Region Locking servers to stop RMT?

[_slowpoke_]

Fighting spam is an important issue, and isn't just a problem MMO players are faced with. However, when implementing measures against spam, you always have to weigh how much those measures actually hinder spammers versus how much they impact legitimate users. If your measure impacts legitimate users more than it does spammers, it's very likely a very bad idea - and region locking servers would be such a case.

There's way simpler methods SE could implement to fight RMT spam, and which would not or only very slightly affect legitimate players. One, for example, would be to give players better control over who they want to be able to receive /tells from (currently, we only have the "nuclear option" - disable all tells with /busy). If you could select whether you want to be able to receive only tells from Friends, your FC, people in your party, the Novice Network, and/or from people in Linkshells you are in (ie, a whitelist approach), this would already go a long way to basically remove RMT /tells without impacting legitimate players in a noticeable way.

As a side note, I don't know how bad it is on other servers, but Cerberus has, at least in my experience, barely any RMT spam currently. It used to be worse, but nowadays, I get an average of one or two RMT tells a week, and usually at like 4 in the morning when the server is pretty deserted anyway. The only other common RMT spam I see is the lone bot who hangs out in front of the MB in Limsa and drops a line in /say every few minutes, which I barely notice anymore.

[Nektulos-Tuor]

Without a decent way to make money and gil without throwing your face at a wall there will always be easier alternatives.

[Kosmos992k]

Without a decent way to make money and gil without throwing your face at a wall there will always be easier alternatives.

You know, I just have got to say something to this. I just don't understand anyone who says there is no decent way to make money. There are gil fountains in the game, you just need to make use of them. I would go so far as to say that if you can't make enough gil, you're neither patient, nor trying very hard.

I don't raid, and I don't even have a level 50 crafter yet, I have a level 50 Botanist and my miner is finally closing in on 50. I most definitely do not "throw my face at a wall" to make gil though. But, I do sell materials, and lower level intermediate crafts, I sell drops from levelling dungeons, and have reasonably good fortune with my two retainers above level 50 bringing home nice things. I've been fortunate enough that either myself or my wife has obtained seasonal or event items that later on became sell able on the MB. I run my beast tribes, FATEs, roulette and the occasional levequest. I pay attention to and use my Challenge log to gain the most benefit from my play time whether that be gil or MGP. I'm absolutely not a hardcore player, though I may have a lot of hours in the game.

In the end though, Kos has a house, nice furnishings, nice glamours, and everything she could possibly want for her main jobs. Guess what though, there's been no throwing my face at a wall to get there, just long term play and patience. As far as the MB is concerned when it comes to selling intermediate crafts and materials, I'll just say that HQ is your friend.

No no you see that wasn't what they meant with the idea. It isnt just an in-game item you can buy for gil. You HAVE to buy it from other players but they get the sub item that they are selling to you from the mogstation

Essentially, they are paying money to sell something in game for gil while the person who provides said gil gets the sub. It is a solution because if players would legally be able to "buy" gil then RMT would have no market

OK, I understand that, thank you. However, that is still a self serving idea and honestly, given the ability of gil sellers to make gil in the game through botting, They'll be among the most frequent purchasers of game time resulting in free subscription time for them.

What I mean by self serving is that in my opinion and experience, when this subject comes up for discussion, the most vocal proponents of sub items that can be purchased in-game are those who are also boasting of how it would allow them to finance their subscription entirely in game, ultimately leaving other players to foot the bill for their subscription and those of the folks buying the sub items. In essence this bolts on a free to play model for players that wish to exploit it because for those who make gil and purchase sub items, their play time is actually free. Yes, I know they must spend some time acquiring the gil with which to buy the sub items, that that is accomplished by...playing the game. Hence they are playing the game without spending hard cash which means it's free to them.

[Roth_Trailfinder]

OK, I understand that, thank you. However, that is still a self serving idea and honestly, given the ability of gil sellers to make gil in the game through botting, They'll be among the most frequent purchasers of game time resulting in free subscription time for them.

Which means that instead of getting cash for their Gil, they get game time. SE gets the cash for the sub item, and the person that bought the sub item gets the Gil. I'm not sure where the Gil-sellers are deriving a profit from that. Can you enlighten us?

What I mean by self serving is that in my opinion and experience, when this subject comes up for discussion, the most vocal proponents of sub items that can be purchased in-game are those who are also boasting of how it would allow them to finance their subscription entirely in game, ultimately leaving other players to foot the bill for their subscription and those of the folks buying the sub items. In essence this bolts on a free to play model for players that wish to exploit it because for those who make gil and purchase sub items, their play time is actually free. Yes, I know they must spend some time acquiring the gil with which to buy the sub items, that that is accomplished by...playing the game. Hence they are playing the game without spending hard cash which means it's free to them.

That whole "work in game to pay someone else for sub time, rendering the game free" is the main reason I don't see SE going along with the idea, honestly. Even though SE is still getting its money (because they are the only originator for the items), and the only difference is the identity and time of the actual payment for that game time. Actually, the presence of people willing to put forth the effort to make enough Gil to buy the things, and use the things, is what makes it work. Eventually the prices stabilize at a point that the Gil-sellers cannot compete (remember, they are in it for cash, not for game time) and they disappear. Even if the Gil from selling the item is somewhat less than the amount of Gil that one would get with an equivalent amount of money going to a Gil seller, people will tend towards the Mogstation to buy the sub item rather than buy Gil from the sellers because of the inherent safety involved - they will feel they can trust SE, and all the horror stories that abound on the web show that you can't trust the Gil sellers.

[Roth_Trailfinder]

You want to get rid of Gil selling spam?

Then get SE to produce an in-game item that gives you 30 days of paid game time. Make this item tradable (and thus sell-able), but also make it only initially available through the Mogstation. IE - you want Gil, buy one of these and sell it on the board. Someone prefers to spend Gil instead of cash on their subscription? That person buys your subscription item and uses it.

Once that is done, market forces (supply and demand for this item) will force the Gil sellers out of FF14 somewhere else. It won't happen overnight, but it will happen.

[Bladesinger]

-SNIP -

This, on so many levels is the soul cause of why the G spammers're out of business in WoW and no longer fill the chats with their incessant badgering - Yoshi mentioned a while back that he loves the idea but would like some time to monitor WoW to see how successful it is before implemeting here..

[Colorful]

This, on so many levels is the soul cause of why the G spammers're out of business in WoW and no longer fill the chats with their incessant badgering - Yoshi mentioned a while back that he loves the idea but would like some time to monitor WoW to see how successful it is before implemeting here..

It's been keeping WoW's subscribers numbers afloat during their drought of content and it's kept EVE alive for so long, so it has definitely been successful. The last time it was suggested it got a negative response by the English community though, so who knows? Maybe I'd actually level my crafters if it meant I could pay my subscription that way.

[Bladesinger]

It's been keeping WoW's subscribers numbers afloat during their drought of content and it's kept EVE alive for so long, so it has definitely been successful. The last time it was suggested it got a negative response by the English community though, so who knows? Maybe I'd actually level my crafters if it meant I could pay my subscription that way.

Amen - hopefully, they're close to something. At the very least, implement an Anon status so we can't be queried in a zone by zone search and harassed in whispers..=\

[Hayward]

You want to get rid of Gil selling spam?

Then get SE to produce an in-game item that gives you 30 days of paid game time. Make this item tradable (and thus sell-able), but also make it only initially available through the Mogstation. IE - you want Gil, buy one of these and sell it on the board. Someone prefers to spend Gil instead of cash on their subscription? That person buys your subscription item and uses it.

Once that is done, market forces (supply and demand for this item) will force the Gil sellers out of FF14 somewhere else. It won't happen overnight, but it will happen.

You might have something here. If Yoshi is thinking of going in this direction, I'd support it with no reservation. The question then lies with people who are looking to sell.

[MomomiMomi]

You want to get rid of Gil selling spam?

Then get SE to produce an in-game item that gives you 30 days of paid game time. Make this item tradable (and thus sell-able), but also make it only initially available through the Mogstation. IE - you want Gil, buy one of these and sell it on the board. Someone prefers to spend Gil instead of cash on their subscription? That person buys your subscription item and uses it.

Once that is done, market forces (supply and demand for this item) will force the Gil sellers out of FF14 somewhere else. It won't happen overnight, but it will happen.

I supported this last time this was brought up. I still support it now. Please, give us this.