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Updates to Anti-Fraud Measures

nitocris83nitocris83 Member, Cryptic Developer, Administrator Posts: 4,495 Cryptic Developer
edited February 2019 in News & Announcements
In order to further reduce the impact of fraud and gold-seller behavior on game economies, we are refining detection systems that are currently in place in both Neverwinter and Star Trek Online. These systems identified potential problem cases and permanently bound tradeable items to the player account. For instance, if a lockbox key or a package with a collection of items was purchased, all contents of these items would also become account bound.

To improve the player experience, we are implementing a change so that such binding will no longer be permanent. Instead, these items will be bound to account for a limited duration, shown by a countdown timer. After this, the items will become tradeable. If you do not see the countdown timer, the item is permanently bound to account by design. You can tell if an item has this timer in the Neverwinter UI as per the images below:


This update will be implemented across all platforms for both Neverwinter and Star Trek Online. We plan to adjust the sensitivity of the system over time to minimize the impact on our legitimate customers. We welcome your feedback and appreciate your patience in this matter.

*Note: Previous images displaying Enchanted Keys were for messaging example purposes only - Enchanted Keys will always remain bound. Images have been updated for clarity.
Post edited by nitocris83 on
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Comments

  • silvershard#4275 silvershard Member Posts: 95 Arc User
    arcanjo86 said:

    @nitocris83 the timer might need to be reduced because of mass opening lockboxes and drops from it can lead to a overflow of inventory space

    This was my first thought.

    You create the potential to hamper your whales if they can't offload as they go.

    Personally, I couldn't care less. I don't get enough good drops to worry about selling stuff, and mot of my loot gets converted for RP, if I do get something I can wait and waiting will soon/eventually become normal.
    And I don't commit fraud so I don't anticipate being locked permanently.

    This is my second thought...
    Question.
    If I get say, (as per the example above) a R7 Bonding Runestone, and I already have 3, will the new one stack separately, or will it join the existing stack and cause that entire stack to be time locked, or will the stack be immediately unlocked?
    Or am I completely misunderstanding?
  • ecrana#2080 ecrana Member Posts: 1,654 Arc User


    If I get say, (as per the example above) a R7 Bonding Runestone, and I already have 3, will the new one stack separately, or will it join the existing stack and cause that entire stack to be time locked, or will the stack be immediately unlocked?
    Or am I completely misunderstanding?

    This is a very valid question and I anticipate the answer will be one no player likes.
  • thefiresidecatthefiresidecat Member Posts: 4,486 Arc User
    I don't think this effects every key purchase just the ones identified as dodgy by the system. New players steam purchases.whatever else flags this sort of thing. In the past it was binding permanently so if that was not effecting you before it will probably continue to not effect you
  • mdarkangel#4696 mdarkangel Member Posts: 442 Arc User
    At this moment I don't have a problem with it, if it gets rid of the third-party sites constantly posting in PE zone chat.
  • john#8455 john Member Posts: 27 Arc User
    If you have 3 unbound bonding stones and get a temp bound stone why would it stack with your unbound? They wouldn't stack currently.
  • silvershard#4275 silvershard Member Posts: 95 Arc User

    If you have 3 unbound bonding stones and get a temp bound stone why would it stack with your unbound? They wouldn't stack currently.

    No, but this is new code, and in 7 days, or whatever, that temporary status will change, so I assume the item's default state is Unbound, with a temporary flag on it set to a timer.
    I'm asking if that has been taken into account during the design of the temporary flag code.

    It may well be that they are creating a whole new set of items with timers attached, which will all disappear and be replaced with the old ones when the timer runs down. In which case, of course, they will stack separately and the creation of the new one will add it to any existing stack in the normal manner.
  • thefiresidecatthefiresidecat Member Posts: 4,486 Arc User
    I think if this did not effect you before it will not effect you now
  • silvershard#4275 silvershard Member Posts: 95 Arc User
    Agreed, as long as it glitch free it's no big deal.

    If there are any glitch issues with stuff not converting to Unbound when the timer runs down, for instance, people will rightly be annoyed.

    Something that deals with an issue so directly linked to cash spending has to be damn near perfect first time, every time.
    It's not going to be one of those "Oh, we can live with it till they get round to fixing it." issues like Alchemy progression on a double Professions event in the old system.

    Likewise whatever they are using to identify the naughty boys and girls needs to be very good at it's job. False positives will need to be VERY quickly and accurately dealt with.
    It won't be the sort of thing people will forgive and forget in a hurry otherwise.
  • ghoulz66ghoulz66 Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 3,748 Arc User

    I think if this did not effect you before it will not effect you now

    Don't most people just wait for prices to come down anyway?
  • frogwalloper#6494 frogwalloper Member Posts: 821 Arc User

    ...This new deal where they are binding everything to account forces the non cash spending players to spend money to be able to advance in the game...

    I thought the whole point of implementing this was to ensure certain items don't become permanently bound.
    This has to be one of the least cash-grabby f2p games I know of.
  • liambradshaw#2102 liambradshaw Member Posts: 52 Arc User
    edited February 2019
    Maybe I'm being dumb but does this mean if I buy say a comp with zen off the Zen exchange with the intent of selling it for more AD that i payed for it. Will that comp now become account bound for 7 days before I can sell it?
  • arcanjo86arcanjo86 Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 1,093 Arc User

    Maybe I'm being dumb but does this mean if I buy say a comp with zen off the Zen exchange with the intent of selling it for more AD that i payed for it. Will that comp now become account bound for 7 days before I can sell it?

    its for Zen charge through steam using real money, players were exploiting the refund time to claim the zen was not received after they used all zen buying ad or buying items from zen store and send it to a different account.
  • kemnimtarkaskemnimtarkas Member Posts: 838 Arc User
    Will any of this stop the creepy 'ghost teams' running in leveling dungeons?

    I call them ghost teams - whatever you want to call them - the two other 'players' in the 3 man dungeon following along behind my alt in lock step to each other.

    It's honestly one of the weirdest aspects of the current game for me - creepier than anything designed into the game.
  • kreatyvekreatyve Member, Neverwinter Moderator, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 10,545 Community Moderator
    I think many players have misunderstood exactly what this change is and who it effects.

    Without going into specific details that I'm not privy to, I'm pretty sure it will only have an effect on people who are purchasing Zen through methods that they do not usually purchase it, such as through Steam when they usually use the Arc app, or with a new credit card. Basically the same thing that put your account on probation for the past 4 years, will probably continue to do so, but with a nice quality of life update. Previously, if you bought things while on probation due to purchases, those items would be permanently bound to your account. Now after that update, they will only be temporarily bound. This is a GOOD and welcome change, which still will not have any effect at all on the majority of the player base.
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  • pitmonster#5684 pitmonster Member Posts: 537 Arc User
    edited March 2019
    Ok, so a timer for purchased stuff. I am not against this, would like to see the same thing on most stuff that is BtC or BtA.


    https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/neverwinter/news/detail/11102103
    Post edited by kreatyve on
  • plasticbatplasticbat Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 12,183 Arc User
    edited March 2019
    I assume it is to ease innocent new player who purchases Zen through Steam.
    i.e. they bought Zen through Steam and then (unlike regular player) whatever they bought from Zen store (in their early game life) became bound forever,
    Now, these stuff can be unbound after 7 days (assuming that is the time it takes Steam to clear the payment to Cryptic).
    *** The game can read your mind. If you want it, you won't get it. If you don't expect to get it, you will. ***
  • albercik1993albercik1993 Member Posts: 1 Arc User
    so when can I change zen to ad? after 7 days from the purchase? .
  • akuvar#2397 akuvar Member Posts: 7 Arc User
    So, when I purchase Zen through Microsoft, I get a warning saying my purchase is non-refundable. Why is Steam so broken that people can purchase something and then get their money back? That seems to be the problem, not a really good reason to go binding my gear. I'm perplexed constantly in the game on how much stuff is bound and is unsellable. People on this post are whining about this new rule being a money grab, as far as I'm concerned the money grab happened a long time ago with every ring I find in T9 bound to my account.
  • reg1981reg1981 Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 1,435 Arc User
    edited March 2019
    Well I spent 5000 zen today and nothing was flagged. So my thoughts are this doesn't effect me as a legit player.

    @akuvar#2397 - Neither are broken but the issue with steam is they don't pay cryptic immediatly, it's like a weekly batch payment or something like that. This gives frauders the chance to stop payment on the credit card and cryptic doesn't know for several days. Buying though other places pays directly and if there is a chargeback it's caught right away.
  • phoenixc#0738 phoenixc Member Posts: 1 Arc User
    > @adinosii said:
    > the only thing you have done is hurt legitimate players by making us wait 7 days sellers are in no hurry can afford to hold onto stuff they are selling
    >
    > Just buy Zen directly, instead of going through Steam - then the problem does not arise in the first place, right ?

    Some people play a number of games and prefer to keep the gaming budget in their steam wallet before they decide which game and items they want to spend it on. Also that keeps one's credit card numbers in one place instead of a number of different game company's systems at once, which reduces its footprint and the risk of a hacker getting the number (unless of course they happen to target steam instead of a game company), though it costs the player some extra hassle to make the exchange compared to a direct zen buy via ARC.

    Anyway, this new rule is a relaxation of a penalty that could be applied by mistake so it is a good thing not a bad one.
  • syndicatearcsyndicatearc Member Posts: 3 Arc User
    > @caarage#7309 said:
    > If you have 3 unbound bonding stones and get a temp bound stone why would it stack with your unbound? They wouldn't stack currently.

    I’m guessing they are going to use existing effects to implement this. If they use timers and temporary item rules found on other stuff scattered around the world like the timers on temporary masks and a few other things that stack.

    The stack shows the time left on the next one to disappear. (Or in this case unlock)

    It leaves the locked pile and starts a new pile of normal items, or then merges with existing items.

    So if you have a stack of 100 gems and get a locked one, you have a stack of 100 and a stack of 1 (with a timer). At times end you have a stack of 101.

    If you have 1locked items it will be 1 stack with (1day) shown then if you get another with a 7day lock it will say 2 (1day) gems, the lowest timer. Until that gem becomes normal in 1 day then the other will say (6days)

    Again this is just based on timed and temporary things already found in the game.
    It may be different, but i don’t know why they would change it up.
  • neverburnaclown#3112 neverburnaclown Member Posts: 158 Arc User
    edited May 2019
    Is this why when i’m posting items one at a time on the ah, i keep getting a red warning message of ‘your item couldn’t be posted and has been returned to your bag’?

    Because thats annoying. I want to put up my 13 potency marks from my boxes as fast as i can because i have other things to do.

    Or is this an unrelated issue? Still annoying.

    Only since patch may 7 (well, it used to happen and seems to be again for me):

    https://www.arcgames.com/en/forums/neverwinter#/discussion/1243496/unable-to-post-on-tradehouse
  • skizz#4564 skizz Member Posts: 12 Arc User
    Wow this is amazing
  • terminaloneterminalone Member Posts: 8 Arc User
    reg1981 said:

    Well I spent 5000 zen today and nothing was flagged. So my thoughts are this doesn't effect me as a legit player.

    @akuvar#2397 - Neither are broken but the issue with steam is they don't pay cryptic immediatly, it's like a weekly batch payment or something like that. This gives frauders the chance to stop payment on the credit card and cryptic doesn't know for several days. Buying though other places pays directly and if there is a chargeback it's caught right away.

    I believe it's only when you PURCHASE Zen with IRL money, not when you buy it with in game currency. I'm a legit player as well. I bought a Hero of the North Founders pack (the 199 one) the week they became available in order to support the company because I had high hopes for the game. I end up quitting in 2014 because of IRL. I returned this past week and spent around 30 euros through steam to purchase Zen for VIP and planned on selling some for AD in order to get some companions and such for a new character so that I did not need to touch anything from my old characters. However I am unable to sell any of the Zen for AD and the game has said anything purchased with AD would not be tradable.

    Again not sure how you got your 5k Zen was it via AD or IRL money but if it did not effect you then you where just lucky. I've asked around and everyone says it happened to them as well.
  • pitshadepitshade Member Posts: 5,665 Arc User
    Buying through Steam is what flagged you. This is to stop chargeback scams.
    "We have always been at war with Dread Vault" ~ Little Brother
This discussion has been closed.