If you ban macros what's to stop them just making a simple script to do the same thing from outside the game? I'm no programming wiz (actually very far from it ) but I could easily knock up a quick script to spam chat. I don't think banning macros would really affect the spammers but might hurt the genuine players that actually use them.
If you ban macros what's to stop them just making a simple script to do the same thing from outside the game? I'm no programming wiz (actually very far from it ) but I could easily knock up a quick script to spam chat. I don't think banning macros would really affect the spammers but might hurt the genuine players that actually use them.
thats why most of the reply's where trying to find different solutions then simply banning macro's see GrandAm suggestion
I still like the idea of a GM reading the credit spammers spatial spam. Then plug the website in the message into the games profanity filter to permanently block it from being viewed by anyone. Just a bunch of ********* where the website would be. The whole point of the spam is to get people to go to the website. The spammers would have to change their webpage domain name everytime to be able to advertise in game. This would get costly if they had too do it every day or every hour. Of course this would not stop the actual farming of credits by macro. But they aren't using the in game macro for are they?
That wouldn't really work, all they'd need to do is play with the lettering in the Spam a bit and it'll avoid the filter. EQII apparantly received a spam filter much like what you have on RL email accounts, would be nice if something like that would make through to SWG
I think you missed what I mean.
I am not talking about the spam message. I am talking about the website address in the message. You are right they could change the words around on a whole message and start respamming. But if you ban the specific web addresss in the message the spammers would be forced to get new domain names in order to advertise it.
Example:
Spammers message "Come to www.google.com to get cheap creds." A dev sees the spam and bans not the whole message but just the web address. The message would then read "Come to ************* to get cheap creds." No more advertisement. The spammer notices he can't place the web address in his spams. He also can't just play with the letters of the address. Let's say he tried and typed www.gAAgle.com. People that would buy his credits would type it in on their browser would not make it to his website. Type gAAgle instead of google and see. The spammer would then be forced to pay for the domain names that they would have to keep chaning it to. He buys gAAgle then that gets banned. Hey then buys gUUgle and that gets banned and so on. It would serve as a harrasment of the spammers one. Two, if it costs more to spam with that to advertise in game then the return they are getting from in game advertising maybe they would stop. All the devs would have to do is add the web addresses to the profanity filters.
Thanks for your input Obraik. If you see this is different than what you were talking of and like it, pass it on up. I can't get on the O forums.
I personaly and definitly like this idea GrandAm , like to add that this looks like it could be done in the same sort of route games make profanity filters, so basicly your idea is very simply, so i don't really understand why something like that isn't done before.
Thanks Reklaw
I'm no programer but I think it would be possible they could even make a script that if an in game email is sent with an identified web address it could highlight that account to a GM automaticly. The GM could then determine to ban that account. Lets face it most people don't forward email spam on a ticket. This could provide an auto system of once a web adress is considered bad, it flags any one who uses it in email and a summary banning by a GM.
Again anyone that likes this idea as a solution and has access to the SWG official forums, please post it there. Just cut and paste.
"Suddenly, thousands of Trekies whose heads are full of facts of things like the stardate when the Cardassians farted on Deep Space nine are irrlelevant." - hardcoremoviecritic
I guess it also comes down to the simple fundamental principle of whether you believe macros should be in a game at all. Is it an unfair advantage for someone if they know how to write macros as opposed to those who do not? Is the gaming community better off without them at all? Does it not create a more "level" playing field?
I don't think there is a real advantage. When I first started playing I knew nothing of macros. I went to the SWG forums and third party sites and basically copied the ones posted there created by other players. It is like any other function of the game posted on any forums. Some macros are more complicated than others sure, but to read what one does and copy it makes them very easy to use. Even I as a noob was able to use them within hours of gameplay. I am no programmer.
Plus the best way to deal with credit spammers isn't to hurt the existing legitimate players that use macros legitimately. The way SOE should handle it is have a CSR rotation with the purpose of looking for credit spammers and banning those accounts when found. They could also make it where if a link is advertised in a spam, they could block the line/link from being put through the server ever. This would force the credit spammers to constantly buy new domain names. The registration fees would cut into any profit they make from spamming. It may not stop them but it would make it harder for them to do business.
The only problem with the above tatic is, would SOE work to ban them? I doubt it. Credit spammers and credit farmers are in the game presumeably under a paid account. This is revenue for SOE. Why throw away revenue. If the spammers are there under trial accounts then SOE needs to limit it to the space station. If having a trial that can show the real world is a must then I have a potential solution.
Move the space station to the least populated server. Allow people to see Tattooine and such. If somebody subscribes based on the trial give them a free character transfer to a populated server of there choice. In fact rename the server "the trial server" and force them to go upon subscription. This would get rid of credit spammers and farmers operating under trial accounts as the other servers will not have any trial accounts possible on them.
If anyone thinks this has merit and worth being told to SOE devs then please post it to them. I can't get on the official forums.
I don't think credit farmers will ever be beaten, because the incentive to make money by the farmers is greater any game companies incentive to spend the money to stop it.It really more a political issue, the player whine and gripe like little girls about it and the game company throws them a bone, but it will never really be stopped. Its like the "war on drugs" ony its the "mmo war on credit farmers" it can't be won, but of course the mmo companies have to pacify the crybabies out there, so the ythrow a bone once in a while like banning accounts and announcing a suposed number of bans, or some crackpot volunteer program where players can work free and do the job of CSRs
I don't think credit farmers will ever be beaten, because the incentive to make money by the farmers is greater any game companies incentive to spend the money to stop it.It really more a political issue, the player whine and gripe like little girls about it and the game company throws them a bone, but it will never really be stopped. Its like the "war on drugs" ony its the "mmo war on credit farmers" it can't be won, but of course the mmo companies have to pacify the crybabies out there, so the ythrow a bone once in a while like banning accounts and announcing a suposed number of bans, or some crackpot volunteer program where players can work free and do the job of CSRs
I agree there is no way to defeat credit "farmers". They will always be there. What I was offering a suggestion to was the credit "spammers." The "farmers" get the creds, but it is the 'spammers" job to advertise in game. I know some people want an all or nothing cure. They see "farmers" and "spammers" as the same thing and can't be resolved seperatly. I think it can. Stop the "spamming" if a system allows it and continue to work on the "farmers" after. At least with the spamming gone you can enjoy the game without losing spatial coming out of a space port.
The advertisers. They can be slowed to a crawl. They will always pop up as well. But if you remove what they are trying to advertise, I.E. the website contained in their email and spatial spams by adding it to the profanity filter, It may make it less profitable to advertise in game. They would have to pay for more domain names every time the web address got banned.
Again you are right the "farmers" will never go, but if they don't get enough return from in game spamming, maybe the "spamming" will stop.
Maybe just wishful thinking.
"Suddenly, thousands of Trekies whose heads are full of facts of things like the stardate when the Cardassians farted on Deep Space nine are irrlelevant." - hardcoremoviecritic
the real question here is, why would spammers and farmers waste their time on a game with such minimal population and bleak future?
Good question. It may well be that because SWG makes credit farming easy (with full 8 character groups getting full payouts for each character on mission terminals) that there's plenty of profit to be made, even with a diminished playerbase due to the NGE.
it seems to me that population has increased from the spring, and from right after the NGE hit. Whether or not this can be sustained with vets returning I do not know. There's still too much broken for me to return as a paying customer, and then again there's still the entire issue of the betrayal itself, and the destruction of player accomplishments in both the CU and NGE. These guys can't be trusted not to pull that sort of crap again, what with their nerfing on whims that they've done in the past with no thought to the consequences.
CH, Jedi, Commando, Smuggler, BH, Scout, Doctor, Chef, BE...yeah, lots of SWG time invested.
Comments
If you ban macros what's to stop them just making a simple script to do the same thing from outside the game? I'm no programming wiz (actually very far from it
) but I could easily knock up a quick script to spam chat. I don't think banning macros would really affect the spammers but might hurt the genuine players that actually use them.
thats why most of the reply's where trying to find different solutions then simply banning macro's
That wouldn't really work, all they'd need to do is play with the lettering in the Spam a bit and it'll avoid the filter. EQII apparantly received a spam filter much like what you have on RL email accounts, would be nice if something like that would make through to SWG
I think you missed what I mean.
I am not talking about the spam message. I am talking about the website address in the message. You are right they could change the words around on a whole message and start respamming. But if you ban the specific web addresss in the message the spammers would be forced to get new domain names in order to advertise it.
Example:
Spammers message "Come to www.google.com to get cheap creds." A dev sees the spam and bans not the whole message but just the web address. The message would then read "Come to ************* to get cheap creds." No more advertisement. The spammer notices he can't place the web address in his spams. He also can't just play with the letters of the address. Let's say he tried and typed www.gAAgle.com. People that would buy his credits would type it in on their browser would not make it to his website. Type gAAgle instead of google and see.
The spammer would then be forced to pay for the domain names that they would have to keep chaning it to. He buys gAAgle then that gets banned. Hey then buys gUUgle and that gets banned and so on. It would serve as a harrasment of the spammers one. Two, if it costs more to spam with that to advertise in game then the return they are getting from in game advertising maybe they would stop. All the devs would have to do is add the web addresses to the profanity filters.
Thanks for your input Obraik. If you see this is different than what you were talking of and like it, pass it on up. I can't get on the O forums.
I personaly and definitly like this idea GrandAm
, like to add that this looks like it could be done in the same sort of route games make profanity filters, so basicly your idea is very simply, so i don't really understand why something like that isn't done before.
Thanks Reklaw
I'm no programer but I think it would be possible they could even make a script that if an in game email is sent with an identified web address it could highlight that account to a GM automaticly. The GM could then determine to ban that account. Lets face it most people don't forward email spam on a ticket. This could provide an auto system of once a web adress is considered bad, it flags any one who uses it in email and a summary banning by a GM.
Again anyone that likes this idea as a solution and has access to the SWG official forums, please post it there. Just cut and paste.
"Suddenly, thousands of Trekies whose heads are full of facts of things like the stardate when the Cardassians farted on Deep Space nine are irrlelevant." - hardcoremoviecritic
Plus the best way to deal with credit spammers isn't to hurt the existing legitimate players that use macros legitimately. The way SOE should handle it is have a CSR rotation with the purpose of looking for credit spammers and banning those accounts when found. They could also make it where if a link is advertised in a spam, they could block the line/link from being put through the server ever. This would force the credit spammers to constantly buy new domain names. The registration fees would cut into any profit they make from spamming. It may not stop them but it would make it harder for them to do business.
The only problem with the above tatic is, would SOE work to ban them? I doubt it. Credit spammers and credit farmers are in the game presumeably under a paid account. This is revenue for SOE. Why throw away revenue. If the spammers are there under trial accounts then SOE needs to limit it to the space station. If having a trial that can show the real world is a must then I have a potential solution.
Move the space station to the least populated server. Allow people to see Tattooine and such. If somebody subscribes based on the trial give them a free character transfer to a populated server of there choice. In fact rename the server "the trial server" and force them to go upon subscription. This would get rid of credit spammers and farmers operating under trial accounts as the other servers will not have any trial accounts possible on them.
If anyone thinks this has merit and worth being told to SOE devs then please post it to them. I can't get on the official forums.
I don't think credit farmers will ever be beaten, because the incentive to make money by the farmers is greater any game companies incentive to spend the money to stop it.It really more a political issue, the player whine and gripe like little girls about it and the game company throws them a bone, but it will never really be stopped. Its like the "war on drugs" ony its the "mmo war on credit farmers" it can't be won, but of course the mmo companies have to pacify the crybabies out there, so the ythrow a bone once in a while like banning accounts and announcing a suposed number of bans, or some crackpot volunteer program where players can work free and do the job of CSRs
I agree there is no way to defeat credit "farmers". They will always be there. What I was offering a suggestion to was the credit "spammers." The "farmers" get the creds, but it is the 'spammers" job to advertise in game. I know some people want an all or nothing cure. They see "farmers" and "spammers" as the same thing and can't be resolved seperatly. I think it can. Stop the "spamming" if a system allows it and continue to work on the "farmers" after. At least with the spamming gone you can enjoy the game without losing spatial coming out of a space port.
The advertisers. They can be slowed to a crawl. They will always pop up as well. But if you remove what they are trying to advertise, I.E. the website contained in their email and spatial spams by adding it to the profanity filter, It may make it less profitable to advertise in game. They would have to pay for more domain names every time the web address got banned.
Again you are right the "farmers" will never go, but if they don't get enough return from in game spamming, maybe the "spamming" will stop.
Maybe just wishful thinking.
"Suddenly, thousands of Trekies whose heads are full of facts of things like the stardate when the Cardassians farted on Deep Space nine are irrlelevant." - hardcoremoviecritic
the real question here is, why would spammers and farmers waste their time on a game with such minimal population and bleak future?
Extremism in the defense of Liberty is no vice.
it seems to me that population has increased from the spring, and from right after the NGE hit. Whether or not this can be sustained with vets returning I do not know. There's still too much broken for me to return as a paying customer, and then again there's still the entire issue of the betrayal itself, and the destruction of player accomplishments in both the CU and NGE. These guys can't be trusted not to pull that sort of crap again, what with their nerfing on whims that they've done in the past with no thought to the consequences.
CH, Jedi, Commando, Smuggler, BH, Scout, Doctor, Chef, BE...yeah, lots of SWG time invested.
Once a denizen of Ahazi