any direct decrease in population from banning such undesirable players and RMT bots would be completely worth it.

Rampant cheating has destroyed many games in existence. I haven't seen you provide a single example of a game that did a good job of suppressing RMT activity that was directly destroyed by those actions.


Also, FFXI is small potatoes for RMT companies. If it became lucrative for them to provide services in FFXI, it would be of little consequence to them, they'll just invade the next game that comes out, rather than attack FFXI or do some other crazy bullhonkey.

[Pixela]

Exactly, thank you. Wait, I don't buy/sell gil.

The players I know quit to take a break or play FFXIV. Not to say they quit and will never come back. That's why we have discord to keep in touch with. The trouble is... some FFXI vets can be addicted to FFXIV.

The same people who work against rmt on ffxi work against it on ffxiv.

[Isola]

I do not believe the playerbase has ever gotten smaller as a direct cause of SE doing anything about RMT. This is an incredibly dubious statement on your part.

Chocobo Blinkers, definitively got smaller.
Changed the way "claim" works by force delaying ability to claim; definitively got smaller.
Changed fishing, lost subs

Every time they do something to nerf money gain (hello sparks) they lose people.

[Alhanelem]

Chocobo Blinkers, definitively got smaller.
Changed the way "claim" works by force delaying ability to claim; definitively got smaller.
Changed fishing, lost subs

Every time they do something to nerf money gain (hello sparks) they lose people.

Nope, nope, and nope, especially the last one. The second one isn't even an RMT related thing, it was a fair play thing.

You mentioned two things that only a small number of players did in the first place, the population did not get measurably smaller as a direct result of any of them. I also don't know anyone who quit becuase they modified the claim system, except possibly the people who were abusing it. And those are players I'd be glad to see leaving.


Any change that makes the scum of the community leave is okay in my book. So what you're saying is more "SE shouldn't do anything about cheaters, they're a necessary evil" rather than "SE shouldn't do anything about RMT" for the same reason.

The community by and large doesn't want cheaters. And I completely disagree with your statement that the community in any of your examples got smaller by anything more than the bad players who were abusing those things and damaging/controllling the economy. The game was better for all three of those things happening.

[Isola]

It's not that they shouldn't, it's that they can't.

There is not a damn thing they can do without hurting everyone. You can get rid of them individually, which is what they do, but it takes 6 hours to get a brand new account to 99 and fully geared and generating money again.

They admitted a while ago sparks needed to be nerfed, but had no idea how to do it.