I have put this player on ignore so many times I no longer have room on the ignore list. No one else gets to spam like these people. Why isn't their account banned? They are such an annoyance.
-
Hail Guest! We're looking for Community Content Contribuitors to Stratics. If you would like to write articles, fan fiction, do guild or shard event recaps, it's simple. Find out how in this thread: Community Contributions
-
Greetings Guest, Having Login Issues? Check this thread!
-
Hail Guest!, Please take a moment to read this post reminding you all of the importance of Account Security.
-
Hail Guest! Please read the new announcement concerning the upcoming addition to Stratics. You can find the announcement Here!
Could we please BAN *********.com?
- Thread starter Duncan McDermott
- Start date
- Watchers 3
Its really impossible for the game to ban that guy. Free trial accounts will always be exploited.
As far as banning IPs... I can make my IP show me coming from moscow if you like, how about paris, perhaps Lima, peru? Point being people like that guy are never going to get caught as long as UO doesnt feel it worth their time to legally press charges.
Sort of cost benefit analysis here. How much would it take in legal fees vs. How much revenue would be gained?
Its obvious that UO would win the debate. So it must not be worth their time or money to get illegal websites taken down. Either that or the conspiracy theorists idea.... UO/staff are making back end money from those sites... screwing EA out of money.
As far as banning IPs... I can make my IP show me coming from moscow if you like, how about paris, perhaps Lima, peru? Point being people like that guy are never going to get caught as long as UO doesnt feel it worth their time to legally press charges.
Sort of cost benefit analysis here. How much would it take in legal fees vs. How much revenue would be gained?
Its obvious that UO would win the debate. So it must not be worth their time or money to get illegal websites taken down. Either that or the conspiracy theorists idea.... UO/staff are making back end money from those sites... screwing EA out of money.
Mes has clearly stated....third party sites arent her concern...."Win any way you want to" ....."just dont be unattended"
Seems pretty clear to me!
Seems pretty clear to me!
I think the ban is actually counter productive here... he gets a new trial account every two weeks anyway.
In truth, UO should give him a free subscription so we can all just put him on our personal ban list once and be done with it...
In truth, UO should give him a free subscription so we can all just put him on our personal ban list once and be done with it...
Each of those 'ignores' is a different account. Have you ever been in Haven when this 'young' logs in? I have happened to be in the area a couple of times and watched him. He logs in, spams his spiel, then logs out - as a young he instalogs even though he's standing in front of Haven bank. Even if the GM was camped there watching for him he'd have trouble catching him - and he'll be back with another account in about an hour. They haven't given up trying to ban him because they don't care, they've given up because it's an impossible task and their time can be better spent actually helping players who need them.
You know that isn't a half bad idea. They obviously can't agree to that because they would be supporting it in a way but yes if he had no fear of banning and kept using the same account the character ID wouldn't change.
Smart you are.
Merlin
The Enchanter
Moderator
Professional
Governor
Supporter
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED
Campaign Patron
He's no more obnoxious than all the books and runes laying around Luna and Brit Bank.
Plus if you ban that particular individual, who's next? It would start a vicious cycle. Not worth developer resources to start banning people like him.
Afraid to say your only option is just to look the other way and clear your ban list to make room for banning him again.
Plus if you ban that particular individual, who's next? It would start a vicious cycle. Not worth developer resources to start banning people like him.
Afraid to say your only option is just to look the other way and clear your ban list to make room for banning him again.
Last edited:
I recall talking to Mesanna about this one time and she said they really did try to ban this guy and did so 100's of times... he just makes a new account and is back in under an hour... They tried honestly... but as someone else pointed out you can't really IP ban someone.... you can't really do much if they really want to be a PITA they will.
As for the books I attempt to keep my part of the street in Luna free of "leaf litter" even placed a trash barrel near the front of my house so each time I recall in I can pick up all his junk and throw it in the receptacle it belongs in. I spent one day going around copying over his book with a guild recruit book one time too. Trouble is he is automated. Some of us used to delight in putting gates to dangerous places in his path... or a gate to no where. Another fun thing is to release a dragon near him... but sometimes that backfires and you get guard whacked.
As for the books I attempt to keep my part of the street in Luna free of "leaf litter" even placed a trash barrel near the front of my house so each time I recall in I can pick up all his junk and throw it in the receptacle it belongs in. I spent one day going around copying over his book with a guild recruit book one time too. Trouble is he is automated. Some of us used to delight in putting gates to dangerous places in his path... or a gate to no where. Another fun thing is to release a dragon near him... but sometimes that backfires and you get guard whacked.
I partially financed one of my 'research' characters on a strange shard by selling these books to the npc provisioner.
Tell me, Scribbles, exactly what law do you think these sites violate that could lead to them being forcibly shut down by the legal system? You realize that the EA terms of service aren't actually laws, right? Congress didn't pass a law against spamming in Ultima Online with a trial account when I wasn't paying attention, did they? And even if you did somehow legally shut them down, what do you do when they pop up a week later hosted by some Russian company that doesn't give a crap?
World of Warcraft was grossing a billion dollars a year for a while and still had gold spammers swarming all over the game. Even with basically infinite resources they couldn't just "shut the sites down" like some of you people seem to think is so easy.
You should be embarrassed to have typed this.
The way to shut down the sites has nothing to do with banning accounts... It has to do with confiscating inventory. EA holds ALL the rights to the digital content, and as such can delete it at will.
Would it take some time, yes. Place and order... Wait for the order to be delivered, then track and monitor the account to determine where the inventory is coming from... then start deleting it. No inventory = no business.
Completely doable with a small monetary investment and some GM/Dev time.
Now, whether doing away with the RMT black market would actually be good for UO is a whole different story.
Merlin
The Enchanter
Moderator
Professional
Governor
Supporter
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED
Campaign Patron
Not worth a dime or any developer time and resources.
Track and monitor where it is coming from? Does the coding even allow for that?
And again... it would turn into a witch hunt. First, maybe start with the more well known websites, but then what? Who's to say they won't go after people who are using accounts to sell land plots next? What about the well-known in-game brokers (we all know a few, I won't call any out on here, but overwhelming majority are respected players)? Do their activities constitute a business that needs to be shut down, harassed, tracked and publicly embarrassed? Ultima Online really doesn't need that now or ever. Going after "black market" sites isn't in the game's interest. Especially if the main complaint here is that there are a few folks annoyed by gen chat spamming... they just need to grow thicker skin.
@Spock's Beard
Me - "Its obvious that UO would win the debate. So it must not be worth their time or money to get illegal websites taken down."
Spock - "Tell me, Scribbles, exactly what law do you think these sites violate that could lead to them being forcibly shut down by the legal system? You realize that the EA terms of service aren't actually laws, right? Congress didn't pass a law against spamming in Ultima Online with a trial account when I wasn't paying attention, did they? And even if you did somehow legally shut them down, what do you do when they pop up a week later hosted by some Russian company that doesn't give a crap?"
Response - First they violate several trademark laws. You think McDonalds would let some burger joint use their name any way they want? Even more you think McDonalds let someone sell their own burgers at a discounted rate? However, you obviously didnt get the point. As i stated before, "its obvious that UO would win the debate. So it must not be worth their time or money to get illegal websites taken down" Basically we agree that its not very plausible for UO to take down these web sites, you just failed to recognized it.
Me - "Either that or the conspiracy theorists idea.... UO/staff are making back end money from those sites... screwing EA out of money."
Spock - "You should be embarrassed to have typed this."
Response - Sarcasm is a hell of a drug. - rick james...
Underview: Reading comprehension is the key to reading and understanding other peoples post.
Me - "Its obvious that UO would win the debate. So it must not be worth their time or money to get illegal websites taken down."
Spock - "Tell me, Scribbles, exactly what law do you think these sites violate that could lead to them being forcibly shut down by the legal system? You realize that the EA terms of service aren't actually laws, right? Congress didn't pass a law against spamming in Ultima Online with a trial account when I wasn't paying attention, did they? And even if you did somehow legally shut them down, what do you do when they pop up a week later hosted by some Russian company that doesn't give a crap?"
Response - First they violate several trademark laws. You think McDonalds would let some burger joint use their name any way they want? Even more you think McDonalds let someone sell their own burgers at a discounted rate? However, you obviously didnt get the point. As i stated before, "its obvious that UO would win the debate. So it must not be worth their time or money to get illegal websites taken down" Basically we agree that its not very plausible for UO to take down these web sites, you just failed to recognized it.
Me - "Either that or the conspiracy theorists idea.... UO/staff are making back end money from those sites... screwing EA out of money."
Spock - "You should be embarrassed to have typed this."
Response - Sarcasm is a hell of a drug. - rick james...
Underview: Reading comprehension is the key to reading and understanding other peoples post.
It is very easy for a developer to ghost an account that is logged on. Any house that they visit and obtain items from would be inventory.
The question of "worth" for a developers time or health of the game is very subjective and not really the point of the post. I was merely pointing out that you don't need legal action or laws to be passed in order to close down the site... You just need to remove their inventory which is completely within their power to accomplish.
Personally I think the whole RMT market is one that EA should embrace and take more advantage of. Heck, even if they offered a more secure way of accomplishing the transaction for a small (like .99 cent fee) it would pay for its own development in less than a year!
alcohol consumption too!!!
Merlin
The Enchanter
Moderator
Professional
Governor
Supporter
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED
Campaign Patron
Fair enough.
And regarding EA embracing RMT's through their own store that would sell items, I would give an enthusiastic thumbs up. No doubt they could do better rates than current sites and likely do it in a much cleaner and secure fashion. Would also provide revenue directly to UO/Broadsword/EA, rather than third party sites. I would imagine that it would give UO a bit more breathing room in terms of resources and so forth.
Not to get too far off topic, but Mes has already made mention of an ingame UO store, which I think is great. I think it would be even better if they figured out a way to create a "UO style" PayPal account that you could link to your account. Then use a Magincia style vendor to sell items ingame for real money. EA could take a small transaction fee and it would provide a secure RMT between players without invalidating any content (which is a concern if you just start creating all monster drops for a fee). Certainly UO would have to step up their game on dupers and scripters, but it couldn't really be any worse than we already have and it would funnel at least a little revenue back into UO. Just one idea.Fair enough.
And regarding EA embracing RMT's through their own store that would sell items, I would give an enthusiastic thumbs up. No doubt they could do better rates than current sites and likely do it in a much cleaner and secure fashion. Would also provide revenue directly to UO/Broadsword/EA, rather than third party sites. I would imagine that it would give UO a bit more breathing room in terms of resources and so forth.
We do not mention the names of 3rd party websites here. All posts containing the web address have been deleted and the thread title has been edited. Feel free to re-post without mentioning any specific websites.
http://stratics.com/help/rules/
http://stratics.com/help/rules/
Landmark does that. When you build a design in Landmark you can sell it on the market in game for RL money... at the end of a month if you have made X# of dollars they send you a check. Rather interesting but if they could work it out with paypay it would be awesome.
But honestly I'd just be happy to be able to buy what I need without using the Origin Store.
LOL @Spock's Beard remember that GM that insta killed one of these in Haven a couple weeks ago?
LOL yeah. He was quick on the draw, too.
But seriously, this is just another thread where the know-nothing Stratics community, half of which has seemingly never played any computer game besides UO, complains about standard MMO industry issues like they're new problems that a five-man dev team should totally be expected to solve. Like it's either this, or it's people being rude in chat, or it's some other random-ass thing.
Really people, the only games without goldsellers are games so dead there's no money to be made. It would be nice if we could make them go away, but even now they're nowhere near as intrusive as they were in WoW back when I played. Does anyone else remember waves of newbie characters killing themselves in Stormwind so that their corpses spelled out the name of the website? Or getting weird messages from Chinese sweatshop workers?
This is just how stuff works and games with fifty times Broadsword's resources haven't been able to solve it.
WHATS THIS ABOUT UO RUNNING ON STEAM MESANNA I DONT EVEN OWN A COAL SHOVEL THIS IS A SLAP IN THE FACE UO IS SUPPOSED TO RUN ON ELECTRICITYTake that, you know nothings
Does not! Runs on Hamster power!
My interest in supporting anyone is directly in ratio with how annoying they are in chat. This relates to players, auction houses, "radio stations", web sites, guilds. etc. My memory isn't the best but I seriously don't need to see the exact same text 4 times a minute all day. I've gotten into more than one nasty conversation over this, lol. YES I *do* wanna see that Fel tower! Muhahahaha
Last edited:
*checks for location of nearest fire extinguisher*
IF, a big IF, EA wanted to shut down some of those sites, they should compete with them. I buy from one of em, and I admit it. I also admit I will continue to do so until EA can service my needs. FIX THE DAMNED STORE, IDIOTS, AND THESE GUYS WILL START DROPPING OFF!!!
I can go there and buy a 5 pack of forged tools, in fact, I c an buy 10 five packs, and guess what??? It only takes one transaction. I can buy 10 undertaker's staves...only takes one transaction. I can buy most anything I need, in almost any qty I need, in ONE transaction. Anyone seeing a trend here? This is one (for me anyway) reason these guys get our support.
Of course, it won't happen. We still see it, the buck passing...BS says it's not their stsore, EA passes it off to Origin...Origin says they can only do what EA allows them to. So 3rd party sites step in and fill the void, both in goods and service, that the people who should have a leg up on it refuse to do.
And this post is about items, not gold. Thats's a whole different topic.
IF, a big IF, EA wanted to shut down some of those sites, they should compete with them. I buy from one of em, and I admit it. I also admit I will continue to do so until EA can service my needs. FIX THE DAMNED STORE, IDIOTS, AND THESE GUYS WILL START DROPPING OFF!!!
I can go there and buy a 5 pack of forged tools, in fact, I c an buy 10 five packs, and guess what??? It only takes one transaction. I can buy 10 undertaker's staves...only takes one transaction. I can buy most anything I need, in almost any qty I need, in ONE transaction. Anyone seeing a trend here? This is one (for me anyway) reason these guys get our support.
Of course, it won't happen. We still see it, the buck passing...BS says it's not their stsore, EA passes it off to Origin...Origin says they can only do what EA allows them to. So 3rd party sites step in and fill the void, both in goods and service, that the people who should have a leg up on it refuse to do.
And this post is about items, not gold. Thats's a whole different topic.
If you can buy items and sell it for gold it's all the same. EA is selling gold in a really poor manner lol. I can go to a half dozen web sites and grab 100 mill for 25 bucks and have it in my pack in less than 5 minutes, then why doesn't EA just do that? It's not about if it's a good idea or not. It's the idea that it exists if it's a good idea or not, fast and easy. That's a basic model of free to play games everyone is always harping about. Gold is where these web sites make they're money. If EA want's to pass on the cash that's their business. But it still happens all day long. If you want them gone sell the same things they do. They all started as gold sellers and expanded from that. EA selling gold is the only thing that would stops these 3rd party sites.
Merlin
The Enchanter
Moderator
Professional
Governor
Supporter
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED
Campaign Patron
The topics are related, this post is about websites selling things, which includes items and gold.
That aside, there should absolutely be a better Broadsword/UO official store. There is no reason why EA couldn't have a store as comprehensive as some of the UO third party websites out there. If they could ever do something about duping, then Gold should absolutely be directly sold by this store as well.
Even with limited developer resources, this would be something well worth their while because it would increase revenue into their hands, as opposed to third party folks.
What has happened to the good old days where we disagreed about everything? This is creeping me out1
Then again I see games going for 70 bucks at the Origin Store. Not sure if I want them to get into this or not
Developer resources IMO has nothing to do with it. Mesanna and Kyronix ain't gonna be making the store...The missing resource is the cash to do it and pay a true designer to set up a functional full use storefront-why spend $$ fixing the store when they can continue just slowly milking the life out of it for free? This goes right back to corporate attitude and their love (or lack of) for their customers.
Merlin
The Enchanter
Moderator
Professional
Governor
Supporter
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED
Campaign Patron
Ha. Twice in a week. Times are a changin', I suppose. Although, if you'd like, I can troll you, wait until I see you say something I disagree with, and then just be a total jerk about it?What has happened to the good old days where we disagreed about everything? This is creeping me out1
All joking aside, I agree 100% that if UO sold gold directly, it would put a major damper on the third party websites. And even though I'm a free-market type and wouldn't want to see competition crushed, it would likely benefit the game in the long run and drive some extra profitability for Bonnie & Co. At the very least, it would knock out some of the lower hanging fruit and force the other surviving third party sites to step their game up.
Well common sense would say the Origin Store doesn't exist just for UO. It would be broke in a week. Any improvement they made to the store would benefit everything they sell. Although EA has done a terrible job with online games in the past I gotta think they'll try it again some day.
Merlin
The Enchanter
Moderator
Professional
Governor
Supporter
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED
Campaign Patron
If someone from EA/Broadsword who has no real affiliation with UO made the store, and it didn't incorporate player needs/wants or developer input, it would likely fail or be not much better off than the current Origin storefront. That's the problem here. If they did a store, it would have to be done right and developers would have to have a strong hand in the process.
This whole topic is nothing new, it has been 
for years. Lots of blah blah blah, but no action. Anyway, as it stands now, I reckon it's just a matter of cconscience whether you want to use Origin or another store. As for me, I don't mind paying a bit more, to avoid having to call the card company and explain why a whole string of transactions was hitting this card, and please unlock it so I can continue shopping
for years. Lots of blah blah blah, but no action. Anyway, as it stands now, I reckon it's just a matter of cconscience whether you want to use Origin or another store. As for me, I don't mind paying a bit more, to avoid having to call the card company and explain why a whole string of transactions was hitting this card, and please unlock it so I can continue shopping
Just things like Japan EA selling lady bugs and singing balls and junk and we can't get them listed on the US site. Just the basic easy stuff like that isn't done and it drives me insane lol
Not being argumentative, don't think me rude...
UO store could be broken off under the BS flag. From what I am told, design is the cost they would have to eat up front, mainenance and operating costs are very small (so I am told).
I think the biggest issue with selling items normally obtained through game play is that it invalidates content. This includes gold, vet rewards, artifacts, etc. I myself do tend to agree with this. Ideally the only gold in game should come in the form of loot. (Putting the argument of duping aside). RMT transactions between player would not create gold out of nothing, but buying gold from the Origin store would.
IMO we need a secure and approved method from BS or EA to facilitate these types of transactions. It can have a big bold disclaimer tell people that we aren't really buying rights to the digital content, only compensating the seller for the time that went into acquiring the item so there is no confusion. Tack on a small transaction fee of like 2% for EA and move on.
This would allow players to both buy and sell ingame content without invalidating any ingame content. The reality is this... It's already happening and it's not likely to stop... UO just doesn't make any money off it.
IMO we need a secure and approved method from BS or EA to facilitate these types of transactions. It can have a big bold disclaimer tell people that we aren't really buying rights to the digital content, only compensating the seller for the time that went into acquiring the item so there is no confusion. Tack on a small transaction fee of like 2% for EA and move on.
This would allow players to both buy and sell ingame content without invalidating any ingame content. The reality is this... It's already happening and it's not likely to stop... UO just doesn't make any money off it.
I gotta think this one thing would bring in more money for the least effort of anything they could do. I agree. The only real issue is with EA/Mythic/Origin/Broadsword/etc is they are already a big fragmented mess. But hey! That's never stopped them before
Think I'll report you anyway just to see how the new ROC work... j/k
Well, they might need another "focus group" like they do with everything else...but this time actually listen. Player needs and wants shouldn't be hard to figure out, go look at ********.com or any of the others...they didnt just sit down one day and say "let's make a store with this junk in it!"
I figure since they aren't creating codes or pixels, but actually having to buy to resell, they aren't carrying a whole lot of stuff that is dead weight.
Also be REAL sure the design is such that allows the EASY addition of items to the store, so various things can be rotated in and out...heck, someday we might could pay BS a little cash for 10k blank scrolls, instead of spending the day with a packy recalling from mage shop to mage shop, repeat over and over again.
Again, not arguing, just stating my opinion
You may not believe it, but I've been kicked out of nicer places than this!!
I hear that brother! lolYou may not believe it, but I've been kicked out of nicer places than this!!
What about requiring a small fee to start a trial account? Like 99 cents. If the account stays active past trial time, the 99 cents is deducted from the first monthly subscription. They could then ban the "card"... wouldn't stop them, but sure make it more annoying.
Best Idea ive heard yet for trial accounts.
Well they're not just using trial accounts. Gotta stash all that gold somewhere. They probably do some farming, although selling game time for gold might be enough dunno. Regardless I doubt 99 cents would break their bank or that's one lousy business
I say keep the newbs coming in as best we can, give em the 2 weeks free.
Other games deal with trial account abuse by preventing them from posting in global chat. This wont fix RMT, but will help with the spam. Speaking of other games, I have never seen one where devs won the war against RMT. The only thing that comes close is EVE online where instead of fighting RMT, they decided to lead it. I'd rather gold buyers sent their money to UO instead of scripters.
Lol...ohhh, I've been out of uo for several weeks and boy it's refreshing to not have to see all the spam... Lol. I wish that was forced into a different room
Sent from my 0PCV1 using Tapatalk