Gold Buyers?

Tweek · April 2014

I see many threads being made(and even responded to a few) about gold sellers who aren't really gold sellers being auto-banned. This is expected(new MMO) and fine and I know they will un-ban you guys.

My question is..if the suspected gold seller is auto banned(gold sellers, and spammers should be banned), then what of the gold buyers/suspected gold buyers....have there been any warnings? Any suspensions? Any Bans?

I take it you guys aren't as harsh on buyers considering they're not included in the auto ban process. Which is fine, as I believe gold buyers should be warned, then suspended, than banned for repeat offenses.

Civil Discussion Anyone?

thegamekittenub17_ESO · April 2014

Depends on the TOS. If the said gold buyers are disrupting the game for others (like causing tons of bots, spams, and etc) then a punishment should be held for those people. To some these gold sellers are griefing non buying players with spam mail, spam invite to gold selling guilds, taking over nods and bosses.

To what degree is always the question. If it was my game (and it is not) I would ban the buyers also. I would be just as hard on the buyer as the gold seller. I've seen gold sellers kill a good game/MMo in my gaming years.

But you have to look at this from the prospect of money also when it comes to budding MMOs, can they afford to ban the buyer? In the long run the gold sellers will crush a game if nothing is done and honest players will just move on to another game. But a fresh game can be hurt by banning paying customers.

It is a battle either way. But with this game having so many other issues, and now the constant battle for nods, bosses, and not being hammered by gold sellers in every form of the game..there are even more people saying screw it and moving on.

Tweek · April 2014

I agree, but disagree a bit...I posted this in another thread...

IMO they need to stop the gold sellers, as the buyers are people who help support the game, are more likely to buy silly things from the cash shop, and buyers don't disrupt the game by spamming the zone chat(which REALLY needs to stop btw).

thegamekittenub17_ESO · April 2014

-raises hand- I bought the horse from Cash Shop as did my fiancé. We paid for the limited edition imperial box (x 2) and also the Lore Books.

We have never bought in game gold from any gold spammer in any MMO. Never.

So this insults me a bit. I do support games I like and will spend stupid amounts of money on fluff (cosmetics stuff, mounts, mini pets, and etc) in games I like to support them.

So this doesn't apply to all us CS users.

Tweek · April 2014

thegamekittenub17_ESO wrote: »

-raises hand- I bought the horse from Cash Shop as did my fiancé. We paid for the limited edition imperial box (x 2) and also the Lore Books.

We have never bought in game gold from any gold spammer in any MMO. Never.

So this insults me a bit. I do support games I like and will spend stupid amounts of money on fluff (cosmetics stuff, mounts, mini pets, and etc) in games I like to support them.

So this doesn't apply to all us CS users.

I most definitely agree, sorry if the above insulted you, as I don't buy gold(although I have in MMO's before) and I bought the horse in the cash shop(lol I liked the way it looked). I was just making a general observation from what I have observed from within my circle of online friends/guild-mates.

KerinKor · April 2014

Tweek wrote: »

I take it you guys aren't as harsh on buyers considering they're not included in the auto ban process. Which is fine, as I believe gold buyers should be warned, then suspended, than banned for repeat offenses.

Totally disagree, BUYERS are the root cause so should be perma-banned at first offense, just like sellers .. without buyers there'd BE NO RMT!

But the MMO industry rarely ban buyers, in my experience only Turbine did very much of the in LOTRO, companies like Zenimax, Trion, etc. like the subs. buyers bring in, so I don't expect to see this here.

Kililin · April 2014

Imho gold buyers should be banned or at least be stripped of all mounts, inventory space and possessions, except a set of white armor and white weapons. Also set the account for review, repeated offense = perma ban.

You need to be hard on them, first they are cheating, second they *are* the reason for the gold spam. The goldsellers dont do it to annoy us, they do it because there is market for it.

Hyperventilate · April 2014

There were two fellas in The Rift chatting away in zone chat yesterday about how much money they purchased from gold sellers. One said that the website he buys from is touting 500k for 90 USD. Crazy.

I agree. Gold BUYERS are the issue. If people stop buying, sellers have to stop selling. Permaban first offense.

ETA: Buyers do not need to be "warned'. They know what they're doing is wrong, and if they don't, they're dumb enough to deserve the ban twicefold. Warning buyers is ridiculous.

Tweek · April 2014

KerinKor wrote: »

Tweek wrote: »

I take it you guys aren't as harsh on buyers considering they're not included in the auto ban process. Which is fine, as I believe gold buyers should be warned, then suspended, than banned for repeat offenses.

Totally disagree, BUYERS are the root cause so should be perma-banned at first offense, just like sellers .. without buyers there'd BE NO RMT!

But the MMO industry rarely ban buyers, in my experience only Turbine did very much of the in LOTRO, companies like Zenimax, Trion, etc. like the subs. buyers bring in, so I don't expect to see this here.

Yeah I basically agree with this here, IMO they need/want the money gold buyers bring in as I said above.

Tweek · April 2014

Hyperventilate wrote: »

There were two fellas in The Rift chatting away in zone chat yesterday about how much money they purchased from gold sellers. One said that the website he buys from is touting 500k for 90 USD. Crazy.

I agree. Gold BUYERS are the issue. If people stop buying, sellers have to stop selling. Permaban first offense.

I don't think that is a good idea, as I have friends that have admitted to buying gold to me personally and if they were perma banned...I would quit along with most of my guildies. Since we would no longer be able to play together.

robert · April 2014

Gold buyers or sellers are the same blight. Ban 'em.

Ironclap · April 2014

First time, remove every items they have in inventory and bank, reset levels to 1 on all characters. Second time permanent ban.

thegamekittenub17_ESO · April 2014

I do not even want to think about what I spent in WoW, Tera, and GW1. Especially Tera ( We paid a sub even when it was F2P, plus CS).

Now if they had a GM in game or make that GMs it could be a little different, but you have to look at it from the non buyers eyes, you know wear their shoes for a mile old saying.

You play by the rules and you are hounded in mail, invites from gold spammers guilds, bots, and boss campers..You can not enjoy all aspects of the game because these lil dandies are just running around everywhere disrupting the play of the game. Then you ask why? Because somewhere in this game people are buying gold and/or power leveling. So, you have to see the why these gold spammers are here. And just leads to the buyers.

So, if no one buys, these gold spammers would eventually move on. They aren't playing for fun that's for sure and if they aren't making money...they aren't going to stick around.

Hyperventilate · April 2014

Tweek wrote: »

Hyperventilate wrote: »

There were two fellas in The Rift chatting away in zone chat yesterday about how much money they purchased from gold sellers. One said that the website he buys from is touting 500k for 90 USD. Crazy.

I agree. Gold BUYERS are the issue. If people stop buying, sellers have to stop selling. Permaban first offense.

I don't think that is a good idea, as I have friends that have admitted to buying gold to me personally and if they were perma banned...I would quit along with most of my guildies. Since we would no longer be able to play together.

That's the risk you take when you deal with gold buyers.

If ESO were to lose a handful of people because they thought it was a fantastic idea to, wait for it, buy gold... ... I'd say we weren't losing the good part of the community.

flameweaver · April 2014

Buyers don't need to banned, just have the gold they bought removed from their inventory. They'll soon learn

Tweek · April 2014

Ironclap wrote: »

First time, remove every items they have in inventory and bank, reset levels to 1 on all characters. Second time permanent ban.

Nah the levels are earned..I say strip the inventory away...strip all gold away...strip the bank away..give white level items....and maybe some public shaming lol

flameweaver wrote: »

Buyers don't need to banned, just have the gold they bought removed from their inventory. They'll soon learn

I like this idea alot better, seems more appropriate.

Kililin · April 2014

If we suppose that zenimax does not ban buyers because they dont want to lose money/subs.

The second best option is a ingame tradeable gametime card, ala Eves PLEX.
While this does not stop goldsellers, it is a legit alternative and damages the gold seller market.

But whatever zenimax does, they need to do it fast. This is really hurting the game, from game experience to economy. A few bans every month wont suffice.

Tweek · April 2014

Kililin wrote: »

If we suppose that zenimax does not ban buyers because they dont want to lose money/subs.

The second best option is a ingame tradeable gametime card, ala Eves PLEX.
While this does not stop goldsellers, it is a legit alternative and damages the gold seller market.

But whatever zenimax does, they need to do it fast. This is really hurting the game, from game experience to economy. A few bans every month wont suffice.

Reason I posted this thread...I CANNOT STAND the gold SPAM anymore in my zone chat.

thegamekittenub17_ESO · April 2014

They have to make a decision of what they want to keep in the long run. Bots, bot boss campers, guild invites from gold sellers, and gold spammers complaints are coming in more and more on the support forums.

Do they want to lose a mass amount of players due to this issue or do they want to lose maybe two handfuls as of right now?

Either way gold sellers and buyers are breaking the Tos if there is even a mention of griefing, harassment, and/or disrupting a player from enjoying the rights to the game and being able to play.

I don't buy gold, so I have zero tolerance to those that do and make the game less enjoyable due to those that do buy and cause gold sellers to flock to the game in herds with their bots, guilds, and spam (mail and chat).

Tweek · April 2014

thegamekittenub17_ESO wrote: »

They have to make a decision of what they want to keep in the long run. Bots, bot boss campers, guild invites from gold sellers, and gold spammers complaints are coming in more and more on the support forums.

Do they want to lose a mass amount of players due to this issue or do they want to lose maybe two handfuls as of right now?

Either way gold sellers and buyers are breaking the Tos if there is even a mention of griefing, harassment, and/or disrupting a player from enjoying the rights to the game and being able to play.

I don't buy gold, so I have zero tolerance to those that do and make the game less enjoyable due to those that do buy and cause gold sellers to flock to the game in herds with their bots, guilds, and spam (mail and chat).

This all depends on the amount(percentage) of the player base buying the gold...seems to me that there is an awful lot that are since this is going on. Believe me I am in a few guilds and know some people I talk to over skype and you would be surprised the amount of people that buy and sell gold to each other and buy off these gold spammer sites.

AlliN · April 2014

Thing is, what should be done is not what will be done.

I think they wait for the first subs to roll in. I guess they hope that with first sub, most gold sellers will be gone (nottice they use old WoW websites, and did not create new ones). It's possible, that they want to capitalize on the first month on stolen card purchase, and later on won't be able to set up a sub, becasue card will be blocked already. I think that's what Zen hopes for.

On the matter of gold BUYERS, they should be banned, just to learn a lesson, at least some. Gold buying, cheats, powerleveling services, explots, bots - that's all cancer of gaming and there should be as little tolerance for it as possible.

Buy, you know, money. Sweet sweet money. Makes devs be very, let say, tolerant.

Apart from what they say, they don't expect to last longer on sub than a year, so the more accounts they sell, the better. Sounds awful, but we live in awful world.

Etchesketch · April 2014

ROFLOL

They can't ban gold buyers. If they can't stop the spam from gold sellers, many players see that constant spam and think it must be fine with Zenimax. Or more to the point, never consider whether it's a problem in the first place.

The Vast, and I say again VAST majority of players in a game never come to forums. They just buy the game and play a few hours a week.

If they want to punish paying customers for buying gold, which isn't doing anything to anyone else, no farming, not botting, no nothing.. they would have to come up with a huge launcher and game log in message telling players that the gold spam is THEIR (zenimax) fault and that they are powerless to stop it, but hey, if you buy gold we will ban you.

Good luck with that.

Tweek · April 2014

AlliN wrote: »

Thing is, what should be done is not what will be done.

I think they wait for the first subs to roll in. I guess they hope that with first sub, most gold sellers will be gone (nottice they use old WoW websites, and did not create new ones). It's possible, that they want to capitalize on the first month on stolen card purchase, and later on won't be able to set up a sub, becasue card will be blocked already. I think that's what Zen hopes for.

On the matter of gold BUYERS, they should be banned, just to learn a lesson, at least some. Gold buying, cheats, powerleveling services, explots, bots - that's all cancer of gaming and there should be as little tolerance for it as possible.

Buy, you know, money. Sweet sweet money. Makes devs be very, let say, tolerant.

Apart from what they say, they don't expect to last longer on sub than a year, so the more accounts they sell, the better. Sounds awful, but we live in awful world.

1. Not necessarily, and how would some be banned...and others not? Who detrimines this?

My biggest problem here is gold buyers are players too....they don't spam zone chat...they don't use "speed hacks"...they just buy gold.

2. Compared to what other world? Is there some other non-awful world to which you could derive this rather negative opinion?

thegamekittenub17_ESO · April 2014

I would not be shocked. But still I have no tolerance for those that cause grief to others because they want in game gold NOW, instead of working for it. If it is the mount, they could easily buy the gold horse in CS with real money. I understand the game is just silly with their high gold cost in bank slots, bag slots, and better horses. Trust me I am level 20 and can't buy the 17k horse because I don't have the gold due to feeding two horses daily and trying to keep my bank and bags upgraded.

But still I do not buy from any gold seller. I will not feed one of the greater problems of this newly born MMO (not the only problem but a very fast growing one that is killing this just as much as broken quests, and etc).

Just saying...cause I seriously want the game to succeed. I love it. I do not want to resub when WoW's new expansion comes out. But I will if ESO continues slide downwards in such a frenzy pace and this includes gold sellers ruining the game in a lot of aspects such as, spamming mail and guild invites, masses of bots running everywhere and destroying the economy.

Tweek · April 2014

thegamekittenub17_ESO wrote: »

I would not be shocked. But still I have no tolerance for those that cause grief to others because they want in game gold NOW, instead of working for it. If it is the mount, they could easily buy the gold horse in CS with real money. I understand the game is just silly with their high gold cost in bank slots, bag slots, and better horses. Trust me I am level 20 and can't buy the 17k horse because I don't have the gold due to feeding two horses daily and trying to keep my bank and bags upgraded.

But still I do not buy from any gold seller. I will not feed one of the greater problems of this newly born MMO (not the only problem but a very fast growing one that is killing this just as much as broken quests, and etc).

Just saying...cause I seriously want the game to succeed. I love it. I do not want to resub when WoW's new expansion comes out. But I will if ESO continues slide downwards in such a frenzy pace and this includes gold sellers ruining the game in a lot of aspects such as, spamming mail and guild invites, masses of bots running everywhere and destroying the economy.

There's gold sellers in WoW as well....and the buyers aren't banned ever, however they don't spam zone chat anymore...which is rather nice. Not that I have played WoW in a while.

crowfl56 · April 2014

Ban the Buyers, easy, its the buyers that are the bigger problem. No buyers no sellers

Tweek · April 2014

Etchesketch wrote: »

ROFLOL

They can't ban gold buyers. If they can't stop the spam from gold sellers, many players see that constant spam and think it must be fine with Zenimax. Or more to the point, never consider whether it's a problem in the first place.

The Vast, and I say again VAST majority of players in a game never come to forums. They just buy the game and play a few hours a week.

If they want to punish paying customers for buying gold, which isn't doing anything to anyone else, no farming, not botting, no nothing.. they would have to come up with a huge launcher and game log in message telling players that the gold spam is THEIR (zenimax) fault and that they are powerless to stop it, but hey, if you buy gold we will ban you.

Good luck with that.

Yeah this basically.

Tweek · April 2014

crowfl56 wrote: »

Ban the Buyers, easy, its the buyers that are the bigger problem. No buyers no sellers

You're crazy broski...it's the sellers that spam my zone chat, and send me guild invites, bot in game, cheat, etc...not buyers.

Etchesketch · April 2014

Get rid of gold spam, easy. Just offer the gold in the online store.

I couldn't care less if people want to pay extra so they can buy a horse or whatever. Doesn't affect me.

The constant spam does.

thegamekittenub17_ESO · April 2014

They aren't destroying the ecomony (Vets on the other hand..lol). But still saying in the nicest way. I play games to enjoy. And if playing a game becomes a hassle because of gold sellers. I'll move on. And to keep on topic. If there are no buyers, there are no gold sellers.

So I stand by every post I posted in this discussion.

starkerealm · April 2014

Hyperventilate wrote: »

There were two fellas in The Rift chatting away in zone chat yesterday about how much money they purchased from gold sellers. One said that the website he buys from is touting 500k for 90 USD. Crazy.

I agree. Gold BUYERS are the issue. If people stop buying, sellers have to stop selling. Permaban first offense.

ETA: Buyers do not need to be "warned'. They know what they're doing is wrong, and if they don't, they're dumb enough to deserve the ban twicefold. Warning buyers is ridiculous.

I seriously hope you reported them. There have already been reports on these forums of people having their gold balance zeroed because they claimed they were gold buyers.