Formal Letter to SE about RMT situation.

[Resh]

How about making sending a /tell a level 20 MSQ reward. Today I had 3 RMT tells waiting before the game even loaded.

[Sykksmoke]

I'd say why not have filtering for Friend Requests / Tells with options that you can select (Friends, Linkshells, Free Company, Lvl 10.+, Lvl 20.+ and so on) I feel like that would eliminate most /tell spam and friend request spam.

[Legacy69]

I'd say why not have filtering for Friend Requests / Tells with options that you can select (Friends, Linkshells, Free Company, Lvl 10.+, Lvl 20.+ and so on) I feel like that would eliminate most /tell spam and friend request spam.

I agree with a form of filtering process that would allow the player to choose what kind of communications they'd like to recieve and from who, be it LS, FC, Friends list, or even a level range. (We should have this anyway, RMT or not)

Either that or force new characters to have to complete a string of main scenario or any kind of quests, plus reaching say, level 10 before even being able to send a tell or a friend request, shout ect. Sounds harsh yes, but the more annoying you make it for RMT to send out their messages the less they will do it, or even will result in them using the characters they are actually making the money on, which are the ones that should be targeted ultimately.

[Niwashi]

Either that or force new characters to have to complete a string of main scenario or any kind of quests, plus reaching say, level 10 before even being able to send a tell or a friend request, shout ect. Sounds harsh yes, but the more annoying you make it for RMT to send out their messages the less they will do it, or even will result in them using the characters they are actually making the money on, which are the ones that should be targeted ultimately.

The problem is that the RMT spammers aren't the ones inconvenienced by this, at least not on an ongoing basis. They're just running bot scripts. They'd have to (once only) update those scripts to go through a few more quests and levels, and sure, that would be a bit of an inconvenience when the feature is first deployed. But then after that, each character gets the same kick off a script and just let it run that they have now. There'd no longer be any difference from what they do now.

The only people this would hurt would be legitimate new players who are trying to get into their new game, learn it, meet people, etc. They'd then be forced to go it solo. Now some players like to play solo, even in MMOs, but lots of players don't, and cutting off new players from being able to communicate isn't going to keep them around. New player retention rates would plummet. (What's more, the ones who stay would lean more towards the ones who prefer playing solo, and those are the ones who get annoyed when the MSQ starts requiring group dungeons.)

[RubyShoes]

An easier way for us to report them. (That support window is slow loading all that cut'n'paste and then the nag nag nag that your support ticket has been answered).
In game GM's to catch and insta-ban.
Ban the buyers without the buyer we wouldn't have the seller.

Not many MMO's bother to do much about it the odd ones that have successfully countered RMT have used some or all of these.

[Welsper59]

An easier way for us to report them. (That support window is slow loading all that cut'n'paste and then the nag nag nag that your support ticket has been answered).
In game GM's to catch and insta-ban.
Ban the buyers without the buyer we wouldn't have the seller.

Not many MMO's bother to do much about it the odd ones that have successfully countered RMT have used some or all of these.

Easier reporting would certainly go a long way to making the process a lot more smooth. Their current report system is ridiculously inconvenient and laughable. The sort of thing you'd learn in an entry level ICS course.

In-game GMs are great for that purpose, but not very feasible in most cases. The ban hammer in-game has its own protocol to follow, which involves a lot of "are we sure X is doing Y?" sort of thing. Ridiculous, definitely, but standard practice. It's exactly why a lot of "legit" players that bot their levels never get caught for doing it. Having a round-the-clock in-game GM (ideally having 2-3 per server) is a lot of employment related flags to raise, thus the not very feasible part, as it's not just NA/EU, but also JP... probably even China.

The market already exists, so the banning of buyers, while meaningful to some extent, does not curb the presence of RMT. It's an established business, so them being on any given MMORPG is inevitable, one being profitable or not. In most cases, they're not even spending their own money on subscriptions.

In this game, it really just comes down to the optional chat filters that many of us have been asking for since day 1. It is literally the end-all, be-all of stopping or minimizing RMT advertising, which is the way we experience RMT presence the most.

[Zabuza]

So, after a long hiatus I am back, sorry for the disappearance everyone. (Was busy writing a book about gaming itself, I encourage gamers to check it out, it's in the sig )

Upon returning, I couldn't help but notice there still does not seem to be a right click report function. Has anything changed at all? Has any of the RMT harassment been mitigated? It seems on the server I moved to before leaving(Leviathan), the badgering has increased slightly. What is it like on other servers?

[LandricFrey]

So, after a long hiatus I am back...

Good to see you're back. If there was anyone who hated RMT more than me, it was you. Like other players have said, there hasn't been anything done about this other than restricting friend requests to 5 per day. I just gave up on that front as you may have assumed. I myself have recently un-subbed. Surprisingly not because of RMT or lack of measures against them, but of lazy design and luck based progression.

Good luck on your continued call to action against RMT, and your book as well!

[Zabuza]

Good to see you're back. If there was anyone who hated RMT more than me, it was you. Like other players have said, there hasn't been anything done about this other than restricting friend requests to 5 per day. I just gave up on that front as you may have assumed. I myself have recently un-subbed. Surprisingly not because of RMT or lack of measures against them, but of lazy design and luck based progression.

Good luck on your continued call to action against RMT, and your book as well!

Thank you sir . My hatred of RMT stems from way back in early FF11 days where they completely destroyed my gil source(had a hard time making gil ever since). Since then I've seen them ruin countless games, so yes. Sorry to hear you've unsubbed Landric, but having unsubbed for months earlier, I can't blame you. Best of luck in whatever you do, and hope to see you back someday!

[Lucke]

What about something like /anon or /hide, that will make your name hidden from searches. Won't work on your friends though, they'll still be able to see you. RMT just go down the search, not coming up on the searches may help. Message filter would probably be best, some way to turn off receiving /tells except by friends, and if you start a /tell to someone not on your friends' list, they can still respond if you are /busy, at least till you relog.