TUXs Posted May 21, 2015 Share Posted May 21, 2015 No, it most certainly is NOT. Paying someone to monitor 22 servers, both Imperial and Republic, as well as all 21 planets, both Imperial and Republic, and 44 Fleets is a logistical NIGHTMARE. That is 130 separate chat logs to monitor 24/7. You would need at least 3 people just to monitor a fraction of them for an entire 24 hour cycle. For each person they pay to split up the workload then further increases the cost. They don't need to engage in conversation, just browse. It's far less daunting of a task than you make it sound. And why the hell would they need to be on every planet exactly? This is 2015...I'm sure the company that created this game could create a way to send a message to an employee whenever there's a SPAM flag. Employee gets the notification, checks chat log, kicks offender. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loomi Posted May 21, 2015 Author Share Posted May 21, 2015 And why the hell would they need to be on every planet exactly? This is 2015...I'm sure the company that created this game could create a way to send a message to an employee whenever there's a SPAM flag. Employee gets the notification, checks chat log, kicks offender. If one area is being "patrolled" they will just move to another. Where exactly do you think your Spam Reports are going? And again... since you dodge the issue entirely: How does this SOLVE the problem, instead of just react to it? It does not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anaesha Posted May 21, 2015 Share Posted May 21, 2015 (edited) It's freaky how profitable the gold selling business is. I looked at one of the sites on google 358 USD gets you 100000K +10000K bonus which according to them comes out to 110 Million credits AND the sad part is there are actually people who would PAY that. Edited May 21, 2015 by Anaesha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rafaman Posted May 21, 2015 Share Posted May 21, 2015 Simple solution... It would take one person watching fleet chat across the servers to put a heck of a dent in this... They aren't playing the game, they are watching chat... The spams are obvious, the fact that the web sites are in the spams tells me that they don't even have basic protections in place and clearly don't care... Log in to fleet, in 15 seconds you'll see a spam, or I do anyway... this is not complex... Well, they have done quite a bit recently actually. Do a little search in the forums or a much broader search via google. You idea about monitoring chat, if that is what you mean has been circumvented. Spammers are now using whisper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaximusRex Posted May 21, 2015 Share Posted May 21, 2015 The bank characters aren't the issue...the spammers are. I honestly don't give a flip if someone sells or buys credits, it's the SPAM that's driving me nuts. They need to pay someone to sit and monitor chat and reports of spam. It's the easiest, cheapest and quickest way to stop it. It won't stop it, at best it will only force it all into whisper spam, so that even leaving the fleet isn't an relief from it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaximusRex Posted May 21, 2015 Share Posted May 21, 2015 If one area is being "patrolled" they will just move to another. Where exactly do you think your Spam Reports are going? And again... since you dodge the issue entirely: How does this SOLVE the problem, instead of just react to it? It does not. Idiots have been offering "Hire someone to just watch chat" as a solution for MMO currency sellers for well over a decade now. If they aren't smart enough to realize that if no one is doing this, except for the occasional publicity stunt where they take out the ban hammer as some kind of modern version of the Roman's feeding the lions, that it doesn't work. The best result you would get if they did this is that all spam would become whispers, and why not, then you can get the whole galaxy instead of just fleet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aelflaed Posted May 21, 2015 Share Posted May 21, 2015 I just wanted to chime in and add, "It's driving me crazy!" Whispers, constant chat spam... I get the feeling that 'Report Spam" is "Doing Nothing." I've reported the same spammer on Sith Side JC every day since I came back to the game, a few weeks ago. Is *no one* watching over this? (I keep reporting, just out of stubbornness, but it feels exceptionally futile) It cheapens the game, it's insulting to players - to have nothing done at all. Now, I HOPE that behind the scenes, someone is on this, but I'm not encouraged by Spammer G-'s constant fleet spam or the whispers I'm getting at least every 15 minutes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loomi Posted May 21, 2015 Author Share Posted May 21, 2015 I just wanted to chime in and add, "It's driving me crazy!" Whispers, constant chat spam... I get the feeling that 'Report Spam" is "Doing Nothing." I've reported the same spammer on Sith Side JC every day since I came back to the game, a few weeks ago. Is *no one* watching over this? (I keep reporting, just out of stubbornness, but it feels exceptionally futile) It cheapens the game, it's insulting to players - to have nothing done at all. Now, I HOPE that behind the scenes, someone is on this, but I'm not encouraged by Spammer G-'s constant fleet spam or the whispers I'm getting at least every 15 minutes. Second line of the very first post: *****THIS IS NOT A THREAD TO BLINDLY VENT AND COMPLAIN. Read the post, and then provide feedback pertaining to the content within***** Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
venomlash Posted May 21, 2015 Share Posted May 21, 2015 Good post, OP. Just a simple captcha on signup would make things less aggravating. I'd love to hear from BW why they haven't yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TUXs Posted May 21, 2015 Share Posted May 21, 2015 If one area is being "patrolled" they will just move to another. Where exactly do you think your Spam Reports are going? And again... since you dodge the issue entirely: How does this SOLVE the problem, instead of just react to it? It does not. How the hell would "I" know where the spam reports go? I assume to some department at Bioware...where do you think they go? And no...they wouldn't be patrolling zones, they'd be monitoring spam reports. They'd then check the chat log for the reported character and act accordingly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TUXs Posted May 21, 2015 Share Posted May 21, 2015 Idiots have been offering "Hire someone to just watch chat" as a solution for MMO currency sellers for well over a decade now. If they aren't smart enough to realize that if no one is doing this, except for the occasional publicity stunt where they take out the ban hammer as some kind of modern version of the Roman's feeding the lions, that it doesn't work. The best result you would get if they did this is that all spam would become whispers, and why not, then you can get the whole galaxy instead of just fleet. You can report whispers too right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loomi Posted May 21, 2015 Author Share Posted May 21, 2015 (edited) How the hell would "I" know where the spam reports go? I assume to some department at Bioware...where do you think they go? And no...they wouldn't be patrolling zones, they'd be monitoring spam reports. They'd then check the chat log for the reported character and act accordingly. Well if you don't know where they go, then you can't make assumptions as to the validity of the current system. At any rate, you obviously didn't read my post, because it explains why trying to target spam accounts is futile. Go back and read it. Edited May 21, 2015 by Loomi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TUXs Posted May 21, 2015 Share Posted May 21, 2015 Well if you don't know where they go, then you can't make assumptions as to the validity of the current system. At any rate, you obviously didn't read my post, because it explains why trying to target spam accounts is futile. Go back and read it. I don't have to know where the reports go to realize how infective they are. The current system is obviously not working well because the reports go un-acted upon for far too long. And no, it's not futile, it would remove the problem right then and there, something the current system fails to do. Your opinion that it's futile is fine, but I disagree. It has an immediate impact. Is it the ONLY change that should happen? No. But it's the best "solution" to silence them as soon as they pop-up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loomi Posted May 21, 2015 Author Share Posted May 21, 2015 I don't have to know where the reports go to realize how infective they are. The current system is obviously not working well because the reports go un-acted upon for far too long. And no, it's not futile, it would remove the problem right then and there, something the current system fails to do. Your opinion that it's futile is fine, but I disagree. It has an immediate impact. Is it the ONLY change that should happen? No. But it's the best "solution" to silence them as soon as they pop-up. Point 6 - All they have to do is change their IP and continue on another of their innumerous accounts.... Exactly what is happening with "The current system" and what would continue to happen with your suggestion Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TUXs Posted May 21, 2015 Share Posted May 21, 2015 Point 6 - All they have to do is change their IP and continue on another of their innumerous accounts.... Exactly what is happening with "The current system" and what would continue to happen with your suggestion That has nothing to do with my suggestion. They can change IP addresses all day, but the second they get reported for SPAM, their chat log gets flagged and looked at by a human who can immediately ban the account. They can create them all day long, the result will be the same...BAN! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
btmart Posted May 21, 2015 Share Posted May 21, 2015 (edited) But it's the best "solution" to silence them as soon as they pop-up. The best solution is to prevent it before it is able to start in the first place, or at least make it extraordinarily tedious to get a spambot account started. Just as the OP, I am an IT network engineer, and reactive solutions cost a LOT more money in the long run, and are counter-productive. You would require BW's staffing to increase by at least a few salaries, which is most likely not in the budget, nor is it something they really want to pay for. The OP's suggestions are preventative solutions which should be the approach to dealing with this problem, which are more realistic to a business, because 1) they solve the problem, at least to a degree, and 2) they are much more cost effective. More preventative solutions like these are what we should be striving for. Honestly no one would care about who buys and sells credits if the spam would just go away. Edited May 21, 2015 by btmart Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loomi Posted May 21, 2015 Author Share Posted May 21, 2015 That has nothing to do with my suggestion. They can change IP addresses all day, but the second they get reported for SPAM, their chat log gets flagged and looked at by a human who can immediately ban the account. They can create them all day long, the result will be the same...BAN! And yet they still were able to spam in the first place. They still advertised their site, they still got their message out. And five seconds later, another has popped up to replace it. You are suggesting fighting an endless battle with no plan for victory. Try to see past the immediate gratification and understand that what you propose has been proposed time and time again, and rejected, time and time again. It is not a winning scenario, and that is all I will continue with you about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arjani Posted May 21, 2015 Share Posted May 21, 2015 (edited) I always suspected Bioware of laundering the GTN Commissions and running their own credit shop. Edited May 21, 2015 by Arjani Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loomi Posted May 21, 2015 Author Share Posted May 21, 2015 The best solution is to prevent it before it is able to start in the first place, or at least make it extraordinarily tedious to get a spambot account started. Just as the OP, I am an IT network engineer, and reactive solutions cost a LOT more money in the long run, and are counter-productive. You would require BW's staffing to increase by at least a few salaries, which is most likely not in the budget, nor is it something they really want to pay for. The OP's suggestions are preventative solutions which should be the approach to dealing with this problem, which are more realistic to a business, because 1) they solve the problem, at least to a degree, and 2) they are much more cost prohibitive. More preventative solutions like these are what we should be striving for. Honestly no one would care about who buys and sells credits if the spam would just go away. *Cost effective Thank you, concise and insightful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
btmart Posted May 21, 2015 Share Posted May 21, 2015 *Cost effective Thank you, concise and insightful. Yes sorry... long day Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TUXs Posted May 21, 2015 Share Posted May 21, 2015 The best solution is to prevent it before it is able to start in the first place, or at least make it extraordinarily tedious to get a spambot account started. That doesn't prevent it at all, it simply slows it down. I'm all in favor of making account creation more involved, but that's a minimal fix. That doesn't stop them from spamming once they're back up and running. A PERSON does. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loomi Posted May 21, 2015 Author Share Posted May 21, 2015 That doesn't prevent it at all, it simply slows it down. I'm all in favor of making account creation more involved, but that's a minimal fix. That doesn't stop them from spamming once they're back up and running. A PERSON does. "A person" stops nothing. They react, are circumvented, and forced to react again. Over, and over, and over again. I would give you the definition of insanity here, but I will leave that by the wayside... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TUXs Posted May 21, 2015 Share Posted May 21, 2015 "A person" stops nothing. They react, are circumvented, and forced to react again. Over, and over, and over again. I would give you the definition of insanity here, but I will leave that by the wayside... Right...people can react and ban the person. What you suggest only slows down their account creation by a few seconds. Your solution only addresses account creation, not the resulting annoyances. A person DOES. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karaiblis Posted May 21, 2015 Share Posted May 21, 2015 They do act pretty fast already. I'll be sitting on fleet with all the spam, report them (if they are rampantly spaming I'll take the extra step to add them to ignore) then I get a WZ pop, at the most two WZ pops, and by the time I load back into fleet, it's all new people spamming. It's not like they are just going to throw an account away and use a new one if the old ones aren't getting banned, which means they are responding to reports fairly quickly. Obviously the hydra is much bigger than this warrior, and reactive combat doesn't look like it's going to win the day for us, but the action time I am seeing is well within reason. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loomi Posted May 21, 2015 Author Share Posted May 21, 2015 They do act pretty fast already. I'll be sitting on fleet with all the spam, report them (if they are rampantly spaming I'll take the extra step to add them to ignore) then I get a WZ pop, at the most two WZ pops, and by the time I load back into fleet, it's all new people spamming. It's not like they are just going to throw an account away and use a new one if the old ones aren't getting banned, which means they are responding to reports fairly quickly. Obviously the hydra is much bigger than this warrior, and reactive combat doesn't look like it's going to win the day for us, but the action time I am seeing is well within reason. Exactly. I deliberately left out specific information on how they circumvent the system in regards to detection, as that is not something Bioware would want me to throw out there. Suffice to say, there isn't someone sitting there waiting to get banned, and then creating an entirely new account the moment they are. That is all I will say on the matter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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