Taking Action Against Cheaters in ESO

Rylanor

This is the sort of detailed, human-sounding (not forcedly cheery, bland or full of corporate marketing speak) post people prefer to read from mods and support. Thank you! And thanks for the cheat-banning too, so long as they were all legitimate. There are so many people being banned wrongly and without recourse, and that needs fixing too. Unfairness might be the way life goes sometimes, but that really is very unfair. And lazy, daft and shabby on ZOS' part, to be quite frank.

Rantog

Great News!

But not enough - the Bots we've been reporting on for a Week now, are Still in the same place, doing the same thing, on the same scripts.

IMO, dealing with these people should take priority over even the Bug fixes on all but the most important of those.

If you need a reason why... look at Vanguard.

The game is several years old, but still stands ahead of fully half of the current MMOs, with unique systems no other offers, heck you can chop trees - refine the lumber - and build a ship then sail the thing..
But due to bad Word Of Mouth PR from issues in their first months, the game never thrived and is facing Full Shutdown in July.


Reputation Matters in the MMO market - more than most other areas.

And if you want to know the reputation ESO is gaining right now - hit YouTube and enter ESO Bot or ESO hack.
Players are literally posting videos Bragging about their use of these things, and showing it off.

Worse still, you can go into the game this very second and Still find some of those Same Characters - still running the same scripts and using the same hacks for the same ends.. (most notably the ones using the teleport hack to harvest)

Rantog

Rylanor wrote: »

This is the sort of detailed, human-sounding (not forcedly cheery, bland or full of corporate marketing speak) post people prefer to read from mods and support. Thank you! And thanks for the cheat-banning too, so long as they were all legitimate. There are so many people being banned wrongly and without recourse, and that needs fixing too. Unfairness might be the way life goes sometimes, but that really is very unfair. And lazy, daft and shabby on ZOS' part, to be quite frank.

How do you know Anyone has been banned unfairly?

Because people are Claiming they were banned unjustly? Remember, those who use these hacks and exploits are already exhibiting a Dishonest nature - so lying about their innocence is pretty much a given.

And the idea that Zenimax would ban Any users without good reason is kind of preposterous.
Every user banned is a subscription they don't get paid. Businesses are in the business of making money - not turning it away without sound reason.


Is it possible there were mistakes? Sure.
But how likely is it that when someone Mistakenly banned asks for a reversal - and Zen investigates, that they make Further mistakes that make Innocent data appear like justification to turn away money?

Loxy37

Great news guys and gals. They are becoming a real issue. I've seen a few speed hackers and Gold spam bots today and received 3 gold spam mails. I've reported everyone I've seen.

Loxy37

Corithna wrote: »

@ZOS_JessicaFolsom,

Also of note here is that what some have reported in this thread as supposed powers that allow players to hide are in fact simply coincidental game errors most usually due to the local machine lagging behind the workload being pumped out by the game engine. And while it's fine to set your video settings as high as your frame rates will allow, it's also good to realize that fps is not the only measure of performance and that very odd behavior can occur when you push your machine too far. How do I know this? I'm also one of those people who like to push the game to look as beautiful as it can. But I also have to recognize that by doing so it can take my system a long time to get around to rendering everything, and everyone around me.

No it isn't. Have you seen them? I have many times. I got 1 wood and 1 iron in 2 and a half hours yesterday because of those so called computer lags.

See this video and many more on yourube. Just search for Elder scrolls bots.

Look at their names also. Not Normal names, I think you will agree.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrTD_sKzz9Y

Sandhya

That does look fishy as hell, and definitely looks different from the so-called 'phasing issues' that happen on primetime.

However... manually farming mobs at some nice place nets you FAR more resources / minute, not to mention XP and skill ups. I don't see how this is going to really destroy economy. Try deconstructing items, the rate is far better, and the chances of getting rare tempering items is higher.

Hielic

Keep it up ... in Del's Claim Auridon still there are bots/cheats beeing used to farm boss though ...

Loxy37

Hielic wrote: »

Keep it up ... in Del's Claim Auridon still there are bots/cheats beeing used to farm boss though ...

Make sure you report them all. Try not to catch people who are not automated though as hey aren't cheating because that's the way the game is designed. If zenimax didn't want legit players to farm those bosses then they would have put them on a longer timer.

SypherDiass

my post has been edited and the names removed , surprise surprise , they dont want people to see in here the names and the /w them in game to see if they ahve been banned .... because they are not banning them maybe ?

they say they will take away my posting privelidges if i continue to post the names here .... so in future i will post a link here to the eso G+ page with all the names on....

each day i will add to the list , and i will /w each user to see if they are still active before i list their handle , i dont care if you ban me from the forums , as there is plenty of other places that gamers talk and video's from youtube showing the world just how bad it is in the game will only confirm to people that little is being done ...

maybe if you want us to believe you have banned people , you should list the names of the banned people , after all , they have violated the ToC and no longer have active accounts , so ZOS has no reason to withhold that information ....

we will see no such list because they are taking the money from the gold sellers and laughing at us genuine gamers all the way to the bank ....

Loxy37

Be careful though because there are legit players that can be caught in the crossfire and it could happen to you also. I and others often just farm the boss 4 or 5 times for the soul gems they drop which saved a crap load of money. If they have silly names like hfhfikekjfh then they are no doubt a bot or if they swing their axe or whatever constant then that's a bot but if they move about in between fights like legit people do then don't report them.

Blame Zenimax for their poor design by allowing mobs to drop a certain item 100% of the time but perhaps its Working as Intended then I am afraid it will be abuse and their is nothing you or anyone can do about it. Until we get an official response on what's allowed then I would just do as I have said.

Rantog

SypherDiass wrote: »

we will see no such list because they are taking the money from the gold sellers and laughing at us genuine gamers all the way to the bank ....

I'm trying to give them the benefit of the doubt.

Unfortunately, all the Bots we've been checking in on this week were Back Again this evening, after they posted this.

The same teleport-hack users that we've been Joking about in-game due to their continued presence After posting the bragging videos showing off their use of hacks - are Still in the game, running the same routes they've been doing all week.

Maybe - they have done something about some small part of the gold spammer population - but since I already completely gave up on Chat, and only see Guild and Tells now, I can only base my view on what I get in in-game mail ... which has not changed At All. I still get gold-mails at a rate of about one every 15 minutes.


I just don't see it.

NordJitsu

Woot woot!

Good to see action taken. The whole community moderation aspect of the game had been my biggest concern, so its comforting to see action taken.

I just hope:

1. There was no collateral damage (ie. legit farmers or people trading gold for items.)
2. People with excessively bad behavior (killing vamps and selling bites, vulgarity or extreme rudeness in zone chat, ect.) are also being looked at.

TwistedRiddlesb14_ESO

Duccea wrote: »

TwistedRiddlesb14_ESO wrote: »

brandonedward wrote: »

Mempomaniac wrote: »

I wouldn't fret too much over it. Generally*, getting a complaint is the beginning of an investigative process, not the end of it.

Say that to a bunch of people who were banned "permanently" simply by just trading gold to their friends, guildies, and even people on the same IP address (20k-40k+), along with some that just put gold into their shared bank, then took it out with an alt, only to be banned.

I'm afraid to even trade now, or even put gold into my bank... or to have it on me... or to even play!

I really hope this gets resolved. This is like the biggest customer service mistake I have ever seen in an MMO.

I agree. From what I can tell from talking to friends and guildmates, there is a lot of insecurity right now. Whether those people reporting to be innocently banned are telling the truth or not, it has lead to people not being sure about what is allowed and what not. As in: Can we give money we earned while adventuring to guildmates and friends in need without having to fear to get flagged as a gold seller?
Some kind of official statement to reassure people would be in order.

On a more positve note, I congratulate ZOS for taking quick and harsh action against those who actually do deserve to get banned for cheating. It is good to hear that action is being taken against gold sellers and botters. Keep it up!

Yes. The uncertainty is awful right now. I don't want to play and if I play, I don't want to give anyone anything, because I don't want to be banned. These false positives are something they HAVE to respond to publicly. ZOS seems to have this idea, and maybe it's because they are new at MMOs, that they should just keep their mouths shut because not saying anything is better than giving people incomplete information or telling people that you aren't sure what is going on. That is NOT the case in an MMO community. Not communicating with your players is the biggest mistake you can make. Things fester. People get angry. They feel ignored, they come up with ideas, and more people agree and conspiracy theories emerge and morale goes down. You need to talk to your players and address these issues that have been brought up publicly. If you don't, people are just going to think that you aren't listening and don't care. At least make a clear post explaining what we can and cannot do without being banned.

rirri

My husband is trying the appeal process. It does take some time though, I doubt it will be resolved this week.

As far as trolling goes, I have no motivation to post a 'sob story' to manipulate 'weak' people. This isn't a convenient problem is it? If you like the game and the security efforts are much needed, it's easier to ignore any problems resulting from it. Also, it's easy to cast him as a jerk - that way you can write off that he deserved what he got and you don't have anything prickling your conscience.

We're relatively honest people with a real issue ('we' since I won't continue playing if he's banned permanently). Statistically, mistakes are going to happen.The main reason I'm posting anything is to bring light to the fact that the review process leaves something to be desired. It is supposed to prevent something like this from happening. That's relevant information for other players. I'm also angry and if this isn't fixed, I want people to know that someone got screwed.

So, here's one in thousands that didn't go right.

I think most people know how to view this - as something to keep an eye on and worry about if reports keep rolling in. If possible, I'll post again with a brief conclusion regarding how his case was handled in the end.

Loxy37

Hope it goes well rirr, I believe you. I don't believe you would go to the effort of posting here if your husband was a cheater as cheater usually just take it on the chin because they know they have done wrong.

Kitty8Khajiit

I see these bots still. I feel like I am in Sixth Sense and not ESO. I see teleporting node ninja bot gold selling spammers.....

I do hope the code is fixed in a way that disallows this behavior while still allowing legitimate gamers to enjoy the game in all it's glory.

I will continue to report them, and hope one day Tamriel will only have skeeving daedra to worry about.

Thank you very much for trying, and do please, please get it right. =^..^=

ragamerb16_ESO

Also of note here is that what some have reported in this thread as supposed powers that allow players to hide are in fact simply coincidental game errors most usually due to the local machine lagging behind the workload being pumped out by the game engine.

There is a normal issue of ppl that dissapears in front of your eyes... It always happens in the boundaries between phase zones (The sections of the map whom appearance is controlled by different quest lines), you can easily check this effects, for example, on a party, you see how walking through the boundary makes you loose sight of your fellow depending on the difference between how each person has solved their quests, until both are in the same phase zone...

...What some bots are doing is a trick old as oaks, accessing the nodes from within geometry (Usually below them), prevents them to trigger agro (That blocks gathering attempts). The "Vanishing effect" I think it's due to how fast the nodes dissapear, you client still haven't registered this and thus, at the very moment you try to access them legally, the server notifies the client that, effectively, the node isn't there anymore and, obediently, your client proceeds to remove the 3d model.

...At least the initial ones I reported. This evening we saw the next version (this is always like this... It's a continuous fight until the underlaying vulnerabilities are fixed, which usually take longer than starting with the Bans ASAP.) which is much subtler but also much less efficient... Now if a nice GM could do a "Tour of Duty" around all Achievement Bosses inside Dungeons... Could save us a bit of time. Sometimes we spend more time reporting the bots than killing this Bosses .

TwistedRiddlesb14_ESO

rirri wrote: »

My husband is trying the appeal process. It does take some time though, I doubt it will be resolved this week.

As far as trolling goes, I have no motivation to post a 'sob story' to manipulate 'weak' people. This isn't a convenient problem is it? If you like the game and the security efforts are much needed, it's easier to ignore any problems resulting from it. Also, it's easy to cast him as a jerk - that way you can write off that he deserved what he got and you don't have anything prickling your conscience.

We're relatively honest people with a real issue ('we' since I won't continue playing if he's banned permanently). Statistically, mistakes are going to happen.The main reason I'm posting anything is to bring light to the fact that the review process leaves something to be desired. It is supposed to prevent something like this from happening. That's relevant information for other players. I'm also angry and if this isn't fixed, I want people to know that someone got screwed.

So, here's one in thousands that didn't go right.

I think most people know how to view this - as something to keep an eye on and worry about if reports keep rolling in. If possible, I'll post again with a brief conclusion regarding how his case was handled in the end.

I certainly believe you. As someone else said, gold farmers don't come on the forums and make posts like this. Furthermore, gold farmers don't usually jump through appeal hoops. It's easier just to make a new account. They don't care about their characters. I really hope this goes well for you guys, and if I were you, and the appeal gets denied, I would demand to see the evidence. Because if they are that sure that he was selling gold and he clearly wasn't. Then either a.) They are completely negligent or b.) Someone hacked his account, and it is important to find out which of those options it is. Good luck.

Ragnar_Lodbrok

Hurray! Keep it up

Prolyphiq

SypherDiass wrote: »

I WILL BELIEVE YOU HAVE BANNED THOUSANDS WHEN GUILD MATES NO LONGER COMPLAIN ABOUT GOLD SELLERS I DONT SEE COS I HAVE ALRDY IGNORED THEM ....

IS IT OK THAT THEY ARE NOW HARRASSING US BY MAIL WITH THE GOLD SELLING ? I DONT CARE IF YOU BAN ME , THE GAME IS RAPIDLY LOSING ITS APPEAL TO ME WITH ALL THE TIME I HAVE TO SPEND REPORTING AND IGNORING AND NOT SEEING ANY SIGN OF THE 'THOUSANDS' YOU SAY YOU HAVE BANNED , OR IF YOU HAVE BANNED THOUSANDS , TRY MOVING OFF THE US SERVER AND START BANNING SOME OF THE EU SERVER ....

HERE ARE TWO IMAGES THAT I LOADED IN TO THIS MORNING WHEN I MADE A NEW CHARACTER ....


WHERE IS MY IMAGE UPLOADING OPTION GONE ?

I LOADED AN IMAGE INTO MY LAST POST THAT YOU DELETED ? BEFORE YOU REDIRECTED ME HERE ? WTF IS GOING ON ?

DO YOU EVEN WANT OUR HELP OR WHAT ?

O M G I TOTAALLY AGREEMENT I CANT BELIEVE A GAME WOULD MAKE ME HAVE TO RCLICK INGORE GOLDFARMERS CAN YOU BELIEVE ZENIMAX HAS THIS PROBLEM TOO I TOTALLY POUNDED OUT EVERY KEYSTORK WRITING THIS

SERIOUSLY FML I HAVE IT SO BAD IM GOING BACK TO WHATEVER GAME I LEFT FROM SINCE ITS SO MUCH BUTTER

Evelyn_Nightingale

SypherDiass wrote: »

I WILL BELIEVE YOU HAVE BANNED THOUSANDS WHEN GUILD MATES NO LONGER COMPLAIN ABOUT GOLD SELLERS I DONT SEE COS I HAVE ALRDY IGNORED THEM ....

IS IT OK THAT THEY ARE NOW HARRASSING US BY MAIL WITH THE GOLD SELLING ? I DONT CARE IF YOU BAN ME , THE GAME IS RAPIDLY LOSING ITS APPEAL TO ME WITH ALL THE TIME I HAVE TO SPEND REPORTING AND IGNORING AND NOT SEEING ANY SIGN OF THE 'THOUSANDS' YOU SAY YOU HAVE BANNED , OR IF YOU HAVE BANNED THOUSANDS , TRY MOVING OFF THE US SERVER AND START BANNING SOME OF THE EU SERVER ....

HERE ARE TWO IMAGES THAT I LOADED IN TO THIS MORNING WHEN I MADE A NEW CHARACTER ....


WHERE IS MY IMAGE UPLOADING OPTION GONE ?

I LOADED AN IMAGE INTO MY LAST POST THAT YOU DELETED ? BEFORE YOU REDIRECTED ME HERE ? WTF IS GOING ON ?

DO YOU EVEN WANT OUR HELP OR WHAT ?

Holy poo.. What's your problem? Tone down the caps, please; otherwise, all I hear is a tiny obnoxious kid screaming as loud and angrily as he can.

Psychic_Kitty

Wow thank goodness.....the teleport farming was getting so seriously annoying....and then there was the infinite health speed hacking and teleporting in pvp.

Ragnar_Lodbrok

Did the bans include dungeon and werewolf/vampire griefers?

Tarelyn

i just got a nice warm fuzzy
srsly
all tingly & chit

Sindofin

TwistedRiddlesb14_ESO wrote: »

brandonedward wrote: »

Mempomaniac wrote: »

I wouldn't fret too much over it. Generally*, getting a complaint is the beginning of an investigative process, not the end of it.

Say that to a bunch of people who were banned "permanently" simply by just trading gold to their friends, guildies, and even people on the same IP address (20k-40k+), along with some that just put gold into their shared bank, then took it out with an alt, only to be banned.

I'm afraid to even trade now, or even put gold into my bank... or to have it on me... or to even play!

I really hope this gets resolved. This is like the biggest customer service mistake I have ever seen in an MMO.

This seems to happen in any game that has to ban accounts in the thousands. An error margin of zero percent would be quite Utopian. I think this includes any online game ever, where players can trade with each other.

kirnmalidus

Evelyn_Nightingale wrote: »

SypherDiass wrote: »

DO YOU EVEN WANT OUR HELP OR WHAT ?

Holy poo.. What's your problem? Tone down the caps, please; otherwise, all I hear is a tiny obnoxious kid screaming as loud and angrily as he can.

Seriously, calm down dude. Of course they don't want you posting names and won't post names themselves, that's a privacy issue and has nothing to do with whether or not those users were cheating. Just because they are cheating doesn't give ZOS the right to potentially violate their privacy, it just gives them the right to ban the account. If you continue posting names on other sites as you are threatening to do I hope they ban your account as well, that's just rude and classless. What do you think you are accomplishing by doing that?

WyeVxndzz

KerinKor wrote: »

This news would be better if it weren't for the several blatant 'false positives' that have happened, one mentioned in this thread, another concerning a boy-friend giving his girl-friend some gold to buy a horse several days ago, where the perma-ban has NOT been reversed.

So, these figures of thousands of accounts clearly include collateral damage Zeniman don't seem interested in fixing

But we here have no way of knowing if they are merely a gold BUYER complaining to try to save their transaction, so we can't validate this anecdotal story.

Carde

But excuse the bother,I wish to tell you about lucrative deal ongoing currently!

Sahidom

I am very pleased to see that Bethesda(r) and Zenimax(tm) want to preserve the integrity and reputation of the Elder Scrolls game series.

I was browsing the forums to find the right place to write a lengthy post about this very subject. I went to the extent to use APA formatting to cite source examples about the pitfalls of not having this issue addressed.

Keep up the good work.

SypherDiass

kirnmalidus wrote: »

Evelyn_Nightingale wrote: »

SypherDiass wrote: »

DO YOU EVEN WANT OUR HELP OR WHAT ?

Holy poo.. What's your problem? Tone down the caps, please; otherwise, all I hear is a tiny obnoxious kid screaming as loud and angrily as he can.

Seriously, calm down dude. Of course they don't want you posting names and won't post names themselves, that's a privacy issue and has nothing to do with whether or not those users were cheating. Just because they are cheating doesn't give ZOS the right to potentially violate their privacy, it just gives them the right to ban the account. If you continue posting names on other sites as you are threatening to do I hope they ban your account as well, that's just rude and classless. What do you think you are accomplishing by doing that?

yeh just right click on the name and ignore them ..... ignoring the problem wont help it go away , and if you are not part of the solution then you are part of the problem. by not reporting these individuals , you are condoning their behaviour and by saying and doing nothing you are encouraging them almost to continue.

having to stop at least once every 10 - 15 minutes to submit another report with a screen shot , as well as ignoring that individual , takes away the fun of the game,

if they wanted people to spend more time filling out reports than playing , they would have left the game in beta ....

they ( ZOS )claim to be banning people , but the in game mail and the constant spam in major zone chat says they are not ...

we are here ( most of us , bar the trolls ) because we ARE angry about the way we are being treated as PAYING customers and we DO think that something should be done to show they are working on it, just a few words from someone with a fancy forum tag means nothing.

when we see in game improvements in the situation , then i will believe they banned thousands....

and as for posting the list of handles on social media .... they can ban me if they want , it just shows what they really are like as a company and how little they value the opinions of us GAMERS who want to be able to enjoy the game for what it is.

i dont see why it should take so long , if every time someone has a report made against them they stack beside their handle , it would take a dev a few minutes to view the screenshot and see the evidence from several players all showing the same thing , then BLAM ... instant ban .... why would it take soo long to stop someone doing this ? how many people complaining with screenshots does it take?

i dont understand how guildmates are seeing people spamming chat that i have ignored 2 or 3 days previous ( yes , i do write down the names and dates and times of each, ocd does that to you) when all the evidence needed for the ban has been submitted , possibly hundreds or thousands of times ..... if the first 5 reports show them selling gold , you dont need to check the other 995...