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Welcome to the UO Craftsman Forum!

Basara

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Crafters of Sosaria, unite (and watch out for that guy demonstrating Binford tools over there for the cameras - he's DANGEROUS)

This forum is for the discussion of all things related to the skills that make the weapons, armor, tools, and home furnishings of the world of Britannia.

As usual, a quick reminder of some basic and forum-specific rules entails.

Topics not allowed in the forum:
- E-Bay or other real world auction articles. Real-money sales posts are now against the rules of Stratics. Please make use of the Trade Forum for your shard for sales of items for in-game gold, or as trades for other in-game items.
- Personal flames.
- Second-guessing moderator actions, unless the moderator invites you to discuss it publicly. (if you felt something was improperly moderated, take it up with them or their superiors via Private Message)
- Discussing or explaining scams, exploits or links to such discussions. This includes methods of "false flag" sales on vendors or through trade windows, of near depleted or fake runics as being full and/or real runics. The only discussion allowed of scam methods will be in the FAQs, in terms of what to look for to avoid such scams.
- Advertising free shards and or posting links to non-EA shards. In fact, in many cases even discussing them theoretically can be considered an issue.

Posts which are not on topic will either be closed, moved to another forum (Off Topic, Spiels & Rants, U.Hall or Players Corner are the most likely recipients) or (rarely) deleted. In case of deletion, we'll send a private message to whoever posted the original thread. Most often, a "deleted" thread has something in it that breaks the above rules (or other parts of the Stratics Terms of Use), and if so it is moved to a place where the appropriate actions can be considered by the admins. The reasons for such actions are not to be discussed on this forum, if it occurs.

The board is here for all to enjoy, but if you feel someone has hijacked or sabotaged your thread, let us know.

If you've managed to read this far and still think "hey, so this probably means I can post my lil' question here", try to post in regard to a couple of things:

- DO NOT TYPE IN ALL CAPS IT IS OFFENDING.
- Do not use swearing, profanities or obscenities in your post.
- Do not insult other posters, maintain civility. Threads which end in a blatant flame war will be closed.

Remember, this is a private forum, posting here is a privilege. If you abuse your privilege, that privilege will be taken away from you. The administrators can and will erase posts, and ban abusers.
 

Basara

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Welcome back... A lot of work still needs to be done (like revising all the FAQs to professions I didn't moderate before). But, it's starting to come together.
 

Basara

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The final moderation team is yet to be determined. For those who were Mods on the old Tailor, Tinker, Carpenter, & Lumberjack forums, please contact Zigzag or Brekkee, for assignment - I could really use some help in here....

Tim, put down that down that Binford 6100 Blackrock detector NOW!!!!!!!! I don't care if it's got more power than Chronos' one, it won't work, either....
 

Nok

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Tim, put down that down that Binford 6100 Blackrock detector NOW!!!!!!!! I don't care if it's got more power than Chronos' one, it won't work, either....
Hmm... Blackrock... detection! Mmm... hmm... ooo, oh, ooo, ho, ho... ho, oh!
 

Basara

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First of all, let me point out that scamming, while technically legal (except for dupes, which are always illegal) in the game (which is "buyer beware"), is a highly immoral and unethical thing to do, and as such are in potential violation of the Stratics rules (see the FAQ link on the bar, by the User CP, above for the full list) as follows...

A. Show respect at all times.
B. Help build the Community.

Telling people how to scam others is disrespectful to the community.

C. Personal attacks are prohibited.
D. Trolling is prohibited.

Accusing someone on this board of selling these adulterated items in-game is a violation of rule C. Actually stating you DO these things is trolling with the intent to cause a flamewar.

H. Posting details of bugs and exploits in such a way that others are able to perform said bug or exploit is prohibited.
O. Activities that are against any games' Terms of Service or the User Agreement are prohibited from being promoted or advertised on our network. This includes, but is not limited to, third party programs, game item sales for real world goods, power leveling services, and/or links to such items.

This is a bit of a gray area; as I noted, it's via a technicality that non-dupe scams are legal in-game (it is the buyer's responsibility to take their time in purchases to make sure that the item appears legit and unadulterated). However, encouraging people to commit such scams violates the rules for community behavior (especially for the Craftsman forum, as our ability to do business with other players depends on the trust of the other players), and therefore is a violation of the Stratics community rules. And, on rare occasion, those that enforce the game rules do take action against those that deal with such items - most often for duping exploits. Note that people have had their EA accounts terminated for owning too many duped runics - even if they only purchased them.

Now, here are the most common Runic scams.

  1. Duped Runics: most common with the Heartwood runics, and the verite and valorite runic hammers, but occasionally seen done with the Barbed Runic Kits. For obvious reasons, the methods involved will not be discussed, but one should consider any vendor/vendor shop with Multiple Heartwood Runic tools and/or Multiple Verite/Valorite hammers (including filled large BODs in BOD books, for these hammers and Barbed kits) to be potentially selling duped tools - ESPECIALLY if the items are constantly kept in stock. Barbed kits are a lot more common, but still, if the person keeps 10 in stock, sells all 10, and the next day they have 10 more, and cannot seem to be bought out of such high numbers of the items, there should be warning flags going up. Also note the prices - if they appear to be too low, there's probably a reason for it. Remember, people can and HAVE been banned for having bought enough duped tools, to have been noticed by the Devs' means of investigating such items.
  2. Fake Runic Hammers: These are typically done by acquiring/making normal quality Smith's Hammers, Enhancing them with the chosen material with a Tinker, then using them down to the exected number of uses for the metal the runic would have (15 Valorite, 20 Verite, etc.). A REAL runic hammer will have the name "(metal type) Runic Hammer", (example: "Bronze Runic Hammer"), and if claimed in the Age of Shadows or later era, have 100% Physical Damage as its damage property, and no other properties. A FAKE runic hammer will have the name "(metal type) Smith's Hammer", (example: "Bronze Smith's Hammer"), and will have the special properties of that metal (in the example given, 60% physical damage, 40% Fire damage). Note, however, that some pre-AoS runics will have the Runic name, but the properties of the metal - but it is unlikely you will ever see one of these, except in a rares museum or a house fall (and it is worth more as a rare than as a crafting tool).
  3. "Well used" tools: These are "real" tools, but have nearly all of their charges depleted (typically to 1 use) by the seller - who then attempts to sell them at the full price. Easy to spot for single sells, this scam is most often tried in bulk sales of items, where the buyer may not take the time (or have the time) to mouse over EVERY item in the trade window. Persons using this scam also attempt it on vendors, by stacking a mix of full & depleted (and sometimes fake, in the case of hammers) runics with 1 or 2 real ones on top, and others mixed in, so that if a customer arrives with the intent of buying multiple tools, they may not take enough time to allow the targeting cursor reset to the properties of the next item long enough to read it, and see that it has been adulterated (used up or fake). Often, the buyer will just keep clicking and buying until they've speant their money, then only notice later they've gotten a few full tools, plus a bunch of 1-shot tools and/or total fakes.
How to Avoid these Scams:

  1. Only buy runic tools from someone you can trust - if you buy them at all! It is much more safe, for smiths and tailors, to trade for or buy the BODs for the items, and complete the BODs personally - especially if the player already has a supply of BODs handy, and only needs 1 or 2 to finish the set. It feels much more fulfilling to complete a BOD personally, for a tool you then use for your own crafting.
  2. If someone is selling completed BODs, be wary of Dupes. If they have dozens of Valorite Hammer or Barbed Kit LBODs, prefilled and sitting in a vendor's BOD book, there's probably something funny going on. Most shards have a number of craftsmen with a long history of fair trades and hard work, and that are more likely to sell you their wares personally via a trade window, than via a vendor.
  3. ALWAYS MOUSE OVER EVERY ITEM YOU BUY on a vendor or a trade window, TO SEE IF IT IS LEGITIMATE. If checks are involved, make sure the checks are all of the right amount. I can't emphasize this enough. Nearly ever scam that has ever existed in the game concerning purchases or trades, involved either weight issues (taken care of, as far as I know), or making something in the trade window appear to be something else (bait & switch techniques, depleted runics, and downright fake items like runics or dyed items). Only click to confirm the trade/purchase after you KNOW all the items are right (on both sides of the deal for player trades).
  4. If possible, never trade in the Fel Ruleset - if you must do so, do it in a working guardzone. After all, there have been stories for as long as there has been UO, of people selling an item multiple times, by having friends gank the buyer and rob them (or, sucker them into a place where the seller can do it personally, such as with an invisible dragon).
  5. Do note that the gold part of a BOD reward and ingot costs might need to be figured into the transaction for a BOD purchase. After all, for an already filled BOD, you'll get the gold reward, not the person that filled it. Also consider that if you personally have to fill BODs, the cost in ingots will need to be factored in (I personally refuse to sell a single small BOD of a 6 small large for more than 1/10 of the value of (the Hammer value + gold reward, minus the cost of the ingots to fill). Note that a 20-count exceptional plate BOD takes at least 2000 ingots to fill, and depending on the metal, those ingots have a retail value to other players of 100-300 per ingot, so that can be a 200-600k investment in just filling the BODs). You're better off, when possible, trading similar-reward BODs with other trusted crafters, and bypassing all the gold and materials considerations (as both of you will be getting and using the same amounts of stuff)
 
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