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EVE Online: Raging Against Bots
SBFord
Former Associate EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 33,129
A new EVE Online blog has popped up on the official site giving a few details about the campaign to stop and eliminate 'real money transaction' bots. The 'raging' RMT campaign has been ongoing for the past year with good results. The dev post goes on to talk about how the team is also concerned about bots that are still present which may or may not ever sell goods for real world cash.
We appreciate the reports you guys keep sending us about suspected bots and so on and would like to use this opportunity to thank you for that and encourage you to keep those reports coming. Also, use of the "Report ISK spammer" feature has been very helpful in the battle against RMT - also something we'd like to commend you guys for.
We have by no means stamped out the whole of RMT in EVE Online. This is an ongoing struggle and the results depend on what we do - but they are also dictated by the conduct of you, the players.
ISK is sold because people buy it. Players do business with the RMT element and that is why accounts are hacked, asteroid belts are sucked up by bots and it is why we find ourselves in our current situation.
Read the full blog post here.
Comments
It's nice to have official confirmation that they indeed have no idea how rmt works in their game at least.
Oh really? How did you figure it out from that information lacking, disguised PLEX advert blog?
I was in CSM 2, when they announced Project Unholy Rage and it filled me with hope. An industrialist by trade (who sometimes engages in PvP), the bots and macros have been a constant pain in my proverbial posterior.
I read the article, and it left me with mixed emotions. On the positive side, it tells me they're still working at it and banning macroing accounts. On the negative, they showed little to no regard for non-RMT macros.
"While we have put much of our focus on the RMT related activities we do realize that botting is not exclusive to RMT in EVE and we do investigate reports and take action against players proven guilty of using macros for mining, ratting, mission running, market activities and whatnot."
CCP is in a tenuous place, and I agree with the article that started all this commotion that changes have to be made on CCP's side to help fight the macro invasion. CCP is loathe to install any software which would violate their trust (unlike Blizzard, who views actions in the kernel of the OS).
So, in summary, I say to CCP: Good job. Now lets take the next step.
G2GTech, aka Bunyip in Eve Online.
"The civilized man is rude, as he knows there are laws that protect him from recompense; The savage is not, for his actions can meet a bloody end."
- Robert E. Howard
They find themselves in this situation because they decided to build a game which is extremely dependant on ISK (=ig money) to get pretty much anything done. And since it is boring as hell to grind for ISK then people look elsewhere for it.
So if anyone is to blaim for ISK sellers it is CCP themselves.
My gaming blog
There is no blame to place. You either like the game or you don't. If you do, you'll play by the rules. If you want to play the game but don't have enough time, then you probably shouldn't be playing an MMO that takes, time, patience and earning ISK to become a sucessful. And finally if you do have the time but don't have the patience, then EvE isn't the game for you. There's no excuse for cheating.
LOL, dude you pretty much described most mmo's out there. I see plex as a rmt relief as those that have free time and isk can play for free while those that don't can still compete and get what they are looking for.
They are clearing the way for CCP to sell isk and other items themselves. Simple as that. They already do it in an off hand way with PLEX. They just want to get all the monees.
Selling ISK and selling PLEX are two very different things....you better understand the subject or do not make such claims, you will look like an ignorant then.
Wow! You really don't get it? CCP is not selling ISK they are selling game time that is tradable for ISK. As for the cash shop which will come when "Incarna" drops will only have fluff stuff, nothing game breaking. Besides what company does not do it for the money huh? Blizzard does it, Sony does it, NCSoft also does it too, they try to maximize profits to players wants and desires. Nothing wrong with wanting to increase a companies profits.
No, but they are talking like they are in some like a crusade against evil. They are not, they are just protecting their own profits. ISK sellers exist because there is a demand, a demand created by the game mechanics of the game where dying costs alot of ISK.
So me personally, I dont see a problem with ISK sellers as it actually makes the game more enjoyable as you dont have to grind for hours to get some ISK. Also you are wrong that CCP allowing selling for RMTs is not selling ISK, it is. If I would not be able to buy ISK from ISK sellers I would be buying RMTs from CCP, by using real money, just so I could sell it IG and earn some ISK.
And that is the real reason CCP is against ISK sellers, because they are in direct competition for people not wanting to grind for ISK but rather try to get it for RL money and going to the ISK sellers instead of buying it from CCP to sell as RMTs IG.
Just a disclaimer: I dont currently play Eve nor buy ISK but I did the math and saw that buying ISK from ISK sellers is far cheaper than buying RMTs from CCP and selling it for ISK.
My gaming blog
What the "There is no blame to place" person said. Pretty basic stuff that, sad and pathetic to say, many people just don't have the capacity to understand nowadays. Regression at work I suppose.
Wherever you go, there you are.
I played EvE from 2004 to 2008. I love EvE and often defend still on these boards, and I still get upset when CCP does things that I know will end up badf (or fails to take action to fix things).
So what I say below is just IMHO due to personal experience and knowledge of the game back then, and how it applies to now....
Yes, it's the same thing, just one added step is all. There really is no difference.
Before there was PLEX there were Game Time Cards. When I first started playing they were quietly sold between players in exchange for ISK even in 2004. Many of the large Alliances used this to fund their campaigns. Everyone knew it... even CCP... even though it was technically against the EULA. Eventually CCP made it quasi-legal to sell GTCs by creating on the official forums a GTC sales section, which was under the circumstance quite wise. CCP finally got the big picture just how much GTC sales for ISK was going on.
In response PLEX was created, but of course CCP didn't exactly say 100% that it was due to the GTC for ISK market (most of us players at the time knew it was exactly due to that). The PLEX system is still in place today, and all considered it is a good system considering what was going on before.
But it *IS* still a RMT transaction, just with an added step. To my way of thinking the added step amounts to a "technicality" is all. You buy a PLEX, you auction it off either quietly or openly for ISK. Check with some of the "big boys" ingame and you will see for yourself. Many an Alliance and Corps have used this to finance wars in EvE. At least this way CCP has some way to better track what is going on.
As for some saying it is cheaper to buy ISK from a third party ISK seller... perhaps it is, at least that was the "street" knowledge back when I played. I for one do not know if that was true, for I never have purchased virtual currency from an third party gold seller for any MMO, a personal choice I am glad I made back in 2001 when I first started playing MMOs.
I am the Player that wonders... "What the %#*& just happened?!"
...............
"I Believe... There should be NO financial connection or portals between the Real World and the Virtual in MMOs. "
__Ever Present Cockroach of the MMO Verses__
...scurrying to and fro... .munching on bits of garbage... always under foot...
Let's avoid any baiting in your posts guys.
Granted it's in game rmt but it's a legal version and everyone involved keeps their ISK. Before with the GTC were sold on the forums between the players with CCP's permission. Now with PLEX which is made tradeble in-game, CCP has cut down on account hacking which is associated with rmt services.
CCP probably should have come out and said, in reference to PLEX and ETCs, that some of the reasons they were creating PLEX were to open up a larger supply so as to lower the ISK exchange rate and to clamp down on RMTs (Real Money Traders) style with a kill and a smile. It's a shame they hid this.
There isn't a "right" or "wrong" way to play, if you want to use a screwdriver to put nails into wood, have at it, simply don't complain when the guy next to you with the hammer is doing it much better and easier. - Allein
"Graphics are often supplied by Engines that (some) MMORPG's are built in" - Spuffyre
I always get a kick out of naive posters. They always think in the black and white, while the world remains mostly grey.
To start with, purchasing ISK is a risky situation. There are many instances of isk sellers committing credit card fraud. Using Paypal does not prevent you from getting ripped off either. Secondly more often than not, CCP figures out your purchase and you end up with a negative account balance. Believe me, you don't want to attempt to play Eve that way, it is very difficult. So time to wake up and realize that the real world is laughing at you.
Here's the thing though.
I buy PLEX for $30 and sell two 30 day licenses. The two guys who buy it for ISK. . aren't spending the $30 now. . before they would have had to. The only way this makes them more money is with people who now have extra accounts. Aside from that it works out even. . for everyone that buys PLEX and sells time. . someone else is not paying CCP for it.
Wa min God! Se æx on min heafod is!
ROFL, mmo players think mmo nerds are "the real world".
Apparently stating the truth in my sig is "trolling"
Sig typo fixed thanks to an observant stragen001.