Require a verification code within X mins after purchasing a property

[Penthea]

Would the purchase timer be reset after a failed captcha? That could potentially upset players even more if the failed captchas mean they're kept stuck waiting that much longer for the plot.

I suppose what they can do is give players multiple attempts, lets say three, to enter the code and the code would change each time so that a bot would have a harder time trying to figure out what it is.

As an additional way to prevent bots buying SE could also add the one-time password (the authentication code you use to log in) as a final step. It would be very difficult to get a bot to be able to access the one time password because it's on hardware that is separate to the pc (mobile phone or small keychain device). I'm sure there is a way to get a bot to access it through connecting the phone to the pc but I imagine that would be a complicated process that could only be achieved by a person with very specialised knowledge.

Having said that someone would eventually create software so that a person who is a novice in that field can do it, but considering phones are not completely standardised with what OS they use and even what version it would still be troublesome to many people to get it to work.

[Doozer]

As an additional way to prevent bots buying SE could also add the one-time password (the authentication code you use to log in) as a final step.

I definitely support having to enter a code to prevent bots from buying property, though not everyone uses one-time passwords, and for whatever reason may not have access to it.

I'm not sure how advanced bots are with stuff like that, but maybe something like a skill question related to the game, like "what's the name of the NPC standing at x11, y17 in Lower La Noscea" (example, of course, since I doubt there's anyone right there ) and you have 5 minutes to go there, check, then come back and enter it in the text box at the placard. And of course it would be different for each purchase and could be any NPC in ARR (since having expansion NPCs would make it inaccessible to people who don't own it).

I'm not sure if bots can parse that, and it doesn't have to be exactly that type of question, but something that requires going and looking at something in the game in order to confirm the purchase would be good I think.

[Penthea]

I definitely support having to enter a code to prevent bots from buying property, though not everyone uses one-time passwords, and for whatever reason may not have access to it.

Very few players who have access to a game like FFXIV wouldn't have a smart phone. It's not a chunky piece of software so even an old phone can use it fine. Certainly worked fine for me when I was using a smart phone whose model and OS was several years out of date.

Also everyone should use the one-time password because it truly does keep your account more safe. Certainly if it became part of the purchasing process for a house it would give players an incentive to get it. I remember when WoW offered a minion in exchange for having a one-time password authenticator attached to their account the amount of players who used it rose quite dramatically. Some people don't bother with it thinking they don't need it, not classing it as worthwhile because it doesn't offer an in-game advantage or they're just too lazy to set it up. Blizzard realised this so they gave a reward for using it. More players using the one-time password actually does reduce the workload GMs have to deal with.

I admit I'm not exactly fond of the idea to have it or captchas in order to purchase something but it's clear SE have no intention of changing the housing system enough so that things like demolition and the placard timer would no longer be needed. So with this in mind players think about ways to make it more difficult for bots to game the system, and the one-time password and/or captchas are things that could very greatly inhibit them.

I'm not sure how advanced bots are with stuff like that, but maybe something like a skill question related to the game, like "what's the name of the NPC standing at x11, y17 in Lower La Noscea" (example, of course, since I doubt there's anyone right there )

Someone could create a system that checks for npc locations based on coordinates. If people can create something as advanced as parsers they can definitely create something that merely searches for npcs at a very specific set of coordinates. Bots can complete quests on their own, so searching for something based on coordinates wouldn't be difficult to code.

Also having such a system would make players have to leave the housing area and travel around the game to search for something...it would be potentially adding a lengthy process on top of the already lengthy process that is spamming the placard timer. It would be better to create a system that doesn't require players to leave the plot for what is essentially a quest in order to finish purchasing it.

[Doozer]

Also having such a system would make players have to leave the housing area and travel around the game to search for something...it would be potentially adding a lengthy process on top of the already lengthy process that is spamming the placard timer. It would be better to create a system that doesn't require players to leave the plot for what is essentially a quest in order to finish purchasing it.

The simpler it is, the easier it is to bypass. My example was merely that, an example, and if someone can stand there for 16 hours waiting for a plot, they can take an extra 2 minutes to go to a different zone, look at something, then come back. I wouldn't really call that 'lengthy'.

[Penthea]

The simpler it is, the easier it is to bypass. My example was merely that, an example, and if someone can stand there for 16 hours waiting for a plot, they can take an extra 2 minutes to go to a different zone, look at something, then come back. I wouldn't really call that 'lengthy'.

This highly depends on where the npc is located. If they happen to not be at an aetheryte it could take a while to get to the location. You can purchase housing at lvl 50 before you reach HW. This means the npcs would have to be in no fly zones in ARR content.

Sure you could decide that the npc is always near an aetheryte but the coordinates aren't so precise that only one npc could possibly be standing in that location. Npcs are often clustered together. You can move a step between two npcs and the coordinates on your map won't change. I suppose SE could then decide to choose a named npc with no one else near them.

But none of this really matters because bots could very easily be coded to do this given they can do entire questlines and gathering across multiple zones on their own. Bots are already equipped with the ability to search for and get to coordinates.

[Doozer]

This highly depends on where the npc is located. If they happen to not be at an aetheryte it could take a while to get to the location. You can purchase housing at lvl 50 before you reach HW. This means the npcs would have to be in no fly zones in ARR content.

Sure you could decide that the npc is always near an aetheryte but the coordinates aren't so precise that only one npc could possibly be standing in that location. Npcs are often clustered together. You can move a step between two npcs and the coordinates on your map won't change. I suppose SE could then decide to choose a named npc with no one else near them.

But none of this really matters because bots could very easily be coded to do this given they can do entire questlines and gathering across multiple zones on their own. Bots are already equipped with the ability to search for and get to coordinates.

Again, I said my example is merely that, an example. Something I made up on the fly to give a general idea of what I was trying to say. You can nitpick it all you want, but it's not set in stone, and doing so doesn't make my idea a bad one. I also said in my original post that it would have to be in ARR zones because it has to be accessible to everyone; not sure why you didn't read that part.

The point was to have the player answer a question that isn't just simply "1+1=?" because bots can obviously do that. I'm not sure why you're against the concept of making it harder for bots to buy houses. Complex questions that have to be answered in order to acquire or win something is not new. I had to answer a super convoluted one for a contest once (that involved like multiplying then dividing numbers from obscure parts of three different video games), it's not that far-fetched. It's also probably not that difficult to implement some kind of quiz or question that only a human brain can parse. Bots are set to do certain things, search for certain words, etc. It's not that hard to come up with something they can't do.

[Jojoya]

The point was to have the player answer a question that isn't just simply "1+1=?" because bots can obviously do that.

The problem is bots can be programmed to respond to anything that's in the game's programming, and they're generally able to do it faster than players can once the "test" parameters are known.

Quiz a player on what NPC is at a specific set of coordinates? Bot gets programmed with a list of all NPCs and their coordinates, and find the right NPC name faster than a real player could google ir or find it in-game. You might stop the players using a simple repeating script they've set up on a programmable keyboard/mouse but you're not going to stop the actual bots.

What you're suggesting still doesn't solve the real problem - lack of houses. It just becomes a waste of developer time trying to make things more difficult for real players who are still struggling to get a house.

Solve the supply problem and there would be no need for captchas or purchase timers. That would be a much better use of developer time than continuing to complicate a system that shouldn't be complicated in the first place.