I know the trading of in game items for real money is not allowed, and yes the spam mail is annoying, but i would love to know how the rumor started that EC sellers steal your account?
Im not disputing the fact that people loose accounts on the game, but to my knowledge that has predominantly been through the use of key loggers or phishing sites.
Again, to be clear i am not endorsing this, just clarifying things.
After visiting the site in question from this thread they claim to meet you ingame and trade the EC to you... What part of this process requires the user to hand over their login details?
Ive got no interest in buying ec by the way, im cool with the 600+m i already have, but i do like a good ol urban legend.
Can we have some sort of auto-ban or just a failure to send any mail with "eg-pal.com" in it? Simple solution......
Then they just change to a different domain name. Or they pull the old trick of eg[hyphen]pal[dot]com.
Also imagine if you banned someone for sending out a fleet wide mail warning about these people because they used eg-pal.com in the message.
Having spam reports and ToS violation reports sent by players to QA and reviewed is probably the best system. Auto-ban systems are very easily abused and can take wrong action against players.
My Romulan Liberated Borg character made it to Level 30 and beat the (old) Defense of New Romulus with the skill point bug.
Seriously, this ****'s getting really annoying. I'm blocking a new person every damn day.
How about locking the ability to mail people to the friend list?
If they're not on your friend list you can't mail them anything. This won't hurt anyone as the only reason someone is blind mailing strangers is to TRIBBLE with them or spam them.
Yeah it needs fixed. In the meantime, Social -> Privacy -> only accept mail from friends and fleetmates
Won't that cause an issue with Auction sales/returns?
I mean, in a properly coded game the administration contacts wouldn't be blockable but we all know the coding in this game is a little... shall we say off?
I reported an EgPal spammer today, and now my account is banned.
No idea if there is a connection, and maybe they thought I was involved in it? If they do, I most certainly was not. I am an honest gamer who just wants to enjoy the game like everyone else. I am in no way connected to the spammers.
Won't that cause an issue with Auction sales/returns?
I mean, in a properly coded game the administration contacts wouldn't be blockable but we all know the coding in this game is a little... shall we say off?
Considering people who have been chat-banned have complained about not receiving their exchange sales/returns...I'd say it's likely they count as you mailing to yourself for blocking purposes, even if it says "Exchange" in the sender field. Unless the chat-ban also blocks you from receiving mail.
Anyway, it should be simple enough to check...empty your exchange listing, set the only friends and fleet can mail -option, sell one item thats in high demand so it sells quickly and see if you get the mail.
im now getting these blastered emails as well, i dont like ignoring any player no matter how silly they are, its not my way to put up auto ignore. but the system is set that way with the report spam option.
it would be far less messier if cryptic had jumped on the issue before it became one.
T6 Miranda Hero Ship FTW. Been around since Dec 2010 on STO and bought LTS in Apr 2013 for STO.
Considering people who have been chat-banned have complained about not receiving their exchange sales/returns...I'd say it's likely they count as you mailing to yourself for blocking purposes, even if it says "Exchange" in the sender field. Unless the chat-ban also blocks you from receiving mail.
Anyway, it should be simple enough to check...empty your exchange listing, set the only friends and fleet can mail -option, sell one item thats in high demand so it sells quickly and see if you get the mail.
these claims come from the overwhelming fact that most as in a huge majority of them do weather it be by visiting their site and A.getting a keylogger or B.having to make an account there (which because alot of people use the same user/pass in numerous places) among other things.
the other option they could use to stop this is allow people to toggle friend only contacting or not not sure if they do or don't have this yet
If you get mail like this, please click the "report spam" button on the email, and please file a GM behavior ticket via the [?] on the minimap, including the @handle of who sent it, so we can investigate and take appropriate action.
Cheers,
Brandon =/\=
Bran...we (I) report it ALOT...but you at Crytic don't seem to want to stop this spamming....i started playing at f2p, and this was never a problem until recently, what has changed? Was it the Season 7 stuff? Seems like it.....Help Us!
"If everyone used Macs, we'd be working on how to get to Alpha Centauri rather than how to get to Mars."
Branflakes, I get a lot of these mails... several a week. And the accounts sending them are not the random letter @names EGPal uses to spam Zone (something they've done since the game launched, and that Cryptic and now PWE have done nothing apparent about). They're obviously TRIBBLE accounts.
I've been reporting as spam, and now I'll file GM tickets, too, but this appears to me to be a major security problem.
The funny thing about this subject is actually that it shows the one and only real advantage of playing only a Klingon (and having deleted all Fed characters after reaching lvl 25):
I have never received spam mails
Seems like the lvl 25 barrier keeps spam bots from messing with the red side. I would never have thought that the absence of content might be a good thing one day.
However this also means that by next tuesday this advantage will be gone and all three factions will get their equal share of spam mails
EDIT:
This actually got me an idea. Why doesn't Cryptic just lock the mail system until the player reached lvl 25 on at least ONE character on his account?
EDIT:
This actually got me an idea. Why doesn't Cryptic just lock the mail system until the player reached lvl 25 on at least ONE character on his account?
Because collecrtive punishment is not good, add to that it doesn't take long to get there.
There is already a lock on f2p accounts of 20 hours unless they meet certain conditions. With a few bits I could get to 25 before the 20 hour game time lock out is up.
Because collecrtive punishment is not good, add to that it doesn't take long to get there.
There is already a lock on f2p accounts of 20 hours unless they meet certain conditions. With a few bits I could get to 25 before the 20 hour game time lock out is up.
It's not really collective punishment when a player can easily reach lvl 25. Most players also already did long ago. Bots however are not players. They don't do any missions or try to level up their characters, else the red side would receive spam mails as well.
without mentioning them by name so as not to shame them Directly, is more being done to block them besides the report spam/put on ignore list?
it is against ToS to purchase from them especialy when the require your account loggin right?
and against ToS to be one of them selling that stuff right?
is there no way to keep them out of the game? i Fear that the report spam button only puts them on my ignore list and doesn't let you know they are spamming.
I also would be remiss to not assume they could be a source of account hackking.
can we get more donwe against them than just the standard if you use them your gone warning?
That warning seems similiar to if the cops didn't arrest the street equivelant and only issued a warning.
it is against ToS to purchase from them especialy when the require your account loggin right?
I could see where the hacks are coming from if people are doing this.
STO is about my Liberated Borg Federation Captain with his Breen 1st Officer, Jem'Hadar Tactical Officer, Liberated Borg Engineering Officer, Android Ops Officer, Photonic Science Officer, Gorn Science Officer, and Reman Medical Officer jumping into their Jem'Hadar Carrier and flying off to do missions for the new Romulan Empire. But for some players allowing a T5 Connie to be used breaks the canon in the game.
Its been bad lately, I logged in the other day and found like 6 new EC/etc spam mails from different people. I flag them and ignore them, but the pace seems to be increasing...
...you agree not to take any of the following actions:
...
(d) Upload, post, e-mail, transmit or otherwise make available any unsolicited or unauthorized advertising, promotional materials, "junk mail", "spam", "chain letters", "pyramid schemes", or any other form of solicitation;
...
(j) Engage in any actions that defraud or attempt to defraud, scam or cheat others out of any items that have been earned through authorized game play;
...
(m) trade, sell, auction or otherwise transfer any virtual items or goods of any nature outside the game; and/or
Personally I don't just ignore I report them to the GM just to be safe.
My Romulan Liberated Borg character made it to Level 30 and beat the (old) Defense of New Romulus with the skill point bug.
As for hacking, the vast majority of hacking comes from people we know. Revenge, jealousy, or just because they can.
Now, if you are dumb enough to give your access code, especially to have a fully lvled character in STO, when it takes less than a week for the most casual player, you are hopeless and deserve what happen to you.
Most "EC sellers" are criminals of one sort or another
its normally a scam to get your account details (credit card)
and even when its not their actions are part of organised criminal gangs
Considering you can't trade dilithium, anyone even attempting to sell you dilith is flat out scamming you.
What often happens with these services is that people take over your account and grind out Dilithium for you for a fee. You often see this advertised in many MMOs - as well as the "pay me to get your character to max level in 2 days" types of deals on many games.
STO is about my Liberated Borg Federation Captain with his Breen 1st Officer, Jem'Hadar Tactical Officer, Liberated Borg Engineering Officer, Android Ops Officer, Photonic Science Officer, Gorn Science Officer, and Reman Medical Officer jumping into their Jem'Hadar Carrier and flying off to do missions for the new Romulan Empire. But for some players allowing a T5 Connie to be used breaks the canon in the game.
What often happens with these services is that people take over your account and grind out Dilithium for you for a fee. You often see this advertised in many MMOs - as well as the "pay me to get your character to max level in 2 days" types of deals on many games.
In this day and age, anyone falling for that must be pretty gullible indeed.
You're just a machine. And machines can be broken.
I really do think, as others have suggested, that because just about all of the gold farmer spam emails reference the same website (egpal.com), there should be something that the Cryptic team could do to target people advertising for that particular site. Failing this, perhaps some general limit on mail sent to too many people outside one's friends list over too short a time could help limit the spam? I am sure that the spammers get banned eventually, but that clearly is not solving the problem--only limiting the damage.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
Former/Cryptic Name: Captain_Hans_Langsdorff
Founding member, Special Service Squadron
"Fear God and Dread Nought." First Sea Lord, Adm. Jacky Fisher
egpal has been around for many years, once they get a bot setup they will just replicate new spam bots as they get banned. completely automated and we should just get used to recieving egpal spam and the report routine that comes with it. Ijn Anarchy Online they used to hide in a tree just outside the city, when they started up with the spam we would train mobs on them. once they died they wouldnt respawn right away and a GM could ban them before they started again.
My suggestion to PW is dont ban but mute them. let them make all the emails or chat spam they want just have it never show to the players. That way the bot never gets reset and makes a new character. It will really save the GM's time.
Join Date: Nobody cares.
"I'm drunk, whats your excuse for being an idiot?" - Unknown drunk man. :eek:
Comments
Im not disputing the fact that people loose accounts on the game, but to my knowledge that has predominantly been through the use of key loggers or phishing sites.
Again, to be clear i am not endorsing this, just clarifying things.
After visiting the site in question from this thread they claim to meet you ingame and trade the EC to you... What part of this process requires the user to hand over their login details?
Ive got no interest in buying ec by the way, im cool with the 600+m i already have, but i do like a good ol urban legend.
Cubeageddon - You are the last hope. Find it in the Foundry!
The Space Race - An alternate to PVP - In Foundry Now!
Then they just change to a different domain name. Or they pull the old trick of eg[hyphen]pal[dot]com.
Also imagine if you banned someone for sending out a fleet wide mail warning about these people because they used eg-pal.com in the message.
Having spam reports and ToS violation reports sent by players to QA and reviewed is probably the best system. Auto-ban systems are very easily abused and can take wrong action against players.
How about locking the ability to mail people to the friend list?
If they're not on your friend list you can't mail them anything. This won't hurt anyone as the only reason someone is blind mailing strangers is to TRIBBLE with them or spam them.
Won't that cause an issue with Auction sales/returns?
I mean, in a properly coded game the administration contacts wouldn't be blockable but we all know the coding in this game is a little... shall we say off?
No idea if there is a connection, and maybe they thought I was involved in it? If they do, I most certainly was not. I am an honest gamer who just wants to enjoy the game like everyone else. I am in no way connected to the spammers.
So, any news about this problem?
Anyway, it should be simple enough to check...empty your exchange listing, set the only friends and fleet can mail -option, sell one item thats in high demand so it sells quickly and see if you get the mail.
it would be far less messier if cryptic had jumped on the issue before it became one.
Been around since Dec 2010 on STO and bought LTS in Apr 2013 for STO.
these claims come from the overwhelming fact that most as in a huge majority of them do weather it be by visiting their site and A.getting a keylogger or B.having to make an account there (which because alot of people use the same user/pass in numerous places) among other things.
the other option they could use to stop this is allow people to toggle friend only contacting or not not sure if they do or don't have this yet
Bran...we (I) report it ALOT...but you at Crytic don't seem to want to stop this spamming....i started playing at f2p, and this was never a problem until recently, what has changed? Was it the Season 7 stuff? Seems like it.....Help Us!
I've been reporting as spam, and now I'll file GM tickets, too, but this appears to me to be a major security problem.
I have never received spam mails
Seems like the lvl 25 barrier keeps spam bots from messing with the red side. I would never have thought that the absence of content might be a good thing one day.
However this also means that by next tuesday this advantage will be gone and all three factions will get their equal share of spam mails
EDIT:
This actually got me an idea. Why doesn't Cryptic just lock the mail system until the player reached lvl 25 on at least ONE character on his account?
Because collecrtive punishment is not good, add to that it doesn't take long to get there.
There is already a lock on f2p accounts of 20 hours unless they meet certain conditions. With a few bits I could get to 25 before the 20 hour game time lock out is up.
It's not really collective punishment when a player can easily reach lvl 25. Most players also already did long ago. Bots however are not players. They don't do any missions or try to level up their characters, else the red side would receive spam mails as well.
it is against ToS to purchase from them especialy when the require your account loggin right?
and against ToS to be one of them selling that stuff right?
is there no way to keep them out of the game? i Fear that the report spam button only puts them on my ignore list and doesn't let you know they are spamming.
I also would be remiss to not assume they could be a source of account hackking.
can we get more donwe against them than just the standard if you use them your gone warning?
That warning seems similiar to if the cops didn't arrest the street equivelant and only issued a warning.
galacticguards.enjin.com/
Formerly Jewkesman Member from Nov 2009!
Personally I don't just ignore I report them to the GM just to be safe.
As for hacking, the vast majority of hacking comes from people we know. Revenge, jealousy, or just because they can.
Now, if you are dumb enough to give your access code, especially to have a fully lvled character in STO, when it takes less than a week for the most casual player, you are hopeless and deserve what happen to you.
its normally a scam to get your account details (credit card)
and even when its not their actions are part of organised criminal gangs
see one report the hell out of him
Or trying to sell you a lot of Contraband. But ya.. umm no.
In this day and age, anyone falling for that must be pretty gullible indeed.
I block them but I'd do more if I knew what to do.
"We are smart." - Grebnedlog
Member of Alliance Central Command/boq botlhra'ghom
Former/Cryptic Name: Captain_Hans_Langsdorff
Founding member, Special Service Squadron
"Fear God and Dread Nought." First Sea Lord, Adm. Jacky Fisher
My suggestion to PW is dont ban but mute them. let them make all the emails or chat spam they want just have it never show to the players. That way the bot never gets reset and makes a new character. It will really save the GM's time.
"I'm drunk, whats your excuse for being an idiot?" - Unknown drunk man. :eek: