Accounts Banned & Special Task Force Report (Feb 20, 2008)

[Wizerd]

We would like to report the termination today of multiple accounts held by players involved in the usage of third-party tools or cheats, or engaged in RMT (Real Money Trading) activities.

Based on the results of our investigation, around 5,600 PlayOnline accounts were terminated while around 1,270 accounts were temporarily suspended.
Additionally, we have increased the number of mass bannings against certain PlayOnline violations in order to prevent illegal acts.

Details of the violations are as follows:

- Usage of tools that allow enhanced character movement.
February 8, Approx. 150 cases
February 15, Approx. 220 cases

- Usage of tools that circumvent game mechanics with respect to the timing of ability use, etc. in certain areas or at points where Notorious Monsters appear.
February 20, Approx. 30 cases

- Using cheats to automatically repeat a particular action.
January 30, Approx. 840 cases
February 6, Approx. 590 cases
February 13, Approx. 420 cases

- Gil and item exchange for real world money.
February 20, Approx. 1,210 cases

- Instances of areas or monster monopolization.
January 25, Approx. 150 cases
February 7, Approx. 100 cases

- Usage of synthesis and auction houses for RMT activities.
January 28, Approx. 680 cases
February 5, Approx. 780 cases
February 12, Approx. 510 cases
February 19, Approx. 630 cases

- Accounts from people that were previously confirmed to have RMT connections, or that had violated the user agreements but re-subscribed to PlayOnline.
February 6, Approx. 130 cases
February 14, Approx. 130 cases

The termination of these accounts has led to the removal of approximately 2.1 billion gil from circulation.

We would like to remind players that as well as adversely affecting game balance, the use of third-party tools or cheats can also have consequences that are not immediately obvious, such as introducing damaging viruses, and comprising the security of private account details. Usage of third-party tools will not be tolerated within FINAL FANTASY XI, and we will continue to severely penalize any players found to be in violation of the PlayOnline Member Agreement.

As we continue to ensure a fun and balanced environment for FINAL FANTASY XI, we hope that our players enjoy the game as it was intended and take care to avoid involvement in activities that violate the PlayOnline Member Agreement.

Thank you for your continued cooperation and understanding.

http://www.playonline.com/ff11us/polnew ... 2607.shtml



Also, 1 hour later: (thanks Ringthree)

Today's report will outline our actions conducted from January 25, 2008 to February 20, 2008 in dealing with players violating the user agreement, as well as details on the activities, results, and goals of the Special Task Force.

Click here for details on the Special Task Force's activities in dealing with players violating the FINAL FANTASY XI user agreement.

Special Task Force activities and future plans

Most of the characters engaged in RMT (*1) were continuously reappearing after their accounts had been banned. In order to deal with this, we began to shorten the intervals between bannings. As visible in the below graph, as a result of this, there were more accounts banned in December 2007 than in any previous month.
The Special Task Force is continuing to ban players violating the user agreement with the overall goal of eliminating all accounts involved in RMT.
http://www.playonline.com/pcd/topics...888/2888_3.jpg
The following tally details the condition of problems between January 25, 2008 and February 20, 2008. Each of these issues is discussed individually in the following section.

- Illegal fishing
One of the reasons the number of accounts banned in December 2007 drastically increased was due to the strengthening of activities against illegal fishing. By shortening the intervals between bannings and increasing the amount of accounts banned each time, a total of 1,850 accounts were banned within the span of a month.

- Hunters (*2)
The Special Task Force uses the information provided by reports submitted by FINAL FANTASY XI players in investigating and banning characters involved in RMT.
As a result, we currently receive almost no reports regarding hunters targeting Notorious Monsters. On the other hand, the number of reports regarding lower-level suspicious characters continuously fighting regular monsters has considerably increased.
We track the items and gil obtained through these battles to their destination and, if RMT ties can be confirmed, we ban the corresponding account.

- Use of synthesis and auction houses for RMT (*3)
After the last banning, the number of reward items for certain quests being sold at auction houses considerably decreased. The reason for this is due to the Special Task Force targeting characters involved in using auction houses for RMT, along with characters using unauthorized software to beat certain quests. All accounts associated with these characters were banned. We are currently continuing these investigations and bannings.

- Use of tools that allow enhanced character movement (*4)
After "Wings of the Goddess" was released, characters using unauthorized methods to beat new quests appeared. Because of this, the Special Task Force began to continually ban characters over short periods of time. This is the other reason why the number of characters banned in December 2007 drastically increased.
Up until now, we've been using basic methods such as investigating character logs and confirming violations of the user agreement in the banning of accounts, but we are currently preparing to introduce effective countermeasures into the game itself. If these countermeasures are introduced into the game, the number of characters involved in enhanced character movement will significantly decrease.

*1. RMT
"Real Money Trading." Selling game data for real money.

*2. Hunters
Characters who kill Notorious Monsters, clear quests, and obtain items over and over again with the sole purpose of gathering gil, which is then handed off to RMT groups.

*3. Use of synthesis and auction houses for RMT
Actions involving selling large quantities of in-game items for gil, which is then traded for real money.

*4: The use of unauthorized software to modify a character's movements.

Matters of concern within the community

In the following section, we will be explaining the Special Task Force's direction and plans in dealing with matters of concern within the community.

- The number of characters fishing with machine-like movements hasn't decreased at all.
Illegal fishing makes up about half of the reports submitted by FINAL FANTASY XI players. The main areas showing up in the reports are Buburimu Peninsula, Sea Serpent Grotto, and the ferry that goes back and forth between Mhaura and Selbina.
The accounts in question are banned over a short period of time and soon afterwards, roughly the same number of new characters reemerges to continue the same actions as before.
Currently the Special Task Force is looking into introducing systematic countermeasures to break this cycle.

- It seems that in the recent banning, the majority of RMT gil buyers were banned, but does the Special Task Force change the displayed number of accounts banned from month to month instead of displaying the actual number?
Not only gil buyers, but all users violating the user agreement are given penalties immediately after the investigation of their account has concluded
However, even if a certain number of penalties are imposed each month on violators of the user agreement, as long as the total penalties do not exceed a set line, their accounts will not be banned. Therefore, a significant difference can be seen between individual accounts. Because of this, the number of accounts banned may drastically change from month to month, but the Special Task Force will never intentionally alter the actual numbers.

Warning about unauthorized access

As has been mentioned in previous Special Task Force reports, problems regarding third party access to players' account information have become more and more common. Even if ones account is compromised only once, all of that player's characters could be deleted and all gil and items lost.
Viewing suspicious web sites linked on gaming websites or blogs, as well as downloading files from these sites, is believed to be the main cause of this unauthorized access. A player's computer becomes infected with a Trojan horse or keylogger and before he realizes it, his PlayOnline ID and password have been stolen.
We are currently working on a method to restore edited account details and lost items, but there are a few preventative measures to help protect ones account. The following are a few such countermeasures that Windows users can use to protect against unauthorized access.

- Do not access websites with unknown or suspicious content.
- Do not download software from unknown or suspicious websites.
- Periodically perform Windows Updates and keep Windows updated to the latest version.
*Refer to Microsoft's official website for more detailed information.
- Periodically update your web browser to the latest version.
- Do not use external tools not approved by Square Enix under any circumstances.
- Always use the latest antivirus software and Internet security software.

In order to protect your data, please use the countermeasures listed above along with diligent management of your PlayOnline account.
We would also like to remind everyone that Square Enix will never reveal PlayOnline account details to third parties.

Reporting to the Special Task Force

The Special Task Force relies on everyone's information regarding violations of the user agreement to help keep FINAL FANTASY XI an enjoyable environment, and we appreciate your continuing support and cooperation.

http://www.playonline.com/pcd/topics/ff ... etail.html

[Spoony Bob]

In b4 bitching about another amood.

[BerenTebogo]

God damn amoods

[Rautha]

wow nice, many gilbuyers got pwned. if i remember correctly this number was never as high as in this month.

[Seig]

- Usage of tools that circumvent game mechanics with respect to the timing of ability use, etc. in certain areas or at points where Notorious Monsters appear.
February 20, Approx. 30 cases

Am i the only one who thinks this number is a bit low? I'm sure there have been more cases, but GMs didn't care to look into.

*THROWS AN AMOOD OUT THE WINDOW*

[Not Kuno]

Better then nothing, that's for sure.

[ringthree]

Think you missed this too:

Today's report will outline our actions conducted from January 25, 2008 to February 20, 2008 in dealing with players violating the user agreement, as well as details on the activities, results, and goals of the Special Task Force.

Click here for details on the Special Task Force's activities in dealing with players violating the FINAL FANTASY XI user agreement.

Special Task Force activities and future plans

Most of the characters engaged in RMT (*1) were continuously reappearing after their accounts had been banned. In order to deal with this, we began to shorten the intervals between bannings. As visible in the below graph, as a result of this, there were more accounts banned in December 2007 than in any previous month.
The Special Task Force is continuing to ban players violating the user agreement with the overall goal of eliminating all accounts involved in RMT.
http://www.playonline.com/pcd/topics...888/2888_3.jpg
The following tally details the condition of problems between January 25, 2008 and February 20, 2008. Each of these issues is discussed individually in the following section.

- Illegal fishing
One of the reasons the number of accounts banned in December 2007 drastically increased was due to the strengthening of activities against illegal fishing. By shortening the intervals between bannings and increasing the amount of accounts banned each time, a total of 1,850 accounts were banned within the span of a month.

- Hunters (*2)
The Special Task Force uses the information provided by reports submitted by FINAL FANTASY XI players in investigating and banning characters involved in RMT.
As a result, we currently receive almost no reports regarding hunters targeting Notorious Monsters. On the other hand, the number of reports regarding lower-level suspicious characters continuously fighting regular monsters has considerably increased.
We track the items and gil obtained through these battles to their destination and, if RMT ties can be confirmed, we ban the corresponding account.

- Use of synthesis and auction houses for RMT (*3)
After the last banning, the number of reward items for certain quests being sold at auction houses considerably decreased. The reason for this is due to the Special Task Force targeting characters involved in using auction houses for RMT, along with characters using unauthorized software to beat certain quests. All accounts associated with these characters were banned. We are currently continuing these investigations and bannings.

- Use of tools that allow enhanced character movement (*4)
After "Wings of the Goddess" was released, characters using unauthorized methods to beat new quests appeared. Because of this, the Special Task Force began to continually ban characters over short periods of time. This is the other reason why the number of characters banned in December 2007 drastically increased.
Up until now, we've been using basic methods such as investigating character logs and confirming violations of the user agreement in the banning of accounts, but we are currently preparing to introduce effective countermeasures into the game itself. If these countermeasures are introduced into the game, the number of characters involved in enhanced character movement will significantly decrease.

*1. RMT
"Real Money Trading." Selling game data for real money.

*2. Hunters
Characters who kill Notorious Monsters, clear quests, and obtain items over and over again with the sole purpose of gathering gil, which is then handed off to RMT groups.

*3. Use of synthesis and auction houses for RMT
Actions involving selling large quantities of in-game items for gil, which is then traded for real money.

*4: The use of unauthorized software to modify a character's movements.

Matters of concern within the community

In the following section, we will be explaining the Special Task Force's direction and plans in dealing with matters of concern within the community.

- The number of characters fishing with machine-like movements hasn't decreased at all.
Illegal fishing makes up about half of the reports submitted by FINAL FANTASY XI players. The main areas showing up in the reports are Buburimu Peninsula, Sea Serpent Grotto, and the ferry that goes back and forth between Mhaura and Selbina.
The accounts in question are banned over a short period of time and soon afterwards, roughly the same number of new characters reemerges to continue the same actions as before.
Currently the Special Task Force is looking into introducing systematic countermeasures to break this cycle.

- It seems that in the recent banning, the majority of RMT gil buyers were banned, but does the Special Task Force change the displayed number of accounts banned from month to month instead of displaying the actual number?
Not only gil buyers, but all users violating the user agreement are given penalties immediately after the investigation of their account has concluded
However, even if a certain number of penalties are imposed each month on violators of the user agreement, as long as the total penalties do not exceed a set line, their accounts will not be banned. Therefore, a significant difference can be seen between individual accounts. Because of this, the number of accounts banned may drastically change from month to month, but the Special Task Force will never intentionally alter the actual numbers.

Warning about unauthorized access

As has been mentioned in previous Special Task Force reports, problems regarding third party access to players' account information have become more and more common. Even if ones account is compromised only once, all of that player's characters could be deleted and all gil and items lost.
Viewing suspicious web sites linked on gaming websites or blogs, as well as downloading files from these sites, is believed to be the main cause of this unauthorized access. A player's computer becomes infected with a Trojan horse or keylogger and before he realizes it, his PlayOnline ID and password have been stolen.
We are currently working on a method to restore edited account details and lost items, but there are a few preventative measures to help protect ones account. The following are a few such countermeasures that Windows users can use to protect against unauthorized access.

- Do not access websites with unknown or suspicious content.
- Do not download software from unknown or suspicious websites.
- Periodically perform Windows Updates and keep Windows updated to the latest version.
*Refer to Microsoft's official website for more detailed information.
- Periodically update your web browser to the latest version.
- Do not use external tools not approved by Square Enix under any circumstances.
- Always use the latest antivirus software and Internet security software.

In order to protect your data, please use the countermeasures listed above along with diligent management of your PlayOnline account.
We would also like to remind everyone that Square Enix will never reveal PlayOnline account details to third parties.

Reporting to the Special Task Force

The Special Task Force relies on everyone's information regarding violations of the user agreement to help keep FINAL FANTASY XI an enjoyable environment, and we appreciate your continuing support and cooperation.

[spooky]

Not only gil buyers, but all users violating the user agreement are given penalties immediately after the investigation of their account has concluded
However, even if a certain number of penalties are imposed each month on violators of the user agreement, as long as the total penalties do not exceed a set line, their accounts will not be banned. Therefore, a significant difference can be seen between individual accounts. Because of this, the number of accounts banned may drastically change from month to month, but the Special Task Force will never intentionally alter the actual numbers.

So as long as you don't do too much you can actually get away with some shit? lol massage your figures much?

[Toth]

You know, SE really is trying

[Wizerd]

Thanks ringthree, edited it in. Showed up about an hour after the Accounts Banned.

[Fhqwghads]

we are currently preparing to introduce effective countermeasures into the game itself. If these countermeasures are introduced into the game, the number of characters involved in enhanced character movement will significantly decrease.

That's encouraging. Instead of them having to manually pour over the data in a log file, I guess there's going to be an automated system that will ban stick retards using flee/pos hacks. Or, if there's already an automated alert, sounds like it's going one step further to automated ban. It's about time.

This, however, is discouraging and shows how out of touch with reality SE is:

Do not access websites with unknown or suspicious content.

Sorry guys, Internet's closed due to AIDS.

[test123]

oshit i was banned

[Octavious]

Now I’m not trying to rib SE for their comments, although every time I read it I laugh out loud. It goes something like, "The termination of these accounts has led to the removal of approximately [Insert X Amount] billion gil from circulation."

This time I really almost fell out of my chair when the next paragraph starts, "We would like to remind players that as well as adversely affecting game balance, the use of third-party tools or cheats can also have consequences that are not immediately obvious," because it seems like they ignore the fact repeatedly drawing gil out of the economy has adverse effects in itself.

I understand the reason the economy is semi-messed up is due to the insane addition/removal of gil due in part to the RMT forces, but they never make it seem like the repeated removal of thousands/millions/billions of gil from the servers does nothing.

[nivlac]

yay for less gilsellers and company....

but these gilsellers are relentless(sp) omg... they are like rocky..... they get knocked down again and again and still get up for some more .....

[Not Kuno]

Gosh now only if there was some way to find out who was a RMT fish bot


Yes I know there are some legit players in there too.

[ringthree]

we are currently preparing to introduce effective countermeasures into the game itself. If these countermeasures are introduced into the game, the number of characters involved in enhanced character movement will significantly decrease.

That's encouraging. Instead of them having to manually pour over the data in a log file, I guess there's going to be an automated system that will ban stick retards using flee/pos hacks. Or, if there's already an automated alert, sounds like it's going one step further to automated ban. It's about time.

Actually, I believe this is in reference to something that they mentioned at the Fan Festival, in that they are planning to do something to the movement in the game to make it much harder to movement hack client side.

[Tajin]

In before bitching about names.


Names plz *'.')/

[Ryogo]

[GM]Ryogo>> Have you heard about the "Return Home to Vana'diel Program?"

[Khamsin]

Not only gil buyers, but all users violating the user agreement are given penalties immediately after the investigation of their account has concluded
However, even if a certain number of penalties are imposed each month on violators of the user agreement, as long as the total penalties do not exceed a set line, their accounts will not be banned. Therefore, a significant difference can be seen between individual accounts. Because of this, the number of accounts banned may drastically change from month to month, but the Special Task Force will never intentionally alter the actual numbers.

So as long as you don't do too much you can actually get away with some shit? lol massage your figures much?

They said they didn't. So I guess it depends on if you believe them.

[Ashira]

- Usage of tools that circumvent game mechanics with respect to the timing of ability use, etc. in certain areas or at points where Notorious Monsters appear.
February 20, Approx. 30 cases

Am i the only one who thinks this number is a bit low? I'm sure there have been more cases, but GMs didn't care to look into.

*THROWS AN AMOOD OUT THE WINDOW*

Those 30 cases were the people who somehow amazingly were able to use 2hrs every time Absolute Virtue did. What's more, they stupidly recorded it and put the video out for everyone to see.