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can u guys ban this gold spammer sending mail spam

theimp
theimp
i just wanted to report lxdeaslickyi is his login name. hes sending gold mail spam. he sent it to me and some of my friends. can youguys look for your self at the mail hes sending. its annoying and thank you.
  • Shanna
    Shanna
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    what was the deal where I wasn't even able to locate the name of the spammer in order to block him? are they doing something on purpose to make that a non-option?
    This is all part of the game.
  • ZOS_AlexD
    ZOS_AlexD
    ✭✭✭
    Thank you for your report. We want you to know that we take keeping The Elder Scrolls Online an environment free of gold-seller spam very seriously, and we appreciate all the reports players have sent in. We are actively banning gold-seller accounts, and will continue to ramp up our efforts to keep them out of ESO. If you see gold-sellers spamming chat, please continue to report them to us in-game by right-clicking on their name and selecting "Report Player."
    The Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited - ZeniMax Online Studios
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    Staff Post
  • taze222b14_ESO
    taze222b14_ESO
    ✭✭✭
    ZOS_AlexD wrote: »
    Thank you for your report. We want you to know that we take keeping The Elder Scrolls Online an environment free of gold-seller spam very seriously, and we appreciate all the reports players have sent in. We are actively banning gold-seller accounts, and will continue to ramp up our efforts to keep them out of ESO. If you see gold-sellers spamming chat, please continue to report them to us in-game by right-clicking on their name and selecting "Report Player."

    But the overwhelming amount of tickets doesn't exactly help with the amount of bug feedback tickets you know?
  • Saerydoth
    Saerydoth
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    ZOS_AlexD wrote: »
    Thank you for your report. We want you to know that we take keeping The Elder Scrolls Online an environment free of gold-seller spam very seriously, and we appreciate all the reports players have sent in. We are actively banning gold-seller accounts, and will continue to ramp up our efforts to keep them out of ESO. If you see gold-sellers spamming chat, please continue to report them to us in-game by right-clicking on their name and selecting "Report Player."

    Has a simpler method of reporting these been considered? Right now, to open a ticket on these require right click - report player, then select spam from the drop down, type something like "gold spam" in the box, and then submit.

    It would be MUCH easier on the players to do something similar to what another MMO does (not naming names), where you can just right click - report spam, and you're done. No other windows or anything. This makes for MUCH easier reporting. I know some people that aren't bothering to report these because of the hassle of filling out a ticket each time.
    Edited by Saerydoth on April 8, 2014 12:54AM
  • Requielle
    Requielle
    ✭✭✭
    Bug reports and naughty player reports probably go to different folks. I don't think reporting gold sellers will keep the devs from coding bug fixes.
  • Etchesketch
    Etchesketch
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    LoL at the official response to the gold sellers. It's the same canned message received in EVERY game I've ever played online. They have no way to stop these guys. They just keep on going, forever.

    It never stops.... never stops.... never stops....
    The number one rule of online gaming is now and has always been, Never play on Patch Day.
  • Saerydoth
    Saerydoth
    ✭✭✭✭
    LoL at the official response to the gold sellers. It's the same canned message received in EVERY game I've ever played online. They have no way to stop these guys. They just keep on going, forever.

    It never stops.... never stops.... never stops....

    It doesn't...but a very easy method of reporting them (right click - report spam) can be combined with addons to make the process virtually transparent. At most, you get a popup saying "do you want to report this?" along with a sample of the text so you can see if it is gold spam. Depending on the implementation, it can be entirely automated by an addon. (See BadBoy for WOW)

    We have a very good addon for this in ESO already (Spamfilter), but it currently can't do the actual reporting. It can only add to your ignore list. With a right click - report spam option, that addon could be extended to report & ignore in one stroke, and even squelch the text from your chat box so you never see it.

    The reason I like keeping the bulk of this functionality in an addon rather than the game itself is because addons can be VERY easily and quickly updated. Gold sellers adjust their tactics quickly to get by filters. If the filters are in the game, we have to wait for Zenimax to issue a patch. If they are in an addon, no problem. Addons can be updated 10 times/day if necessary and Curse Client is great at keeping current.
    Edited by Saerydoth on April 8, 2014 1:01AM
  • Etchesketch
    Etchesketch
    ✭✭✭✭
    Saerydoth wrote: »
    LoL at the official response to the gold sellers. It's the same canned message received in EVERY game I've ever played online. They have no way to stop these guys. They just keep on going, forever.

    It never stops.... never stops.... never stops....

    It doesn't...but a very easy method of reporting them (right click - report spam) can be combined with addons to make the process virtually transparent. At most, you get a popup saying "do you want to report this?" along with a sample of the text so you can see if it is gold spam. Depending on the implementation, it can be entirely automated by an addon. (See BadBoy for WOW)

    We have a very good addon for this in ESO already (Spamfilter), but it currently can't do the actual reporting. It can only add to your ignore list. With a right click - report spam option, that addon could be extended to report & ignore in one stroke, and even squelch the text from your chat box so you never see it.

    The reason I like keeping the bulk of this functionality in an addon rather than the game itself is because addons can be VERY easily and quickly updated. Gold sellers adjust their tactics quickly to get by filters. If the filters are in the game, we have to wait for Zenimax to issue a patch. If they are in an addon, no problem. Addons can be updated 10 times/day if necessary and Curse Client is great at keeping current.

    Yeah, filter add ons are the only real way to go if the spam bothers you. I just don't pay attention to them if they creep past.

    Come back here in six months and assuming they get billing and bugs to at least a manageable level, gold spam will still be the number one complaint and will still be getting the same response from the company mouth posters.

    My problem isn't with people that complain about it, it's with the company pretending to do anything real about it. These companies could stop this practice cold if they really wanted to.
    Edited by Etchesketch on April 8, 2014 1:07AM
    The number one rule of online gaming is now and has always been, Never play on Patch Day.
  • Saerydoth
    Saerydoth
    ✭✭✭✭
    Saerydoth wrote: »
    LoL at the official response to the gold sellers. It's the same canned message received in EVERY game I've ever played online. They have no way to stop these guys. They just keep on going, forever.

    It never stops.... never stops.... never stops....

    It doesn't...but a very easy method of reporting them (right click - report spam) can be combined with addons to make the process virtually transparent. At most, you get a popup saying "do you want to report this?" along with a sample of the text so you can see if it is gold spam. Depending on the implementation, it can be entirely automated by an addon. (See BadBoy for WOW)

    We have a very good addon for this in ESO already (Spamfilter), but it currently can't do the actual reporting. It can only add to your ignore list. With a right click - report spam option, that addon could be extended to report & ignore in one stroke, and even squelch the text from your chat box so you never see it.

    The reason I like keeping the bulk of this functionality in an addon rather than the game itself is because addons can be VERY easily and quickly updated. Gold sellers adjust their tactics quickly to get by filters. If the filters are in the game, we have to wait for Zenimax to issue a patch. If they are in an addon, no problem. Addons can be updated 10 times/day if necessary and Curse Client is great at keeping current.

    Yeah, filter add ons are the only real way to go if the spam bothers you. I just don't pay attention to them if they creep past.

    Come back here in six months and assuming they get billing and bugs to at least a manageable level, gold spam will still be the number one complaint and will still be getting the same response from the company mouth posters.

    Because there really isn't anything they can do about it, other than ban the accounts after the fact. The gold spam is a multi-billion dollar/year business, run by worldwide organized crime rings. A main focus of their business is money laundering, which they do by using virtual currency as an intermediary. That, and getting free money for nothing from their "customers" (sold gold is stolen from hacked accounts), not to mention credit card numbers that are henceforth used for fraud, it's win/win for them.

    Also the vast majority of the spam comes from *hacked accounts*. The gold sellers do not waste money buying their own accounts to spam on, they simply steal them. They compromise accounts, strip them, sell what they can, and then use the account to bot and spam before it's banned. Often with the legitimate owner unaware. They get the account details to steal accounts from a combination of malware and social engineering (phishing emails, fake websites, fake messages in game, etc). The current "gold selling" sites that are being spammed are just a form of social engineering designed to steal accounts (they don't actually have much gold to sell yet since everyone just started playing, there's not much to steal).
    Edited by Saerydoth on April 8, 2014 1:10AM
  • Etchesketch
    Etchesketch
    ✭✭✭✭
    Saerydoth wrote: »
    Saerydoth wrote: »
    LoL at the official response to the gold sellers. It's the same canned message received in EVERY game I've ever played online. They have no way to stop these guys. They just keep on going, forever.

    It never stops.... never stops.... never stops....

    It doesn't...but a very easy method of reporting them (right click - report spam) can be combined with addons to make the process virtually transparent. At most, you get a popup saying "do you want to report this?" along with a sample of the text so you can see if it is gold spam. Depending on the implementation, it can be entirely automated by an addon. (See BadBoy for WOW)

    We have a very good addon for this in ESO already (Spamfilter), but it currently can't do the actual reporting. It can only add to your ignore list. With a right click - report spam option, that addon could be extended to report & ignore in one stroke, and even squelch the text from your chat box so you never see it.

    The reason I like keeping the bulk of this functionality in an addon rather than the game itself is because addons can be VERY easily and quickly updated. Gold sellers adjust their tactics quickly to get by filters. If the filters are in the game, we have to wait for Zenimax to issue a patch. If they are in an addon, no problem. Addons can be updated 10 times/day if necessary and Curse Client is great at keeping current.

    Yeah, filter add ons are the only real way to go if the spam bothers you. I just don't pay attention to them if they creep past.

    Come back here in six months and assuming they get billing and bugs to at least a manageable level, gold spam will still be the number one complaint and will still be getting the same response from the company mouth posters.

    Because there really isn't anything they can do about it, other than ban the accounts after the fact. The gold spam is a multi-billion dollar/year business, run by worldwide organized crime rings. A main focus of their business is money laundering, which they do by using virtual currency as an intermediary. That, and getting free money for nothing from their "customers" (sold gold is stolen from hacked accounts), not to mention credit card numbers that are henceforth used for fraud, it's win/win for them.

    Also the vast majority of the spam comes from *hacked accounts*. The gold sellers do not waste money buying their own accounts to spam on, they simply steal them. They compromise accounts, strip them, sell what they can, and then use the account to bot and spam before it's banned. Often with the legitimate owner unaware. They get the account details to steal accounts from a combination of malware and social engineering (phishing emails, fake websites, fake messages in game, etc). The current "gold selling" sites that are being spammed are just a form of social engineering designed to steal accounts (they don't actually have much gold to sell yet since everyone just started playing, there's not much to steal).

    truth

    That's why nothing is ever done. To stop this they would have to actually do some real thinking and programming, involving the way the economy in these games are handled. How gold is earned and farmed. How tradable equipment and mats are obtained in the first place.

    Unfortunately some sort of "earn it yourself" type of major change would have to be implemented and that's just never going to happen. Got to give blizzard props for trying... with their whole pvp participation points required to buy high level stuff, or quest exp tokens. That's a start but it still hasn't slowed them dang gold farmers at all. Not even for a minute.

    The number one rule of online gaming is now and has always been, Never play on Patch Day.
  • Saerydoth
    Saerydoth
    ✭✭✭✭
    Yeah. :\ The ONLY way to get rid of gold spammers entirely, would be to completely remove trading from the game. Make absoutely every item (and gold) account bound and impossible to trade.

    I think we can agree that would be BAD for the game and wouldn't ever happen. It would be throwing the baby out with the bath water.
  • Etchesketch
    Etchesketch
    ✭✭✭✭
    Saerydoth wrote: »
    I think we can agree that would be BAD for the game and wouldn't ever happen. It would be throwing the baby out with the bath water.


    That's why I said it will never happen and why as I keep saying, just ignore (and I mean in your brain) the spam and move along with your game.

    It will NEVER stop, NEVER stop, NEVER stop.
    The number one rule of online gaming is now and has always been, Never play on Patch Day.
  • RagePlug
    RagePlug
    ✭✭
    What? there are other people able to play?
  • Etchesketch
    Etchesketch
    ✭✭✭✭
    RagePlug wrote: »
    What? there are other people able to play?


    lol that's a good point... the gold sellers have no problem loggin in..
    The number one rule of online gaming is now and has always been, Never play on Patch Day.
  • spidertech
    Now I'm getting gold spam mail to my inbox. I have been using a spam filter add-on, but I had two messages from gold spammers when I logged in today.

  • michaelpatrickjonesnub18_ESO
    spidertech wrote: »

    Now I'm getting gold spam mail to my inbox.

    I had two messages from gold spammers when I logged in today.

    Yes, as of today, they started sending messages right into the inbox.

    Problem is getting worse.
  • spidertech
    @egsdg2301
    spidertech wrote: »

    Now I'm getting gold spam mail to my inbox.

    I had two messages from gold spammers when I logged in today.

    Yes, as of today, they started sending messages right into the inbox.

    Problem is getting worse.
    had two more messages yesterday and two more today...
  • antmck2011rwb17_ESO
    I've been getting spam in by inbox for over a week now and every single day I report it. I am sick of it! Does anyone actually buy from these people??? Why are they wasting everybody's time???
  • meglon978ub17_ESO
    meglon978ub17_ESO
    ✭✭✭
    Here's a suggestion:

    Recruit a cadre of volunteers, and give them tracking/recording tools. As they play, when they see a gold seller start spamming, they track/record the event for proof, then can suspend that user account.... log the proof, then you ban these gold sellers.

    This should also be done with location tracking so that if they see these bot resource harvesters teleporting between nodes and farming them, those too can be immediately suspended, again, with the proof of activity sent in to verify.

    Gold sellers keep coming back because their $60 gives them XX amount of time to advertise. The quicker those accounts are disabled, the less advertising, the more money they have to spend to do the same amount of business.

    With those simple tools, every account suspended would have a proof of abuse logged, and could be banned after that's confirmed by someone higher up the chain with the power to actually ban.
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