GMs on Vacation

[Floortank]

When I played FFXI, the same RMT accounts were functional and active for years and years.

[DrWho2010]

bots in mmo's/any mmo is a thing. you can't get away from them. why do they exist? because people can and will continue to buy gil for real world money. eliminate that problem then there is no need for rmt.

[Krojack]

You must be new to the game. RMT players are dealt with in waves, you don't just report one and expect it to be handled immediately but it will be in time. Report and blacklist them for the time being.

https://eu.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodes...7575287e8cc537

They should add some system to silence an account that's been reported over a set about of times though, say 50 reports from different people. Add some sanity checking that only allows 1 report/ account too so you can't make new characters, report someone and then make another character and report again.

Reason I say this is because I've seen the same name spamming for several days straight. These bots shouldn't be allowed to spam for up to 2 weeks before getting banned.

[Krotoan]

This game doesn't have GM's. If they do it's only a couple. For a game that makes 2.5 Billion dollars anually just in subscriptions it's reprehenceable. I muself had a few large purchases that didn't get delivered. Called 3 separate times over the course of 1.5 weeks. Opened tickets. I have yet to receive an actual reply from a GM. Per Square Enix's phone support "There is a high number of harassment complaints with the Free to Play period, and the GM's cannot handle the influx of tickets.". In regards to RMT/Gil sellers I wholeheartedly believe that Square Enix is profiting from them. I cannot think of another reason Square Enix would allow these spammers to openly continue to promote RMT. It's been this way since the game has launched. Personally I just ignore or move to blacklist.

Where is that number from? Their reported profits.. for SE? Cause.. they make a few different games.

[HaelseMikiro]

bots in mmo's/any mmo is a thing. you can't get away from them. why do they exist? because ....

the developers don't take aggressive enough actions to eliminate them and discourage players from using their services. RMTs and players don't account for 100% of the blame. Exact shares are up for discussion, but after this much time, it's pretty reasonable to assume the developers are the only ones with the power to actually squash it, and they don't.

[Hysterior]

As a former GM and CM myself (not for Square Enix mind you, but on few other MMOs and FPS), I can assume that the FFXIV GMs probably can't do anything about it.
Banning bots manually is absolutely useless, banning their IP is probably useless and banning mac addresses is also useless.
Bots are the plague of online games and the most effective way to get rid of them is for people to stop buying from them.

On another MMO, I would be invisible in starting towns, see spammers/bots, ban them and all the accounts under the same IP, just to see another wave of bots 1 minute later. Rince and repeat until you give up. There is nothing a human can do and it is very discouraging.

And yes, SE probably does what they can to mass ban accounts, blacklist IPs and tighten the entry but botters will always find a new way to get it.