Time to address the real problem - RMT buyers

[Ayche]

Let's just say that going after buyers is both:
1.) harder to do because there is lot more "guilt by association" kind of scenarios
2.) less effective because buyers are dime a dozen and will get replaced as long as the desire exists
If you cannot kill the supply and must go after the buyer, you have already lost.

[Pintsized]

Totally agree, in my experience only ONE MMO publisher has ever banned buyers, LOTRO way back, others like SE, Blizzard, etc. are simply too timid to make examples and lose the revenue of the low-lifes (buyers) who keep RMT in business.

Of course, it's also a result of SE's endless desire to milk players for all they're worth and creating a 'store' in a SUBSCRIPTION game, ALL ITEMS should be available by playing the game you PAY TO PLAY each month .. without the 'store' RMT would have no items to sell and would only be left with their stolen accounts to sell .. and of course 'boosting' services SE seems not to bother trying to deal with.

Again, BAN THE BUYERS and the problem diminishes.

Is buying from RMT dealers an addictive habit like drugs? I don't think you can put that example towards this, and make a fair statement.

Probably for some, yes, but it's also driven by SE's enforcement of MSQ gating .. I wonder how much they make a month from story skips .. and making most desirable mounts, pets, etc. only available to the 1% tryhards by only making them drop in Savage, Extreme and higher content which we know from SE itself are only playhed by a small minority, leaving the vast majority's only source of most of the best desgined mounts the store, as well as pest, outfits, etc.

[Kes13a]

Totally agree, in my experience only ONE MMO publisher has ever banned buyers, LOTRO way back, others like SE, Blizzard, etc. are simply too timid to make examples and lose the revenue of the low-lifes (buyers) who keep RMT in business.

there was a game I played years ago, Vanguard, and I bought currency, my partner wanted some extra cash and convinced me to do it. I mean why not right? no one ever gets caught.

After my week vacation, I never bought anything like that again. it works. only the most die hard of people with no regard for their account or the work they have put into it, would do it again. this is how I know it will work if SE started doing that. first offense, a week vacation from the game, people notice that... a lot. Second violation NEEDS to be a permanent ban. no vacation just gone. no one wants to lose everything for a convenience. if they do this in conjunction with their low hanging fruit bans, it will take time, but it will resolve the issue.

the amount of players they lose to this will be insignificant compared to the positive press they would gain.

hit the buyers, the overall issue lessens. attack the problem, not the symptoms.

[LianaThorne]

there was a game I played years ago, Vanguard, and I bought currency, my partner wanted some extra cash and convinced me to do it. I mean why not right? no one ever gets caught.

After my week vacation, I never bought anything like that again. it works. only the most die hard of people with no regard for their account or the work they have put into it, would do it again. this is how I know it will work if SE started doing that. first offense, a week vacation from the game, people notice that... a lot. Second violation NEEDS to be a permanent ban. no vacation just gone. no one wants to lose everything for a convenience. if they do this in conjunction with their low hanging fruit bans, it will take time, but it will resolve the issue.

the amount of players they lose to this will be insignificant compared to the positive press they would gain.

hit the buyers, the overall issue lessens. attack the problem, not the symptoms.

Issue comes with how do you detect what is RMT gil and what is not? For example, say I go deathroll at a casino and win 100m gil and get my winnings either through direct trade (rip fingers in that case) or by having the person buy something off a mannequin or the marketboard (I personally haven't won this way but a friend of mine has several times when we've gone out). Is that going to be considered RMT because the amount of money won was large or will there be a way to differentiate so people who do enjoy casino based games can still continue?

Follow up question: If casinos are going to be considered RMT, what is keeping other gil based venues from not being also considered RMT? Would the entire nightlife scene need to be taken down?

[Kes13a]

Issue comes with how do you detect what is RMT gil and what is not? For example, say I go deathroll at a casino and win 100m gil and get my winnings either through direct trade (rip fingers in that case) or by having the person buy something off a mannequin or the marketboard (I personally haven't won this way but a friend of mine has several times when we've gone out). Is that going to be considered RMT because the amount of money won was large or will there be a way to differentiate so people who do enjoy casino based games can still continue?

Follow up question: If casinos are going to be considered RMT, what is keeping other gil based venues from not being also considered RMT? Would the entire nightlife scene need to be taken down?

since the money is traceable back to its origin, and all points along the way, unless a known RMT source is funding the lottery, then everything is able to be justified when it is flagged. thats why people need to be involved for final judgement calls.

It might be easier. I have a friend in FC and I gave him four million gil for a house. Just because I could afford it. Moreover, I took this gil from Alt on another server. And the gil was transferred through another player. Is this a violation of the RMT?

Sorry for my English.

4 million isnt much in the greater scheme of things, and there are FAR easier ways to transfer gil without involving a third player. if you received any REAL MONEY.. then yes, its RMT.

[LianaThorne]

since the money is traceable back to its origin, and all points along the way, unless a known RMT source is funding the lottery, then everything is able to be justified when it is flagged. thats why people need to be involved for final judgement calls.

General question to anyone:

RMT is handled by the task force in JP right? Or is it someone else? If it is then I think we'd need way more than a handful of people to actually get personal involvement in cases (and to actually be able to defend ourselves which we aren't really able to do atm in general since being thrown in gaol and trying to talk about your case gets you nowhere with GMs.)

[Myrany]

Totally agree, in my experience only ONE MMO publisher has ever banned buyers, LOTRO way back, others like SE, Blizzard, etc. are simply too timid to make examples and lose the revenue of the low-lifes (buyers) who keep RMT in business.

Actually I remember ban waves in late Vanilla and early Burning Crusade (WoW) where buyers did get long suspensions or banned for buying gold. I had a couple acquaintances that got nailed.

[Sigma5]

the solution doesnt require bans or jumping through hoops
1. add glowing weapons to the mogstation people can buy
2. add easier ways to get gil, not time gating, not babysitting the market board. being able to buy gil on the mog station would kill them easiest way.
3. add hefty rewards to get people through that content could be glowing weapons too.
square can kill them by adding that service themselves, its 100 percent an accessibility issue, and super easy to solve.

[Jojoya]

the solution doesnt require bans or jumping through hoops
1. add glowing weapons to the mogstation people can buy
2. add easier ways to get gil, not time gating, not babysitting the market board. being able to buy gil on the mog station would kill them easiest way.
3. add hefty rewards to get people through that content could be glowing weapons too.
square can kill them by adding that service themselves, its 100 percent an accessibility issue, and super easy to solve.

Being able to buy gold via the WoW token is what ended up killing WoW for many of its players. Paid boosting got out of control. And RMT still exists in WOW. The vendors just had to adjust their prices to stay competitive with the token.

Gill is easy to get. It's not an effort free process but it's also not a strenuous one.

We've got lots of glowy weapons in the game that are easy to get - the crafted Primal weapons. Decide what you want, buy the mats needed, take them to a friend who's a crafter or even just ask in shout chat if you don't have friends. There's usually someone happy to do it if you already have the mats.

What is really needed? Patience. You don't need that latest and greatest item the first week of release. Wait for it to come down in price if you don't want to farm it yourself.

[LianaThorne]

So...any real solutions yet?