Reporting Botting Gold Sellers - Gaile plz read :) - Guild Wars Guru archive powered by Guild Wars Legacy

cebalrai

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Mar 2007

Mature Gaming Association

Me/E

23 Jan 2008 at 14:32 - 1

Balth International 1 is a haven for gibberish-named botting gold sellers. It has been for some time - common knowledge. So I decided to take screenshots of these guys spamming advertisements for their websites and send a service ticket to Anet.

I get the standard form response from GM Jessica, saying the matter has been investigated and closed, etc.

Yet HOURS later, these three guys are still right here in my district, spamming their illegal ads. How can the matter be investigated and closed? Did Anet investigate hours of blatantly illegal activities and say it's not a violation?

I understand that the results of an investigation cannot be shared with anyone and that's fine. I also understand that policing the game for violators is a major task. It just looks really bad when:

1) There's a district where bots spam ads for gold selling websites 24/7.
2) Player reports don't seem to be helpful in Anet's stated goal of eliminating bots and gold sellers.

Anyway, I don't know why I care. I'm just bored today.

BSSuperman

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Oct 2006

Prophets of Dhuum[wii]

W/

23 Jan 2008 at 14:40 - 2

Quote:

Anyway, I don't know why I care. I'm just bored today

.

Way to pull the plug out of your rip-roaring, fire and brimstone damnation tirade against the injustice and tyranny of goldbots with the last two sentences of your post - lawl.

I dont know what you expect Mme Grey to do about this you launched your ticket and the appropriate teams will have been notified.

They are a kick to the in-game economy but as always the goldbots boil down to personal virtues - Do you want to cheat and use them or do you want to play the game as intended?

The bots dont bother me as I ignore them.

ReiNaruto

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Jun 2007

Valencia, Spain

Green Arse Team

23 Jan 2008 at 14:43 - 3

They are anet bots to catch gold buyers!

Nuffs said!

Surena

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Mar 2007

N/Me

23 Jan 2008 at 14:45 - 4

The market is already hopelessly RED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GOed with ebay.

You're obviously very very bored to commit hours to a problem which is not upon you to fix. Are you sure you're playing the game?

cebalrai

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Mar 2007

Mature Gaming Association

Me/E

23 Jan 2008 at 14:47 - 5

Quote:

Originally Posted by ReiNaruto

They are anet bots to catch gold buyers!

Nuffs said!

Lol. Unfortunately since they just advertise their website there's no way for Anet to catch anyone.

I guess I care a little, since botting gold sellers are one of the reasons the in-game economy is so messed up.

Numa Pompilius

Grotto Attendant

Join Date: May 2005

At an Insit.. Intis... a house.

Live Forever Or Die Trying [GLHF]

W/Me

23 Jan 2008 at 14:47 - 6

Cebralai: You don't need to go the route via screenshots & support, you can report them directly in-game now. E.g. if the gold-seller is named "oiwu4rlksj" you'd issue the command /report oiwu4rlksj
A GM will then look into your report, check the log, and presumably ban the gold-seller.

If you want you can add them to your friends-list, so you can gloat as they go permanently off-line after a day or two. Very satisfying.

However, you should be aware that most of them are using trial accounts for their ad-bots, and as such they're probably not priority targets for ANets GM's. Sure they'll ban them, but they'll bounce right back with a new trial account.

EDIT: Oh, and don't be too surprised over, or bothered by, the flak you're getting here at GWGuru. After all, someone is farming that gold for the goldbot, and someone is buying it.

cebalrai

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Mar 2007

Mature Gaming Association

Me/E

23 Jan 2008 at 14:50 - 7

Quote:

Originally Posted by Numa Pompilius

Cebralai: You don't need to go the route via screenshots & support, you can report them directly in-game now. E.g. if the gold-seller is named "oiwu4rlksj" you'd issue the command /report oiwu4rlksj
A GM will then look into your report, check the log, and presumably ban the gold-seller.

If you want you can add them to your friends-list, so you can gloat as they go permanently off-line after a day or two. Very satisfying.

However, you should be aware that most of them are using trial accounts for their ad-bots, and as such they're probably not priority targets for ANets GM's. Sure they'll ban them, but they'll bounce right back with a new trial account.

Forgot about trial accounts. I guess there's no way to stop them short of banning ISPs.

The Way Out

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Aug 2007

In my peanut brain

Zomg Zombies [OMG]

Mo/E

23 Jan 2008 at 14:53 - 8

I just don't appreciate being pmd by them, which I have in the past.

cebalrai

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Mar 2007

Mature Gaming Association

Me/E

23 Jan 2008 at 14:54 - 9

Quote:

Originally Posted by Surena

The market is already hopelessly RED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GOed with ebay.

You're obviously very very bored to commit hours to a problem which is not upon you to fix. Are you sure you're playing the game?

Takes 30 seconds to fill out a report on Anet's website. Does it take you longer?

I was sitting in Balth for some time selling Z-Keys if you must know.

The Way Out

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Aug 2007

In my peanut brain

Zomg Zombies [OMG]

Mo/E

23 Jan 2008 at 15:18 - 10

Quote:

Originally Posted by cebalrai

Takes 30 seconds to fill out a report on Anet's website. Does it take you longer?

I was sitting in Balth for some time selling Z-Keys if you must know.

lol... no one disputes why you were there... I go there to buy keys also. I always think it is funny that you see so many there and it is always the same ones. Anet really can't do much concerning gold sellers. They are real people selling gold so they are much harder to catch.

cebalrai

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Mar 2007

Mature Gaming Association

Me/E

23 Jan 2008 at 15:23 - 11

I would rather see people stop saying "GORED ENGINE..." than for botters to disappear.

The Way Out

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Aug 2007

In my peanut brain

Zomg Zombies [OMG]

Mo/E

23 Jan 2008 at 15:36 - 12

Quote:

Originally Posted by cebalrai

I would rather see people stop saying "GORED ENGINE..." than for botters to disappear.

Me too... I feel like everyone tries to carbon copy each other... lol

MrSlayer

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Apr 2006

United Kingdom

Quit Whining And [PLAY]

Mo/

23 Jan 2008 at 15:52 - 13

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Way Out

I just don't appreciate being pmd by them, which I have in the past.

I agree. A standard statement from a goldbot/asian advertiser/whatever you want to call them.

Quote:

Originally Posted by gold seller bla bla

Sorry to bother but have you heard about great deals on www.genericblablagoldsite.com Only 4.99 for a quick burst

If you're so sorry, just don't bother me with it ffs.
Yeah I agree. Pain in the ass useless bunch of idiots.

The Way Out

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Aug 2007

In my peanut brain

Zomg Zombies [OMG]

Mo/E

23 Jan 2008 at 16:05 - 14

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrSlayer

I agree. A standard statement from a goldbot/asian advertiser/whatever you want to call them.

If you're so sorry, just don't bother me with it ffs.
Yeah I agree. Pain in the ass useless bunch of idiots.

I always shoot back... F U!!! /report lol

Then they send another message to me... lol. I think anet would ban me from the game for swearing before they ban them from the game for selling gold.

Red Sonya

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Jul 2005

23 Jan 2008 at 16:32 - 15

Quote:

Originally Posted by cebalrai

Balth International 1 is a haven for gibberish-named botting gold sellers. It has been for some time - common knowledge. So I decided to take screenshots of these guys spamming advertisements for their websites and send a service ticket to Anet.

I get the standard form response from GM Jessica, saying the matter has been investigated and closed, etc.

Yet HOURS later, these three guys are still right here in my district, spamming their illegal ads. How can the matter be investigated and closed? Did Anet investigate hours of blatantly illegal activities and say it's not a violation?

I understand that the results of an investigation cannot be shared with anyone and that's fine. I also understand that policing the game for violators is a major task. It just looks really bad when:

1) There's a district where bots spam ads for gold selling websites 24/7.
2) Player reports don't seem to be helpful in Anet's stated goal of eliminating bots and gold sellers.

Anyway, I don't know why I care. I'm just bored today.

Did you ever stop to think seriously why these botters still remain always even after you report them 10+ times? I have and the only conclusion I can come up with is NCsoft itself is selling gold online. It's the only thing that makes sense why these same bots/players are in the same place day after day. And what better way to put the suspicision off of Anet or NCsoft by saying they are doing something about botting and selling gold? hahaha It's just spoof like all marketers do. They make you THINK they are doing something about it and perhaps they are to those that aren't part of the company, but, they aren't going to ban an easy way to continue to make income off their game. I don't put it past any of the mmo's or mmorpgs to be doing this. Hell Sony even made a server for EQ2 where it's allowed as long as you buy through the ingame store. lol You might as well quit worrying about botters and such when they are part of the company they aren't going to get banned.

truemyths

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Jan 2007

23 Jan 2008 at 16:56 - 16

basically, as long as there's money in it people are going to continue to sell. The increase in gold sellers means an increase in gold buyers. It seems to me gold buyers increased when loot scaling was implemented.

[Morkai]

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Oct 2007

Heroes of Elonia [HE]

W/Rt

23 Jan 2008 at 17:18 - 17

True that. Anet are so annoyed at what they think is ruinined the economy. (Bots/etc.) When they themselves blew it up the day they invented loot scaling.

scrinner

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Jan 2006

23 Jan 2008 at 17:26 - 18

Quote:

Forgot about trial accounts. I guess there's no way to stop them short of banning ISPs.

Trial accounts cant trade.

Quote:

I would rather see people stop saying "GORED ENGINE..." than for botters to disappear.

Guru Filters swear words and replaces them with REG ENGINE GORED.

MithranArkanere

Underworld Spelunker

Join Date: Nov 2006

wikipedia.org/wiki/Vigo

Heraldos de la Llama Oscura [HLO]

E/

23 Jan 2008 at 17:41 - 19

There should be a EULA breach/Out of the Game behavior/Whatever you want to call it option in the /report panel.

It would serve to report bot sellers, bot spammers, bot farmers, phising page advertisers, third party programs advertisers, etc...

Evaine

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Dec 2007

USA

KORE

N/

23 Jan 2008 at 18:34 - 20

Quote:

Originally Posted by cebalrai

I would rather see people stop saying "GORED ENGINE..." than for botters to disappear.

Me too! Well the GORED ENGINE anyway.

In Kamadan International District there's always someone advertising gold for sale. The character's name changes but it's always positioned on the same step and the message is identical. Actually it did change positions - last night it was standing at the bottom of the stairs. Plus a second person is advertising gold for sale now.

I agree too that they wouldn't be selling it if someone weren't buying it. I looked at one of their sites and was amazed at what they sell ... everything. Seriously, I'm starting to wonder about why I spend time trying to get Monstrous Fangs for my Necromancer's armor when I could just buy them. And who's brilliant idea was it for Necromancer's armors to require so many Monstrous things in the first place? Probably somebody who has a web site that sells gold and everything else needed to craft elite armors. But then, who says I need to buy elite armor? What a vicious circle.

Why do they bother me? I don't know. Maybe because it's not right.

Numa Pompilius

Grotto Attendant

Join Date: May 2005

At an Insit.. Intis... a house.

Live Forever Or Die Trying [GLHF]

W/Me

23 Jan 2008 at 18:44 - 21

Quote:

Originally Posted by scrinner

Trial accounts cant trade.

No, but they can ad-spam.

cosyfiep

are we there yet?

Join Date: Dec 2005

in a land far far away

guild? I am supposed to have a guild?

Rt/

23 Jan 2008 at 20:35 - 22

when you get to pre, they whisper you as soon as you get in!

MarlinBackna

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: May 2007

[TAM]

W/

23 Jan 2008 at 21:13 - 23

I didn't really mind the bot sellers in Balth ID1...barely anyone goes there except for international trades. But what angers me the most is bot sellers in Ascalon City American and PMing me directly (a freaking lvl 20 Derv) to buy gold on their site. This is the worst possible place to advertise because it is right at the heart of the noob population of GW, which will have less of a problem buying gold than seasoned players. Along with being able to report botters, we should be able to report gold-site advertisers, especially in places like Ascalon.

cebalrai

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Mar 2007

Mature Gaming Association

Me/E

23 Jan 2008 at 22:39 - 24

Direct PMs from gold sellers seems to be becoming more frequent in my experience.

Medic

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Feb 2006

CA

[DNR]

Mo/

23 Jan 2008 at 22:57 - 25

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Way Out

I just don't appreciate being pmd by them, which I have in the past.

/agree, I find this very annoying as well. I sell Z keys in balth AD1 and sometimes ID1 if no ones buying in AD, about half the time I go there I get a PM from some gold-seller bot immediatly after I zone in. I have /reported dozens and my ignore list is full.

God Apprentice

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Mar 2006

Mo/N

24 Jan 2008 at 01:02 - 26

Ok to add to this, I tested something.

Ask yourself: Haven't you noticed an increase in gold site spammers since the update to get player access to all districts (thus far Americans/Europeans can go to Korean districts). Coincidence? I think not.

You know this is bad when you get large scale spamming in pre searing. I have a new Tyrian Mesmer, and EVERYTIME you load into Ascalon, you'll get a pm for a gold ad. So they seem to target people loading in. If you do not ignore them, they continue to spam ads at you.

Only 10 IGNORE SLOTS. Come the RED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GO on.

lazuli

Academy Page

Join Date: Jan 2006

Permabanned

Mo/

24 Jan 2008 at 01:53 - 27

here's an idea.
revoke all trial account codes. they don't do anything beneficial for guild wars anyway. at least that will mean spammers/bots need to use real accounts that risk getting flagged and banned that cost them real money to replace.

RavagerOfDreams

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Dec 2007

somewhere over the rainbow....

A/

24 Jan 2008 at 01:54 - 28

well i hate to be the one to tell you all this but it aint gunna happen no matter how much u beg

they use trial accounts cant ban those...

not only that but the sellers arent the actual bots theyd just grab another account and keep selling

and even if you did ban the sellers in game ther is still the sites they use to sell people would still buy

bummmmmmmer

lazuli

Academy Page

Join Date: Jan 2006

Permabanned

Mo/

24 Jan 2008 at 02:31 - 29

Quote:

Originally Posted by RavagerOfDreams

they use trial accounts cant ban those...

did i say ban? i said DELETE THEM ALL.

Quote:

Originally Posted by RavagerOfDreams

not only that but the sellers arent the actual bots theyd just grab another account and keep selling

yes, but this time the full-accounts mean real losses to them if they get repeatedly banned

Quote:

Originally Posted by RavagerOfDreams

and even if you did ban the sellers in game ther is still the sites they use to sell people would still buy

i don't care if you buy from these sites, really. its the spam that pisses me off. every time i see one of those random mishmash names spam gold selling/account buying i mentally tell them to GTFO and pray their family dies in a fire (guess thats laying it a bit thick though, but thats not too far from the truth).

RavagerOfDreams

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Dec 2007

somewhere over the rainbow....

A/

24 Jan 2008 at 02:38 - 30

well i can care less about spam its all the people GORED up the economy that pisses me off and welcome to gw we all spam in the trade chat everyday

pming is annoying though i agree

and lazuli i posted at the same time as u wasnt arguing w u but if u wanna flame me thas cool :{

Molock

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Sep 2006

Qu??bec

Legacy of Angels [Halo]

E/

24 Jan 2008 at 02:45 - 31

I've been to Temple of Balthy [AD 1-2] four times in the past two days and was pm'ed by a bot twice. I reported them both...

Molock

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Sep 2006

Qu??bec

Legacy of Angels [Halo]

E/

24 Jan 2008 at 02:46 - 32

Quote:

Originally Posted by God Apprentice

Ok to add to this, I tested something.

Ask yourself: Haven't you noticed an increase in gold site spammers since the update to get player access to all districts (thus far Americans/Europeans can go to Korean districts). Coincidence? I think not.

You know this is bad when you get large scale spamming in pre searing. I have a new Tyrian Mesmer, and EVERYTIME you load into Ascalon, you'll get a pm for a gold ad. So they seem to target people loading in. If you do not ignore them, they continue to spam ads at you.

Only 10 IGNORE SLOTS. Come the RED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GO on.

I got that exact pm yesterday...

Lord Sojar

The Fallen One

Join Date: Dec 2005

Oblivion

Irrelevant

Mo/Me

24 Jan 2008 at 05:18 - 33

I hate the ones that are programmed to PM you. Those piss me off. The others I just ignore.

Gaile Gray

ArenaNet

Join Date: Feb 2005

24 Jan 2008 at 05:37 - 34

Ok, some info:

The trial accounts can't trade, and I don't think they can whisper, but they can spam.

I brought this up at a recent meeting, and I hope that we'll take steps to fix that. However, I'm honestly not sure what to do about it, because it seems unfair to offer a trial where someone can't even talk to others to learn about the game, form a party, etc. This requires some contemplation.

I am hoping that we can add "gold selling" as an option of the /report system. Would be very nice to have that option. But in the meantime, since all the sellers spam anyway, just hit "spamming" and you're good.

Does it matter if you report? Absolutely! I sent off 100 reports the other night and the reports are reviewed daily and as one of our support leads said, "The team looooves banning bots! Keep the reports coming!"

Kendar Muert

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Aug 2006

Texas

E/

24 Jan 2008 at 05:44 - 35

Are you saying you would like someone to sit down in all the bot areas to monitor them and send a list of bots? Since many here on guru feel that bots are the Satan of GW (since microsoft takes first irl, of course), we should have no trouble organizing something along those lines-
A group of people who will go and look for bots for a week or so, reporting every single one they find.

bhavv

Furnace Stoker

Join Date: Sep 2006

24 Jan 2008 at 05:46 - 36

Yes im fed up of itemcoo telling me to pay attention to KINGS ROAD! too.

What the RED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GOing hell?

Torqual

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Mar 2006

W/Mo

24 Jan 2008 at 12:53 - 37

Oh my word.

Some friends and I were going to make new pre-sear characters and go through the Prophecies campaign playing less-familiar classes. But reading this I don't want to turn up into Ascalon City with a Level 1 character or I'll have any number of machines locking onto my two year old account and bugging me endlessly until my ignore list is full. It's like that one email or website that gets your email account on the spam list, which is then shared with all the other spam lists, and before you know it you're getting 400 emails a day offering you something called s0ft C!AL1$ whatever that is.

What a horrifying thought.

This may sound like an overreaction but I think I am going to postpone this plan, visiting Ascalon, indefinitely until the problem is clearly fixed.

What a rubbish impression this gives to new players that have bought the game and don't understand what is going on or how to ignore it. They arrive and are trying to work out their keys, controls etc and their 'whisper' is filling up with gold spam - and they have no idea why it's there or how to make it go away.

These trial accounts seem to offer a risk-free means for spammers to ruin the game for everyone else, particularly new players. Obvious solution would be to disable /whisper on trial accounts.

Gaile pls update us if such measures are taken.

cebalrai

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Mar 2007

Mature Gaming Association

Me/E

24 Jan 2008 at 13:22 - 38

Okay here's a new one...

I was running Sepulchre of Dragimmar last night with a couple friends. During the battle with the boss, I got a whisper from a gibberish-named gold seller. Sps Sfsssfs or something was his name...

I hadn't been in a zone in 45 minutes, and before that I was only in Olafstead and Sifhalla where I've never observed botting or spamming.

I was very suprised and unsure at first how it could happen. My current hypothesis is that the gold seller saw me active on this forum (in a thread that was relevant to his activity) and used my character name to whisper to me. I received only a single whisper from this guy, not spam. I suspect that a bot would have sent multiple messages, therefore this may be a live person. Maybe.

I've been whispered by one of these guys before while in a zone, but it was always shortly after leaving a busy area. I had assumed they got my name when they saw me in a town.

Gibberish-named bots like this one are almost certainly trial accounts. My recommendations:

1) Disable /whisper on trial accounts.
2) Add a /report feature for gold sellers.
3) If /report [gold selling] is made against a trial account, it should result in immediate censorship. The trial account would lose the ability to communicate in local and trade until they buy the game, or perhaps if anet investigates. The potential for abuse here is low. Nobody is going to risk their own account standing to try to abuse trial account players.

Crom The Pale

Furnace Stoker

Join Date: Nov 2006

Ageis Ascending

W/

24 Jan 2008 at 13:24 - 39

Yesterday I was in a map, and had been for almost 35min, when I was hit with a Whisper for gold selling web site!

Only thing I can think of was that he grabbed my name in town and added it to a list, taking amost 35min to reach my name on that long long list.

The player name was some made up crap like Sdfds Sdfdd.

The Way Out

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Aug 2007

In my peanut brain

Zomg Zombies [OMG]

Mo/E

24 Jan 2008 at 15:00 - 40

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crom The Pale

Yesterday I was in a map, and had been for almost 35min, when I was hit with a Whisper for gold selling web site!

Only thing I can think of was that he grabbed my name in town and added it to a list, taking amost 35min to reach my name on that long long list.

The player name was some made up crap like Sdfds Sdfdd.

I got hit up in Kaineng the minute I logged on. I think they pool names from guru and other places. I notice that when I am logged on with any other character outside of Awakened Lotus I don't get bothered.