Anti Bot Measures/Update from Sarah

[imported_Qute Pi]

<blockquote><hr>

WHAT ELSE ARE YOU PEOPLE AT EA GOING TO DO TO MAKE US HATE THIS GAME. I can't make enough money now and with capping out in like an hour or less most players will not play again. Is it my understand we are only allowed to make 3k per week? That is absolutely ridiculous.

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't understand how they seriously thought this wouldn't effect 98% of the players. What a joke that turned out to be.

 

[Guest]

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Okay I have read polly's thread and I am back here to respond:

Snord did something else (made CC) and got more than he expected/was reported on the robot job dialog box (which makes me think he's 'in the black' with more than the startup 3k in credit for why which goes with my theory.. what else did snord do that were usual non work/non green activies that may have contributed? we don't know)

Polly skillled a sim part way then set to work with it. I don't see a whole lot of non greening/non work activity listed there.

Polly or someone else needs to see if they can recreate my experience then:

Take at least two sims, equally skilled at their work skills (perfe3rably both maxed at their needed skills) have one him/them do nothing else except that work activity and greening for work. Log that one off when not used for thse work sessions and wait until its time to have them both work again.

Meanwhile Have the other sim(s) stay online and skill and lock down other skills between work sessions, make friendlinks, be sang to, sing to others if possible,etc. Set them both to work again. See if there is a difference.

[/ QUOTE ]

My sim has been singing her heart out in between shifts at the factory, making friends both at work and while hanging out on other lots. I did think about sending her dancing, but couldnt find an entertainment lot open during my playing time.

I did a little bit of skilling last night after I posted, haven't logged in yet today to see how much I can make today. I've been watering lots of flowers and generally replicating my "normal" game play in EA-Land. Granted I don't go to work every day there, my sim is kinda lazy that way.

This isn't supposed to effect 98% of players. One thing that in important to take into consideration here with skilling ....... on my main sim I have only 10 skill points left to get before I'm maxed on all skills. The forthcoming amesty on skill locks is going to mean I won't need to skill that sim ever again once I've skilled those 10 points. Others only ever skill when a new lock is available.

If skilling is one of the ways of refilling the pool then many sims will be screwed. I don't have the ability to teach in TC3, otherwise I'd definitely try that.

The saddest thing about this testing - even sadder then the inability to earn money, is the lack of places open in TC3 during my evenings. (I'm on UK time so 5 hours ahead of EST and 8 hours ahead of PST).

I would happily run around visiting a variety of different lot categories - so far I've tried stores (but didn't buy anything), services, money and skills. Then again I'm also trying to replicate my "normal" game play in EA-Land - and I can't say that I've visited a games or entertainment lot there since it opened either. I do however hang out on residence lots a fair bit in EA-Land, but yet to find a good one open in TC3.

Polly

P.S. I want compensation for all the money I would have earned if I'd been working in EA-Land the past 3 days instead of TC3 !!!!!!

 

[imported_Qute Pi]

*puts $500 in Polly's tip jar*
Thanks for all your efforts! I hope that will show the Dev's that it effects more than 2%.
(I am still bothered by that...Everyone who has tried has seen an obvious difference. To say it won't effect 98% of us is completely incorrect.)

 

[Guest]

Polly, very interesting research.

I hope its looked at.

Good job.

 

[imported_corpatortis]

<blockquote><hr>

P.S. I want compensation for all the money I would have earned if I'd been working in EA-Land the past 3 days instead of TC3 !!!!!!

[/ QUOTE ]

lmao. me too please! had i only not gone to work or wowed or been out with friends.. i could have earned all of this cash! o. wait. i get 500 a week for existing.

 

[Guest]

lol I'd be 4500 odd better off if I'd been doing all of this in EA-Land. Thats a lot of money when you're broke !

There again, if I'd been in EA-Land, I very likely would have been slacking off somewhere and not working

Polly

 

[festrmentmagnet]

*Just hitting reply*

Taken from the blog:
You credit your Payout Pool through activities such as buying objects, uploading custom content, buying a lot, etc.
You debit your Payout Pool through activities such as jobs, using money objects, and getting kickbacks from others using your money objects.
Player to player activities such as using tip jars, secure trade, the interaction “Give Money”, door charges, selling items from stores, etc., do not contribute to, or deduct from, your Payout Pool.
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No where in this does it say anything about watering plants or cleaning other sims showers helps your payouts, so where are avatars getting the idea that cleaning and singing helps the payout?

 

[Guest]

Just hitting reply.

Although I fully agree with everyone in here as to this being a real slap in the face. I think we had all better start concidering either figuring out a way to work to it, or give up on the game completely. Because I don't believe that other than a little tweeking here and there, that they will change it.
This is now what the game is, we have have to face it that they will never let us make any sort of quantity of simoleans over what we need to spend.
Also we better brace ourself for the next big shock, because the next thing they need to do something about is the access of simoleans already in EAL.
I cannot see them having it so they would have to pay out what would be in the hundreds of thousands of real dollars for what is already in the game.

 

[imported_Qute Pi]

<blockquote><hr>

*Just hitting reply*

Taken from the blog:
You credit your Payout Pool through activities such as buying objects, uploading custom content, buying a lot, etc.
You debit your Payout Pool through activities such as jobs, using money objects, and getting kickbacks from others using your money objects.
Player to player activities such as using tip jars, secure trade, the interaction “Give Money”, door charges, selling items from stores, etc., do not contribute to, or deduct from, your Payout Pool.
-------
No where in this does it say anything about watering plants or cleaning other sims showers helps your payouts, so where are avatars getting the idea that cleaning and singing helps the payout?

[/ QUOTE ]

So basically if you don't do: activities such as buying objects, uploading custom content, buying a lot, etc.
Then don't expect to make more than 3k (weekly? monthly?) from doing: activities such as jobs, using money objects, and getting kickbacks from others using your money objects.

 

[Guest]

Right -- you have to spend money to make money. In theory.

What makes me chuckle is the line that says that you can earn credit toward your account by buying a lot ...

ummmm, if you're constantly spending money in order to earn money ... how are you going to earn 9K to buy even the crappiest of lots? It'll take ... years ....

ugh.

 

[Guest]

Even though I've done some (albiet minimal) testing on this myself and can sort've see (well okay, if I squint my eyes up *really* tight and look out of only one of them and then sideways while break dancing) how this might conceivably work...

part of me just wonders if maybe what they really meant was $30,000 but somebody somewhere in transition and communication down the pike lost a 0 in there on the journey before it was implemented.

 

[imported_Calina.Rhiannon]

In the TOS they gave the A-OK to purchase money from people other than EA (unless they've changed it in the past month). So if I buy simoleans from someone other than EA, does that put me in the "bot like" percentage? 3k isn't that much, and if I bought, I'd buy more than that. EA's prices are very high compaired to what I've seen out there, so I'd be more inclined to buy elsewhere.

 

[imported_corpatortis]

And risk getting scammed.

It's all about preference. I'd buy it directly from EA because not only am I guaranteed that I will either get what I paid for or my money returned, but I know I'm not helping to fund a potential scammer's lifestyle.

 

[Guest]

<blockquote><hr>

And risk getting scammed.

It's all about preference. I'd buy it directly from EA because not only am I guaranteed that I will either get what I paid for or my money returned, but I know I'm not helping to fund a potential scammer's lifestyle.

[/ QUOTE ]

x.

I happen to know that EA has been cracking down on scammers who also extended that service to scamming for rl money outside of the game.

I'd rather pay a bit extra than lose it all.

 

[imported_Calina.Rhiannon]

Oh I'm waaay not worried about that

I make sure I have my personal friends as references, among other things, to keep me secure. Like I said, I bought from EA once and it was so terrible in price and service that I won't do it again.

 

[imported_Qute Pi]

I know 3k is the number they started with and not definite, but with what we have in our game, the cap makes everything completely worthless.
I hope they come out with new features that have nothing to do with money.
I wish they would help us understand.
I wish everyone who tested this didn't feel like they were in the 2% group.
I don't see what they are accomplishing by letting us go with 28 pages of speculation.

If you are a property owner and want to run your property, you need money to keep your property going. Buying food doesn't matter, so why feed your guests? In the hopes you'll receive some tips that don't go towards your cap? lol. You obviously don't want to go buy stuff on a limited income when you have so many other things you NEED (that don't count) to spend your money on in order to keep your property running. Its like a bad cycle.

Next thing no one will keep their property open besides stores.

I remain positive for hours, the minute I start really thinking about this I get so frustrated.

I need to hire a love vendor...

 

[Guest]

 

[imported_Qute Pi]

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[/ QUOTE ]

LOL!
Edit to add: Jackie you are great!

 

[imported_Calina.Rhiannon]

<blockquote><hr>

I need to hire a love vendor...

[/ QUOTE ]

LOL *looks around for Jackie*

 

[imported_Calina.Rhiannon]

*TTL*

Like I said, though, I'm not concerned really. I'm sure that all of this is just a general idea, and if you buy the money from anywhere, you aren't earning it, so it wouldn't count towards your pool. I'd imagine it'd be like getting a tip, because you'd buy the money outside of game and just get it traded to you ingame. No different, I would think.

I think this is all just mean to keep people from -farming- the money, not buying it.

...edited to say: today is a good day, i have strawberry cheesecake jelly-bellies.

 

[imported_Qute Pi]

<blockquote><hr>

*TTL*

Like I said, though, I'm not concerned really. I'm sure that all of this is just a general idea, and if you buy the money from anywhere, you aren't earning it, so it wouldn't count towards your pool. I'd imagine it'd be like getting a tip, because you'd buy the money outside of game and just get it traded to you ingame. No different, I would think.

I think this is all just mean to keep people from -farming- the money, not buying it.

...edited to say: today is a good day, i have strawberry cheesecake jelly-bellies.

[/ QUOTE ]

Can I have a strawberry cheesecake jelly belly to throw at you? jk.

I agree that things could and should be adjusted.

I just see a bad pattern...
If people can't make more money, but want to skill, they may not want to tip. It doesn't count for them or the person who is tipping. The skill house won't want to feed its guests because they need to actually buy stuff with their money to make more money, and since they have a skill house and not a money house, why open at all? AH! *sighs*

I'm done thinking about this till the Dev's decide to communicate with us.

 

[imported_Calina.Rhiannon]

I could see it being like when I was little. Spend all day at a friends house, run home to eat dinner, sleep, shower... go right back to my friends house.

 

[imported_Qute Pi]

lol good point...yea I can see that too

 

[Krystal Bell]

TTL

I see this as another way to provoke some players into kissing this game goodbye. Why on earth do the devs feel the need to ruin this game even further? This game is going deeper into the toilet every day and its a damn shame!

I dont want to hear how this is going to get rid of the botters and fix the economy because you will never get rid of them, they are like a tick on a fleas butt and impossible to find them all, No matter what you do!

I dont think making this game so unpleasant and difficult to play just to get rid of botters is going to HELP keep it alive, instead it will make the good players look for a better and more FUN game. You're killing off what tiny bit of fun there might possibly be left by making this game sooo difficult to make money and buy land etc. Cant you see what you're doing?

Im sorry there are botters but honestly they are in every online game and its about time everyone just learns to live with it and get on with making this game more fun for the rest of us. That should be the major objective to add fun and make this game more attractive to new players. Stop spending so much time finding ways to scare off botters and in fact running off the good players. Learn from other online games and give it a rest the botters are too damn smart and they will find a way to get around the system, just like people that make pc viruses and worms etc. Its a never ending story unfortunately and you cant get rid of them.

The only way you're going to slow them down is if other players stop buying cash or rares from them. Guess what? We all should know by now that there will always be someone willing to buy from them. Its sad but true, as long as there is a demand they will attempt to supply. With money so hard to earn you're just falling into their hands by making what they offer more attractive to those that are sick of not being able to earn enough to get what they want.

Im extremely sorry for all of this ranting but Im getting so frustrated with how this game is being ruined and I felt that if I kept this in much longer I would explode.

 

[imported_Dali Dalinza]

<blockquote><hr>

*Just hitting reply*

Taken from the blog:
You credit your Payout Pool through activities such as buying objects, uploading custom content, buying a lot, etc.
You debit your Payout Pool through activities such as jobs, using money objects, and getting kickbacks from others using your money objects.
Player to player activities such as using tip jars, secure trade, the interaction “Give Money”, door charges, selling items from stores, etc., do not contribute to, or deduct from, your Payout Pool.
-------
No where in this does it say anything about watering plants or cleaning other sims showers helps your payouts, so where are avatars getting the idea that cleaning and singing helps the payout?

[/ QUOTE ]

Dev Greg made reference to "non-botting" behaviors at the Town Hall meeting when he was clarifying the top secret algorithm they will use to credit our personal money pools. He indicated that non-botting behavior included interactions. Just think of the things bots don't do, and that would be what one can infer would provide a positive effect. But, from what Polly is discovering, it ain't necessarily so.

 

[imported_Trudymac]

<blockquote><hr>

<blockquote><hr>

*Just hitting reply*

Taken from the blog:
You credit your Payout Pool through activities such as buying objects, uploading custom content, buying a lot, etc.
You debit your Payout Pool through activities such as jobs, using money objects, and getting kickbacks from others using your money objects.
Player to player activities such as using tip jars, secure trade, the interaction “Give Money”, door charges, selling items from stores, etc., do not contribute to, or deduct from, your Payout Pool.
-------
No where in this does it say anything about watering plants or cleaning other sims showers helps your payouts, so where are avatars getting the idea that cleaning and singing helps the payout?

[/ QUOTE ]

So basically if you don't do: activities such as buying objects, uploading custom content, buying a lot, etc.
Then don't expect to make more than 3k (weekly? monthly?) from doing: activities such as jobs, using money objects, and getting kickbacks from others using your money objects.

[/ QUOTE ]It's actually 500 a week, more likely (as it stands on TC3 right now). You start with 3000 in your pool but EA will only put 500 back into that pool per week, not 3000. So once you burn up that 3000, you are now relying on the 500 per week from EA and and extra from whatever actions you take which also add to your pool - the actions which they don't want to elaborate much about.

 

[Guest]

NOIP
Soooo, the game has changed from what it was to..... finding ways to feed the cap.
Who says there ain't no fun anymore?

 

[Guest]

<blockquote><hr>

Right -- you have to spend money to make money. In theory.

What makes me chuckle is the line that says that you can earn credit toward your account by buying a lot ...

ummmm, if you're constantly spending money in order to earn money ... how are you going to earn 9K to buy even the crappiest of lots? It'll take ... years ....

ugh.

[/ QUOTE ]

3 accounts (could even be all 3 free if you're doing it in TC3) having 3000 pool = that 9k lot at the end of a week. If you want a lot for the other two accounts, that will take longer, but you asked about getting one lot.

 

[imported_Calina.Rhiannon]

Perhaps this thread should be deleted and a new one started with a recap post of what we've covered? That way it won't seem so insane to others beginning to read it.

Please See: Original 'The Stand' by Stephen King

 

[Guest]

Yep,
The way I see it is new comers are going to be most effected.
Lets say someone comes in and wants to get their own place.
They decide to gather together 10k to buy a property.
In the 1st week they can do 3k before it's not worth going any further.
From then on they can do another 500 each week, for another 14 weeks.
They now have 10k, they buy their property and their pool is now back to 3k.
Now they decide on the lot size and find they need to do a similar thing to get there as well. Weeks and weeks again.
After that to build they will need to do that in 3k lots, make 3k, go home do 3k worth of building and get their pool back up again. Then go out and do it again, and again.
Now after months of effort they find that many of the items they want to purchase cost much more than 3k. And also that those items don't contribute towards rebuilding their pool.
We can only hope that interactions and other game play count a lot towards rebuilding our pools or this scenario becomes very real.

 

[Guest]

<blockquote><hr>

Yep,
The way I see it is new comers are going to be most effected.
Lets say someone comes in and wants to get their own place.
They decide to gather together 10k to buy a property.
In the 1st week they can do 3k before it's not worth going any further.
From then on they can do another 500 each week, for another 14 weeks.
They now have 10k, they buy their property and their pool is now back to 3k.
Now they decide on the lot size and find they need to do a similar thing to get there as well. Weeks and weeks again.
After that to build they will need to do that in 3k lots, make 3k, go home do 3k worth of building and get their pool back up again. Then go out and do it again, and again.
Now after months of effort they find that many of the items they want to purchase cost much more than 3k. And also that those items don't contribute towards rebuilding their pool.
We can only hope that interactions and other game play count a lot towards rebuilding our pools or this scenario becomes very real.

[/ QUOTE ]

I guess I'm still not understanding the huge problem there. In your scenario, that 'newbie' could have his fully furnished, size 8 lot inside one year. To a 'seasoned' player that's going to seem really bad because most of them have silver spoon syndrome, some coming in as newbies right in the middle of the exploit where players went 'Here have 100k' or 'here have a size 8 lot' on a regular basis to newbies. In that world, this seems bad...but a true newbie is going to have the benefit of not remembering how easy that was, except for all the people around him pancakes about it. At least 50% of the problem IMO isn't the game design it's the "I want it now, and I don't want to pay more than my $9.99 membership for it, either" attitude that some have developed.


There is nothing wrong with long-term goals

There is nothing wrong with actually earning what you get in game

And no, there is also nothing wrong with being an 'instant gratification' personality, as long as you are willing to part with some RL cash in order to get what you want now instead of later.

The sooner everybody that is 'miserable' now understands those 3 concepts, the happier they and those around them in this game will be.

 

[Guest]

You hit the nail right on the head when you said that atleast 50% of the problem is people with the "I want it now atitude". And if you include the "I don't want it to take that long " percentage in there as well. Well that then becomes a huge amount of the market gone.

Edited to add:

I have my size 8 lots in both EAL and TC3, and about 200k in both.
I am fine in the way of being setup, it's the groth and survival of the game I am worried about.

 

[Zsazsa Zee]

Having read the test results in TC3...I certainly hope that this "cap" doesn't come to EA Land. I disagree with it INTENSELY !!!

It seems like Ea wants us to buy money from them......Sorry,... I resent that.
Gracie mentioned that there is little reason to log in more than once a week. I feel so disheartened by this direction, that I'm wondering if it's worth loging in at all.
After 5 years of play....this is it?
Cheerleaders, please don't reply to this post.

 

[Guest]

<blockquote><hr>

Having read the test results in TC3...I certainly hope that this "cap" doesn't come to EA Land. I disagree with it INTENSELEY !!!

It seems like Ea wants us to buy money from them......Sorry,... I resent that.
Gracie mentioned that there is little reason to log in more than once a week. I feel so disheartened by this direction, that I'm wondering if it's worth loging in at all.
After 5 years of play....this is it?
Cheerleaders, please don't reply to this post.

[/ QUOTE ]

I don' think this is it. This is all speculation at this point, and furthermore what I took from Sarah's post was that this is something that is being worked on and tweaked to meet the needs of the community.

So... obviously its not meeting the needs... have some faith.

 

[imported_Calina.Rhiannon]

<blockquote><hr>

Having read the test results in TC3...I certainly hope that this "cap" doesn't come to EA Land. I disagree with it INTENSELEY !!!

It seems like Ea wants us to buy money from them......Sorry,... I resent that.
Gracie mentioned that there is little reason to log in more than once a week. I feel so disheartened by this direction, that I'm wondering if it's worth loging in at all.
After 5 years of play....this is it?
Cheerleaders, please don't reply to this post.

[/ QUOTE ]

*hides her pom-poms, throws on her studdent bracelets and pretends to be tough*

I do agree that this seems to be a tiny bit of a ploy to get us to buy money, but if you think about it eventually there will be enough money in the market that owner-dictated payouts will make a comeback.

The only reason I think it's terribly hard right now is that everyone lost all their money, so there isn't an "easy" way to earn it, like those payouts.

Once the game goes back to a "normal" state, I think it will be alot easier. Not as easy as it once was, but not like standing in a bread line or anything.

 

[Guest]

<blockquote><hr>

Yep,
The way I see it is new comers are going to be most effected.
Lets say someone comes in and wants to get their own place.
They decide to gather together 10k to buy a property.
In the 1st week they can do 3k before it's not worth going any further.
From then on they can do another 500 each week, for another 14 weeks.
They now have 10k, they buy their property and their pool is now back to 3k.
Now they decide on the lot size and find they need to do a similar thing to get there as well. Weeks and weeks again.
After that to build they will need to do that in 3k lots, make 3k, go home do 3k worth of building and get their pool back up again. Then go out and do it again, and again.
Now after months of effort they find that many of the items they want to purchase cost much more than 3k. And also that those items don't contribute towards rebuilding their pool.
We can only hope that interactions and other game play count a lot towards rebuilding our pools or this scenario becomes very real.

[/ QUOTE ]

Good point, but in TC3 lots are still around 3k to buy and upgrade costs are still very cheap (couple of 100 per upgrade). Testing in TC3 is therefore not comparing like to like. This also means in TC3, its possible to earn your first 3k and go out and buy a lot. Then earn a bit more and go home and spend it all on building (again still pretty cheap in TC3), go out earn more - build etc and really not be effected by the "cap".

Newbies that are playing in TC3 and desperate to start a house - living hand to mouth as we all did when new cities opened, will actually be the ones that will notice this "anti bot measure" the least. Its players that are not desperate to spend what they earn as soon as they earn it and wish to save for something that will notice it more. In EA-Land of course, it will be different again, but its not in EA-Land yet ! (and hopefully won't ever make it there with its current threshhold).

As for the 500 limit per week after the initial 3k, I just can't fathom that anyone could think 500 is an reasonable limit. Given that most have hit their 3k limit within a matter of a day or so, 500 won't cover 2 shifts at work.

The blog does say "It’s 500 for now but we’ll be keeping an eye on what it should be so that people essentially do not need to be concerned about their Payout Pool at all." Hopefully that 500 (not to mention the original 3k credit) will be increased in TC3 very, very soon so that it can be tested some more.

Polly

 

[Guest]

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You hit the nail right on the head when you said that atleast 50% of the problem is people with the "I want it now atitude". And if you include the "I don't want it to take that long " percentage in there as well. Well that then becomes a huge amount of the market gone.

[/ QUOTE ]

But you missed the point.....that's the players' attitudes that need to change, not the game mechanics. EA Land is attempting to appeal to a wider scope of playerbase than TSO did, and a large number of those players are the ones that think the way I do....that if its worth having its either worth parting with a bit of RL cash for or worth a little 'blood, sweat and tears' in game (at least the worst you can get here is a sprained 'mouse-clicking' finger

). If the game is *too* easy, then it will keep the same 'electronic dollhouse' reputation that it has had, and if that reputation worked, The Sims Online would have been the rousing success that it was predicted to be, the same success that The Sims 1 and 2 were, instead of a black mark on that name that the franchise now wants to shed. The number of players that were LOYAL (as in stuck around the whole time) to that idea was not enough for this game to be popular, and its still not. Without change, there's no future for any of us.

The Sims Online is gone. This is EA Land. We have the benefit of a 'jumpstart' by keeping our skilled avatars and locks that we have, and will have when amnesty is distributed, but otherwise the game around us is completely changing. Think of it as moving basically to an entirely different planet, where the people around you 'look' the same, but the species even has a new name (avatars). It's impossible to wipe our memories of the way things used to be, but often I envy the newbies who don't have thoe memories, which again is another reason that it upsets me so much when players go on and on about it, because without that those players would never have known how things 'used to be'....they'd only know how things are now and how things are going to be in the future and I truly believe could acclimate better to it.

 

[Guest]

TTL

Okay, the blog says there's a 3k pool for each "account". For those with sims in EA Land and TC3 on the same account, how does this effect the pool if it hasn't been implemented in EA Land yet?

Right now, do the things you do in EA Land effect the pool for your TC3 sim?

 

[festrmentmagnet]

I don't think your EALand sim affects your TC3 sim at the moment.

 

[Guest]

Now that we have a follow up thread going here we can close this one up.