Time to address the real problem - RMT buyers

[Deveryn]

Of course I didn't take real money. But how to prove it?

There's nothing to prove. You're fine. No se preocupe.

[Padudu]

Then I trust you relayed that information to the GMs with proof of their ne'er do welling to you and the community properly.

Hi I've seen and reported them too way back in the day and nothing has happened, so what am I supposed to do? Just keep reporting them every single time I see them just so SE can ignore yet another report? Seems like a waste of my time really!

[Velvet_Lunarfang]

Nothing will ever stop nor will it ever go away there is the answer

[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.

[Jojoya]

Of course I didn't take real money. But how to prove it?

You have nothing to prove. Your account is going to show that you're a normal player with normal activity helping out someone who's been on your friends list for a long time.

SE knows the accounts engaging in organized RMT since they ban thousands each week. It's the activity initiating from those accounts that must be tracked. Eventually gil is going to pass from one of those accounts to the account of someone who shows otherwise normal game play activity through a suspicious transaction. That is someone who is buying from RMT.

Nothing will ever stop nor will it ever go away there is the answer

If that's the sort of attitude everyone has, of course nothing will ever change.

Considering the measures that SE is taking, including the loss of considerable income from the usual holiday purchases, they've been pushed to the point that they must do something about it.

Players need to do their part by not buying from RMT, securing their account information and avoiding the way too obvious phishing scams.

The best defense is a strong offense. Aggressively pursue those engaging in RMT on both sides instead of only focusing on the sales side where banned accounts are all too quickly replaced.

[Jgarcia]

Posting this in all threads pertaining to the RMT bandaid:

Originally, I didn't give the RMT announcement a second glance until multiple YouTube vids popped up regarding what the changes meant for us. I had skimmed it thinking all items were now available to send directly to friends, which was great, but didn't see that all items were no longer available until these vids brought it to my attention.

Everyone has multiple reasons for hating this. Mine specifically is that online store prizes, given away during FC events, are so limited now. In running my FC for over 6 years, not once has anyone requested an item from this list of things that are still available to gift:
-Costume sets/Weapon/Armor Cosmetics
-Furnishing/Housing Items
-Fantasia
-Story skips/boosts
-Dyes

Mounts & emotes, both and more of which can no longer be gifted, were always what my FC was interested in receiving for their prizes. This is so limiting to my members, and I really hope this bandaid solution is changed. No need to punish the players for a lack of proper RMT control.

[IkaraGreydancer]

I also wonder. How were so many accounts compromised?

[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.

[Jojoya]

I also wonder. How were so many accounts compromised?

The usual way - people use the same password and same email address for multiple online accounts. They don't add security through two factor authentication when available. They don't change their passwords.

The original data breach in question didn't happen at SE. It was some other online provider. There have been a lot of breaches publicized in the last year. It could even be from an older breach.

The hackers then start using the email address and passwords from the compromised database to try to get access to other online accounts. Most attempts fail but sometimes they get lucky.

Several weeks ago, I started having one of my email accounts I use for specific types of online transaction (but not my gaming email) locked due to multiple failed password attempts. I had changed the password on that account earlier in the year and both the old and new passwords were unique to that account. The account lock for the failed attempts finally stopped happening about 2 weeks ago but it was a pain in the neck to have to keep resetting the password on that account twice a week while it was happening. It makes me wonder if my email was part of whatever data breach has been causing the problems for SE.

But imagine the trouble I might have had if I used that email address for my Square Enix account along with sharing the same password between the accounts without ever changing it. Easily my account could have been one of the compromised ones.

Don't be complacent, folks. Your personal information is only as secure as the databases of those you do business with. Use multiple email addresses to keep more sensitive accounts separated from more casual accounts and those separated from personal correspondence. Use different passwords for everything. Change your passwords regularly (at least once a year if not twice). If you're going to have a hard time remember all those different passwords, there are password managers to help you (frequently included in internet security software).

[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.)