The Special Task Force report (06/15/2007)

[Zorax]

quote]

While not perfect, Square and the STF have made a lot of changes to the game since last year.

Actually it hasn't even been a full year yet and look at all the good that has come of this? Couldn't be a better time to start a new character(if you're a new player). Compare this to Late 2005 and early 2006 and you were practically forced to buy gil to start up a new "toon".

Hmmm. I started in early 2006 and have never even considered it. I remember the first stack of Tarutaru Rice I grew (completely by accident lol) selling for 33K. And easily making over a hundred grand on a stack of Cuttings. This was more than enough to support a lowbie grinding up several jobs from 1-40ish. Just took time. I don't think anyone is ever "practically forced" to buy gil unless they just don't want to take the time to get it the old fashioned way.

[nithyan]

Funny how about 1/4 of the people posting in this thread have bought gil.

and anontroll rears its ugly head.

[Gere]

Funny how about 1/4 of the people posting in this thread have bought gil.

Funny how 85% of all statistics are made up.

[Thevaultdweller]

Funny how about 1/4 of the people posting in this thread have bought gil.

Funny how 85% of all statistics are made up.

And 79% are useless.

[sephir]

Funny how about 1/4 of the people posting in this thread have bought gil.

Funny how 85% of all statistics are made up.

And 79% are useless.

TVD update your sig lol. and ya in response to the original post, I think SE is doin a good job at eliminating gilsellers. Although they have not been sucessful completly at least they are trying and with all those bannings doing a pretty good job. Its far from being done, but at least they have done something.

[Rasantath]

Funny how about 1/4 of the people posting in this thread have bought gil.

why dont i just go ahead and lower that percentage...
because i never have, and never will.

[Lexa]

People: *have stuff*
Anon troll: *ZOMG ENVY I WANT STUFF TOO! YOU MUST BE GILBUYERS TO HAVE MORE/BETTER STUFF THAN ME!*

[TheMan551]

No Lexa, that post fails. I'm not labeling everyone as gil buyers, for one... this game is full of hypocrites.

[Tricen]

No Lexa, that post fails. I'm not labeling everyone as gil buyers, for one... this game is full of hypocrites.

ur 2 kewl

[TheMan551]

Thanks.

[Rocl]

No Lexa, that post fails. I'm not labeling everyone as gil buyers, for one... this game is full of hypocrites.

Oddly enough, so is the rest of the world.

Might be a pattern

[Dense]

stuff

Do some research into the economics of anti-drug initiatives and you'll see this is the same thing. The best way to reduce the consumption of RMT'd gil is to both crack down on sellers and punish buyers.

I'm not sure if I agree with you there, Aurik, despite your logic being almost always sound. As was pointed out in the following article, this isn't just about in-game economics, it is also about marketing and subscription money:

Here is a somewhat interesting article from the NY Times Magazine this week. After I read it I looked into the author. He wrote a book detailing his own life as RMT. So he thinks they are humans.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/17/ma...ne&oref=slogin

This following quote is relevant:

Among players, the R.M.T. debate may revolve around questions of fairness, but among game companies, the only question seems to be what is good for business. Cracking down on R.M.T. buyers makes poorer marketing sense than cracking down on sellers, in much the same way that cracking down on illegal drug suppliers is a better political move than cracking down on users. (Only a few companies have found a way to make R.M.T. part of their business model. Sony Online Entertainment, which publishes EverQuest, has started earning respectable revenues from an experimental in-game auction system that charges players a small transaction fee for real-money trades.) As Mark Jacobs, vice president at Electronic Arts and creator of the classic M.M.O. Dark Age of Camelot, put it: “Are you going to get more sympathy from busting 50,000 Chinese farmers or from busting 10,000 Americans that are buying? It’s not a racial thing at all. If you bust the buyers, you’re busting the guys who are paying to play your game, who you want to keep as customers and who will then go on the forums and say really nasty things about your company and your game.”

[Kyreth]

What came first, the RMT or the Gil-Buyer? >.>

The gil-buyer. People buying virtual items off other people for $$$ existed before RMT companies ever came to be.

It's good seeing S-E do the right thing, systematically (and with no signs of relenting) attacking RMT activity as it pops up, though I'm sure they're happily pouncing on shit players notice in-game...like the reports on RSE armor being massquested and such.

[Octavious]

Some local RMT on CaitSith are gone, thats a good sign so far. Now if they can fix FFXIapp...Fafnir...mumble

[Xaru]

What came first, the RMT or the Gil-Buyer? >.>

The gil-buyer. People buying virtual items off other people for $$$ existed before RMT companies ever came to be.

It's good seeing S-E do the right thing, systematically (and with no signs of relenting) attacking RMT activity as it pops up, though I'm sure they're happily pouncing on shit players notice in-game...like the reports on RSE armor being massquested and such.

The gilseller obviously. Even if it was single person and not a company, he is still a gilseller. It has to be for sale before it can be purchased.

[Octavious]

You know, I asked that for a mroe rhetorical approach. I don't really think we can pinpoint exactly where it starts. It's just business, a market develops and someone makes a product, or the product develops and people want it. It's a giant circle (o.o;)

[sleekmotorwurkz]

Disclaimer - I have never RMT'ed and I do have a deep down hatred for rmts themselves. Ive spent countless hours camping ulli only to see it pop claimed by pos-ing rmt. Now the days of despot and behemoth. But for the people who buy from them, meh, not my thing, dont really approve of it, but I understand.

There are some of us who play this game 20 hours a day, great nothing wrong with that, to each his own. Unfortunately I have a job that I am at 9+ hours a day. I come home and play ffxi to relax, I rather enjoy doing ls events, xping low lvl jobs, but farming is not one of my enjoyable activities - as im sure it is not for anyone. There is not much left to farm that makes much of a profit, and the big ticket items are overran by rmt. Now just imagine you really want XXX piece of equipment for your character and it will take you a month of straight farming (in the couple hours a day you get after work) to save up the gil to buy it. On the other hand you can buy the same amount of gil for an hours worth of overtime, and spend that month enjoying the game.

Ive earned everything I have in this game, and I take pride in doing it without rmt. 3x 75 jobs, lots of great gear, 100 bonecraft, but I can still say this. Yes rmt's are bad, people shouldnt buy gil because it just causes rmts to pop up. And im sure there are a bunch of gilbuyers that use rich mommy's credit card all they want on gil. But for the most part I would say that a good chunk of gilbuyers are people who work for a living, have a house, a car, kids to support, and want to come home and relax playing a video game for a little while, and dont want to spend a month of their "game life" farming when they could spend 1 extra hour at work, buy some gil and enjoy their time on the game doing something other then farming for a month.

Ban the farmers and sellers and let it filter down. Other then breaking the tos (which most of us do anyway using windower and other "harmless" 3rd party programs) they just want to enjoy the game to the max on the little time they do have to play. Whether you ban the people who truly enjoy this game in their few hours offtime, or the kids who's parents would rather spend hundreds of dollars on gil then spending some time with their kid, or the RMTs themselves, there will always be a market for rmt. But which is more harmful for the game, the RMT farmers/sellers who cockblock every nm in the game, or the working class who would like to be on par gearwise with the people who have the ability to play 20+ hours a day.

[Octavious]

Ban the farmers and sellers and let it filter down. Other then breaking the tos (which most of us do anyway using windower and other "harmless" 3rd party programs) they just want to enjoy the game to the max on the little time they do have to play. Whether you ban the people who truly enjoy this game in their few hours offtime, or the kids who's parents would rather spend hundreds of dollars on gil then spending some time with their kid, or the RMTs themselves, there will always be a market for rmt. But which is more harmful for the game, the RMT farmers/sellers who cockblock every nm in the game, or the working class who would like to be on par gearwise with the people who have the ability to play 20+ hours a day.

Best Idea, you cut off the roots, the problem will hopefully fix itself.

[layoneil]

The gilseller obviously. Even if it was single person and not a company, he is still a gilseller. It has to be for sale before it can be purchased.

someone playing the game is farming and bored out of his mind, wonders out loud "you know if i could pay someone to this for me i would." than someone else takes him up on the offer. in that case i wouldn't considering anything "for sale" until someone offered to buy.

[Guyverarmor]

Thanks.

Who are you again?