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Gold sellers spam madness

daciaeternadaciaeterna Member Posts: 219 Arc User
So we all know the old gold sellers and chat spam. Now all its 1000% worse. They are using spambots to send friends invites, chat spams and mails every few minutes. Yes i know put all your settings to private and become anonymous. I am doing that but its bothering me quite alot. I would never be able to respond to someone, meet new people, ask a question. Now most people are completly closed off in STO because of this. A game were all the players are ... autists ... very fun game ... In the meantime the fu...s are doing what they want with your/our game.

I understand its hard to create a auto ban system. But aren't other ways ? Limit the lvl of a character that can use chat system, mails and can send/spam friend invites. If they have to grind a new toon to lvl ... lets say 30-50 to be able to spam this wont be fun. There is enough info on the internet to finish all the misions if you have problems. Also if you join a fleet the some of the limits should be lifted of made to be changed at the discretion of fleet leaders.

Maybe there are other options beter than mine, anything is fine but doing almost nothing is not. Nonaction is bad and leaving the impresion that this game is tolerating and encouraging gold sellers. Players should only have to deal with this alone to a point and its long past. The devs must create a better system to limit the spam invites and messages and not let the players fend off by themselfs.

Comments

  • brian334brian334 Member Posts: 2,214 Arc User
    Click report as spam on spam mail. X out unwanted invites. I do that, and I rarely get spam-botted any more. Getting emotional over the issue is not going to hurt them and it's not going to help you. Consider it the way you consider hot sand at the beach: annoying, but if you want to play on the beach, hot sand will be there.
  • sylveriareldensylveriarelden Member Posts: 531 Arc User
    brian334 wrote: »
    Consider it the way you consider hot sand at the beach: annoying, but if you want to play on the beach, hot sand will be there.

    Difference is, this is supposed to be a "controlled" environment- versus a natural uncontrolled one.

    Oh and I report spam mail all the time- doesn't stop me from getting it from anonymous accounts. They just create more and keep doing it.
    It's not you- it's me. I just need my space.

    Being critical doesn't take skill. Being constructively critical- which is providing alternative solutions or suggestions to a demonstrated problem, however, does.
  • minidariminidari Member Posts: 125 Arc User
    To report gold spammers 1-2 times per day its not a big problem but to get spammed several times per day everyday its absurd. There is nothing stopping them and they do as they please.
  • daciaeternadaciaeterna Member Posts: 219 Arc User
    edited July 2016
    brian334 wrote: »
    Click report as spam on spam mail. X out unwanted invites. I do that, and I rarely get spam-botted any more. Getting emotional over the issue is not going to hurt them and it's not going to help you. Consider it the way you consider hot sand at the beach: annoying, but if you want to play on the beach, hot sand will be there.

    We all do that mate. Belive me we all report but and click X. Today i seen a guy with a nice costume and i wanted to ask what parts was it comprised. I got 3 spams in under one minute with friend invites and all. This game is our home not the beach. Do you let anyone in your home that want to party when you what to sleep ? I am not getting emmotional on the spammers i am getting emmotional on the devs that are ignoring the problem for a long time and not coming with even one decent solution. Also if i get emmotional is my buissness and not the subject here.
    Not sure in what country you live but would you like to let terrorists come and bomb you home then say its just a minor annoyance. A few deaths in a multi milion contry its not a big deal if you think it ... No! when a problem is pushing into you dorstep you deal with it not ignore it. Any sane life form do this.
    So no more lets ignore them mentality and do something about this. We are here just because they been ignored.
  • brian334brian334 Member Posts: 2,214 Arc User
    I'll say it another way then: reacting emotionally doesn't hurt them and it doesn't fix the problem. The secret to a long and happy life is learning to not get upset by things beyond your control. This stuff can only bother you if you let it.

    And I received quite a lot of such mail and invites a while back. I came back from a month and a half out of town to find a dozen spam mails in my inbox. Did I get mad? Did I curse the people who used a valuable education in electronic media to create what is essentially an electronic parasite? Nope. I spent all of five seconds hitting the 'report as spam' button. Far less annoying than a real mosquito, and much less harmful.

    If anything, I feel pity for those people who spam games for a living. They could have created games people would pay to play. They could have taken jobs with IT firms and been paid ridiculously well for minimal physical work. They could have created software to help people protect themselves from intrusive and unwanted spy and adware. Instead they decided to cater to the crowd who wants to buy success rather than earn it. (To me that's like paying to win a chess game.) I feel sorry for them that the best they could do is use someone else' creation to siphon off money they didn't earn. Like all crimes, if you have the skill to steal it, you have the skill to earn much more than you could ever steal by doing it honestly.

    So, report, delete, move on, and don't waste a single calorie on anger and frustration.
  • sylveriareldensylveriarelden Member Posts: 531 Arc User
    brian334 wrote: »
    I'll say it another way then: reacting emotionally doesn't hurt them and it doesn't fix the problem. The secret to a long and happy life is learning to not get upset by things beyond your control. This stuff can only bother you if you let it.

    Must be nice to live in a world of rainbows and unicorns. Meanwhile, the rest of the world is grounded in reality- where silence doesn't do a damn thing for you- and the only thing that enacts change is action.
    It's not you- it's me. I just need my space.

    Being critical doesn't take skill. Being constructively critical- which is providing alternative solutions or suggestions to a demonstrated problem, however, does.
  • daciaeternadaciaeterna Member Posts: 219 Arc User
    edited July 2016
    brian334 wrote: »
    I'll say it another way then: reacting emotionally doesn't hurt them and it doesn't fix the problem. The secret to a long and happy life is learning to not get upset by things beyond your control. This stuff can only bother you if you let it.

    And I received quite a lot of such mail and invites a while back. I came back from a month and a half out of town to find a dozen spam mails in my inbox. Did I get mad? Did I curse the people who used a valuable education in electronic media to create what is essentially an electronic parasite? Nope. I spent all of five seconds hitting the 'report as spam' button. Far less annoying than a real mosquito, and much less harmful.

    If anything, I feel pity for those people who spam games for a living. They could have created games people would pay to play. They could have taken jobs with IT firms and been paid ridiculously well for minimal physical work. They could have created software to help people protect themselves from intrusive and unwanted spy and adware. Instead they decided to cater to the crowd who wants to buy success rather than earn it. (To me that's like paying to win a chess game.) I feel sorry for them that the best they could do is use someone else' creation to siphon off money they didn't earn. Like all crimes, if you have the skill to steal it, you have the skill to earn much more than you could ever steal by doing it honestly.

    So, report, delete, move on, and don't waste a single calorie on anger and frustration.

    Thats a great mindset and nice self control. I understand the value of you point. You are good "guru material" or better said "enlided human" how all and most humans should be. You will live twice as me and will have a better happyer life. Thank you for the great sugestions. That being said lets move from psychoanalysis, balaced life and personal development that you wanted to share.Now i am calm and past my emmotions.
    BUT i still want this problem solved and not gonna ignore it nor let it be ignored. There must be a few relativly simple solutions to try to contain this other that ignoring it.
  • bobbydazlersbobbydazlers Member Posts: 4,534 Arc User
    I have had emails from gold sellers but I just delete them its really not that big a deal for me, I don't intend to put settings to private and become anonymous for the same reasons you mention, I enjoy to meet new people in game that are genuine players.
    I also get phone calls from people trying to sell me stuff, people knocking on my door selling double glazing when they can clearly see I already have it and people approaching me at shopping centres doing dumb surveys not to mention the ton of junk mail that drops through my letterbox every week.

    if you want to live and enjoy your life you cant isolate yourself from people who will annoy you sometimes and if you want to play sto or any other online game where you will meet these cretins you cant isolate yourself there either, you can only play sto in the same way you live your life, if you enjoy interacting with genuine players in the game like I do you must be prepared that at times you will be harassed by morons trying to scam you out of money.

    just delete and move on, if you find you are getting a high volume of emails just wait till you are about to log out and delete them all with the handy delete all feature we have on mail now.

    I may be lucky in that the number of seller mails I get is not that big a deal for me but regardless of the number I will not let them spoil the way I play and my enjoyment of the game, I just except I will have to suffer them from time to time in the same way I except that when I interact with people IRL I might catch some nasty germ or virus that isn't very pleasant for me, that's just a part of living and enjoying your life.

    When I think about everything we've been through together,

    maybe it's not the destination that matters, maybe it's the journey,

     and if that journey takes a little longer,

    so we can do something we all believe in,

     I can't think of any place I'd rather be or any people I'd rather be with.

  • daciaeternadaciaeterna Member Posts: 219 Arc User
    The big problems are not a few mails but constant friend invites. I should not have to deal with more then 1-2 day as a player if the devs are doing their job. Getting 5-8 /day everyday besides the mails is annoying and should not happen. I ignored them and still do but there is a limit.
  • asardetemplariasardetemplari Member Posts: 447 Arc User
    It'd be nice if they sent us a lobi and lockbox ship in their mail to us.
    "Hey, we're fishy as all hell, but this is a taste of what our B.S. site offers!"

    *lockbox ship attached*
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  • ashstorm1ashstorm1 Member Posts: 679 Arc User
    edited July 2016
    i got spammed twice today in about one hour of time. Each time i muted the bugger and reported him to a GM (and i mean a full report, not just 'signal spam'). Not sure it will do any good, honestly, but i believe outright setting your phasers to Kill instead of a mere Stun (read 'taking the most radical action instead of a middle ground') is never a bad thing with that sort of spawn.
  • sylveriareldensylveriarelden Member Posts: 531 Arc User

    Must be nice to live in a world of rainbows and unicorns. Meanwhile, the rest of the world is grounded in reality- where silence doesn't do a damn thing for you- and the only thing that enacts change is action.

    Silence works for Cryptic. TiQ3RTF.png​​

    Of course it does. That goes for any company- because without their consumers "prompting" them, the reality is they wouldn't spend the resources on actually countering or resolving anything on their own.

    I truly believe a lot of them (even when they realize they've made a mistake) just hope that no one really notices and just goes on "business as usual". I'd have more respect if they'd be a little more proactive and not wait until someone complains about it in order to effect change.
    It's not you- it's me. I just need my space.

    Being critical doesn't take skill. Being constructively critical- which is providing alternative solutions or suggestions to a demonstrated problem, however, does.
  • szimszim Member Posts: 2,503 Arc User

    Must be nice to live in a world of rainbows and unicorns. Meanwhile, the rest of the world is grounded in reality- where silence doesn't do a damn thing for you- and the only thing that enacts change is action.

    Silence works for Cryptic. TiQ3RTF.png​​

    Agreed. Silence is Cryptic's means of choice everytime the community is unhappy.

    Example 1: Nagus loyalty prize ship
    Example 2: $50 price tag on one-character-costume-unlocks
    Example 3: contraband 20h turn in restrictions
    Example 4: extremely slow progress in the CXP bonus global event
    Example 5: Argalagate
    ...

    Where other companies would enter into a dialogue with the community Cryptic keeps radio silence every single time (there was one exception when they promised to inform more actively in the future but that fizzled out rather quickly). How much outrage and anger could have been avoided if the company said a few words? How many players would still be around if they thought that they were at least listened to?
  • xyquarzexyquarze Member Posts: 2,114 Arc User
    I understand its hard to create a auto ban system. But aren't other ways ? Limit the lvl of a character that can use chat system, mails and can send/spam friend invites. If they have to grind a new toon to lvl ... lets say 30-50 to be able to spam this wont be fun.

    Well, normal players may have questions to understand what is going on, how a certain bug can be circumvented, why they're not getting to the place they want, where Sulu is. So not a great idea.
    Not sure in what country you live but would you like to let terrorists come and bomb you home then say its just a minor annoyance. A few deaths in a multi milion contry its not a big deal if you think it ... No! when a problem is pushing into you dorstep you deal with it not ignore it. Any sane life form do this.

    Umm, are you really comparing eight daily spam invites in an MMO with actual danger of being killed? If so, you've lost perspective just a little bit.

    As for "dealing with it", yes, that is one possible course of action. One should consider first however, whether it is worth it. How much "action" do I have to take? And what would it actually accomplish. Fact is: gold spamming or similar is a bane of MMOs, agreed. The simple fact that it happens in all of them, even subscriber MMOs, is a surefire way to tell that there is no easy way to eliminate them. (If you know one, you actually WILL get rich very quickly selling your idea to the companies). Yes, it should be made harder for them to spam, and companies probably try that a lot beyond "silence", because gold spammers are actually hurting their business, so they sure as hell don't ignore it like some graphics glitch. But any measure shouldn't mean harming the normal playerbase.

    In the end it may be annoying, but as brian wrote, getting angry doesn't help. And demanding "action" just so that "action" happens without any idea as to how it should look doesn't solve problems either.
    My mother was an epohh and my father smelled of tulaberries
  • tribbulatertribbulater Member Posts: 291 Arc User
    At the moment email is unlocked by converting approx. 400-ish dil to 1 zen on your account. Any spambot can do this in about 5 minutes. And the 'add to your friends list - send a PM - remove from friends list' loophole allows them to ignore other restrictions to send you a PM.

    It wouldn't take but a moment for Cryptic to move the email unlock to say 20 or even 50 zen, and to fix the invite friend/send PM loophole. Those are the most intrusive of the spambot moves IMO.
  • itpalgitpalg Member Posts: 340 Arc User
    I don't know how SoE did it with EQ II several years ago, but they eliminated spam from chat and email over time to like 99%. As long as you have the appropriate box checked in options, you don't have to worry about going anon.
    ITPaladin.png
  • rattler2rattler2 Member Posts: 57,973 Community Moderator
    I don't get the e-mail spam very often. Usually just one every once in a while. Gets reported for Spam. Also Gold Sellers tend to hang out in places like ESD, where the majority of players hang out as well as the fact that its a starter zone. Places like DS9 and K-7 hardly have any zone chat action these days. And since this is a F2P game, it is easy to just make a bot because if it is compromised... just change one letter and create another. Or even put in a number.

    Also... I have Zone Chat turned off by default because sometimes it gets crazy with the politics and rants. Also when events are going like Risa or Winter Wonderland... can't hold a conversation with anyone in Zone because by the time you respond, a ton of other people have been talking so its easy to get lost in the crowd.

    As for the silence...
    • Its the weekend.
    • They're probably aware of it already due to the sheer number of spam reports.
    • They are not obligated to advise us of every little detail.

    If we had in game GMs policing Zone Chat, it might cut down on the chat spam. But the only thing we can do for now is report the bots and put them on the ignore list.
    Minor inconvenience, but its better than the alternative.
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    I can't take it anymore! Could everyone just chill out for two seconds before something CRAZY happens again?!
    The nut who actually ground out many packs. The resident forum voice of reason (I HAZ FORUM REP! YAY!)
  • brian334brian334 Member Posts: 2,214 Arc User
    The very best way to get rid of these guys takes no effort on Cryptic's part, but on the part of players to stop using such services, which, (correct me if I'm wrong,) are violations of the Terms Of Service we accepted when logging into this game. If no one bought their 'gold' they would quit trying to sell it and move on to some other way of being a parasite on someone else' hard work.

    In the real world we know this won't happen. We know that no matter how sophisticated the defense, the spam-bots will make it through. So, back to the hot sand analogy. Or the ants at a picnic analogy. Or even the chemical preservatives in the Cheetoes analogy. It's there, and if it bothers you enough it will ruin your enjoyment of beaches, parks, cheesy treats, or STO. It's your call.
  • theraven2378theraven2378 Member Posts: 5,985 Arc User
    It's become a major irritation, my ignore list is getting longer and longer
    NMXb2ph.png
      "The meaning of victory is not to merely defeat your enemy but to destroy him, to completely eradicate him from living memory, to leave no remnant of his endeavours, to crush utterly his achievement and remove from all record his every trace of existence. From that defeat no enemy can ever recover. That is the meaning of victory."
      -Lord Commander Solar Macharius
    • sylveriareldensylveriarelden Member Posts: 531 Arc User
      brian334 wrote: »
      The very best way to get rid of these guys takes no effort on Cryptic's part, but on the part of players to stop using such services, which, (correct me if I'm wrong,) are violations of the Terms Of Service we accepted when logging into this game. If no one bought their 'gold' they would quit trying to sell it and move on to some other way of being a parasite on someone else' hard work.

      In the real world we know this won't happen. We know that no matter how sophisticated the defense, the spam-bots will make it through. So, back to the hot sand analogy. Or the ants at a picnic analogy. Or even the chemical preservatives in the Cheetoes analogy. It's there, and if it bothers you enough it will ruin your enjoyment of beaches, parks, cheesy treats, or STO. It's your call.

      I totally agree that the "problem" of gold selling will never go away completely, because players will keep using these services. (even though the fair majority of them get ripped off) That said, I personally don't understand the mentality of a "player" who feels the need to get an advantage just because they don't want to play the game in the first place. Why the hell do you even bother if you don't want the challenge? Just watch a movie or something... but, I digress.

      As far as the "just ignore it if it bothers you" thing- I disagree completely. It's like saying I should just stand idly by if someone is getting mugged or something. We CAN do something about it- and so can Cryptic/PWE. It's not like "hot sand at the beach" there are many deterrents that can be put into place, and people can also keep pushing them out the door instead of opening it for them.

      People need to stand up and fight TRIBBLE like this instead of simply bowing down. Do what you want, it's your right to do so. If you wish to keep putting your head in said hot sand and acting like the problem doesn't exist, more power to you.

      Personally, I'm disgusted with it and will do everything in my power to fight it.
      It's not you- it's me. I just need my space.

      Being critical doesn't take skill. Being constructively critical- which is providing alternative solutions or suggestions to a demonstrated problem, however, does.
    • farmallmfarmallm Member Posts: 4,630 Arc User
      I usually get a couple in my mail box. So I just hit spam on them. Now for the invites or personal message, that is rare for me. Then again, I play when most players are in the bed.
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    • wylonuswylonus Member Posts: 471 Arc User
      edited July 2016
      they have 3rd party program to collect names, and adding our handle names without our knowledges or permission, in our game mails, we get messages from them, and they using >//{ keys to bypass company codes or blocker scripts, and players on "anon" list.
      those spammers want us to visit thier site to request to remove from mailing and friendlist., to me it is a bait site.
      i wouldnt go visit, they may have keylogger installed to destroy our accounts.

      we get endless "report spam" and they still have our handle names/users, it made us feel prisoners of gold spammers. they have voliated EULA and CoC contracts.

      that what exactly it drove me away from STO on 1st year after 2-3 months as game launched, and 1 1/2 yr later, i noticed less spams, so i came back to play more often, STO isnt only effected, NWO and Champions have same problems, i only played total of 5 hrs with champions, and not played for months until they have special event, i noticed my mail were filled.

      they would still sending mails to inactive accounts, and i know why, and they were looking for another source of throw away accounts and have it banned later, preventing original owners coming back years later, forcing them to decided to give up or start new accounts all over again with nothing.
    • farmallmfarmallm Member Posts: 4,630 Arc User
      Spam is nothing new, just need to ignore it. When I was on WoW it was worse. They actually used characters to make them float or die to spell out Gold selling sites. They would mail and message you all the time. So I'm used to dealing with them.
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    • monkeybone13monkeybone13 Member Posts: 4,640 Arc User
      What gold sellers? I haven't seen one in months. Probably due to the way I have my privacy settings set up. I also haven't seen anyone in game complain about them. Usually someone says something about it when one shows up.

      But, I use to see them in zone chat all the time in the beta quadrant sector space. Almost every time I went there I'd see at least a couple.

      I'm not saying they don't exist though.
    • warpangelwarpangel Member Posts: 9,427 Arc User
      Posting yet another useless angry rant thread on these forums does not constitute "doing something about it."

      Cryptic knows about the spam and they're not going to discuss moderation in public. Only times we get to hear about it is when they mess up and ban people for typing "www" in chat or something like that.
    • fiberteksyfirfiberteksyfir Member Posts: 1,207 Arc User
      Ill admit I get alot more of this junk lately than ever before, several times a day both mail and the friend invite pm trick theyve been using. just keep using the report spam button folks, all you can do really at this point.
    • timonicustimonicus Member Posts: 89 Arc User
      I have had a few mails too, just report spam and move on
    • arabaturarabatur Member Posts: 407 Arc User
      edited August 2016
      There are still spammers?! dino4-15.gif

      Haven't seen or heard a single one in nearly 2 years.​​

      Me to :) You just need to be selective on what channels, if any, you tune into. Privacy settings ftw!
      Definitely not an Arc User.
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