Possible Solution to stop Hunt Abusers

[Risvertasashi]

Nothing will stop abusers. Fix the system one way and they will find another way to abuse it. That's what they do and it's just an arms race in the end.

There are definitely things that can be done to mitigate abuse. And in some cases close it off entirely. For example, only letting the client store info on what it can see is security 101 for online games. No hack/app/tool can get info that the client doesn't have.

SE's already doing that, though. Doing more than that is... tricky, admittedly. There's not really a reliable way to keep info the client does have out of third party app's hands and trying does just lead to the arms race you mention. But that doesn't mean they can't make it more difficult, like the OP's suggestion.

[Malzian]

There are definitely things that can be done to mitigate abuse. And in some cases close it off entirely. For example, only letting the client store info on what it can see is security 101 for online games. No hack/app/tool can get info that the client doesn't have.

SE's already doing that, though. Doing more than that is... tricky, admittedly. There's not really a reliable way to keep info the client does have out of third party app's hands and trying does just lead to the arms race you mention. But that doesn't mean they can't make it more difficult, like the OP's suggestion.

No arguments there, I'm not saying to not fight the fight, just noting that the concept of 'stopping' the abuse is a little bit far on the optimistic side.

[Potchi]

No arguments there, I'm not saying to not fight the fight, just noting that the concept of 'stopping' the abuse is a little bit far on the optimistic side.

Duly noted, I was a bit vague with my thread title. I wasn't meaning a stop to all abuse. I was meaning a stop to the specific abuse that this may remedy if albeit temporarily.

[Potchi]

Nothing will stop abusers. Fix the system one way and they will find another way to abuse it. That's what they do and it's just an arms race in the end.

There is truth in what you said. The thing is, does that mean SE should throw their hands up in the air and let abusers and hackers run wild? No... No it doesn't. Sega did that with their servers on PSO and I know they aren't the only ones. It's a constant battle yes, but not one that should be given up on.

[Malzian]

There is truth in what you said. The thing is, does that mean SE should throw their hands up in the air and let abusers and hackers run wild? No... No it doesn't. Sega did that with their servers on PSO and I know they aren't the only ones. It's a constant battle yes, but not one that should be given up on.

LoL... Yeah, I agreed with that at the same time you said it.

[Reynhart]

Step 1 : Allow us to build an alliance outside of Duty Finder
Step 2 : Make mark forced pop by fulfilling certain conditions, and allow multiple pop simultaneously
Step 3 : Make mark exclusive to the group who popped it
Step 4 : Adjust mark so that B-rank mark is designed for light party, A-rank mark for full party, S-rank mark for alliance

There, problem solved

[Hybris-Maenad]

To me it seems the Hunt System was put in place to give casuals/non-hardcore raiders the opportunity to get gear upgrades.

Which is why it's so aggravating that the majority of people abusing this are the raiders. Most "casuals" don't have the third-party add ons, it's mostly the raiders that were already using them to parse.

Honestly though, I love the hunts. Even against those with an advantage I get a thrill out of finding a mark first. If you go about these as a party activity you can still have a bunch of fun since there are almost always B ranks up somewhere while the big dragnet groups are swarming the As. Those in 150+ member linkshells are almost always disappointed since they only get there as 4 dozen other people arrive, but if you just go about these as a party activity it is still really fun.

I really like the OPs idea more so than mine that he linked to. I really hope that SE do something like this to alleviate the advantage that 3rd party app users have. The hunts and the new dungeons are fantastic, but everything else about this update seems to be a blantant time-sink to keep people subbed up until 2.4(gardening demands&limits/desynthesis/new tools). I don't intent to reward SE by continuing to sub if they can't even out the playing field between PS3/4 and PC users in the one new thing that I really enjoy after they seemed to take any fun out of my crafting gathering(getting slapped with 11 new tools to grind just as I finished the last 11 is a slap in the face).

[Erudain]

1.- Remove the myth/sold rewards from marks -----> sends lots of ppl back to dungeons, raids, roulette because they need the currency.
2.- Give Allied Seals as a frontline reward -------> sends lots of ppl to frontline.
3.- Make Oils/Sand not count for the weekly lookout in ST/SCoB -------> send raiders back to raids
3.- Make the daily hunts actually worth something. Around 30 seals a day (15 days to get 1 oil) -----> ppl who dont want the elite hunt drama can still get stuff.

That will spread players more and reduce the rage caused by elites.

[Risvertasashi]

1.- Remove the myth/sold rewards from marks -----> sends lots of ppl back to dungeons, raids, roulette because they need the currency.
2.- Give Allied Seals as a frontline reward -------> sends lots of ppl to frontline.
3.- Make Oils/Sand not count for the weekly lookout in ST/SCoB -------> send raiders back to raids
3.- Make the daily hunts actually worth something. Around 30 seals a day (15 days to get 1 oil) -----> ppl who dont want the elite hunt drama can still get stuff.

That will spread players more and reduce the rage caused by elites.

The only part I don't like is sending people back to dungeons. I'm sick of them already, I want alternatives!

[Reynhart]

1.- Remove the myth/sold rewards from marks -----> sends lots of ppl back to dungeons, raids, roulette because they need the currency.
2.- Give Allied Seals as a frontline reward -------> sends lots of ppl to frontline.
3.- Make Oils/Sand not count for the weekly lookout in ST/SCoB -------> send raiders back to raids
3.- Make the daily hunts actually worth something. Around 30 seals a day (15 days to get 1 oil) -----> ppl who dont want the elite hunt drama can still get stuff.

That will spread players more and reduce the rage caused by elites.

Maybe I'm taking shortcut, but arent' you basically saying "Remove every reward that makes hunt worthwhile" ? You're right about the part where no hunt abuser will participate...but no people will either, since they won't reward with anything really useful