They are just that, a parasite. They live off the host of the game they infest, their sheer tenacity is what keeps them alive coupled with overwhelming numbers. Between using programs to steal legitimate player accounts and then draining and abusing them, creating a new account every hour so they can avoid spam filters to push their messages through, to not even being phased when accounts are deleted. Selling one "item" of gil will net them enough RL money to buy 3 more accounts.
They have systems in place that generate random new accounts that they dont even need to keep track of, they have programs set up to do their in game dirty work for them, and find any way possible to abuse any system that comes into place.
I keep seeing and hearing posts about people blaming SE for not doing anything or being in bed with them or just not caring. In my opinion, this view is just plain ignorant. They are just as frustrated as players are about this. Gill sellers ruin the carefully balanced economy the Devs tried to set up, breaks features they put in place for the legit player to use, and above all creates a toxic environment for everyone.
Combating these parasites is a "one step forward, five steps back" scenario. SE puts up a block to get rid of posts containing "visit www.buygil.com" they change it to "v1s1t wvvw.buyg1l.c0m" SE blocks one account, they create 5 more. Banned accounts don't always become a (deleted) account in your list. they freeze the account so it cannot be used again which also flags the email address so it cannot be reused.
Sure people talk about "simple fixes" like "limit posts" or "have GM's stand in one spot and just insta-ban" or other simple sounding fixes for these issues. But you have to think of the long term, not just the short term. By that I mean "if we limit posts, how will this limit affect other players? Are there legitimate situations where people might shout often (i've seen people shout "DPS 50 LFG" and out of frustration do it many times in a row.) what should the consequence be?". "If we just insta-ban a shouter, we might be banning someones hacked account that needs recovering or other attention".
Above all what they need to be doing is taking a proactive stance instead of a reactive stance. Prevent these things from happening before they start. Get filters in place by building a database of the tactics the spammers use, start to notice suspect email addresses and player names (difficult with the Roegadyn naming convention, lol) The best way to combat the Gil sellers is to not let them start in the first place, make it seem like nothing is even going on on the surface.
This is what they are working on. Its a long process. Like I said earlier, every time they set up a filter, they find more ways around it. But they will get there. It is frustrating right now and I acknowledge that. even though it may seem like nothing is happening, just look at what they are spamming. if its looking weirder and weirder then that means they are doing their job and the gil sellers are getting more and more desperate.
TL;DR
I can sum up everything I went over with a quote from an interview with Yoshi-P which not only explains what i just stated but shows that they are doing something about it, in their own words.
Quote:
I know the process right now is frustrating but it is working and things are being dealt with. They are trying to refine this process to make it easier on the reporter and the one receiving the report. Remember this is just as frustrating for them as it is for you. you are just one person having the issue, they are dealing with everyone having everybody's issue.
From a Game Watch interview:
Source Link
Notice how the messages are getting stranger and stranger? Its because they are getting more and more desperate.Quote:
Talking about shouts, there are lots of Real Money Trade (RMT) related shouts in town, are you planning something to address this?
Right now we are permanent banning them at really fast pace, that’s one, and also we are updating the chat filters daily. We’re making it hit the chat filter first so it doesn’t get to the other players. RMTs are fighting back against this and they are making it more code like......
yes. Specially when you play on NA server, there are messages in which I can’t even understand what it is. There are lots of irritating message flying around.
Yes. They are putting in greek characters, and stuff like that, we are continuing to take those down.
So it’s kind of like Google’s spam filter, we shouldn’t be hearing much of these shouts over time?
Yes exactly. We are updating the chat filter in extreme speed.
It’s not completely gone but the amount sure feels like it’s getting less, so chat filter huh, that’s an interesting idea.
By making it where they can’t even say it. Also when noticing them to permanent ban them, we are working on these thoroughly. Since we’re doing thoroughly, it’s to a point they of harassment. We receive over few hundred reports in one day, and the GM instantly investigates and goes into position to address the matter. As mentioned before we are dealing with them.
So although right now it’s repetitive, the effect is getting greater?
Right now there is a lot going on in America. On the NA forums there is even a thread asking to sell the appearance changing potion with real money which is familiar in F2P. Looking at that kind of thread, I think to myself for RMTs they can’t do any business with increase of F2P MMOs. If world becomes a world where you can buy gold and experience points with real money, there is no way for RMTs to profit from. New big MMO titles using subscription model is FFXIV ARR and TESO so now I understand why they are desperate. Only thing left for us to do is to exterminate them.
Gil selling parasites.
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09-28-2013, 04:09 AMZakarnRosewoodGil selling parasites.
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09-28-2013, 04:12 AMJaine
A lot of the gill sellers are based in China. Blanket block China.
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09-28-2013, 04:18 AM10TailBeast
A chat speed limit would have solved this problem before it even began. Exceed 20-25 posts in a minute and you are permabanned from ever posting again. No regular player posts that many per minute, so I doubt anyone legit would've gotten caught in the crossfire.
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09-28-2013, 04:25 AMEbon_Drake
Don't ban the gill seller accounts.
yes, I said that.
Find the accounts of RMT players through reports etc and mark them. Once an account is marked create a process that mutes the account characters in game. let them sit there in town all day thinking they're shouting their advertisements. have their advertisements show up in a shout on their screen only. Otherwise the character is muted and is unable to send or receive tells from people (make the tell show up on their screen so they think it was sent.) make them unable to be heard by anyone. Make anything they try to sell on the auction house show up as if it were selling to them but don't actually list it.
Make them think they're able to do everything they want to be doing but don't actually let them do it.
Then ban the account after the account trial period has ended. :) -
09-28-2013, 04:36 AMZakarnRosewoodAndQuote:
Originally Posted by 10TailBeast
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jaine
I went over that. -
09-28-2013, 04:44 AMConradusThe gilsellers would modify their bots to post just slow enough not to be banned. Granted, that would help...Quote:
Originally Posted by 10TailBeast
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09-28-2013, 04:50 AMTeliopasIt's not that easy unfortunately. They can use proxy IPs and appear to be from another region. I'm still not against the idea of it though because it would at least make them work harder. The best solution is for constant observation and quick response to RMT behavior. Banning IPs quickly can slow them down to a near halt. This takes a sizable workforce though and since SE has been caught off guard by the swarms of RMTs it is taking longer then most would like for them to respond properly.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jaine
With them banning crafters for selling gear to those that have bought gil while sad is a good sign that SE is continuing their no tolerance policy with RMTs. Fear of getting banned will deter most people from buying gil and the less people buy gil the less we will be bothered by RMTs. I hate them too but we have no one to blame but ourselves because if people didn't show interest in buying gil then they wouldn't waste their time trying to sell it to us.
SE will get there and get on top of it but the moral of the story is don't freaking buy gil from these pathetic wastes of skin. I hope they stick to their guns and also perma ban anyone who buys gil because they are the cause of the problem. -
09-28-2013, 04:54 AMfixitman
I've said it before, and I'll say it again.... Just transfer all the RMT accounts to a standalone server with no actual players on it. Let them shout, yell, and whisper each other to death. If they figure out what happened and try to make new characters, let them think they did... and redirect the new characters right back to the same server. Such a system would make it very difficult and time-consuming for them to do business.
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09-28-2013, 04:58 AMConradusI think you underestimate how easily the RMTs would figure out that an account is on a jail server. They would use a fresh account to create new characters. The problem has never been what to do with identified RMT accounts; the problem has always been identifying RMT accounts as fast as the RMTs can create them.Quote:
Originally Posted by fixitman
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09-28-2013, 05:28 AMArakasi
Maybe it would help if players were unable to trade gold directly but keep the market or auction house open.