There is a guild invitation bot in Glenumbra

Tsukiino

There is a player on PC/NA that sits near a lamp post in Daggerfall, Glenumbra that is next to the wayshrine.

As soon as you walk forward, you are invited to a guild.

I'm assuming the person has bought another account & is running this account to bot/macro 24/7 for their guild (probably for personal storage).

I've seen this person 3 days straight now just sitting in the same exact spot.

Goodrods

Maybe they were paroled from PTS prison, are out on probation under house arrest with an ankle bracelet and can only be 5 meters away from wayshrine?

Scaletho

Tsukiino wrote: »

There is a player on PC/NA that sits near a lamp post in Daggerfall, Glenumbra that is next to the wayshrine.

As soon as you walk forward, you are invited to a guild.

I'm assuming the person has bought another account & is running this account to bot/macro 24/7 for their guild (probably for personal storage).

I've seen this person 3 days straight now just sitting in the same exact spot.

Yeah, I got the bot invite 5 times. Idk if this is kind of "ambush" invite is allowed, but it is annoying. If you know the guy login name, maybe sending ZOS a report could help. Still don't know if this kind of behavior is entitled to reporting.

Grec1a

He's been there at least a year, but he's not there 24/7, so I don't think he's a bot. It's no skin off my nose to reject the invite once a month or less, and new players might be glad of the invite.

People on Reddit were saying that they were joining the guild just to tell the guy off though. So I guess others find him more annoying...

Serpari

For those on PC, please use the add-ons AdBlock and No Thank You, it stops this nonsense. This person has been at it for years, has been reported multiple times, and nothing comes of it. All you can do is stop it from your end.

Tandor

Even if ZOS don't want to deal with the individual player, I do wish they'd have an option in settings for the automatic decline of guild invites - why do we have such automatic declines for duels and ToT, but not for guilds? It beats me why anyone would even consider joining a guild based solely on a stranger's random invite.

kringled_1

Being in 5 guilds automatically prevents any invites from being sent, if that's helpful to anyone.

Barovia87

Tandor wrote: »

It beats me why anyone would even consider joining a guild based solely on a stranger's random invite.

It is at least - mercifully - much less common in ESO than it is in games like Star Trek Online. Holy wow. Every single time you log on to STO be prepared to reject multiple Guild Invites in that game. That game is where I instituted my explicit rule of "I will not even consider your Guild unless you talk to me like a person first". It's usually a week or a month between me needing to auto-reject spam Guild invites in ESO.

It's mystifying to me that people a.) do this, and b.) that it clearly works. My husband and I run a Guild on PCNA, and have for 10 years now. Good Guilds do not need to spam people, and that's frankly not how you build a functional community anyway. I'm pretty sure that 99% of the people spamming Guilds are just doing it to open up a Guild Bank/Store for explicitly selfish reasons &/or in an attempt to "make money" off their members. So I don't even think these are necessarily good places for new players, either, as "Leadership" tends to be extremely apathetic &/or predatory. If drunken Cheese Pirates weren't their thing (our Guild), then I'd advise a new player to spend some time looking through the Guild Finder to try to find a good fit for their playstyle, and go ahead and apply. I'd never suggest accepting one of these creepy rando invites. That's just begging for frustration.

Nestor

It is one thing to announce Guild Adverts in Zone Chat, but targeted invites from random strangers, is not. While it could be as innocent as wanting to create a Guild Bank, why would someone waste a guild slot for someone else to get some storage slots.

Me, I bought some copies of the game and created the 10 accounts I needed to get the Guild Bank. Now I don't have to worry about ignoring the members of my Banking Guild.

SeaGtGruff

I was in 5 guilds, then left one so I could join a guild newly formed by player I'd friended. Ended up leaving that one when the guild chat eventually got to be nothing but US politics, so I had an empty guild slot.

The bot invited me to the guild you're talking about. There are actually several versions of it, each devoted to a specific type of activity. And they all have requirements. I ended up leaving on my own after getting an automated reminder about meeting the requirements, which I was never going to be able to meet.

The bot invited me again, but to a different version. Also, I didn't know it was a bot. I joined the mandatory Discord but ended up getting booted for non-participation.

The bot invited me again, but to yet a different version-- the one for casual soloists. I still hadn't realized that it was a bot, so I thought they were trying to find the version that was the best fit for me. I got an automated warning that I hadn't joined the Discord and was going to get booted, so I pointed out in Discord tgat I had in fact joined the Siscord. Oh, okay then, you won't get booted. But there were still other requirements about mandatory participation, so I helped other members in the guild chat (in the game, not on Discord), crafted gear for free for a couple of members, contributed gold to the guild bank every week or two for lottery tickets even though I never won and never expected to. And then after a month or two they booted me again for non-participation!

I joined a guild that was constantly posting ads in zone chat, just to fill up my 5th guild slot and keep the bot from being able to invite me again. And the new guild doesn't have three or four different types of mandatory requirements in order to qualify as an active participant to avoid getting booted.

Tandor

@ZOS_Kevin Could you please clarify whether the activity being discussed here is within the rules? If not, could something be done about it please?

CrashTest

It's not a bot. It's even worse. They're using a customized addon built just for them to do this.

As someone else posted, it's a guild with several different guilds dedicated to specific activities. Their members have a recruitment quota that they must meet or they get kicked, so they use their special addon to help do it.

I made the mistake of joining them once. I was unaware of just how bizarre and creepy the gm and officers are. They're like a cult. The leaders basically think they're gods and demand worship. That's the gist of just how bad the power trip is.

Marronsuisse

Serpari wrote: »

For those on PC, please use the add-ons AdBlock and No Thank You, it stops this nonsense. This person has been at it for years, has been reported multiple times, and nothing comes of it. All you can do is stop it from your end.

I think I need one of those. I once went afk and came back to find myself in a new guild with a bunch of people welcoming me. Advanced recruitment techniques, lol. (I guess my cat accepted an invite while I was gone or something.)

DoofusMax

Tandor wrote: »

@ZOS_Kevin Could you please clarify whether the activity being discussed here is within the rules? If not, could something be done about it please?

As long as no one is naming names, then it's likely fine.

Serpari

DoofusMax wrote: »

Tandor wrote: »

@ZOS_Kevin Could you please clarify whether the activity being discussed here is within the rules? If not, could something be done about it please?

As long as no one is naming names, then it's likely fine.

I'm guessing they meant the guild invite spam, not the fact we're discussing them guild invite spamming people as soon as they port into Glenumbra. Because we're not naming them, and this practice of guild invite spamming everyone should be discouraged/actively denied by the TOS.

Serpari

Marronsuisse wrote: »

Serpari wrote: »

For those on PC, please use the add-ons AdBlock and No Thank You, it stops this nonsense. This person has been at it for years, has been reported multiple times, and nothing comes of it. All you can do is stop it from your end.

I think I need one of those. I once went afk and came back to find myself in a new guild with a bunch of people welcoming me. Advanced recruitment techniques, lol. (I guess my cat accepted an invite while I was gone or something.)

You'll probably need both. The first stops all the guild ad spams, including gold sellers, the second stops the actual invitations from randoms.

Tandor

Serpari wrote: »

DoofusMax wrote: »

Tandor wrote: »

@ZOS_Kevin Could you please clarify whether the activity being discussed here is within the rules? If not, could something be done about it please?

As long as no one is naming names, then it's likely fine.

I'm guessing they meant the guild invite spam, not the fact we're discussing them guild invite spamming people as soon as they port into Glenumbra. Because we're not naming them, and this practice of guild invite spamming everyone should be discouraged/actively denied by the TOS.

Thanks. Yes, I referred to the activity being discussed here, not the way it was being discussed.

RexyCat

Scaletho wrote: »

Tsukiino wrote: »

There is a player on PC/NA that sits near a lamp post in Daggerfall, Glenumbra that is next to the wayshrine.

As soon as you walk forward, you are invited to a guild.

I'm assuming the person has bought another account & is running this account to bot/macro 24/7 for their guild (probably for personal storage).

I've seen this person 3 days straight now just sitting in the same exact spot.

Yeah, I got the bot invite 5 times. Idk if this is kind of "ambush" invite is allowed, but it is annoying. If you know the guy login name, maybe sending ZOS a report could help. Still don't know if this kind of behavior is entitled to reporting.

You can either put that player on your ignore list or fill up all 5 Guild Slots, if you don't want to have Guild Invites. Those messages should go to Notification where you can just delete all Invites that you don't want to read.

There are player that are using Guild invites to get Guild Bank by adding player to their personal guild and then unlock GB after having 10 members in Guild, It is probably that what is happening.

We as community can't know for certain why someone will invite random players.

Just report player in that case you suspect any abuse of in game system for selling Gold, botting or anything that are against CoC or TOS.

Before you send an in game report try to whisper to that person to make sure that this person isn't a new player that doesn't know how things work and trying out to use Guild Invites without understanding that it can be annoying for players that do not want to join Guild in this way. It is not impossible that a new player can be too happy to invite people to their new guild and don't understand that it is annoying, if it is done to random player that doesn't want to be invited to random guilds.

If you are on PC, then there are some addon which can auto decline such Invites or redirect all those messages silently (no messages).

RexyCat

Here is how to report players:

https://help.elderscrollsonline.com/#en/answer/6683

SeaGtGruff

RexyCat wrote: »

There are player that are using Guild invites to get Guild Bank by adding player to their personal guild and then unlock GB after having 10 members in Guild, It is probably that what is happening.

In this case, no, the guild in question already has hundreds of members, far more than the number needed to unlock the Guild Bank and Guild Store.

Amottica

Tsukiino wrote: »

I'm assuming the person has bought another account & is running this account to bot/macro 24/7 for their guild (probably for personal storage).

Report it to Zenimax via the in-game means to do so. We should not assume such things and just let Zenimax handle it.

Monroe585

I've reported this player and nothing was done about it. I just blocked him to stop the invites.

LadyLavina

I'm assuming someone from those guilds will have seen this thread, and all I can say is that the people you're going to get via recruitment methods like that are either those of no substance or those who have no idea what's going on/wont contribute anything meaningful. You're pulling numbers just to pull numbers, so that you can say you have them. You're just gathering strangers under a loose premise into a place they might not even really stay in.

Reeeeeally pushes the kind of people you probably wish you had (and surely don't have) away. The folks who are excited to be there, and actively contribute to whatever it is you're about.

You're leadership of a guild in a game, not the military arm of a nation. You don't hold a position of any significance whatsoever.. Get over yourselves, and leave people alone.

If your guild is worth anything, make a recruitment ad and move on with your lives. Don't handle your members like it's an MLM and they have to have a certain "recruitment quota".

Really hope the harassment is deemed ban worthy at some point.

Also Icy, I love ya, but if you're summoned to this thread in relation to my comment for any reason, please just delete it rather than editing it because I fully stand by everything here.

Nerouyn

Monroe585 wrote: »

I've reported this player and nothing was done about it. I just blocked him to stop the invites.

Think about it.

What differentiates this player from everyone who uses any addon to automate any of the trillion and one tedious or completely unbearable things in this game? Including blocking unwanted guild invites like theirs.

I've not checked recently but at one point I did look at the Terms of Service and to me it read like theoretically, every single player using any addon which automated any part of the game could arguably be in breach and banned. But that would be just about their entire PC playerbase so obviously they wouldn't.

Selectively banning some automation like this, but not others, could be problematic.

SeaGtGruff

I don't have a problem with their recruitment methods, or with their membership requirements regarding active participation.

On the other hand, I did get tired of either leaving voluntarily or getting kicked, but then get invited again. After the third or fourth time, I decided I'd had enough of that, so I joined another guild just to fill up all of my guild slots to stop the invites.

Tandor

Nerouyn wrote: »

Monroe585 wrote: »

I've reported this player and nothing was done about it. I just blocked him to stop the invites.

Think about it.

What differentiates this player from everyone who uses any addon to automate any of the trillion and one tedious or completely unbearable things in this game? Including blocking unwanted guild invites like theirs.

I've not checked recently but at one point I did look at the Terms of Service and to me it read like theoretically, every single player using any addon which automated any part of the game could arguably be in breach and banned. But that would be just about their entire PC playerbase so obviously they wouldn't.

Selectively banning some automation like this, but not others, could be problematic.

One important distinction in this case may relate to the question of whether the player is actually in attendance, or we're dealing with an unattended bot.

virtus753

Tandor wrote: »

Nerouyn wrote: »

Monroe585 wrote: »

I've reported this player and nothing was done about it. I just blocked him to stop the invites.

Think about it.

What differentiates this player from everyone who uses any addon to automate any of the trillion and one tedious or completely unbearable things in this game? Including blocking unwanted guild invites like theirs.

I've not checked recently but at one point I did look at the Terms of Service and to me it read like theoretically, every single player using any addon which automated any part of the game could arguably be in breach and banned. But that would be just about their entire PC playerbase so obviously they wouldn't.

Selectively banning some automation like this, but not others, could be problematic.

One important distinction in this case may relate to the question of whether the player is actually in attendance, or we're dealing with an unattended bot.

Spam is also still a ToS/CoC violation even when the player doing it is fully present and doing it manually, so it shouldn’t only come down to whether this is a bot or not.

furiouslog

I used to be an officer in that invite-spamming guild, so I know how they used to manage invitations.

1. They don't use addons, they have a stand-alone client run separate from the game that handles all of the messaging in game. At least, they used to. As such, it's not detectable by ZOS, which might be why this player is not being banned, unless more people file a report.
2. The constant spamming is a means to an end to gather and fill multiple guilds with bodies, so that the guildmaster can use that information as a rationale to secure various leadership positions in the community (e.g. ESO University).
3. The guildmaster also has their guild experience detailed on their LinkedIn profile to justify their effective management of human resources and development, if that gives you any insight as to the motivations of this individual.
4. The guildmaster is one of the most hypocritical and toxic micromanagers I've ever come across in any online game. If you join and play with other guilds, they send spies to check up on you and kick you if you join a guild that the guildmaster does not approve of. In raids, I have directly witnessed them yelling at people in discord for not following mechanics the way that they prefer, and then they'd go and do exactly the same thing, but justify it by saying that they have the experience to pull it off. Despite that, they make claims that the reason they started managing a guild was to provide a safe and non-toxic environment for players, when it's actually quite the opposite.

My recommendation is not to join this guild, and to report the bot in game if it is bothering you, but it really ought to be the guildmaster that is getting reported. They conscript their members into using these aggressive recruitment tactics as a matter of policy, sometimes by ordering officers to hit targets, sometimes by providing incentives for the same.

Incidentally, if they see this post, I guarantee you that it will cause a flurry of drama that will end in some attempt by the guildmaster's hit squad of programmers to dox me or sign me up for a bunch of emails or something. It's happened before. Truly one of the worst people I've ever met in my life.

LadyLavina

furiouslog wrote: »

3. The guildmaster also has their guild experience detailed on their LinkedIn profile to justify their effective management of human resources and development, if that gives you any insight as to the motivations of this individual.

That is absolutely hysterical, as though any worthwhile hiring manager (or potential employer at all, for that matter) would take that into consideration.

I think this upstanding gentleman said it best.

Also hello Icy, if you're summoned here again. Here, I prepared a cake for your arrival.

Amottica

furiouslog wrote: »

2. The constant spamming is a means to an end to gather and fill multiple guilds with bodies, so that the guildmaster can use that information as a rationale to secure various leadership positions in the community (e.g. ESO University).

I understand the person I quoted does not think much of this GuildMaster so this comment is not directed to the person who I have quoted.

I had thought ESO University was an upstanding organization. If that is the case then I doubt they would want who pushes and encourages this kind of behavior in the game to be part of their group. Not exactly ideal organizational leadership IMO>

Nerouyn

LadyLavina wrote: »

That is absolutely hysterical, as though any worthwhile hiring manager (or potential employer at all, for that matter) would take that into consideration.

You never know your luck.

I once saw someone appointed to a senior HR position who had literally no HR experience or training.

They got the job because they needed HR experience to apply for more senior positions.

First thing they did was screw up most of the casual staff's pay causing it to be delayed about 3 months.