Jeremy, An Idea, For duping Announcement

[RavenWinterHawk]

Alright,

So plenty of people are saying they are being banned for buying a few duped hammers. Maybe true, maybe not true. Maybe they meant to say I DUPED a few hammers instead of bought. Im sure everyone will express their opinions. Should it be 3 hammer, 5 hammers, 1 hammer a week, 10 in total for buying that gets you duped. What if you bought it but didnt use it. What if you bought it but gained nothing. What if you bought a bunch really early but didnt get caught but bought 1 yesterday and are snagged. You see how paranoia will flood the playerbase.

Yes yes. we all know dont by duped stuff. Perhaps EA can begin to inform us what is duped.

"A large number of hammers are now on atlantic. They are dupes. Please dont buy them." Wouldnt that be nice to see at EA sign in to the game?

That will never hurt legit players. They can hold there bods or reward till things are fixed. It would be an awesome format for communicating to your player base IMMEDIATELY. It kills rumors, speculation, and stops bitterness from forming.

Should players really be left to guessing. Is it one dupe that gets you banned , or 20 dupes. Maybe players are trying to figure out if it works and want to report it. Maybe they are cheats. Whats the number? Or is moving stuff around xsharding the ticket to banning. I guess its all of the above.

Its one thing when its an exploit that is obvious day one and abused for a week before the fix. I remember something that player could do to get GM items. Some hack. It was there for like 3 days and everyone in possession got hammered. Thats pretty obvious.

Its another thing when the exploit is around for months and slowly put into play.

Its another thing when the DUPERS say F-EA and F- all the players.

"we are putting out 1000's of hammers and kits. We duped so much and hid them so well, you cant catch us. Take what you see, search down your player base and screw them over for our cheating. You cant catch us."


That is what they did (atlantic side i think). I hope you do catch them all. Their hidden accounts or whatever they do. People here on the boards sure now their tricks, maybe you guys do too.

For me to think they can sit on stuff, get banned, and then open the other accounts later is sickening.



Mind boggling. Should the players buying the armor and weapon off the vendor that has 10 verites, be banned too. It is interesting, that no formal word from EA was around for the last weeks, to let players know whats up.

Well I know plenty of people that bought a hammer to complete their suit. I know plenty of people that upgraded their armor. I know entire guilds that have matching Sammie armor now. No not out of trying to screw the game but because they had something to do.

I know atlantic had thousands of valorite, verite, barbed, and heartwood kits or runic hammers, after some simple poking around.

Scripting or duping probably. (That one guy is always legit)

It might be nice to announce at log in. WAY IN THE BEGINNING.

"A new exploit is in progress. Purchasing any Verite Hammers or Valorite Hammers will put your account in jeopardy. Please reframe from buying while we secure the game world"


Now you can say after I started looking 2 weeks ago and could see tons of stuff around, HUGE EXPLOIT. You might not have been able to notice that stuff 4 weeks ago, but you could say SOMETHING IS GOING ON. In fact, people here new of it before any evidence was around maybe 2 months ago. People were warning of something and I was saying "nah it just old left over stuff from an IDOC". YET, NO word from EA at log in. Stratics is great but not every player comes here to learn. Were was EA's voice?

IS EA legal fearful? Why all the hush hush stuff?

My point.

It would hurt the dupers, save some of the damage by announcing what not to buy until the situation is remedied. Sort of a way to put a freeze on buying items. It might not be much but it could help.

Not communicating with the player base from the get go is really bad practice. Nothing from EA (at sign in) was going on. I shouldnt and players shouldnt have to rely on stratics for information. If it werent for stratics, I probably would have lost fortunes by now, been scammed, or bought that AN OLD RING for 2 million thinking it was an event rare. Inform your playbase beyond "oh its in the TOS". Not why youll be banned but what is going on in game.

I think there is a better way for EA to communicate exploit issues (with out giving away secrets) and perhaps save the game and players headaches.

Just a thought.

Really a warning system to let people know EA is on it. Dont throw the baby out with the bath water. Get the business dupers, not that poor player from EUROPA (unless shes a liar, but Ill believe her first). See what secrecy does. It turns the players on each other and on EA.

GET THE business dupers that are destroying our game. Once you fix the exploits you can patch the in game damage but you can fix the damage done to players.

Peace.

 

[bokke]

Great ideas! If only they would listen.

 

[Kith Kanan]

I wish they did that i would not have bought any then.....

 

[Gwendar-SP]

/signed

 

[Tomas_Bryce]

Raven, why do you require EA to hold your hand? If I am not mistaken you were looking to buy these runics not so long ago even though you pretty much knew their was a dupe going on. I hope you took mind of my warning and did not go for it.

Yes, I agree that EA should not be all secretive about the presence of a dupe. However, I disagree that most people actually really need such a warning to do the right thing. The fact is that when certain people say that there is a dupe going on, rest assured that it is true. And we definitely did warn about it quite some time ago. So there were many warnings but yes, not an "official" one.

 

[Mulch]

It is a sign of incompetence if you start banning wildly as you cannot control it.
But as they don't have to take care about the customer base it is most likely not important to know how to program anyway.

 

[packrat]

That's what bugs me the most about this game. Lack of communication. A friend wanted a valorite hammer and I almost bought it for her, but it was 20 mill. That didn't seem right so I left it alone. I am glad I did. Had I bought it, it could have jeopardised both of our accounts. That is just not right for people that do not read stratics or keep up with the latest dupes. I was smart enough to realize that it smelled like a duck so I left it alone. It was gone the next day so I am sure someones account will get banned for buying it.
Communications from the top would help out a lot and maybe restore confidence in the people we trust to keep this game free from these type of things.

 

[Lady_Mina]

True true...how the hell are people suposed to know they've bought a duped item if it's not sold in mass stock?

 

[RavenWinterHawk]

/signed

I just posted. Its possible for players to have 10 or 20 verite hammers. I know I got several valorites and aggys from blackrock turn in. I was on origin.


What If I didnt sell them. I transfered a player back to atlantic. What if they were sitting in my box today.


What if If a legit player traded or bought up 5, 10 verites. Possible. 20 million each for last 6 months.

How long has this dupe been going on?
2 months at least, maybe more.


Maybe the 20 million for a verite was a dupe price, we just didnt know.

Anyway,

EA is slow to ban. Hopefully that means they were thoughtful about it.

If only there were tags on the hammers to know when you bought them, how much you paid.


If I have a handful of dupes and sell them for 30 million, 25 million, 20 million, 15 million and the last 5 for 10 million.

Who gets banned more, the guy that paid 10 million or 30 million. They all bought dupes.

SO EA, if you pay a whole lot for the dupe then are you okay? See my point. So if youre duped in buying the dupe is that worst then knowing something might be up but, there is no official word. Maybe the guy is quitting uo and selling out. Maybe hes liquidating. EA needs to beef up their part.

Here is how it gets more confusing for buying. The dupe on clothing with hoods. It was legal to buy and trade them. Illegal to make them. Confusing for the player base. Yet there was no word from EA.

EA please use the feedback here for developing a better system.

Its better to delete all the hammers then ban players for buying them.
Its better to ban the player with 50 valorite hammer bods the the guy with 6 valorite hammers.

You changed all the robes to monks robes. Do the same with the duped stuff and get the big guys.

Seriously, whats the loss if you remove all the verite and valorite hammers. Some gold. The legit guy that might have 5 of each. Yeah that would hurt but not as much as banning players that are (mostly) innocent. Im asking to make statements at log ins so player know 100% whats up and dangerous, get rid of the secrecy bs.

Remember it was legit to wear color hooded robes and buy and sell them. It was illegal to make them. People still wear and sell glacial pants. They sell for more then barbed kits. Its not a far jump to say well Im buying the hammer like the robe dupes.

Bring clarity to the player base by using the daily log-in statement.

HOW DOES A PLAYER KNOW?

If youre not caught duping, Holding 100 of of them or seen being given dozens of things to fence... I think EA is getting the wrong people.

Go the house and accounts with 100's of things stashed. DUPERS are put 20 duped items in an account they are putting 100's

Oh and delete them. Lets forgo the house idoc that release 20 vine cord sandals. OH I FORGOT you fixed them too.



Argh.

 

[Tomas_Bryce]

I wonder for how many years into the future people will continue to use blackrock hammers to rationalize.

 

[RavenWinterHawk]

Raven, why do you require EA to hold your hand? If I am not mistaken you were looking to buy these runics not so long ago even though you pretty much knew their was a dupe going on. I hope you took mind of my warning and did not go for it.

Yes, I agree that EA should not be all secretive about the presence of a dupe. However, I disagree that most people actually really need such a warning to do the right thing. The fact is that when certain people say that there is a dupe going on, rest assured that it is true. And we definitely did warn about it quite some time ago. So there were many warnings but yes, not an "official" one.

Not hold my hand.
Besides (you can see about the hooded robes)

And its not my hand.

Imagine how it would cut down on the hammers sold, if they made that statment. Its not my hand that needs holding. Not every player comes here. Did anyone pm me for the hammers no. NO cause my price was stupidly low.

Its like saying ILL BUY GOLD FOR .25 per million.

What did EA say nada. If I didnt come here and read your posts and learn from you about dupes, I WOULD HAVE SPENT MY GOLD at 15 million to 20 MILLION A VERITE HAMMER and been completely screwed. I learned what I learned here.


AM I sacrastic yes. Some of you may know that from my posts. Is my low by price for hammers, ANGER and SARCASM. Well thats for me to know.

NOT EVERY player comes here.

Brice you saved me my gold because I can read what you know, see whats in game, and buy or not buy accordingly.

You have saved me from getting into the rare event stuff and losing my shirt. I am waiting for post dupe events.

My ideas is for the player base.

I'm sure you and I have bought dupes before. Im sure we new things were up. I dont consider you anything but legit. I bought lots of hooded robes. And stuff. Granted I cant recall if that was before, during, or after EA said it was okay. Either way i paid my gold for duped stuff.

This game isnt about the cash duper and pure angel that does no game wrong. Its about the base of players in between and how the game is managed. How it effects them, and how EA deals and communicates issues. They can fix up their part.

I do thank you for your info. I would have slapped down gold on hammers, rares, and bought event stuff that was event stuff.

Im asking actually for EA to be more informative like you are and players here are.

 

[Tomas_Bryce]

Yes, I know what you are asking for. It would be great if they could warn in a timely manner instead of passing the responsibility to the players. However, for some reason companies tend to be secretive about this. This is true across all games. There must be logical reasons for this but I am not sure what.

 

[RavenWinterHawk]

I wonder for how many years into the future people will continue to use blackrock hammers to rationalize.

Think about this.
If they dont wipe the hammers. Which is fair in my opinion.
How many people will sell the dupe stashes for 25 million for years to come?

See the duper still wins.

How many event rares that are dupes will be bought and sold that didnt get removed for years to come.

Look at like this. What is in game is in game. Where it came from and the history is completely useless. NO ONE KNOWS.

EA can simply remove all hammers. All event items and all server births.
And start over. Or create a tagging system that works.

Then we wont have to say any of the above "for years to come."

Just because an exploit gets fixed today, players banned, but new verites come out next month... doesnt mean they arent dupes.

There are tons of event item and rares dupes. You taught me that. They really arent worth a lick, cause no one know where they came from or how many exists.

Everything should be removed.

EA needs to take control back of the game. Toss the exploiters. Remove the problem stuff and say we should of known, your out the gold, move on.

 

[RavenWinterHawk]

Yes, I know what you are asking for. It would be great if they could warn in a timely manner instead of passing the responsibility to the players. However, for some reason companies tend to be secretive about this. This is true across all games. There must be logical reasons for this but I am not sure what.

Im not sure either. You and I arent idiots. I bet we could understand an explaination vs the BS secrecy stuff.

 

[Coranthe]

Raven - This is not a post against your idea, but rather a question for the whole community. Where the hell were all of you when others of us have BEGGED for communication from EA about other topics? I have been slammed numerous times for being too rough on Jeremy about her lack of communication. Look at all the threads about FOF each week. We have only one means of communication, here, these boards. I know you're saying they should use the login screens and they could, but we both know they won't. Even if they did, it would start out good and quickly come to a halt due to "lack of bandwidth". We just don't have a team that likes to communicate any more.

 

[RavenWinterHawk]

Raven - This is not a post against your idea, but rather a question for the whole community. Where the hell were all of you when others of us have BEGGED for communication from EA about other topics? I have been slammed numerous times for being too rough on Jeremy about her lack of communication. Look at all the threads about FOF each week. We have only one means of communication, here, these boards. I know you're saying they should use the login screens and they could, but we both know they won't. Even if they did, it would start out good and quickly come to a halt due to "lack of bandwidth". We just don't have a team that likes to communicate any more.

For me it just dawned on me. Maybe Im late to the party. But when the majority of these boards get passionate, it tends to be when its a dupe and everyone accuses each other of stuff.

To me that speaks that EA has lost control of their game.

You cant blame anyone for buying an item from a vendor. PERIOD.

You all know me (here), so I knew what was up because I came here, so I am informed.

The players that dont come here dont know.
The player that just comes back doesnt know.


Here is a an example
Player X leaves for a while.
The game changes and arties drop more on dark fathers.
He want an orny and finds it is only 10 million.
DANG when he left, they were 25 million.

But they were also duped heavily.

So he buys one at 10 million. And goes on his way.


That player leaves again.
He comes back and see runic hammer cheap.
He buys them.


How is buying any different in these 2 cases to the uniformed player?

It isnt.

SO, here I am now saying, EA needs to use the LOG IN SCREEN as a form of communication.

IT IS NOT THE players responsibility to find out if an item being sold is fair or foul.


Here is an example
I got a magery scroll 120 for the default price of like 400 gold.
I bought a couple of practice weapons for 4000 gold. Probably missed priced at should have been 40k.
I put stuff on my vendor 100k when I meant a million.

Now your telling me PLAYERS have to go a figure out market value of items, mistakes, potential dupes, game play changes, before buying items.

(I know your not).

This is where I see EA stepping in and making changes.

CATCH THE DUPERS.
AND CATCH the guy the works with them and stores the stuff.

Forget the buying. You cant buy what isnt exploited.

And you cant say "oh dont buy exploited stuff" until EA starts informing the ENTIRE player base of what to buy or not buy. And dont even let me get started on prices.

I mean

Can I go next week and by a barbed kit for 2 million or should I pay 3 million.

How about those heartwood kits I bought 3 months ago for 10 million and sold for 12 million. Should I have said scripter. DONT KNOW. Wasnt posted here on stratics.

I see them now for 13 million, is that safe.

There is a new event rare. Is that 1 of the 5 of the originals. Or 1 of the 1 in 250 dupes that didnt get removed.

Did you really find that in an IDOC or did you pop open your tucked away account?

I have no idea who lies and doesnt lie here. I go with truth first. And figure thats fine.

I am asking for EA to step up and bring their game to their game.

Seriously, I think if EA said.

Valorite hammers are being duped. Dont buy them. It would help. NOT FIX it. NOT save me. But help.

Let see goes to EA WEBSITE
adds line
RUNIC HAMMERS are being duped. Don't buy them.

10 minutes of EAs time

Done.

 

[Faith]

Raven, you're making yourself look like a fool.

 

[RavenWinterHawk]

Raven, you're making yourself look like a fool.

Nah
I dont mind being a fool.
But For this topic Im done.

Nothing wrong with putting your point of view out there.

 

[classical]

Alright,

So plenty of people are saying they are being banned for buying a few duped hammers. Maybe true, maybe not true. Maybe they meant to say I DUPED a few hammers instead of bought. Im sure everyone will express their opinions. Should it be 3 hammer, 5 hammers, 1 hammer a week, 10 in total for buying that gets you duped. What if you bought it but didnt use it. What if you bought it but gained nothing. What if you bought a bunch really early but didnt get caught but bought 1 yesterday and are snagged. You see how paranoia will flood the playerbase.

Yes yes. we all know dont by duped stuff. Perhaps EA can begin to inform us what is duped.

"A large number of hammers are now on atlantic. They are dupes. Please dont buy them." Wouldnt that be nice to see at EA sign in to the game?

That will never hurt legit players. They can hold there bods or reward till things are fixed. It would be an awesome format for communicating to your player base IMMEDIATELY. It kills rumors, speculation, and stops bitterness from forming.

Should players really be left to guessing. Is it one dupe that gets you banned , or 20 dupes. Maybe players are trying to figure out if it works and want to report it. Maybe they are cheats. Whats the number? Or is moving stuff around xsharding the ticket to banning. I guess its all of the above.

Its one thing when its an exploit that is obvious day one and abused for a week before the fix. I remember something that player could do to get GM items. Some hack. It was there for like 3 days and everyone in possession got hammered. Thats pretty obvious.

Its another thing when the exploit is around for months and slowly put into play.

Its another thing when the DUPERS say F-EA and F- all the players.

"we are putting out 1000's of hammers and kits. We duped so much and hid them so well, you cant catch us. Take what you see, search down your player base and screw them over for our cheating. You cant catch us."


That is what they did (atlantic side i think). I hope you do catch them all. Their hidden accounts or whatever they do. People here on the boards sure now their tricks, maybe you guys do too.

For me to think they can sit on stuff, get banned, and then open the other accounts later is sickening.



Mind boggling. Should the players buying the armor and weapon off the vendor that has 10 verites, be banned too. It is interesting, that no formal word from EA was around for the last weeks, to let players know whats up.

Well I know plenty of people that bought a hammer to complete their suit. I know plenty of people that upgraded their armor. I know entire guilds that have matching Sammie armor now. No not out of trying to screw the game but because they had something to do.

I know atlantic had thousands of valorite, verite, barbed, and heartwood kits or runic hammers, after some simple poking around.

Scripting or duping probably. (That one guy is always legit)

It might be nice to announce at log in. WAY IN THE BEGINNING.

"A new exploit is in progress. Purchasing any Verite Hammers or Valorite Hammers will put your account in jeopardy. Please reframe from buying while we secure the game world"


Now you can say after I started looking 2 weeks ago and could see tons of stuff around, HUGE EXPLOIT. You might not have been able to notice that stuff 4 weeks ago, but you could say SOMETHING IS GOING ON. In fact, people here new of it before any evidence was around maybe 2 months ago. People were warning of something and I was saying "nah it just old left over stuff from an IDOC". YET, NO word from EA at log in. Stratics is great but not every player comes here to learn. Were was EA's voice?

IS EA legal fearful? Why all the hush hush stuff?

My point.

It would hurt the dupers, save some of the damage by announcing what not to buy until the situation is remedied. Sort of a way to put a freeze on buying items. It might not be much but it could help.

Not communicating with the player base from the get go is really bad practice. Nothing from EA (at sign in) was going on. I shouldnt and players shouldnt have to rely on stratics for information. If it werent for stratics, I probably would have lost fortunes by now, been scammed, or bought that AN OLD RING for 2 million thinking it was an event rare. Inform your playbase beyond "oh its in the TOS". Not why youll be banned but what is going on in game.

I think there is a better way for EA to communicate exploit issues (with out giving away secrets) and perhaps save the game and players headaches.

Just a thought.

Really a warning system to let people know EA is on it. Dont throw the baby out with the bath water. Get the business dupers, not that poor player from EUROPA (unless shes a liar, but Ill believe her first). See what secrecy does. It turns the players on each other and on EA.

GET THE business dupers that are destroying our game. Once you fix the exploits you can patch the in game damage but you can fix the damage done to players.

Peace.

your so wrong in what you did you have innocent people involved with this how are we to now whats duped and whats not on the vendors in uo what you expect them to advertise this vendor holds dupe items you yourself and osi cant not stop the hacking of your game nor the scripters that do this duping yet because we buy it off a vendor or we pick it up from a idoc you hold us responable for what they do you termanate accounts without a word you didnt even have to be on your account you now have people placing where those houses where as you can see quite a few are peaved about it now what are you going to do about it we the innocent have a right to be heard your not gods even tho some of the gm think they are you think yout subscription rate low now after this it will be going lower than again here a suggestion for you what dont you had the dupers a magic maker n red saying this is dupe so your dunkin donut shop gm can find them you done so many wrong i know of account gone that have never been jailed nor have they even been banned or suspended and because they bought 1 item there terimnate no warning at all with this going on you better also redo your rules to uo that state gee we can in will suspend you any time we want because we can we dont care if you never been there we doing it for the betterment of them game let try your killing your game softly with your word in you plain do not care about us as loyal customers to your game as wellYOU MAH DEAR DID ALOT OF PEOPLE WRONG

 

[Redxpanda]

Lemme say this:

It's times like these that i am happy i can't afford to purchase high end items.

 

[The Falcon]

As I am one of the people who, as of today, had an account falsely terminated, I believe Ultima Online needs somewhat of a makeover. Nowadays, GM's are a complete waste of time and the money I spend to play this game every month. The job of a GM? Reply saying "oh sorry, please refer to the website, there's nothing I can do". You get a computerized form letter telling you the specific wait times that it will take to get your question answered. I say NO. I am a paying customer of this game and I deserve an answer when and where I ask my question without the tedious wait time or "sorry we cannot help you". Being a veteran of Ultima Online and playing for 10 years, having never cheated, hacked or otherwise exploited the game and then to be, not only accused, but banned for "exploitations of Ultima Online property" is completely ludicrous. I have been a completely honest, hardworking and PAYING customer of Ultima Online and I've been falsely accused. The laziness and discern of the Ultima Online staff towards their players is unbelievable. It was not only that they banned my account, but within 2 hours of the email being sent, they deleted my house and everything in it. So much for the email they sent afterwards saying "you have 7 days to dispute your account termination". The real thing that puts salt on the wound is that there are people running scripts, duping, speed hacking, etc.. and the GM's have no interest in banning these people. Even on test center, the game developers witness people speed hacking and violating conduct and choose not to do anything about it. But we'll wait and see what happens and if they choose not to reinstate my account and reimburse all that was stolen, I believe I might have to take legal action. Considering I paid for my account, followed the rules of conduct and was banned for no specific reason. Fraud, ladies and gentlemen.

But, going back on topic, I agree. Ultima Online does need a better way of communicating the items that are being duped and to be aware when purchashing them. Perhaps there could be an announcement with items to be on the watch for when you patch UO. But who knows. Maybe it's too much overbearing work for the Ultima Online staff to do something like that. Improving the game? Oh no, they can't do that! SO... MUCH... WORK...
Anyway, not everyone reads stratics, and it would be more convenient.

 

[THP]

i will not be buying anytghing over the next few months for sure...

if u can get banned for innocently buying a duped hammer..or whatever... then iam outta of here.....crazy!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Restroom Cowboy]

True true...how the hell are people suposed to know they've bought a duped item if it's not sold in mass stock?

I laugh when people post this question...because it was answered for you by several communtiy members, including Beerman72.

Like Raven said, all it takes is one of your fellow community members to fill you in. If you treat thier statement like one you read out of the National Enquirer then I would refer to you as a fool. If you didnt take the information seriously and didnt avoid buying things you knew could be invovled then you deserve whatever punishment is given. Its called guilt by association, or also could be labeled conspiracy. As those who bought from the duper or else sold to the duper are subject to the same punishment as the duper....no ifs, ands, or buts.

Hell, I beleive in some countries you can still lose a hand for POSSESION of materials not owned by them. Surprises me that EA doesnt take things a step further and actually sue these people for affecting thier *bottom line*. I personally dont buy the *EA needs them for revenue* BS anymore, in the long run even ten duper accounts doesnt hold up to one honest one...because its the honest ones who actually bring other *regulars* into the game. Without those regulars bringing in people who do you have left once everyone else is sick and tired of being sick and tired?

My prediction is as following. The dupe will be fixed...the coding patched. A welcome back to Britannia promotion will commence, followed by announcement of the release of Styngian Abyss to bring in new people and the old *good ones* lost to events such as this dupe as well as from poor poor customer service. Will it work? Who knows...

Suggestion to EA...clean house in certain areas. A good analogy would be a dirty cop telling the drug dealer a raid is comin so they can get rid of thier stash. Find out where this leak is coming from and dump those asshats. I would also like to personally see the names of those banned for being involved in the duping posted for all to see. Like a police log for UO offenders.

 

[Restroom Cowboy]

i will not be buying anytghing over the next few months for sure...

if u can get banned for innocently buying a duped hammer..or whatever... then iam outta of here.....crazy!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hey, I could say the same thing about stolen goods IRL. If the deal sounds to good to be true it probably is. Would you buy a 40K car for 10K that was missing the keys and had wires hanging under the dash? If you would then you must also accept the risks of having it in your possesion.

 

[Lynk]

Not buying anything in the next few months won't do you any good.

The dupes just recently became publicly available. I can assure you that these dupes have been going on FOREVER. Somehow, the dupe info got into the wrong hands of someone who never took economics.

Most of the dupers, the ones that cause the biggest problems in UO, have known about these bugs forever. They are just smart and keep the supply low to eliminate what you see on the boards now.

One joker got a hold of the bug, (and i'm really glad they did to be honest), and flooded the market. They told their friends, and so on and so on. Now there are many people doing this.

Here's the cold hard truth. If you ban everyone that has a duped item on their account everyone will be banned, because like it or not, everyone has a duped item on their account somewhere. The economy is permantently fk'd. Only thing they can do now is give everyone test center val hammer.

 

[Eslake]

Here's the cold hard truth. If you ban everyone that has a duped item on their account everyone will be banned, because like it or not, everyone has a duped item on their account somewhere. The economy is permantently fk'd. Only thing they can do now is give everyone test center val hammer.

The economy is jacked up yes.
But every account having duped items? Hardly.

The banning of a dozen or so accounts that happened 2 years ago was followed by floods of New Accounts here on stratics claiming to have been falsly accused.
Since that time, a lot of us have just not purchased high end items in the game.

Whether we credit the claims of innocence or not, the remote posability of losing years of ingame accomplishment is enough to keep many of us on the Safe Side of things.


As to them using the Login for news alerts, they have done it in the past, but are too lazy to bother.

 

[Wenchkin]

Yes, I think EA should say "there's a dupe of item x on the go, please don't buy them" But, that might encourage a few unscrupulous gamers to either google for "dupe x" or think "hey, now's the time to buy those runics cheap, turn into armour and sell it!" There is a negative effect to alerting users - not all users use that information appropriately

The items concerned have been "dirty" IMO for years. Long before suggestions of these dupes. I haven't bought a runic kit for many years, the couple I bought came from crafters I knew were legit and never a BRSK. Even if I see one on its own on a vendor, I'm not touching it. I don't buy barbed kit armour either because I know even decent folks will grab a bargain kit to keep that vendor stocked. It's a pity because I know legit crafters are there, but there's no safe way to be sure they're clean.

If the average player has no idea that anyone scripts runic kits or that high end items are duped sometimes, I wonder if they've been playing UO in the past few years. Surely, even without reading forums, you'd smell a rat if you saw a vendor with 20 BRSKs?! Especially as these shops don't usually stop at just the BRSK vendor - the warning signs are there if you look.

We also have to realise as players that while the dupers and cheats are bad guys, those who buy from them are part of that bad stuff. They sustain the cheats. Those cheats wouldn't be cheating if there was no money in it. So while it's unfortunate that some buyers get banned, this is a lesson to players. Avoid these items - period! If it's a high value item, check on forums if dupes are active, what going rates are. Use some savvy! People buy these things because they're difficult, time consuming and rare - so when you see multiple kits or hammers and a ton of resources and BOD book vendors - why are you still in the shop?!!, If a vendor tries persuading me "I'm just clearing my stock" I won't buy anyway. They could sell 1 at a time over a period instead, then legitimacy is believable. But I won't take chances like that because I want rid of the cheats.

Wenchy

 

[classical]

As I am one of the people who, as of today, had an account falsely terminated, I believe Ultima Online needs somewhat of a makeover. Nowadays, GM's are a complete waste of time and the money I spend to play this game every month. The job of a GM? Reply saying "oh sorry, please refer to the website, there's nothing I can do". You get a computerized form letter telling you the specific wait times that it will take to get your question answered. I say NO. I am a paying customer of this game and I deserve an answer when and where I ask my question without the tedious wait time or "sorry we cannot help you". Being a veteran of Ultima Online and playing for 10 years, having never cheated, hacked or otherwise exploited the game and then to be, not only accused, but banned for "exploitations of Ultima Online property" is completely ludicrous. I have been a completely honest, hardworking and PAYING customer of Ultima Online and I've been falsely accused. The laziness and discern of the Ultima Online staff towards their players is unbelievable. It was not only that they banned my account, but within 2 hours of the email being sent, they deleted my house and everything in it. So much for the email they sent afterwards saying "you have 7 days to dispute your account termination". The real thing that puts salt on the wound is that there are people running scripts, duping, speed hacking, etc.. and the GM's have no interest in banning these people. Even on test center, the game developers witness people speed hacking and violating conduct and choose not to do anything about it. But we'll wait and see what happens and if they choose not to reinstate my account and reimburse all that was stolen, I believe I might have to take legal action. Considering I paid for my account, followed the rules of conduct and was banned for no specific reason. Fraud, ladies and gentlemen.

But, going back on topic, I agree. Ultima Online does need a better way of communicating the items that are being duped and to be aware when purchashing them. Perhaps there could be an announcement with items to be on the watch for when you patch UO. But who knows. Maybe it's too much overbearing work for the Ultima Online staff to do something like that. Improving the game? Oh no, they can't do that! SO... MUCH... WORK...
Anyway, not everyone reads stratics, and it would be more convenient.

most that play uo know the guild that run these programs im in full agreement tho they do nothing but look the other way yet if they went after them you wouldnt have this problem in game there staff is also something to be desire i got nailed within this im still awaiting a response are they lazy YES do they care NO why should they there making there money most people stay thinking things will change! i've played for 4 yr in those years duping has always been in this game with scripters running program to kill loot dupe will they ever stop them no in this is the reason why they announce a fix to a bug or dupe in game it well know you have profestional hacker n this game before the fix even hits they found a way around it uo knows this they cant deny it for all that matter they still have bugs in this game dating back to beta ( all i can say at this point is dont buy anything or you have a chance of being terminated by are lovely uo reps whom currently stink at there job as far as im concerned i deserve a answer from there support team you really think any of us veing in there ever going to get a honest truthfull answer to all this what they need to do is revert the server then go after them 1 by 1 not massive that way maybe some of the innocent people would be protected but i will be takingmy remain account out of this game why because JEREMY YOU D F UP THIS ONE AS IM 1 OF THE INNOCENT ONES and your ignoring everyone because you honestly do not want to be face with this because you know your wrong on some of those accounts you terminated i myself at this point in time should be allowed my char back my house its belongings will i get them doubtfull as they plain dont give a rats behind what they do to anyone accounts thats blantinly clear with the actions they just took enjoy your lovely uo crew that thinks there gods of you also if you never had any offence applied to your account that doesnt save you from this as well because my account was like that as im sure many where YOU CAN HOLD US ACCOUNTABLE FOR SOMETHING YOU CANT FIX OH JEREMY BECAUSE IN DOING SO PLAYS YOU FOR A FOOL BIGTIME

 

[Cogniac]

(Score: -1, Giant Walls of Text)

 

[o2bavr6]

Raven, why do you require EA to hold your hand? If I am not mistaken you were looking to buy these runics not so long ago even though you pretty much knew their was a dupe going on. I hope you took mind of my warning and did not go for it.

Yes, I agree that EA should not be all secretive about the presence of a dupe. However, I disagree that most people actually really need such a warning to do the right thing. The fact is that when certain people say that there is a dupe going on, rest assured that it is true. And we definitely did warn about it quite some time ago. So there were many warnings but yes, not an "official" one.

The point is: I play when I can, because I work for a living. If I see a Val Hammer for sale and it's cheap, i'm going to buy it.

If it is a duped hammer, it's encumbant upon EA to get rid of it and not to ban people for buying these itmes. They are using the easy way out to fix the problem, which is pathetic.

For years they take no action, and then to fix the problem they ban people who buy them to use!! :loser:

I have no issue with banning the dupers, but I have a huge issue with banning the clients!!!

BECAUSE THE PLAYER BASE HAS NO WAY TO TRULY KNOW IF AN ITEM IS DUPED. REGARDLESS OF PRICE.

IF EA CAN'T GET THE DUPED ITEMS OFF OF THE VENDORS THAT IS THEIR PROBLEM NOT THE PLAYER BASE!!!!!!!

 

[Wilde1]

I agree that EA should post a warning on the log in screen saying what is not safe to do or buy. Simple as that.

After 3 years with other games, I returned to UO a few days ago. I dont know what I can buy without getting in trouble. Thats just dumb.

As for the whole "being in possession of illegal goods" irl argument that some have referencd, that doesn't make sense. UO was intentionally designed for players to buy items from other players. Being banned for buying an item from a vendor is NOT like buying irl goods in a back alley from someones trunk. Its more like buying a lexus from the lexus dealer, then being told you somehow should have "known" it was a stolen lexus and getting thrown in jail for it.

EA would not have to discuss individual cases of pixellated property demolition or account banning in order to provide the players with a heads up while they sort it out.