Players as an in-game RMT Task Force reporter, as a new idea... Devs read!

[Naraku_Diabolos]

I know that there are TONS of RMT threads out there, I will admit, and this thread is going to be one of them. But, hear me out on this one.

We already have a way for relaying RMT activity in the game through a window in the Help & Support tab. However, why not let the devs and the STF have extra help by us players?

I propose that there should be a whole section with reporting on RMT bots being in an area in it's own little box. Here is what I am proposing.

Us players can use the windows that displays a map of our current location on a map that is not being used for in-game play such as harvesting/gathering/quest icons/etc. . Yes, a map in another window by itself. It will display our location of our character with a blue arrow. However, this map will allow us to leave dots/markers on the server, or a small circle of the area that the RMT bots appear; like popping up out of the ground or disappearing, or even attacking monsters en masse with a blue circle highlighting the small area on the map of where the RMT are appearing. These special maps will vary by each of the servers to reflect which loopholes in the game's coding where the RMT appear. Other players can access the same map but when they highlight the area they see RMT, the area will appear in a red circle ping; however if your own blue circle intersects with another player's, it will become purple to show common ground. If it is in the same area multiple people are reporting, a bubble will show up to indicate how many players PING an area that's a hit with a large RMT population. I was thinking of a shortcut being <posrmt> as your position and then the RMT added so that it labels the reporting map of where the RMTs are appearing.

By using this data, it can be sent to GMs and STF members so they know the areas where RMTs are appearing. Most commonly RMTs are either THM/BLM or ARC/BRD, and will appear outside either Ul'dah or Gridania and sometimes even Limsa Lominsa, or even in the cities. However the ONLY bad thing is that we cannot do this RMT map marking when in dungeons as RMT usually party with each other so it is hard to find one in an instance dungeon (I could be wrong as people have said they have seen RMT in dungeons with them in the past). The GMs and STF members will be notified of the areas on the map where RMT area appearing, and if very similar patterns are showing up on each of the many servers, the GMs/STF can ultimately pinpoint the areas the RMT are appearing at by claiming them (I'm not sure what the GMs or STF members do if they even see an RMT bot character, so I don't know how to put it, lol), and essentially plug the leak of where they are appearing. Plugging the leak is a term I am using so that the devs can then strengthen the design of the area so that there is no flaw where hacking software can allow bot characters to target NPCs or monsters, or even gathering items (the devs could actually plug the leak of how the mapping is done by doing it at all of the harvesting points where gathers can go to get items, thereby cutting down on RMT harvesting of Crystals!), or even attacking monsters or gathering below the ground map.

Long story short: so if us players can pinpoint with a highlighting icon of our position, it can highlight a server wide map of places where people have seen RMT appearing. The data can then be compiled and sent to the GMs and STF so they are aware of which areas in any of the maps that RMT bots are appearing. By plugging these holes or having a character flagged when a GM/STF member is there at the scene, it can make their job easier with us players helping them using a new system!

[_slowpoke_]

…I'm pretty sure the GMs already collect data on RMT bots internally, and reporting bots usually gets them removed within minutes, so I don't know what this quite frankly over-complicated system is supposed to do or add? It doesn't fix the underlying problem, either, which is still that there's a market for RMT, i.e. people who buy gil, and you're not fixing this with adding more ways to report bots.

[Culfinrandir]

I've suggested numerous times that there'll be regular players, like myself, who will be willing to act as a GM undertier to deal with minor issues. Nothing ever comes of it.

[Lan_Mantear]

I've suggested numerous times that there'll be regular players, like myself, who will be willing to act as a GM undertier to deal with minor issues. Nothing ever comes of it.

Too many players are vindictive. Give general players access this type of power and we'll see it devolve into witch hunts about this or that player behaving 'suspiciously'. GM's or anyone with GM-like powers should not be part of the player-base.

[Naraku_Diabolos]

Too many players are vindictive. Give general players access this type of power and we'll see it devolve into witch hunts about this or that player behaving 'suspiciously'. GM's or anyone with GM-like powers should not be part of the player-base.

Well, if we can pinpoint an area where RMT are popping up and report it to the STF, the dev team can look into that section of an area to see how they are hacking it. That is why I bolded the text in my original post as plugging a leak. I did not say anything about reporting bots by names as they appear and disappear really quickly either by going into an instance or logging off and then being deleted. If we could highlight an area on the map where RMT are appearing, the STF can look into that area. If things go that way, they can see a pattern where RMT are appearing.

I believe hunts appear randomly on the map at times, so I'm pretty sure GMs and the STF will know where a hunt is located so people can't abuse a reporting system such as what I described.

[Celef]

What we need is an easiest way to report them, like a simple option "report as a bot" when you right clic a toon

Culfinrandir : your idea is not bad at all, but giving power to players will result in them using it for personnal benefits :/

[Preypacer]

What we need is an easiest way to report them, like a simple option "report as a bot" when you right clic a toon

At the very least that much. "Report as Bot, and Block permanently".

And find a way to get away from that darn blocked list limitation - have an option to automatically remove old additions after X-number of days. Might be some actual players you'd find you need to re-add, but having to re-block one or two people every so often is damn nicer than having to manually remove all the rmt names more frequently, esp. with how active they are on some servers.

Or, of course, SE could just put more time and effort into dealing with them. There are MMOs out there - active, healthy MMOs - that do not have even *remotely* the presence of RMT in their games (in terms of spamming) that XIV has. It's not that SE *can't* do more than they are... they just aren't.

[Saccharin]

We dont need a fancy set up we just need a /report option. Some games of x amount of people report it they get chat silenced and a report gets sent to a GM. It's pure laziness on SE's part to implement proper spam systems.

[Savagelf]

i think add to black list feature they need to be reported spam button or report bots also we can add report bots with feature take screenshot

[WeekendSoja]

I have not reported an RMT in so long I am just not sure how the process works anymore...is it still the canned answer of "please log visit our security website here to report any violations regarding real money trade"?

the moment I saw that the first time I saw what their thought process was and had to make a decision...access this site and report the RMT harassment or throw this into the status quo bin...I choose the later for one reason...I rarely use the chat box in MMO's other than to say "hi" in df. Everything is VoIP accessible and I just talk to people now...sure the chat box provides some anonymity for those who like to role play, *looks at guys who play girls in an MMO* all the power too you but Idc about the anonymity and just talk, though I do design my characters as Hume males all the time so not stretching the truth too much.

Conclusion: they used to set it up that way to prevent data clutter and trolls. Cause trolls love to clutter stuff with random reports