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The /ignore commands : DEVS please expand the options on this

SystemSystem Member, NoReporting Posts: 178,019 Arc User
Developers / Cryptic

Firstly, love your work, enjoying the gameplay, its just FUN !!
Second, I wasn't sure where to post this, so hope this is the correct forum to do this.

While enjoying this game very much, I'm getting a little tired of the gold farmer spam mail that is flowing in.
Mail such as these;
subject: STO_energy_credits
name: gdfhfhfgdfg

These farmers just spam us and send random /tells, then run off and delete their toon and start again.
Cryptic, this is getting old and were in the year 2010 where we as players should have the tools available to us to combat this for ourselves with out having to constantly use the 'report spam' option. I wrote this post below many moons ago, so some of the features it talks about you have already implemented but there are some other features I'd like you to consider, especially point number 3. I feel this would go along way in helping us players from getting spammed as it would force farmer to grind up to L1 or L5 before they could spam us, slowing their progress down. Also the same filters could be used on mail system, i.e. players can prevent ensign or low Lieutenant grade players from mailing you.

Thanks for your time.
Ara




<enter game developer name here>

I felt that there was a simple fix to the solution, from my experience from previous MMO games that I've played, there are 3 very simple things that CME could employ to discourage spammers and abusive players.

1. The use a command: /ignore <player name> - when this command is used the player named will not be able to send tells or common text to the player performing the ignore. Direct tells to the player ignoring will result in an automatic response to the player being ignored that 'Player <X> has placed you on ignore'. The player being ignored must know that their actions were enough to be placed on ignore. (Almost every mmo as had this feature)

2. The use of a command /ignore -a <placer name> - when this command is used, the player named and all of the other characters that are associated with the account will not be able to send tells or common text to the player performing the ignore. (The -a trigger will block the entire account from sending tells to the ignorer.) This command is great for blocking the gold farmer spam and those players that are highly abusive by swapping to multiple accounts to continue their verbal assault.

3. The use of a /ignore <rank> <grade> 1-10 - when this command is used, the player performing the ignore will block player tells and common text from players between the level range of 1 to 10. This command is great for high level players whom have setup their groups or commands or fleets and feel that they would like to block gold farmer spam from promotional accounts or try before you buy accounts and those new lowbie players that persist to spam 'can I have some money' or 'can you run me though that level 30 instance' (when they are only level 10 looking to circumnavigate the game mechanics for rapid XP). Please remember that there should be a text channel or a game system in place to specifically request help in leveling to assist such players who are genuinely in need.

My ideas might sound harsh and deter the general idea of online interaction by discouraging communication between players but to be perfectly honest, if players learn MMO etiquette and present themselves as friendly mature players as apposed to annoying or abusive, then the commands would never need to be used. I personally feel these types of commands improve game play and enjoyment by giving players the tools and power they need to discourage a common problem in MMO's.

The use of in game Game Advocates or Game Mangers is not scalable for <enter game developer name here> for reporting abusive players, it takes too long to receive assistance on such matters as there needs to be a formal investigation setup for each report which costs time and money. I suggest that the use of in game reporting system be used for the most extreme problems such as racial abuse, sexual abuse etc.

Also my use of / or slash commands is just as an example, I'm sure that <enter game developer name here> would place these types of actions into the GUI interface for players that were not use to using text systems.

Peace all
Ara
Post edited by baddmoonrizin on

Comments

  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    This is a must is all MMO's. Due to the thing called easy cash, spammers appear in all MMO's, unfortunately, so these types of filters and /ignore functions are needed.
    I was in Earth dock today, and people was asking question for numerous things, but was not able to due to excessive spamming in zone chat.
    Another thing that should be added is a timestamp on chatting, maybe 5-10 seconds between each time you can post your comment in chat again, to prevent frequent spamming, or at least reduce it alot.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    You do realise that these things have been in the game since closed beta started, right? Well, except for the rank bit. That one's silly.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    really... with all the issues all you can do is worry about some spam?
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    Currently one of the things about Cryptic games is when you ignore someone IT'S BIG. Its their entire account for all alts and the forum.

    This is one feature that I have greatly appreciated from Cryptic as it is the right solution for this day and age. No more troll abuse escape switching from I_am_the_Hater to Bunnykins.

    Cryptic's ignore tool for players: "I say we take off and nuke the entire site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure."
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    Miiru wrote:
    You do realise that these things have been in the game since closed beta started, right? Well, except for the rank bit. That one's silly.

    Miiru, did you read the post ?
    I said " so some of the features it talks about you have already implemented but there are some other features I'd like you to consider, especially point number 3"

    And further more, IMHO point number 2 doesn't really work in game.

    For example:

    Spammer named John_Doe@AAAAAAA spams me with his energy credit spam
    I click the 'report spam' button

    From what I'm lead to believe, this stops anyone spamming me from the @AAAAAAA account.
    So how the hell does his log back in with John_doe@BBBBBBB and spam me again ?!!?
    Are you telling me that Cryptic gave out 10000 head start cards to gold farmers ?

    It was also my understanding that head start was only available to those that pre-oerdered the game.
    I would find it hard to believe that the farmers go out buy 1000 copies of STO and let all 1000 copies get black listed. They've got some other trick up their sleeve where they are able to reset their @&lt;tag> somehow.

    So if I were given the ability to use a command like /ignore 0-15, effectively I'm able to block any player sending me direct tells between the levels of Ensign up to Lieutenant rank 5

    I would then increase that level as I progress because all my fleet are around around Captain and Admiral now and I don't need /tell's from low level farmers telling me how great their money for credits web site is.

    I just dont think the current report spam is working 100%
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    The spam is getting crazy. I think first you buy EC you get perma band no questions. Second make it that only EC trading can be done if each player is a member of the same fleet. Easiest fix I can think of. Short of Cryptic flooding the market with EC. I just can't beleive people are really buying EC. I am not even trying and I have over 100k and I am only lvl 20. I want to see how it goes after March 2nd when alot of these 30days accounts dissapear. Will the farmers have made enough to continue or will they go away? It just makes me wonder how bad a player you are that you can't even make EC in what I have to say is the easiet game for making ingame currency. If you bought EC and you are reading this one word for you "SUCKER" seriously stop playing the game and get a brain.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    Jugernaut wrote: »
    The spam is getting crazy. I think first you buy EC you get perma band no questions. Second make it that only EC trading can be done if each player is a member of the same fleet. Easiest fix I can think of. Short of Cryptic flooding the market with EC. I just can't beleive people are really buying EC. I am not even trying and I have over 100k and I am only lvl 20. I want to see how it goes after March 2nd when alot of these 30days accounts dissapear. Will the farmers have made enough to continue or will they go away? It just makes me wonder how bad a player you are that you can't even make EC in what I have to say is the easiet game for making ingame currency. If you bought EC and you are reading this one word for you "SUCKER" seriously stop playing the game and get a brain.

    It does make me wonder who if anyone is buying EC. I have over 200K and like you I wasn't really trying.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    I'd rather see the /ignore list for the 'report spam' option be sent to a separate list, with a much larger limit on it. Combining the /ignore with that of the spammers, only fills up the present limit too quickly.

    That, and Cryptic really needs in-game controls as well. I must admit I was surprised at the apparent lack of such controls on launch. They should know better by now with their past experience.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    I'd rather see the /ignore list for the 'report spam' option be sent to a separate list, with a much larger limit on it. Combining the /ignore with that of the spammers, only fills up the present limit too quickly.

    That, and Cryptic really needs in-game controls as well. I must admit I was surprised at the apparent lack of such controls on launch. They should know better by now with their past experience.

    Hey Jolly,
    Log into game and to a /cmdlist (if thats what you mean by lack of in-game controls)
    More than I have seen in most other MMO's
    :D
    Ara
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    I wonder if anyone is actually buying energy credits from the gold spammers? I hope not so they go away after this month.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    I think the only game I played that was worse with the amount of goldspammers was EVE. Pretty much any game that has free/trial accounts is going to have 1000s of spammers because they risk nothing in getting their accounts banned. I'm hoping now that grace periods are over and there are no more people playing for free, that the spam will drop considerably.

    TBH I don't even care and just have to laugh about it because otherwise, I'd go insane. Ignore level range would mean not many noobs getting any questions answered, but frankly, with all the morons who can't find Sulu or their "M" key, that's actually not looking so bad right now.
    Phasetran9 wrote:
    Currently one of the things about Cryptic games is when you ignore someone IT'S BIG. Its their entire account for all alts and the forum.

    This is one feature that I have greatly appreciated from Cryptic as it is the right solution for this day and age. No more troll abuse escape switching from I_am_the_Hater to Bunnykins.

    Cryptic's ignore tool for players: "I say we take off and nuke the entire site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure."

    +1 internet points for the "Aliens" quote. The new AvP game looks sweet.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    Ignore level range would mean not many noobs getting any questions answered, but frankly, with all the morons who can't find Sulu or their "M" key, that's actually not looking so bad right now.

    Isnt that what the /help channel or /advice channel is for ?
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    Aratar wrote:
    Spammer named John_Doe@AAAAAAA spams me with his energy credit spam
    I click the 'report spam' button

    From what I'm lead to believe, this stops anyone spamming me from the @AAAAAAA account.
    So how the hell does his log back in with John_doe@BBBBBBB and spam me again ?!!?
    Are you telling me that Cryptic gave out 10000 head start cards to gold farmers ?

    Yes, that is precisely what happened. You could have as many free head start accounts as you wanted. Grace period's over now, so they're all gone.
This discussion has been closed.