Discussion: Zero Tolerance RMT Tells and Spam
By
Agent_Kendt,
Posted on: 2007-08-07 13:34 in News, Events and Announcement Discussion
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My department handles thousands of spam complaints each year and I truly wish there was good legislation but there isn't.
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I am willing to bet that inside of 5 years we are going to be seeing some legislation regarding spam in the U.S. As companies like At&t, netflix, comcast and others start to offer more and more services online, bandwidth is going to become a *very* precious resource (tks basic copper-wire networks). And since every report I read about internet traffic says that at least 80% of *ALL* the traffic on the internet is spam, I can see those companies starting to knock out spammers in order to gain access to that bandwidth. If anyone in the world can destroy spammers, my money is on AT&t.
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And, as I said, if trial accounts can't send /t or emails, the next cheapest option is to appear in AP and spam Broadcast.
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They are already doing this on Freedom - I watched one guy log on three different characters of the sdghasd style of naming and spam broadcast. They were all from the same account (according to my gignore list anyway) and they all got ignore_spammered as soon as I saw them.
J
Thats awesome Dark_Respite !!
I hope something shows up on those fools.
On thing though I think its VERY SAD that NC cant even take control of this matter. Its up to the paying users to try to handle this horse crap.
I mean what kind of support is that NC? And please do answer back and not let this question sit and rot. I expect an answer as do others I am sure. Why cant you handle this problem???? How damn hard would be to just give us option to block tells not on global or friends list. how hard would it be to block all e-mails not on friends or global. PLEASE give us that option to turn on a filter or turn off for crying out loud.
In a way I feel like I am dealing with a half ace company such as the one that we are all talking about. By NC Failing to take action is purely lazyness and not at all showing support for the paying gamers.
Do the support team ever comment back on anything said in here? If they dont I dont think i need to use this forum any more since it would be a waste.
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Do the support team ever comment back on anything said in here?
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Not knowing how things are set up at NCsoft, this is just a shot from the hip. But, my guess is that Positron and the rest of the dev team don't handle the servers; but create (and manage) content to be uploaded on it. It could be that this whole thread is a way for the dev team to bring something to the team that handles the servers in order to get them to dedicate resources to removing the spammers or creating some filters to minimize their annoyance.
Here i was all ready to pitch an idea about banning trial accounts from sending emails and there lighthouse already put a response to the same thing 
Gotta hand it to the devs, they really do care about the player base compared to certain other development teams... *cough*SOE*cough* oh 'scuse me 
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Not knowing how things are set up at NCsoft, this is just a shot from the hip. But, my guess is that Positron and the rest of the dev team don't handle the servers; but create (and manage) content to be uploaded on it. It could be that this whole thread is a way for the dev team to bring something to the team that handles the servers in order to get them to dedicate resources to removing the spammers or creating some filters to minimize their annoyance.
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I see what you mean. I do hope in some minimal fashion it is used. I think failure to use actual players feedback and ideas would be a bummer. It would be great on their behalf if they or anyone that works along side of support to post back a response to our ideas.
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Here i was all ready to pitch an idea about banning trial accounts from sending emails and there lighthouse already put a response to the same thing Gotta hand it to the devs, they really do care about the player base compared to certain other development teams... *cough*SOE*cough* oh 'scuse me
[/ QUOTE ]That's a bad cough. I was thinking it would be someone else *cough*Blizzard*cough*.....
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Here i was all ready to pitch an idea about banning trial accounts from sending emails and there lighthouse already put a response to the same thing Gotta hand it to the devs, they really do care about the player base compared to certain other development teams... *cough*SOE*cough* oh 'scuse me
[/ QUOTE ]That's a bad cough. I was thinking it would be someone else *cough*Blizzard*cough*.....
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Feh, as a former SWG player I can say I have seen things that could not possibly be anywhere near what players want. Little off topic though... I hope the devs find a way to get this spam crap to stop, these emails suck...
Couldn't they ban the trade window on trial accounts? So they can't give inf with them? Then you could catch real accounts with sting operations. Trial people can still GIFT things by drag-dropping and recieve things the same way, but you can't actually do that with inf, so they would have to deal in goods (usually way harder).
Just a thought...
I've got my stalker Artimis Setelana. She has 317 badges last I checked. Yay!
Also 2 servers worth of alts, 3 of which aren't catgirls. Mew.
I want a spam blocker on the e-mail Please, this is where they hit me and its usually 5-6 of them at a time the sneaky *&*!&*^#@*# (filtered for Sexy Jay) hee hee ....or at least a report spam on e-mail, that would be nice too! 
Don't fret, there is now proof that someone actually works in the support department, however if you want any kind of response out of them, you have to keep hammering the issue, until they respond, god knows it took me long enough to finally get a REAL person to acknowledge my issue. I've been reading this post since it started, and there have been plenty of great ideas on how to tackle the problem, I say if you're one of the innovators of these ideas, flood NC support like your in-game email gets by these souless pigs. I had read a few posts back, about the one containing the innappropriate smurfette joke, I got that same one, and I like a good laugh as much as the next guy, but when you start getting sexually suggestive in a teen-rated game, you start getting attention from people, at the ESA, and other unwanted sources. I mean it appears to me that NC has just gotten lazy, when I first started this game back in Feburary 05' customer service/support was right on the ball, quick to correct things, now I cringe anytime I have a problem that requires their attention.
"You aren't the sharpest tool in the shed, but you are a tool nonetheless."-American Demon.
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Couldn't they ban the trade window on trial accounts? So they can't give inf with them? Then you could catch real accounts with sting operations. Trial people can still GIFT things by drag-dropping and recieve things the same way, but you can't actually do that with inf, so they would have to deal in goods (usually way harder).
Just a thought...
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My understanding that at this time the game makes no distinction between trial and normal accounts and therefore any action would have an effect on all accounts.
What I dont get is how some of the posters here, not you Akaiku, can get so upset about this. Do I like the email from them? Nope, but taking 10 seconds to click the delete button is as much thought as I am willing to give the matter. It is a game, not real life. To get so bent out of shape over a game seems silly to me.
Badging in a PvP zone?
If you are treasure hunting on a battlefield wearing an enemy uniform, there is a high probability that you will be attacked.
This is an enjoy-the-ride game. "50" is only a number, not the goal of the game. - Noxilicious
AGREE
I know the farmers are more annoying to some, but they stay fairly low-profile, if you consider how many of them are actually around.
I saw the sign. "They are everywhere!"
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Couldn't they ban the trade window on trial accounts? So they can't give inf with them? Then you could catch real accounts with sting operations. Trial people can still GIFT things by drag-dropping and recieve things the same way, but you can't actually do that with inf, so they would have to deal in goods (usually way harder).
Just a thought...
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My understanding that at this time the game makes no distinction between trial and normal accounts and therefore any action would have an effect on all accounts.
What I dont get is how some of the posters here, not you Akaiku, can get so upset about this. Do I like the email from them? Nope, but taking 10 seconds to click the delete button is as much thought as I am willing to give the matter. It is a game, not real life. To get so bent out of shape over a game seems silly to me.
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No no no it's not the 10 seconds to click the delete button but if you think about it, some people will be buying inf from these people. Maybe most people cant afford it (one of my mails had an advertisement for pl for $268, i though that was somewhat insane) but some can. I cant help but wonder if the ppl I sometimes pvp against who are io'd out only have their money from buying inf. As a student there is no possible way i could ever afford to do this (not to mention that doing this is against the eula in the first place) and it creates serious imbalances in the game. There is a reason the eula exists and if we still get these mails it only means that people must be buying inf, making these people a profit and encouraging them to keep this going. At least if we stop the advertisements we can stop them from getting new business and strangle their profits. With any luck, it might end up having them stop their activities.
I wont argue the need to eliminate the mail from them. My question was why some act like the spammers came through their data line, killed their grandmother and used the bathroom in their breakfast. I believe that we should let NC work through what they need to so the issue can be resolved in the proper manner and not rush something broken in its place.
Badging in a PvP zone?
If you are treasure hunting on a battlefield wearing an enemy uniform, there is a high probability that you will be attacked.
This is an enjoy-the-ride game. "50" is only a number, not the goal of the game. - Noxilicious
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No no no it's not the 10 seconds to click the delete button but if you think about it, some people will be buying inf from these people. Maybe most people cant afford it (one of my mails had an advertisement for pl for $268, i though that was somewhat insane) but some can. I cant help but wonder if the ppl I sometimes pvp against who are io'd out only have their money from buying inf. As a student there is no possible way i could ever afford to do this (not to mention that doing this is against the eula in the first place) and it creates serious imbalances in the game. There is a reason the eula exists and if we still get these mails it only means that people must be buying inf, making these people a profit and encouraging them to keep this going. At least if we stop the advertisements we can stop them from getting new business and strangle their profits. With any luck, it might end up having them stop their activities.
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An excellent point. It's not so much the spam itself that people get up in arms about, although it is annoying, and that alone is reason to stop it. It's the greater problem that it is a symptom of. Namely, a money-hungry third party taking advantage of the game and the company and creating a potentially game-breaking imbalance by giving players a means to buy success.
After all, we come here to set aside our real-world cares for a moment or two, and having the real world's economic disparities affect us even in our game defeats the whole purpose of a game.
Currently published Mission Architect arcs:
Arc ID# 70466: From the Abyss.
Arc ID# 403174: The Serpent's Revenge.
Arc ID# 534236: The Clockwork Angel.
Personally, I dislike spammers the same way that I hate junk mail. Seriously, if I wanted to buy viagra I am sure as anything not going to be buying it from some person who just sent me a random email. I should have a choice about whether or not I am exposed to advertising, and my paying $15 a month to play this game with an EULA that prohibitively forbids it should be a clear message that I am not interested in playing City of Spammers. If I read that spamming was allowed in this game prior to opening my first account, I would never have bought this game in the first place.
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I say if you're one of the innovators of these ideas, flood NC support like your in-game email gets by these souless pigs
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Being a person who works in IT, I have to say that probably the worst thing to do is to start flooding the helpdesk. While it may be satisfying to shoot off 10 emails about the same thing, the person who creates the tickets isn't going to be creating anymore tickets for the exact same thing. Plus it is an annoyance, and will take them away from being able to handle other relevant issues.
My suggestion for handling the spammers is to datamine how many people have used the /ignore_spammer command. This can provide the information about who is being considered a spammer (along with being able to figure out if most of the spamming is coming from trial accounts), along with some hard numbers as to how many people in the community are being affected by this. With this information it should be possible to configure a client-side filter that would be able to handle most of the spam (i.e. like giving an option to not be able to receive any tells from someone using a trial account).
Personally, I dislike spammers the same way that I hate junk mail. Seriously, if I wanted to buy viagra I am sure as anything not going to be buying it from some person who just sent me a random email. I should have a choice about whether or not I am exposed to advertising, and my paying $15 a month to play this game with an EULA that prohibitively forbids it should be a clear message that I am not interested in playing City of Spammers. If spamming was allowed in this game, I most likely wouldn't have an account.
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I want a spam blocker on the e-mail Please, this is where they hit me and its usually 5-6 of them at a time the sneaky *&*!&*^#@*# (filtered for Sexy Jay) hee hee ....or at least a report spam on e-mail, that would be nice too!
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Or to easily ADD a filter that only allows you to receive in-game Emails from those on your 'Friends' and 'Trusted' lists. Yeah, simple and effective options to block many spammers. What a concept.
Please to all that is Holy [u]STOP THINKING[u] people who are asking for fillers are RMT people. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE !
I am NOT an RMT person. I just would like big ginormous spawns. I farm. I like to. It makes me happy.
I understand that doesnt float many of your boats. But it floats mine.
Wow, this' a big thread. I don't know if I have time to check it all to see if it's been mentioned, but I thought I'd mention this. On Liberty, the past few nights about 3-4 am, I'd get one, and by the time I'd have the /ignore_spammer <username> typed out, I'd get a "<username> is not a valid username." Am I doing it wrong, or are they just getting sneakier and deleting the toons as soon as they send the tell?
Hrm, random thought.. would it be possible to create an option to block you from being seen by /search's done by trial accounts somehow?
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Wow, this' a big thread. I don't know if I have time to check it all to see if it's been mentioned, but I thought I'd mention this. On Liberty, the past few nights about 3-4 am, I'd get one, and by the time I'd have the /ignore_spammer <username> typed out, I'd get a "<username> is not a valid username." Am I doing it wrong, or are they just getting sneakier and deleting the toons as soon as they send the tell?
Hrm, random thought.. would it be possible to create an option to block you from being seen by /search's done by trial accounts somehow?
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Didn't they say that trial accounts dont register any differently than regular accounts? If that is the case, until that changes there isnt much they can do to limit things based on trial accounts versus non trial accounts.
Badging in a PvP zone?
If you are treasure hunting on a battlefield wearing an enemy uniform, there is a high probability that you will be attacked.
This is an enjoy-the-ride game. "50" is only a number, not the goal of the game. - Noxilicious
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Wow, this' a big thread. I don't know if I have time to check it all to see if it's been mentioned, but I thought I'd mention this. On Liberty, the past few nights about 3-4 am, I'd get one, and by the time I'd have the /ignore_spammer <username> typed out, I'd get a "<username> is not a valid username." Am I doing it wrong, or are they just getting sneakier and deleting the toons as soon as they send the tell?
Hrm, random thought.. would it be possible to create an option to block you from being seen by /search's done by trial accounts somehow?
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Didn't they say that trial accounts dont register any differently than regular accounts? If that is the case, until that changes there isnt much they can do to limit things based on trial accounts versus non trial accounts.
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Hm, perhaps the Vet badges could be used at least in part to designate between trial and real accounts?
Granted the first Vet Badge is for 3 months.....unless they want to slip in a One Month vet badge that offers a costume token (retro rewarded to long term players of course), then have the system designate accounts less then one month as not having in game email capacity.
Granted it would hurt some who have joined for real but how often is the in game email system used and by how many?
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Granted the first Vet Badge is for 3 months.....unless they want to slip in a One Month vet badge that offers a costume token (retro rewarded to long term players of course), then have the system designate accounts less then one month as not having in game email capacity.
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I suggested something similar to this before. We have hidden badges (that are awarded but don't show up on the list) to track several things already; I suggested a *one day* veteran badge, hidden, that would enable email/trading. That way you can't use those functions on your first paid day ingame, but you can every day afterwards. 24 hours is not too much to wait.
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Thanks to @EnsonsDeath for the GVE code that made me VIP again!
I hate to to bust you're bubble, but a significant percentage of the information in Whois is wrong some of that is because people don't know to update it but more is because the domain owner wants it to be wrong. We have spam laws in the US, but none of them would cover unsolicited email inside a private system. In addition the only real federal law is the infamous CAN-SPAM act which is almost useless in fighting normal spam and couldn't be applied here.
My department handles thousands of spam complaints each year and I truly wish there was good legislation but there isn't.
CAN-SPAM
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