Let's rise up! ...again

[Luke]

Hello, this is my first post after reading here for quite awhile. I play on Carbuncle server. I've done everything there is to do in FFXI and then some so I know quite a bit about the game.

RMT never seemed to be that big of a problem until a certain time when it just exploded. You could go to almost any exp spot and see an RMT group leveling up. Now, there is many many RMT groups, so many in fact that their only competition is themselves.

If you go to a King Arthro camp for example, something I camped for a small amount of time; you will find -alliances- of gilsellers competing with eachother for it. How does SE expect real players to compete here? RMT own Behemoth also, real players (JP HNMLS) only use mules to get ToD and show up on 4th day to camp KB.

I really feel this game is going downhill very fast, and I'm not sure what could even save it. BTW, changing items to Ex really doesn't help much; on Carbuncle you can see bazaar messages in Batallia Downs advertising Byakko's Haidate etc etc...

[genome]

There are a few things they did with some items that help keep things fair.
For example they didn't just change pin and boots to rare ex, they also made it so people could win them in BCNMs.

Nobody can keep a monopoly on BCNMs and ENMs, aside for having a better strategy and skills for a while. They are not a limited shared resource in a way that would preclude others from obtaining it.
P.charm for example used to be a mark of someone who supported RMTs to me, since that was the only source. But now it's something you can win from BCNM honestly, or buy from other players who got it using their seals. That's a step in the right direction.

I don't think that's really the solution we need, we still need a SE and GMs that track gil, enforce rules, give warnings and then ban, in a way that makes it unprofitable to gilsellers and too risky for gilbuyers.

But any change on those items, and things like adding 3 kings drops to KS99 or to other types of BCs is something i think would be good (some might not like it, because rarity is one of the things that makes an item 'special', but just personally i never cared much about that rationale).

[Luke]

King drops have very high value due to the items themselves only existing within a few main LS's (at least on Carbuncle). Ridill and D.ring exist just to keep people there camping forever heh

I'm surprised to read that RMT took Tiamat to 20% though lol, that's one of the only fights I still find fun. I think many would quit if RMT started to sell Gaiters.

[Jahuran]

changing items to Ex really doesn't help much; on Carbuncle you can see bazaar messages in Batallia Downs advertising Byakko's Haidate etc etc...

If SE creates a separate non-monopolisable(don't know if that word exists)way of obtaining either
A.)pop items for sky gods (could happen)
or
B.)God drops(not gonna happen)
the gilsellers wouldn't have such a hold on autumnstones / byakko pop sets.

Fuck if I care if citybloodsuckghost or thfgrandpa or greenlineage get another autumnstone as long as I can get one too from a 20 ks battle vs ulli.

Most people would feel above mentioned fix is pussying out and letting the rmt run rampant on sky or feel it to be unfair that they'd have to farm KSeals for it but when we remove demand they have no reason to supply anymore and they'll move on.

And their next probable target would probably be mining,harvesting,fishing etc. A position they can't possibly monopolise.

[Norelco]

There wouldn't be a need for gilsellers if stupid fucks stopped buying gil. Everyone is complaining that we need to get rid of the gilsellers. If you want to do that, then get rid of the demand.

Too many times have I seen people get caught buying gil and their friends, who bitch about people buying gil, turn the other way. I'm pretty certain a fair percentage of end game folks buy a great chunk of gil, perhaps we can set up an anonymous poll and find this out.

[Fhqwghads]

There wouldn't be a need for gilsellers if stupid fucks stopped buying gil. Everyone is complaining that we need to get rid of the gilsellers. If you want to do that, then get rid of the demand.

That's what I keep saying too. Ban the fucking gil BUYERS, and the demand for gil will drop off the face of the earth. Who in their right mind would risk a character they've been building for years over a few million gil?

Just ban around 20 gil buyers on each server. Post their names. I guarantee you action like this on the part of SE will send shock waves through the community, and RMT will suddenly find their "service" shunned like the heaping pile of dung it is.

[byrdclaw]

only way to get the ball rolling for this would be to get a fairly large amount of people to agree to suspending their account at a specified date if RMT isn't solved.

With that amount of people threatening to close their accounts if measures aren't put in place to catch RMT then it might motivate sony to do something. Good luck getting enough people motivated enough to close their accounts down though.

RA/EX is not the answer folks. This will just force rmt to switch their moneymaking tactics to other mobs. We want them gone don't we?

Targeting gilbuyers alone won't solve the problem either. Take the gilbuyer out of the equation and the gilsellers have no market to sell to. The same thing can be said in reverse. Take the gilsellers out of the equation, the gilbuyers will have no one to buy from and they'll just quit out of frustration (oh god yes please) or become legit.

I'm fairly certain there's no true flagging system on the servers. There's no current way for the server to warn anyone "Hey, this guy just traded this person 50mil with nothing in return" warn 20 times over in a day and get suspended. If that were implemented there may actually be more real work for GMs to do in their "investigations"

Move more than 20 coordinates several times a day, probably warp hacking. GMs currently have no server flags to go off of for this, they rely on word of mouth and visual investigations.

Monopolizing an NM? flag someone if they tag an NM more than twice in a row and make it so they can't tag it for 20 seconds after pop. That one won't solve much though since they'll just rotate in more characters.

There are many things they could add in the infrastructure serverside. It would require alot of recoding, alot of time and effort that SE probably doesn't want to expend.

Make them want to expend it by placing your money where your mouth (or in this case finger) is. Set a date, get people to agree to it, and get them to temp cancel their accounts on that date if something isn't done. Your account stays alive for 3 months, that should be more than enough time for SE to get the message.

[solsovly]

only way to get the ball rolling for this would be to get a fairly large amount of people to agree to suspending their account at a specified date if RMT isn't solved.

With that amount of people threatening to close their accounts if measures aren't put in place to catch RMT then it might motivate sony to do something. Good luck getting enough people motivated enough to close their accounts down though.

RA/EX is not the answer folks. This will just force rmt to switch their moneymaking tactics to other mobs. We want them gone don't we?

Targeting gilbuyers alone won't solve the problem either. Take the gilbuyer out of the equation and the gilsellers have no market to sell to. The same thing can be said in reverse. Take the gilsellers out of the equation, the gilbuyers will have no one to buy from and they'll just quit out of frustration (oh god yes please) or become legit.

I'm fairly certain there's no true flagging system on the servers. There's no current way for the server to warn anyone "Hey, this guy just traded this person 50mil with nothing in return" warn 20 times over in a day and get suspended. If that were implemented there may actually be more real work for GMs to do in their "investigations"

Move more than 20 coordinates several times a day, probably warp hacking. GMs currently have no server flags to go off of for this, they rely on word of mouth and visual investigations.

Monopolizing an NM? flag someone if they tag an NM more than twice in a row and make it so they can't tag it for 20 seconds after pop. That one won't solve much though since they'll just rotate in more characters.

There are many things they could add in the infrastructure serverside. It would require alot of recoding, alot of time and effort that SE probably doesn't want to expend.

Make them want to expend it by placing your money where your mouth (or in this case finger) is. Set a date, get people to agree to it, and get them to temp cancel their accounts on that date if something isn't done. Your account stays alive for 3 months, that should be more than enough time for SE to get the message.

You and I (along with SE) both know this won't happen. If some small scale effort is done, I can imagine how it will play out.

Blindman: Yeah I'm quitting unless RMT are banned
Blindman#2: ME TOO
Blindman#3: YARLY
Me: Fucking sweet, look at all these NM's that arnt being camped.
Blindman: ...
Blindman#2: I'm logging back in, TO THE AERY
Blindman#3: I didn't quit, I was just hoping you guys would leave.

There are tons of ways to stop RMT that have been discussed. How many people threaten to quit, how many people are still here?

[byrdclaw]

no shit it won't work if people don't actually stick to it sherlock.

why do you think I put in there:

Good luck getting enough people motivated enough to close their accounts down though.

to make SE notice, it would have to be around 10,000 accounts I would think. Maybe even more considering that wouldn't put a real dent in their earnings.

[Zalius]

Who cares about gilsellers while i still have an injustice of an abysall instead of my rightful suppa?

I'd seriously pay 5m+redo pentasphere+DM for a damn suppa instead of having this phantom earring+2 bs that almost convinces me to level dark knight.

[Norelco]

Blindman#2: I'm logging back in, TO THE AERY

ROFL

[solsovly]

no shit it won't work if people don't actually stick to it sherlock.

why do you think I put in there:

Good luck getting enough people motivated enough to close their accounts down though.

to make SE notice, it would have to be around 10,000 accounts I would think. Maybe even more considering that wouldn't put a real dent in their earnings.

I did mention that you did know it wouldn't work(The you and I part). But hey it was an awesome read. While we are at it, should boycott gas for a day. That will show them.

Dual Wielding Ninja edit with TP nerf:

I'd seriously pay 5m+redo pentasphere+DM for a damn suppa instead of having this phantom earring+2 bs that almost convinces me to level dark knight.

I know your pain. On my left ear sits a Beastly Earring, gogo 5axe skill.

[Norelco]

Targeting gilbuyers alone won't solve the problem either. Take the gilbuyer out of the equation and the gilsellers have no market to sell to. The same thing can be said in reverse. Take the gilsellers out of the equation, the gilbuyers will have no one to buy from and they'll just quit out of frustration (oh god yes please) or become legit.

Um...no shit. That's why I said target the gilbuyers, because everyone and their mother is bitching and moaning about the gilsellers.

I'm beginning to suspect that quite a few people here at BG:

a) buy gil, or has a friend who buys it
b) didn't care about gilsellers until we ALL, **EDIT** scratch that, THEY ** END EDIT ** started getting fucked up the ass in Sky

[Zalius]

chr+2 gives you mad enmity bonuses g dog, who needs 5% more attack speed


edit: fuck the quote system, but i quoted the haidate man

[solsovly]

Quoting FAQ (I always forget ot put the quotes in the name too)

Quote funny here

[yuriku]

My Idea

SE needs people dedicated to hunting down RMT for each server.

If there was just 5 people per server working part time dedicated to the watch of RMT It wouldn't take them long to learn about linkshells, and which player is Legit or not.

Kinda like a special task force that can intereact with players, and monitor things.

I think i'm fonna suggest that on the feedback.

[Tena]

Oh boy...what a huge issue.

The big question is HOW to stop people from buying gil? You're right that snuffing out this habit would close down the gil sales market, but you'd have to be able to reach every single person who does it. We could put an end to many sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancies if everyone just used a condom.

But no, unfortunately humans are greedy and irresponsible.

As for the GMs having their hands tied, you need to consider a few things. First, with thousands of accounts over 33 servers, there really aren't enough GMs to go around and monitor. If SE wanted to hire more, then maybe monitoring gil seller activites would be more feasable. But gill sellers are like a hydra, cut off one head and two more pop up in it's place.

Legally, sure the TOS says they can ban accounts whenever, but SE clearly leans on the cautious side of the law. Take retail stores for example. Unless and employee has witnessed you shoplifting and can identify exactly what item you stole and where you put it, then they can't really touch you. People have actually scammed retail stores to get falsely accused of shoplifting so they can sue.

Can you imagine the humiliation and bad PR that would come of group of Chinese people saying they were banned and calling it racial descrimination? Yeah, I think it's lame too.

[aurik]

Targeting gilbuyers alone won't solve the problem either. Take the gilbuyer out of the equation and the gilsellers have no market to sell to. The same thing can be said in reverse. Take the gilsellers out of the equation, the gilbuyers will have no one to buy from and they'll just quit out of frustration (oh god yes please) or become legit.

Um...no shit. That's why I said target the gilbuyers, because everyone and their mother is bitching and moaning about the gilsellers.

I'm beginning to suspect that quite a few people here at BG:

a) buy gil, or has a friend who buys it
b) didn't care about gilsellers until we ALL, **EDIT** scratch that, THEY ** END EDIT ** started getting fucked up the ass in Sky

Personally, gil buyers don't affect my gaming experience all that much. Gil sellers, on the other hand, deliberately impede my gaming experience in the hopes that I will give them gil to get out of my way. They're like street bums who block an intersection unless you give them some change; I have such an urge to run them over.

But, why ban only gil buyers when you could ban both buyers and sellers?

What I think SE should do is repeatedly ban the gil seller accounts; they're extremely easy to pinpoint and are the direct cause of much misery in this game. This will send the prices of gil through the roof (less available gil and more cost to produce gil = higher prices), causing the utter termination of "casual" gil buying. The people who buy 1 mil or 2 mil there once and then later regret it, I don't think they should be instantly banhammered; people do make mistakes.

This will leave only the hard-core RMTers buying gil, which then you can ban because obviously they will continue cheating no matter what.

[Zalius]

My Idea

SE needs people dedicated to hunting down RMT for each server.

If there was just 5 people per server working part time dedicated to the watch of RMT It wouldn't take them long to learn about linkshells, and which player is Legit or not.

Kinda like a special task force that can intereact with players, and monitor things.

I think i'm fonna suggest that on the feedback.

http://www.classictvhits.com/shows/1169.jpg

[Senoska]

I havnt sent this nor really plan to but wrote it just for shits and giggles, sorry for the spelling errors:

Monday, June 26, 2006
To: Square-Enix-FFXI Department
From: ########
Subject: Outraged!


To whom ever it may concern,

I have been a long time player of the game Final Fantasy XI, I have been playing for roughly three and a half years or above. I am a ligitment player who is simply outraged at your utter lack of concern when it comes to RMT accounts. I'd like to take this time to say I have submitted a negative comment to the BBB (Not that it matters your rating already is totally and completely sub-par). You turn a blind eye to RMT because as you and I know you don't want to loose the 12 dollars a month. I'm not sure where you get your numbers, how ever you are loosing more money by sitting around and not doing anything to stop them. They have totally took controll over every single large NM, Totally distorted the market on many servers, totally and completely distroyed "Sky", and abused 3d party programs. 

I am having a hard time figuring out why it is you have such a hard time proving who the RMT are, It isn't hard for the normal player to figure this out. Not to metion when a GM call is placed when a RMT is openly using hacks, or cheats, the GM simply turns the other cheek. I'm not writing this letter to scare you into doing anything or blackmailing you, tho I think you should know players are completely FINISHED with this, it has gotten way out of controll. You need to take action now or your game will be dead in less then two years. Players have stopped camping NMs to get items they want because the RMT are coming in huge numbers [50+ at a time to any single NM], Players can no longer do anything in "Sky" because a group of RMT is ALWAYS at NMs 24/7. When will you finally take a look at this and see they are ruining your game? 

You really need to get your priority in check. Do you not relize hundreds of people are quiting(for good) because of these RMTs? Get your stuff straight SE, or just discontinue this game. There is no reason to drag this abomination of an MMO on any longer then what it has to, the game is trash unless you actually step up to the plate and get rid of these people.