RMT Stopper - Transaction Clearing

[AttacKat]

Def: Agency or affiliate of a governing exchange (such as a stock exchange) which, as a counter-party to every transaction on that exchange, is responsible for guaranteeing, reconciling, settling, collecting, and clearing, on all trades.

Proposal:
Place a limit of 1M/day on ALL moogle mail transactions for a character, and implement a clearing process for any amount over and/or larger then 1M.

Procedure:
<1M gets instance clearance.
Activities larger then 1M passes thru clearing (flagged for SE review)
<5M gets on hold for 24 hrs.
Each additional 5M gets on hold for an additional 24 hrs, with a max of 72 hours for the whole transaction.

Issue:
RMTs in SE all uses the moogle mail system to do their transactions. Since the system currently has no block to prevent illegal gil buying, we have not seen any reduction in TELL spams by bots, as whatever approach SE comes up with, they just modify their bots and pop up again.

If SE implement a clearing house, then we can catch the problem at the root. Currently there is an 1m limit in place for in-person trading, we need to implement an approval system for moogle-mail trading. It will deter RMTs since their transaction is no longer instant and are being flagged requiring approval.

Cases:
1. Player A send 1M gils to player B, mail gets delivered instantly.
2. Player C,D,E sends 6M gils to player B, player B gets 1M, 5M @ 24 hrs.
3. Player X,Y,Z sends 12M to player B, player B gets 1M, 5M @ 24 hrs (6M), 5M @ 48 hrs (11M), 1M @ 72 hrs (12M).
4. Player C,D sends 25M to player B, player B gets 1M, 5M @ 24 hrs, 5M @ 48 hrs, 14M @ 72 hrs.
(NOTE: Gil amount is based on TOTAL transaction, not per transaction)

Discussion:
Players will not be able to trans large sum of gils instantly, and are required to wait for up to 72 hrs. However, since 1M is considered a fairly decent amount, we should be talking about a very small amount of transactions per day, and a very unlikely transaction for a legit player. Therefore, this kind of holding period should not effect the majority of the players. However, the benefit this will add into the game, is gives SE the ability to screen out the illegal transactions, before any of them can even take place. This will allow SE to confiscate the illagel gils, and banned any associated accounts once a trace is established.

Can this work and stop the RMTs? Nothing is 100%, but 99% is better then 10%. This approach is being used by banks, and stock trading, therefore, it can work in SE.

tl;dr: Flag ALL transactions over 1M/day per character for SE review, and place gil over 1M on hold for up to 72 hrs.

jc

[Kerberon]

I'm honestly surprised that they just haven't made everything btcoa and gotten rid of the market board. There was a FinCen in the US ruling that went into effect in March that stated that companies that administrate virtual currencies that are traded for real money must comply with banking regulations to prevent money laundering. Since SE from my understanding would be effected by this even though they only control half the process I'm surprised they haven't eliminated their liability by just binding everything to character on acquire.

[loldrg]

This feels like more inconveniencing of regular players in attempt to catch RMT via scorched earth tactics.

[AttacKat]

There was a FinCen in the US ruling that went into effect in March that stated that companies that administrate virtual currencies

FinCen regulation FIN-2013-G001 (pdf)

Per regulation, any online game with "currency" is considered an administrator

"An administrator is a person engaged as a business in issuing (putting into circulation) a virtual currency, and who has the authority to redeem (to withdraw from circulation) such virtual currency."

This feels like more inconveniencing of regular players in attempt to catch RMT via scorched earth tactics.

If this was implemented back in Alpha, it wouldn't have inconvenienced me once, but it would have allow the economy to growth at a more healthy rate, and benefit majority of the players.

[Kerberon]

This feels like more inconveniencing of regular players in attempt to catch RMT via scorched earth tactics.

Don't get me wrong, I don't want everything to go btcoa, but because of regulations that are in place I'm surprised it hasn't.

[LeonBlade]

Have you ever tried to transfer over 1M gil per day yourself? First off, if you have a legitimate suggestion for this you should probably contact SE for it, secondly this wouldn't solve anything, and they will find other ways to transfer money like they always have.

[AttacKat]

Have you ever tried to transfer over 1M gil per day yourself?

And I need to do that because? Don't forget, we are talking about giving away gils here, not legit transactions.

As for legit transactions we have:
1. Market board - yeah, people bitch and moan about the fees, but what was the last time you got a totally free checking account?
2. P-2-P - The limit is 1M, but there is no limit on how many times.
3. You really DO give away over 1M gil per day? What server are you on? I am transferring over. LOL

jc

[loldrg]

And I need to do that because? Don't forget, we are talking about giving away gils here, not legit transactions.

As for legit transactions we have:
1. Market board - yeah, people bitch and moan about the fees, but what was the last time you got a totally free checking account?

jc

Due to the way the market board functions, you can just take the hit from the fees but transfer the gil via a transaction by selling something like a bone chip or femur for 5M or w/e the amount of gil that was bought. RMT buy it, you get your gil. Fixing this flaw in the market board and making it more like FFXI or WoW's AH would solve this huge loophole RMT use on top of fixing one of the primary flaws in this game's economy from being able to know you can undercut rampantly.

Also, there are people who legitimately transfer 1M or more a day via the in game mail. It certainly is a hindrance to us. And again like the limit on how much you can trade, it is a measure that hurts average players more than those engaged in RMT, because they'll just find a work around (i.e. the old face to face trading or market board shenanigans I described) for any system you propose.

[HeroSamson]

You want to stop RMT

Like I said start charging people 1000 gil each time they send a tell, once they hit level 50 then they won't get charged anymore for tells, same goes for shouts 1k for shouts till you are level 50.

I bet you anything they wont spam you anymore.

If they don't have 1k they wont be able to shout or tell.

[meJojo]

You want to stop RMT

Like I said start charging people 1000 gil each time they send a tell, once they hit level 50 then they won't get charged anymore for tells, same goes for shouts 1k for shouts till you are level 50.

I bet you anything they wont spam you anymore.

If they don't have 1k they wont be able to shout or tell.

Or, you know, a 1 minute restriction.