I am not reporting spammers anymore

merk

1. Tired of how long it takes - why do i have to fill out a form? They are spammer, what more do i need to say? it should be a one click option with maybe a confirmation box to report someone as spamming

2. reporting someone as a spammer should automatically put them in ignore. I should not have to do that as a 2nd step after reporting them.

3. I'm REALLY tired of the stupid emails you send me every time i report someone. You send me the same email every time thanking me for my help and telling me you can't tell me anything. Very helpful. My reward for reporting a spammer is essentially getting spam email from eso. Either stop sending the emails, or only send them when you can tell me something useful, like the spammer was deleted/banned etc

3. If X # of people report/ignore someone, how about putting them on a temporary mute until support can review them? You claim you are fighting the spammers/bots, but there are some really simple things you could do to make it better that you haven't done and I'm pretty fed up with it. In game spam is not something new and you guys are reacting to it like this is the first time it's ever happened.

Just once i'd like to see a game where someone pays attention to this stuff and does something about it instead of just sending out form letters telling me how much you love me but otherwise can't do crap.

MasterSpatula

I reported 12 in one hour last night. I am growing very weary of doing a job that should be done by ZOE staff.

Malediktus

I stopped doing it days ago. Its just too much work. In GW2 you can report people so much faster, I wonder why they made it so complicated and gameplay disrupting here.

MysticAura

Reporting in game issues isn't their job. Responding to the reports is. No reports, no response. No one can seriously say they aren't responding, look at the bans. Yes it's frustrating to deal with bots and spammers but either you report them and they eventually get banned, or you don't and they never do. Your choice

twev

Malediktus wrote: »

I stopped doing it days ago. Its just too much work. In GW2 you can report people so much faster, I wonder why they made it so complicated and gameplay disrupting here.

So that you'd stop reporting it and just accept it faster.

Mpcolson

I have been filing gold spam reports since day one and it would seem to me that ZOS could remedy the issue with a in game moderator to slam the ban-hammer on anyone that is spamming.

Honestly, the amount of gold barkers that are online daily and the email spam that is occurring should not require I file a report and wait to see what happens.

It's a TOS violation to sell gold so there would be nothing improper about just insta-banning these accounts on the spot.

Why is it so difficult to get rid of the vendors anyway, it is a simple matter that can be implemented in less than a week. My ignore list is jammed full and it's only the spammers I'm ignoring.

C'mon ZOS.. get aggressive and shut these guys down!!! Please.

MasterSpatula

MysticAura wrote: »

Reporting in game issues isn't their job. Responding to the reports is. No reports, no response. No one can seriously say they aren't responding, look at the bans. Yes it's frustrating to deal with bots and spammers but either you report them and they eventually get banned, or you don't and they never do. Your choice

12 an hour is one every six minutes. And that's only in one zone. That's more than enough work to support a full-time employee who watches zone chat for spammers and kicks them the moment they spam. It's better for the community, with faster responses to the problem. And it's better for ZOE, because they don't have to deal with hundreds of tickets; they just deal with the spammer.

Getting rid of these guys is their job, and when they turn up with such frequency, it's a full-time job. Us reporting them is an unnecessary extra step.

Requielle

1 - Yes, I wish they'd add a simple right-click option to report the standard RMT folks. Keep the detailed report option for other things needing reporting.

2 - Yes, a temporary auto-ignore would be helpful. It would also be helpful if deleted/banned accounts were removed from our ignore lists - maybe after the appeal period (to handle that unusual situation where someone winds up banned, but successfully appeals - for example, hacked accounts).

3 - I don't mind the emails. I view them as my virtual trophies. You can set up email filters to auto-delete emails like that if you don't like them (they are standardized, so easy to filter).

3 (again) - I like the idea of an auto-mute to an account if enough spam reports are filed. At least until the account can be reviewed. And by auto-mute, I mean no general chat, no whispers, no group invites, no guild invites.

MasterSpatula

Also, ZOE waiting until we report a spammer, then ZOE having to respond to the ticket, investigate, determine action, and act gives the spammer time to get the word out. Even though they know they'll get banned eventually, they get to spam long enough to make it worth it.

GMs who insta-ban would make spamming no longer worth it. This would cut down on the number of spammers, because there would be little to be gained from managing to yell out the name of a gold-selling site exactly once.

MysticAura

Did you guys totally miss the rush of threads with tons of people complaining about bans? It's not the first time, and won't be the last.

Lets not even talk about today, every day there have been threads full of people complaining about being banned. So I find posts like these, baffling to say the least. If you'd like to know what Zeni is doing about cheaters/spammers/bots open your eyes and look at all the threads. Or the announcements. They are actively doing things to fix the problem.

Jim_McMasterub17_ESO

...Oh ye of little faith....I must now double my efforts to report these fools as ye shirk your rightful duties!

Elsonso

This thread has reminded me that I have received no gold seller spam mail or guild invites today. Weeeee!

Shanna

lordrichter wrote: »

This thread has reminded me that I have received no gold seller spam mail or guild invites today. Weeeee!

nor i. but that is due to being stuck on loading screens.

MasterSpatula

Today's ban wave was about the duplication bug, not about gold-sellers.

You can't ban AFK bots and Gold Spammers in big batches every couple of weeks. That would be moronic. And applauding them for doing so would be insane. They have to be dealt with on-the-spot, in-the-moment. Anything less, and they've already gotten enough in the time they had to end up way ahead.

SeñorCinco

I made a game out of catching teleporting node harvesters. If I see one pop in, I will steakout the node with my finger on the [F] key.

merk

MysticAura wrote: »

Lets not even talk about today, every day there have been threads full of people complaining about being banned. So I find posts like these, baffling to say the least. If you'd like to know what Zeni is doing about cheaters/spammers/bots open your eyes and look at all the threads. Or the announcements. They are actively doing things to fix the problem.

They might be actively doing things - but they aren't doing the right things.

This is not a new problem for MMO's. They should have learned from what previous MMO's have done to fight spam. Instead it feels like this is the first time they've ever heard of in-game spam and are just making up fixes as they go along.

all the points I raised are not only valid, but they should have been implemented day 1 and it should not take them that long to implement it after day 1.

How hard is it to a single right click on a name and click 'report spammer' and just get a single confirmation box? And once reported, have the spammer automatically added to the ignore list?

Whats going to happen when my ignore list is full? Am i going to have to manage ignore list slots like bank slots? Maybe i can spend gold to expand my ignore list.

I really dont mind helping get rid of the spammers. In fact I ENJOY helping to squish them. But only when we're given decent tools to do so. Having to fill out a stupid report for every spammer, having to then ignore them, having to then delete stupid emails that tell me nothing. That's a horrible system. You've taken something that's an annoyance, spam, and turned the act of fighting them into another annoyance. Hell, I'd be more then happy to act as a volunteer moderator muting spammers as soon as i see them. I'd enjoy shutting them up.

MasterSpatula was right - they should have someone who responds to the spam complaints in real time. It's really not that hard - you suddenly get a few dozen people ignore/reporting one person, you look at their recent chat and you nuke them.

And when you do report a spammer, it should save a copy of the message that was reported, and any other person repeating that messages gets nuked, or at least muted for review. That wont stop them, but it'll slow them down and make their work a little harder since they can't just set up 10 bots with the same message.

I don't know if or what they have been doing to fight the spammers, but it doesn't seem to be working too well. I've enjoyed ESO so far, but they get a huge F from me on their anti-spam features.

Tipsy

lordrichter wrote: »

This thread has reminded me that I have received no gold seller spam mail or guild invites today. Weeeee!

happy times indeed.
I think I only had to report 1 goldseller today.
Having such a clean and neat experience finally justifies the effort.Although a more direct way of reporting so you don't have to interrupt your experience,would be welcome.
I also don't need a mail or medal for every spammer I report.
Keeping them out will provide us with the undisturbed quality time
and the company with happy paying customers.

merk

Tipsy wrote: »

happy times indeed.
I think I only had to report 1 goldseller today.
Having such a clean and neat experience finally justifies the effort.Although a more direct way of reporting so you don't have to interrupt your experience,would be welcome.

You haven't been in a busy zone today have you? I reported at least half a dozen today - oh look, 2 more spam posts in chat as I am typing this.

I've only just started entering the 2nd zone, so I am hoping there will be less spammers there since it's a high level zone. But in the starter zones, it's crap.

Shanna

i found a level 3 with a nonsense name like "afghdfghj" hiding out in a reapers march tower. think it was one of them?

Elsonso

MasterSpatula wrote: »

You can't ban AFK bots and Gold Spammers in big batches every couple of weeks. That would be moronic. And applauding them for doing so would be insane. They have to be dealt with on-the-spot, in-the-moment. Anything less, and they've already gotten enough in the time they had to end up way ahead.

Based on the arrival of gold seller spam mail and guild invites, and the fact that I do not ignore these people, I would say that they do these bans daily.

Just for this evening I am watching the silly people in Zone and there are a few spammers in there, both gold and guild recruitment. The gold spammers are in there for about 15 minutes and then I start to see different names. I have no idea what the average time to live for these accounts might be, but it certainly seems short to me.

SeñorCinco

MasterSpatula wrote: »

Today's ban wave was about the duplication bug, not about gold-sellers.

You can't ban AFK bots and Gold Spammers in big batches every couple of weeks. That would be moronic. And applauding them for doing so would be insane. They have to be dealt with on-the-spot, in-the-moment. Anything less, and they've already gotten enough in the time they had to end up way ahead.

I only gave 1 [agree] because I couldn't give two.

I was pleasantly surprised to get zero mail from spammers, this evening.

Tipsy

haha they are eligible for bad name/harassment/spam most of the time.
Perhaps I was just lucky today...
But know that if you allow this to continue they besmirch your game ,ruin the experience for normal players ..

SeñorCinco

Shanna wrote: »

i found a level 3 with a nonsense name like "afghdfghj" hiding out in a reapers march tower. think it was one of them?

That's a good sign. However, if they were just hanging out then there's not a lot you can do and might get suspended for false reporting.

merk

Assuming that the ignore list is in order of when i reported them, I just removed the last 6 ignores in the list. I'll see if any of them repeat in chat

if they are banning them that quickly though, i really can't believe they make enough money to sign up for a new account every hour.

I wish ESO would actually give us some details about what they are doing - or at least some details on the effects of what they are doing. how many accounts are getting banned per hour/day? How many of the spammers are using stolen accounts vs buying the game?

merk

Ok - they aren't banning them that quickly. One of the guys I removed from my ignore list just spammed again.

edit: 2nd guy removed from the ignore list just spammed.

ZoM_Head

Forget the spammers, have you seen the bots? not only do bots spam, they run around teleporting to known locations and instantly harvest runes, ores, jutes and wood.

I actually made a video of one character teleporting from a rune stone to an iron ore and to jute and harvest them in seconds. A few minutes later, that exact same level 4 character came back and copies the exact same routine in the exact same fashion.

Now you know why, you get spammers selling 300 iron ingots, jutes and those rare rune stones. No wonder its hard to find the simple stuff after the starter islands.

Elsonso

One guy I reported about 30 mins ago was gone for a long time. He was probably just in a different phase, or zone, from me.

p.s. brings up an interesting idea. If they automatically moved reported players to their own chat instance and only other spammers were in that instance, they could spam each other all night long and no one would care and no one would get banned in error.

felixgamingx1

Me neither I just ignore them

qwertyburnsb16_ESO

I agree with the OP. Just got to the stage where reporting is too much hassle. Right click ignore is my only policy and may be downloading that anti-spam mod that some players have mentioned. Then I can just concentrate on playing the game instead.

There's been lots of spam today. Just much more at peak times I've noticed and in concentrated in the low level areas.

It's up to ZOS to keep us informed and tell us why we should continue reporting and suffer lots of spam mails from them that mean sweet FA. What are the results on board? Like how many bans they have done? Any websites blocked or taken down? Constant news blackout from ZOS.

merk

Elmojito1000eb17_ESO wrote: »

Forget the spammers, have you seen the bots? not only do bots spam, they run around teleporting to known locations and instantly harvest runes, ores, jutes and wood.

I actually made a video of one character teleporting from a rune stone to an iron ore and to jute and harvest them in seconds. A few minutes later, that exact same level 4 character came back and copies the exact same routine in the exact same fashion.

Now you know why, you get spammers selling 300 iron ingots, jutes and those rare rune stones. No wonder its hard to find the simple stuff after the starter islands.

So far I haven't noticed anyone doing this. How do you teleport to a specific location like a rune spawn spot anyhow? I did see 2 characters repeatedly attacking empty space where some named npc spawned - reported both of them. Thats the only bot's i've seen so far. Maybe i just haven't been sitting in the same spot long enough to notice someone doing that.

LadyChaos

apologies in advance, I read only first couple post:

spam happens:

1. I /report "Gold seller/spam"
2. I /ignore player
3. I get a thank you letter and am never bothered again by the same account.

I have come no where near close to reaching max /ignore.
I get 1 new spammer per 2-5 days max.
I don't understand the issues as an average player. I'm not trying to belittle the issue as gold sellers/spammers are plague on us all as MMOers... but I'm getting less spam than in other MMOs I have subs in for 3-10+ years... let alone a couple weeks.

I'm kinda feeling good that they are taking my time it takes to report them serious...