Suggestion: Discouraging 'bots.

The simultaneous logout gave me an idea that I think would at very least inconvenience RMTers.

1. Make one time passwords a requirement for all users - in the present climate of hacking and security breaches, this seems a sensible step regardless.
2. When 'bots are reported, depending on criteria for reasonable suspicion involved, perform a forced logout of the botting account.

The idea is that by requiring a one time password at login, it requires a person to be present, it cannot be automated. Plus the OTP app is free, and runs on any smartphone or tablet.

3. If an account is reported, and meets the appropriate criteria for reasonable suspicion, and has been reported and forced off within the last 24 hours, add an hour of cool down before it can log back in.

The requirement for a onetime password slows and inconveniences RMT. The additional cool down should further annoy and discourage.

Ultimately it should also help the task force better target RMT bot accounts.

Just a suggestion...

This wouldn't quite work the way you think it does.

The spammers just create new free trial accounts, endlessly. The ones that actually generate gil likely look like regular player accounts until reported. So if you force players to logout, and use the App for the one-time passwords, they could just run the Android app in an emulator to generate it. Thus it would be easier for them to just attach and detach.

Now, what would reduce spam is requiring the one time passwords to be enabled before ever creating a character. If the forced-logout could be done on accounts that haven't entered a one-time-password in 24 hours that would at least kick out people who would be avoiding AFK.

I wouldn't bother logging in anymore if they did that. Huge pain in the ass.

No thanks, I would prefer to not have more inconveniences for paying customers.

Not everyone has a device capable of running apps.

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Originally Posted by Sylvina

I wouldn't bother logging in anymore if they did that. Huge pain in the ass.

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One time password is a whole lot less a pain in the ass which s what a compromised account is. Accounts secured by just a password are net entirely secure, two factor authentication is neither inconvenient, nor a pain. It's also very effective at protecting your account.

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Originally Posted by Hasrat

Not everyone has a device capable of running apps.

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That's why there are hardware keys like the one I have used sinc the ARR launch.

As for running the app in an android emulator, I've not seen anyone running an Android emulator alongside a major cgame, running an app within the emulation and dynamicall requesting a new code from the app and automatically copy/pasting it into the game. I'm not saying it's impossible, but there are challenges. I don't believe is trivial to do.

I remember in Mabinogi they had created this bomb you could use on players you thought were bots. What it would do is it would force the player to solve a timed capcha, and if they failed it would lock everything you could do for 10 minutes. Repeated failures would lead to an auto-boot.

In theory it should of helped stop bots cold. Reality was very different.

Bots would not even flinch or pause from these things being flung at them repeatedly. They moved as fluid as ever cause they insta solved them.

Real players however would get locked and booted regularly. It was deemed a failure.

Your suggestion would punish legitimate users far more effectively then it would even slow bots down.

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Originally Posted by Kosmos992k

That's why there are hardware keys like the one I have used sinc the ARR launch.

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Ok. Do you expect the company to send those out for free to every player that needs, no matter how long they intend to stick with the game? Do you expect players to wait a week or however long it takes to ship (presumably longer depending on country/continent) after purchasing the game to actually receive these items?

If there's one thing you learn after spending any considerably bit of time online, it's that botters always find a workaround. Like fighting any hacker, or counterfeiter, spies, etc. That's just how these things work. One side develops a countermeasure, the other makes it obsolete. The best thing to remember is not to inconvenience everyone for a brief advantage over the problem.

I highly doubt i can get the hardware key thingie where i live and my phone has 0 space left (phone from 2012... rip me) so no thank you as that would render me and plenty of others unable to play.

How about no.

Inconveniencing all players to MAYBE deter another inconvenience ever so slightly does not really sound like a good move honestly.

If they want to lose even more subs, sure go ahead

Block communications for players under level 3.

The bots are almost always level 1.

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Originally Posted by Sarevok_Thordin

Block communications for players under level 3.

The bots are almost always level 1.

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Except now we have level 60 bots thanks to jump potions being a thing.

You obviously have never used the android version of the app or you definitely wouldn't be asking this