stf report feature in game

[Rosina]

As an long time player.

I find it cumbersome to only be able to report rmt via the Support website. I think for faster reporting of rmt activity. We should have a ingame report through the help desk. Or at least GM deliver our reports to the STF is no such option can happen.

I can only say this for myself, but I Play on the xbox 360, and not to long ago ran into a gil-maker. I tried to make an ingame report and was told to report through the site. My only issue is I have no working computer, and I can't afford one at this time. Lucky I was able to report said gil maker rmt through my ps3. But this resulted in my characters death as I pretty much had to log on my Ps3 switch out my AV cords, type out the report.

RMT are also if nothing else "tolerated" by the community. Mostly due to "lack of" support, and the admission as it will never go away.

And help to ease the ability to report through the game is more then welcomed. I'm not seeking individual responce just the ability to submit a STF report ingame.

[Dragoy]

In fact, the Gamemasters are (or were) indeed forwarding them reports in-game to the Special Task Force (unit), unless something has changed since they used to be saying exactly that.

It's been quite a long while since the GMs stopped dealing with the most common issues in-game, so I have no trouble believing they would simply ask to use the web-form. That said, as they have been cutting down on support in-game, I don't see this very likely to be improved upon, sadly. I would like to see it happen, but it does seem unlikely.

In my opinion, it is a lot more stress-free to simply ignore the cheaters, since that is what the company itself does not seem to care for some of the obvious ones. It doesn't mean I accept or tolerate it, I simply have better things to do with my time. I still do report obvious RMT and such, when and if I have nothing better to do.

It's like with people who try and pick a fight with me (which doesn't happen often, sometimes to my dismay). I ignore them, and they'll disappear. ;°


In short, it would indeed be very nice if they improved in-game support.

[Sarick]

Thumbs up I agree, Not fond of the "use a web browser" mentality I see from GM's telling me tovisit external site or the "GM ignores your help desk request and refusing to chat.

[Phogg]

It really is irritating to be told by an in game system that should be more than capable of dealing with these reports to go outside the game and make a report which one cannot have any faith is even being read. I'm not the one being paid to monitor the game, why should I need to do more work than simply use the existing GM service? I tried to discuss this with a GM and was told by the GM that they didn't even have the contact information for the STF to report an obvious fish bot that was occurring (somehow actively catching tuna from the bottom of the ferry was to difficult for a GM to check in the moment, better to report it to someone who might read it the next day and do nothing about it).

Then we get told to make help desk GM submissions regarding the recent uptick in gil seller spam. What's the difference between that and reporting a botter? The external system is not only unnecessary, its usage policies are confusing.

Special Task Force Unit....otherwise known as STFU.

[Sarick]

It really is irritating to be told by an in game system that should be more than capable of dealing with these reports to go outside the game and make a report which one cannot have any faith is even being read. I'm not the one being paid to monitor the game, why should I need to do more work than simply use the existing GM service? I tried to discuss this with a GM and was told by the GM that they didn't even have the contact information for the STF to report an obvious fish bot that was occurring (somehow actively catching tuna from the bottom of the ferry was to difficult for a GM to check in the moment, better to report it to someone who might read it the next day and do nothing about it).

Then we get told to make help desk GM submissions regarding the recent uptick in gil seller spam. What's the difference between that and reporting a botter? The external system is not only unnecessary, its usage policies are confusing.

Special Task Force Unit....otherwise known as STFU.

I think the logical reason why these services are placed outside the game are to intimidate the players from reporting minor infractions.

Why, One word MONEY.

Basically, from this standpoint the game needs to keep the players it has and banning these minor law breakers would cost FFXI some revenue. This seems to be a good starting point as to why some of these cases get ignored. As long as the player isn't a dedicated RMT, disrupting the game or, downright hacking the game it's considered a minor infraction that may not be worth the revenue risk.

The second reason not implement this is to passively filter or intimidate players into not reporting things. You see by keeping the report system as an external site it intimidates players from reporting minor infractions. This extra step to report a cheater is enough to keep a player from submitting a report entirely because the extra time it takes. If SE was to add this in game feature I'm sure the STFU would indeed have increased report volumes day one. The cost of investigating these reports would increase and the loss of paying customers that are caught/ban cheating might not be worth the investment from a company perspective.

I think this is the reality of things. Because the point of a busyness is to make money whats right and whats wrong can be skewed a little if the benefits outweigh the negatives. For instance a player who pays for a second account only to have a full time companion isn't doing much harm. They are paying extra money to have that character to play it within the normal design of the game. As long as they don't abuse it, disrupt game play in an extreme negative manor or, draw attention to themselves they'll stay out of the STFU task force radar.

If they do however, start warping around the zone and running at super speeds, or cussing raciest slurs in shout/party/yell that's when things start to get ugly.

It's simple really, from an outside perspective try and look at it this way. What would have the most destructive impact on the game and it's profits? Banning a paying player that plays two or more accounts at the same time without causing harm to anyone. OR Leaving them pay for the account until they disrupt other players enough to make them quit and/or complain about it? Option one is actively reducing revenue of importance. Option two is neutral and interactively chooses actions depending on the severity towards the community.

In other words from a busyness standpoint unless that player/players piss off enough people they are worth keeping for the subscription fees.

This is how I see it, like it or not guys/gals its a safe bet how the STFU works these days and there is good reason why.

[Jhanaka]

Hello friends,

RMT is a very popular report in our game and this is the reason the Special Task Force (the Unit was never part of the name, by the way, that was added by our players) was created.

Whenever you place a /helpdesk ticket reporting the matter, the Game Master team will take the information you provide and forward this to our Special Task Force. If the names are included, we will do the report for you; if you have not included names, our message only then encourages you to go to http://support.na.square-enix.com to submit.

Our message may have confused some people, which we apologize for, but I would like to reiterate that if you include the full name of the player, the GM Staff will submit the names on your behalf; we do this as we recognize that we have a number of customers who player on platforms that are not a PC.

From this post, you have my commitment that we will review the message we send to ensure the wording is not confusing.

Thank you,

-Senior Game Master Jhanaka

[Sarick]

Hello friends,

RMT is a very popular report in our game and this is the reason the Special Task Force (the Unit was never part of the name, by the way, that was added by our players) was created.

Whenever you place a /helpdesk ticket reporting the matter, the Game Master team will take the information you provide and forward this to our Special Task Force. If the names are included, we will do the report for you; if you have not included names, our message only then encourages you to go to http://support.na.square-enix.com to submit.

Our message may have confused some people, which we apologize for, but I would like to reiterate that if you include the full name of the player, the GM Staff will submit the names on your behalf; we do this as we recognize that we have a number of customers who player on platforms that are not a PC.

From this post, you have my commitment that we will review the message we send to ensure the wording is not confusing.

Thank you,

-Senior Game Master Jhanaka

I tried this today at around 2:45 EST Included player names and the reason for report.
This is the automated response I received from your GM team.

Hello and thank you for your GM call. Unfortunately, We are unable to determine how we may be of assistance based on the comments you provided. If you are still in need of assistance from a Game Master, please resubmit your call and provide as much information as possible about your situation. Detail such as names, times or other specifics about your request. Yadda yadda yadda patience yadda.

FINAL FANTASY XI Game Master Team.

There you have it, I made it clear stating everything and received an automated RUN AROUND message that deliberately ignored my help desk comment. If players can't get a hold of a GM when they call help desk it literally INTIMIDATES your customers to believing no action at all is going to be taken unless excessive spamming of the /helpdesk function is used.

The underlined portions where mentioned in the comment are assumed based on the time of the report. EDIT: I did included the names or the players and the reason.

Dear Senior GM, it's apparent everything you posted has little relevance if you can't get in contact with a GM to discuss the matter. Nothing is going to be forwarded if the player reporting the issue needs to submit multiple reports to get a response. You ask to report issues, you've said you do forward stuff to STF but when a GM call is handled in these manors it's a total waste of time. All this does is clarify the statement I made in this topic about revenue.

The assumed time/date is 99% always when the report is first submitted. The names in the list are there. If the GM has more questions and a player is online they can contact the player and ask. Telling them to resubmit is a total waste of time because it shows a lack of faith when you provided as much detail as possible in the LIMITED space given to file a report.

All said, this makes the need for an in game report feature. I base this on experiences like these. The involvement of the GM's filter out the ability to successfully interact and complete the reports. Automated bot like responses do nothing but ignore reports and show a lack of faith for the player taking the time to file a complete request.

Lastly, Could you please post the link to the rating system, I don't mean the feedback and support I mean the site link where players can rate support. We really do need better in game report features. I heard that SE had a "How are we doing" Questionnaire up somewhere but haven't found it.

[Rosina]

@ gm dude

Ok thanks for the reply ^^ I didn't expect one. I will do that from now on.

@everyone else
I report rmt that do infact disturb my leveling, which was the case with this.

Said lvl 20 elvaan was killing everything they could in giddues, which made it hard for me to solo yags and bees for fame, gil and exp. SE skrew up windurst area as i found out. It really does suck to solo here alot of the good places are now higher up.

[Slaxx]

So wait, let me get this straight. You are accusing a level 20 character of being RMT because they are doing exactly what you had planned on doing, just a few levels higher? (I'm guessing at least some of the mobs in Giddeus would still grant a level 20 character experience at least, it's never been on my path.) I went there myself to farm beehive chips less than 2 months ago as a 99 THF. Does that make me super RMT because I was level 99? There are things that can be a clue to potential RMT characters (personally I think it's an accusation thrown around far to often with little to no evidence) but being level 20 in Giddeus is definitely not one of those clues.

[Rosina]

@ slaxx

way to take what was said out of context and twisting it XD

pretty much there was a lvl 20 subless and gearless elvaan only using a low level dagger killing yags, bee anything that will net gil. Their name was just a random set of letters. I've played this game for years, so ya that person looked suspisous. Most hunters I seen that are what u find "normal" are on their thf, in gear or at least have a name that isn't random letters. Infact there was a high lvl drk in his gear killing around also. I didn't think he was an rmt. Plus said lvl 20 did look odd when running too the mobs almost like a scipt was running.

All I did was report what I deemed odd behavior. Its not my place to say it WAS an rmt. I just reported it as anyone should.

As for money.... they are paid to investigate. Our money goes into it also. STF was set up to help rid of rmt because of the massive inflation cause by gil buying and selling.