Anti Bot Measures/Update from Sarah

[poppet]

Then they will be losing alot of paying customers

 

[Guest]

I wonder if the penalties will be like what they get with Pizza. 15 dollar pizza, 1 dollar bonus, 16 dollar penalty. Total money made? 0. This has to be wrong. Why would the dev team, who is trying to save this game, do something so drastic that would destroy it so quickly? We have seen more new players, more returning players and more people buying mulitple accounts than ever before. Why do something like this to kill it?

 

[legal1lpn]

I So Agree with you!!! This is just too whacked for words!

 

[imported_ChipsAhoy]

Seriously, why does this have to be so difficult and confusing?

 

[Guest]

I, like alot of people in this game, would be gone. I have been around for over 5 years. Want to kill a game off? This is the way to do it. Make it so no one can make any money without the ATM. Loyalty only goes so far and there are many other online games that would love the EAL/TSO people to join. I have been thinking of checking out City of Heroes/Villians recently. This may be the last straw that pushes me there.

 

[poppet]

TTL

Its called greed

The first time i get a reduced payout ill close my accounts and find a new game to play

 

[imported_ChipsAhoy]

<blockquote><hr>

The first time i get a reduced payout ill close my accounts and find a new game to play

[/ QUOTE ]

I hear ya. My characters in WoW have been neglected recently.

 

[imported_Starrfoxx]

This is exactly why this is going to TC3 first. They want to test this and see how it works, folks. I didn't see anywhere in the post that it was being released on EA Land yet.

Personally, I think people are misreading what is in the post and jumping to conclusions and getting their panties in a bind. Goodness gracious, let's see how this thing works in TC3. Then if it really does SUCK, then we can complain about it.

 

[Terra Pin]

<blockquote><hr>

<blockquote><hr>

The first time i get a reduced payout ill close my accounts and find a new game to play

[/ QUOTE ]

I hear ya. My characters in WoW have been neglected recently.

[/ QUOTE ]

Mine too

 

[Guest]

I am hoping some people are home today (unlike me.. I am at work) and can go into TC3 and try this out. Given enough time at a job track, you can hit your 3k in no time. Especially if someone out there is high enough level on the bot factory. Anyone willing to dedicate some time here and try it out?

 

[imported_Juniper Skye]

Wow, is almost all I can say.

I don't really understand how 98% of the player will not nitice this. I am a working Avarar. I am a sommlier so I am bringing in ATLEAST $400 a round, that's $1200 a work day. I work ATLEAST 4 times a RL day = $4800

Another example. Yesterday I cleaned my home office. Took me 7 hours. In those 7 hours I had my house open and we telemarked all night. I would have been punished for that?

There are very few things I disagree with the devs about but, to me, this is major. They lower the payouts on job objects? Fine, I will spend more time using them to get what I want! But now?

Like Aster said, I am a hoarder too! I think many if us are! I pay my $9.99 a month to raise money to buy and build.....this is going to put a real crimp in my style!

Where is Carrie?


Edited to add:

<blockquote><hr>

Personally, I think people are misreading what is in the post and jumping to conclusions and getting their panties in a bind. Goodness gracious, let's see how this thing works in TC3. Then if it really does SUCK, then we can complain about it

[/ QUOTE ]

I hope you're right becuase right now my panties are driving me crazy!

 

[NightFlyer]

TTL


OK so where are the cheerleaders now?

 

[24 Jolly's]

I have a question....when are we rolling out the bankruptcy feature?

 

[Guest]

Come on Carrie... wakie wakie. Possible deal breaker on the boards and we need your help...

 

[Guest]

First we need the EA Land First National Bank Credit card. This way we have a whole lot of debt to claim bancruptcy from

 

[imported_ChipsAhoy]

<blockquote><hr>

I have a question....when are we rolling out the bankruptcy feature?

[/ QUOTE ]

That's it! You win the pithy comment of the day. Congrats!

 

[Guest]

<blockquote><hr>

We’re starting to test a feature on TC3 that aims to help us to crack down on bot AND bot-like behavior, while not affecting the vast vast majority of players in any way.

Here’s how it works:

Summary

Each account can only earn a ‘reasonable’ sum of money from us (and you can earn as much as you want from other players).

What’s ‘reasonable’?

Well, we consider that 98% of the populations of EA-Land and TC3 have been earning a very reasonable amount but that some of the remaining 2% are suspicious. Others in that 2% are simply draining money through Pizza, and the like, and not engaging in other aspects of the game.

We will give users an initial credit for what they can earn, then we’ll give them an additional credit each week and the users themselves can accumulate credit by contributing to the game through activities such as buying objects, uploading custom content, buying a lot, etc. Activities such as using money objects and getting kickbacks from others using your money objects will reduce your credit. If the credit ever gets very low (and for most people it should never) you will get increasingly reduced payouts until you accumulate more credit, through your own activity or through that weekly boost.

Again, we’ve been keeping track and had we turned this on when we first opened EA-Land, it would not have affected 98% of players in any way at all and we’ll work to keep it that way.

Details From Your Perspective:

Your account (set of characters) has a “Payout Pool” associated with it.
Your Payout Pool is given an initial credit of 3,000 We will give every account some amount of credit per week into their Payout Pool. 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. You will not be able to access your Payout Pool balance and we may turn on/off this feature (during events, etc.). 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, etc., do not contribute to, or deduct from, your Payout Pool.
If your Payout Pool ever gets very low your payouts will decrease slowly until its balance is increased again through either your activities or the credits mentioned above.
Overall this feature is intended to safeguard us, and you, from the effect of bot-like activity in the game, and it will act as a safety net, allowing us to experiment more (with our dynamic market and payouts, for example) .

[/ QUOTE ]

The first bold area says that some of us spent too much time making pizza. I spent years making pizza and love doing it. Now I have to contribute to the game through other activities? I am forced to play the game the way the developers want me to play?

The second bold area says we will get 3k per week. What if I dont do any money making? Will I get 3k instead of my 500?

The third bold says they will turn it off during events. If 98% of us are not affected, why would it need to be turned off??? Sounds fishy. They are going to allow us to make money when they deem it appropriate.

The fourth bold, why would we need dynamic payouts when you are limiting our income??? Isn't one measure enough?

 

[Guest]

I love where it says "But you can earn however much from other players". That has to be the biggest joke of all. So, people go to work, they make their 3k in 1 day (Hey, I have done it as most of you have also). What then? We go around begging others, who also hit their 3k, for money? How is this going to help the economy? How is this going to make the game more fun?

 

[Guest]

Sounds like the way to make money is to sell things in a store.

We all will have to have a store and hope someone who is at their debit limit comes and buys a 3k cutom content picture of something.

Why arent stores limited in their income? Others could sell when the top 10 has made their maximum.

And do we have to own this house to get the improvements to count?

 

[Guest]

this does not sound pleasant.

 

[Guest]

The only way to truely test this is to give the TC3 players access to the credit/debit numbers. How else can they see it work? Also they can find bugs before the botters do.

 

[imported_Poppy Darling]

My prediction for the future.
Creation of the games portal and removal of all money objects.
Low and behold The Avatars skilling chatroom, gateway to EA.

 

[Guest]

I missed this part initially:
<blockquote><hr>

We’re starting to test a feature on TC3 that aims to help us to crack down on bot AND bot-like behavior, while not affecting the vast vast majority of players in any way.


[/ QUOTE ]
WTH is "bot-like behavior"?
Are they insinuating that working jobs and objects for long periods is the same as botting???!!!
Geez, if they *really* want to piss me off, why not just insult my mother?

 

[Guest]

the more I read the less I like.

 

[YadaSc]

Anti-Bot Measures
Posted in Economy by Sarah on the April 4th, 2008
We’re starting to test a feature on TC3 that aims to help us to crack down on bot AND bot-like behavior, while not affecting the vast vast majority of players in any way.

_________________________________________________________

This is a test.. testing .. testing... plz stand by.. lol

Think I will fail that one, hard to stand by

3k.. where's the bubble gum shop ?

 

[Guest]

Yes, this is in testing. They are testing it to see if it's something that works well and then will push it out to EAL. At this point, I think everyone will be ok if EAL installed some monitoring software that will look for any 3rd party software running that works with EAL. Hell, I would agree to that to keep this "cap" out of the game.

If they are so concerned with botters, monitor people's activity. If they look suspicious, send them an e-mail in game (Mind you, this is to the devs... not the average player). Let the person explain why what he/she was doing had "bot-like behavior". This will weed out the botters better than a friggin' cap. Why lose 98% of people to the 2% that are ruining this game?

 

[Guest]

i hope that this doesnt go over too well in tc3 cause in ealand i easily make over 3k a week and i dont buy much cause my house is all of the way done.. i have started to play a lot less than i used to but i still make over 3k a week just at the restaurant.. fingers crossed that this doesnt work too well..

 

[poppet]

TTL

I make 3k a day maybe more doing what i want to do, work at the factory which is actually a fun job, and then jamming and chatting.

 

[Guest]

**just hitting reply**

This is why the cash-out feature is destined to fail. It's a given that botters will abuse the "privledge" just to cash out their ill-gotten gains, and EA land will lose money- heaven forbid. So the other 98% will have to suck up not being able to accumulate too much money. Not to mention that giving botters a play-by-play on how the new program works is just giving them the template to figure out how to override it. It's like the 6 o'clock news saying that someone figured out how to make a bomb on the internet. Way to show some crackpot where to look, people!

Have the devs looked at the "dynamic" pricing of buying, building and owning/operating a lot recently? It takes a whole lot more than $500 bucks. If I choose to hoard to be able to finish an entire section of my house instead of only being able to afford a tile at a time, am I now exibiting bot-like behavior? If I play pizza more than once a week, do I end up on some list of suspicious behavior?

The whole ATM thing needs to stop- both in and out. EA wont reward us for playing the game, but they will certainly take our money to buy in-game currency from them. If I wanted to follow someone else's rules for how I should play a game, I'll go dust off my Monopoly board or play some Yahtzee.

Why don't they just put a cap on the cash out and say you cannot redeem more than "X" amount of simoleans in a 30-day period or something?

 

[imported_ChipsAhoy]

<blockquote><hr>

Why lose 98% of people to the 2% that are ruining this game?

[/ QUOTE ]

I know how botters work in EA Land, I don't know they do in other games, but it can't be THAT much different. Repetition of the same actions/objects and unusually long log in times....

Isn't there an easier (or more direct) way to do this if it is only 2%? What if someone is saving for land? They are capped at 3k earnings for a week because they are saving all their money? It would take them a month or more saving. That's just not right. If they work hard and earn the money in say, one or two days, they should get what they want.

 

[Guest]

Nothing is saying this won't work well to the dev team's expectations. If it does what they want, there is no reason why it won't get put into EA Land.

 

[Guest]

During work today, the earnings were between 160 and 304, by the end of the last round I was being paid 11. I started with zero cash after spending 3k at a shop. Quit work.

 

[Guest]

NOIP

I understand that this in testing, and subject to change, but even as a starting point, 3k plus 500 per week is just completely ridiculous. I probably make around 3k per DAY between job tracks and jamming, and I am by no means a "power player". If they honestly expect this to have no impact on 98% of players, they have a VERY long way to go.

 

[YadaSc]

Hurry !!! someone invent a bot scanner !

 

[poppet]

TTL


People are already getting 4 simolean payouts for jams and 15 simoleans for factory work in tc from what i read

I guess thats the 2%

 

[Guest]

It's simple. With a cap, more and more houses will close. Even ones that merged won't have enough money to stay open. Money houses will be hit hard also because they do get the $1 bonus for every time someone uses their object. I was in game the other day and out of the goodness of my heart, started repairing broken things at a skill house. 1 object cost me 3500 to fix. So with the new cap, it would take alittle over a week for someone to be able to fix that 1 item.

There is only 1 way this can work.... lower prices for everything in game. I am including restocking the fridge to the price stores have to pay to restock items. If we get 500 bucks a week, then everything else must match. If they don't lower the cost of items, this will destroy the game. Not because the prices are too high... but because no one will be left to bother with it.

 

[Guest]

Snord, is that in TC3?

 

[poppet]

I guess snord is part of the 2% as well

 

[imported_ChipsAhoy]

poor snord.

 

[Guest]

This is how I read it. The 3k is for a day (even if you didn’t read it this way this is how it should be to even be close to doing), so you get 3k x 7days = 21k a week. The following week you get 500 more credits making it 21k a week + 500$ = 21.5k a week. And that’s if you used up all your credits from the first week.

21.5k is a hell of a lot better then 3.5k. That’s doable at least.

But this doesn’t stop people from using bots. They can log on every day and make sure they always hit their max. While I have work and a kid to eat up most of my time. There fore even though this total may not effect my game play, it still not stoping botting. So yes it helps you guys and us the players to keep the integrity of the game intact, its still worth botting. See what I’m saying?

So IF the payout’s were what I suggested (or the way I interrupted it) would you guys be ok with that? (21.5k week?)

And after reading this who here likes my Punk Buster idea now? lol

 

[poppet]

You need to redo your math, 21k +500 is 21500, and that is not the way i read it

you get 3000 to start with and 500 added each week.

it didnt say you get 3000 everyday

 

[Guest]

Sorry about the math typed this out fast. And forget about the 3k per week thing. IF IT WAS 3k a day would you be ok with that?

 

[Guest]

<blockquote><hr>

it didnt say you get 3000 everyday

[/ QUOTE ]

Where did it say you get 3k every week? All I read was 500+ per week. *rubs chin*

 

[Guest]

TTL

One small question. When we buy objects, our pool increases. What is to keep someone from buying something from themselves on another account? I see a huge possiblity of "worker" sims buying outrageously prices bales of hay to juggle the pool. Then the workers can go back and earn the max money again? Maybe I am not understanding something here...

 

[Guest]

<blockquote><hr>

And after reading this who here likes my Punk Buster idea now? lol


[/ QUOTE ]
No.

 

[Guest]

OK according to the post, you do not get 3k per week. You will start off with 3k in your pool plus the 500 they will put in there every week. Once you blow through your initial 3500, there will be nothing in your pool until you spend some money going back to EAL. That money will go into your pool giving you available money.

The example given was this: If you make your 3500 and don't spend it... i.e. saving up for something, then you will have nothing left in your pool. The following week, you will have 500 put into your pool which you can earn from the game. Nothing has been said about the additional 500 they give you as a bonus every week. So in essence, you can earn, after blowing through the 3.5k, 1k per week in total.

 

[poppet]

That is exactly what i have been trying to say to everyone for about 1 hour now

everyone will be able to make 1k per week and stores will only be able to make what they can suck out of other peoples 1k

 

[Guest]

<blockquote><hr>

So IF the payout’s were what I suggested (or the way I interrupted it) would you guys be ok with that? (21.5k week?)

[/ QUOTE ]

Ok, respond to this.

 

[Guest]

How much would you need to earn a week for this to be ok?

 

[imported_TraciRK]

OK none of this makes any sense and I really am worried now that Duncan (who has always tried to make a positive out of what the devs are doing) is turning negative. I finally make it to Supra and make anywhere from 1800-2400 a shift depending on breakage and fellow workers, and now you are telling me that I am being penalized!!!!! First, you had better go back to the beginning of EALand to start giving us our credits, I have 4 houses and have worked my butt off to get them, I have put alot of money into the economy and now I am saving to buy another lot. Lots range from 9000 to OMG are you kidding me and we are going to penalized if we try to save for an OMG lot.

I just don't know what to think anymore, I love the game and I love working the bot job but if I am going to be penalized for saving my money or be penalized for making over 3000 in just 2 shifts, it just doesn't seem worth the hassle. I don't go to many money lots because they decay my skills and I just can't make much money at them. I don't go to skill lots because I don't need to I use one sim to teach my other sims.

I have a service lot and free accounts come there to skill or green or just ask questions, but what is the point of me catering to them when they don't even count as visitors on my lot?

So basically the way I read it, if you have worked your butt off and made it to the top of your job track you will be penalized if you work your job and try to save to buy anything worth having. If the devs are going to turn this into a communist society where they dictate where and what we do, is it fun anymore?