Formal Letter to SE about RMT situation.

[Thayos]

this is a 100% player problem, if players didn't buy gil then prices wouldn't be so inflated. ppl gotta have their stuff now...

I disagree.

The moment an honest player like me is impacted by all this spam -- and when there's absolutely no way for players to mitigate this, and the development team moves incredibly slowly to implement even simple fixes -- then it's no longer just a player problem. This is now a problem with the game.

I also think it's a bit unrealistic to expect to solve the problem by asking people to stop buying gil. People will NEVER stop buying gil, which is why these RMT services exist. The demand will always be there. And if RMT have supply, then there will always be buyers.

It's equally important for SE to take action (which it does, but slowly), and also important for SE to give us chat filters and/or right-click reports.

Long ago in this thread, I listed three or four simple steps SE could take to make life much harder on RMT. I did not include a chat filter in my request. The only downside to a chat filter is that it would be so effective in blocking out spam that fewer players would be making reports about RMT activity... but if SE isn't really going to do anything about the spam, then having all those RMT reports is worthless anyway, and we might as well have chat filters.

[Brightsayge]

I disagree...

there are only rmt spammers because there is a demand, which comes from the players.

the spam doesn't bother me. I just ignore it. I used to get all riled up and blacklist and report them but now im no longer sensitive to this issue. I just go about my day. I just made a channel with no whisper as I really don't receive many /tells. most of my communication comes from LS's and FC chat. the only tells I get are from rmt or some weirdo telling me he likes my cats butt lol...

[Aerowaffle]

there are only rmt spammers because there is a demand, which comes from the players.

the spam doesn't bother me. I just ignore it. I used to get all riled up and blacklist and report them but now im no longer sensitive to this issue. I just go about my day. I just made a channel with no whisper as I really don't receive many /tells. most of my communication comes from LS's and FC chat. the only tells I get are from rmt or some weirdo telling me he likes my cats butt lol...

You may not mind just turning off tells, but there are quite a few people that dislike being forced to turn off the discrete form of communication just to avoid the spam. That's an entire social aspect that's being shut down thanks to the presence of RMT advertising.

I can't privately have a conversation with someone without having to sift through all the spam.

[Thayos]

there are only rmt spammers because there is a demand, which comes from the players.

Right, but when honest players like me can't perform simple actions to block out that spam without completely turning off /tells or /shouts, then that's a problem with the game.

These are two separate issues. There's the problem (in all of gaming) with gamers trying to get ahead by buying currency, and then there's the problem of game developers building their clients to minimize these impacts.

There's really nothing SE can do to solve the societal issue, but there's plenty SE could do to fix its game.

[MagicalPony]

Its completely ridiculous that SE thinks they can get new players to start with this ridiculous amount of spam being subjected to all its players. You cant even make it through the opening cutscene without a barrage of tells.

[Zabuza]

Its completely ridiculous that SE thinks they can get new players to start with this ridiculous amount of spam being subjected to all its players. You cant even make it through the opening cutscene without a barrage of tells.

Agreed, I wish they would at least say hey, we're going to do something about this. But the way they are handling this is just...poor is being modest. I wonder if they realize how many new players they'll lose if they don't fix this by Heavensward. Especially when the market is saturated with other MMOs and other games for that matter, it really doesn't take much to turn off a new player to the game.

[Kinseykinz]

1. I'll sign this. Kynd Koena -Exodus server

2. I currently have unsubbed due to a mix of real life demands (baby arriving anyday now) and duuuude, can't a homegirl just gather in peace for the love of the 12. I can't even be logged in more than a minute without receiving RMT /t spam. It's beyond annoying. It's enough in real life I have to deal with /mom /mom /mom /MOM! I really don't want it in game as well.

[LandricFrey]

Agreed, I wish they would at least say hey, we're going to do something about this. But the way they are handling this is just...poor is being modest. I wonder if they realize how many new players they'll lose if they don't fix this by Heavensward. Especially when the market is saturated with other MMOs and other games for that matter, it really doesn't take much to turn off a new player to the game.

Exactly. What is the all important first impression new players get when they see all of that spam? "Wow, there are lots of cheaters in this game. I'm going to try another MMO."

[Niwashi]

Like shark fins or any other endangered species. STOP the eating (buying) and the killing (selling) will STOP!

Actually, the most effective way to reduce the number of buyers would be to go after the advertising spam. Without the ads, there would still be some buyers, but only the ones who think of it on their own and go searching for someplace to buy from. That's a lot fewer than will buy gil when they're constantly reminded that it's available, always know where to get it, and are being constantly reassured that SE doesn't really (at least not effectively) act against it.

The gil sellers know this. That's why they're sending us all that in-game spam in the first place — because doing so increases their sales figures. Similarly, not getting to advertise to us in-game would reduce their sales figures.

[Vaclue]

They need to either disable shout, yell, tell, and friend requests for trial accounts or place restrictions not allowing these on new accounts until they have at least 1 level 10 character, I have seen this work great in other games.

Is is a bit harsh? Yes.
Will it work? Yes.

Idiots will still go searching for gil on google but at least this way I wont have to deal with having to disable tells and stay on busy all the time just to stop the ungodly message and friend request spam, this has gotten way to far and needs to be dealt with now obviously what is being done about it is not nearly enough.