Hi to everyone, not sure how many of you might remember me. Most of the people I know from a year ago have moved on. Its nice to be back in L2 though, Wow was way too carebear, even for me (and I played on a PVP server...pft pvp.. what a joke). Now, don't get me wrong, I am still a bit of a carebear for L2 standards but I look forward to proper fights when I am high enough to hold my own.
Anyway, so I have been easing my way back into L2, and started finally feeling like I had an understanding of things going on. Its so weird to see the politics of the server change but at least my dear friend Pixie/Soulstone has been there to hold my hand along the way.
Anyway so I'm minding my own business in Aden, thinking about getting back out into the wilderness and leveling up my blade dancer when I get a tell from someone. It was the basic scam, someone pretending to be a guildmate asking for my items and here is their alt in front of you to give the items to.
Now, I know what many of you are thinking. Some are thinking "oh no, how terrible", while many more of you are thinking "how stupid of you to not double check". And you are right! But being somewhat new in the guild and having been given certain items on loan, I thought that they were asking for loaned items back so that they could upgrade me (as discussed earlier this week).
Anyway, let me just remind all of you to be on constant guard, there are still predators out there who thrive on taking advantage of those who are trusting. Ask in guild chat, ask in vent/ts, give that person a hard time who is asking to prove themself in guild/alliance chat. I should have, I wanted to... but I didn't want to be rude. Well hell with that, most of the people in NFI expect rudeness (haha j/k :)). Don't make the same mistake I made guys.
Anyway, the dwarf female toon who made off with my stuff is named Bateons. If you see this person selling dual raid swords +4, and/or doom armor... that is what was conned off of me. Buy it, don't buy it... I don't care, but know that it was not earned honestly but by dishonorable means.
I do want to say thank you to everyone in NFI that helped me out last nite, replacing most of the items. Despite what you guys might think of them, they are truly a group of nice people (oops did I let that out... haha) who look after their own!
Oh and while I'm jabbering on, does anyone know of a trustworthy dwarf that can craft doom armor 100%? Apparently most everyone we have asked in game can only do 60%. If you know of someone (who comes highly recommended obviously) please let me know here or in game.
Since you have been away for a while, are you familiar with the private craft shops? I would first check with them and if you have no luck, you could also just shout in Giran for a crafter (you might find a live one :p ). Your other option is to work with a clannie and try to track down the 100% recipe and politely ask a warsmith in your clan to craft for you. :D
I hope the GMs will take one thing into account:
Bateons does not go out and XP, thereby running the risk of retribution for his actions. Bateons does not run a scam that exists within the framework of the game itself. To run the scam, he must leave the game environment on one of his alt accounts and create a new character whose name is based off of another toon in game.
There is no way for the players to police this. Players can and should be cautious, but people like Bateons can sit around all day and do nothing but try to scam people. So for everyone like me who sees a scumbag foir what he is, there is a Khyrra or a host of other people who are taken throiugh an out-of-game-environment scam that offers no risk or retribution against the offender.
Sorry you lost your gear Khyrra. I will ask Thunderbootz if he has that armor still in his recipe book. If so, I'll see to it that you get a 1 adena craft shop set up.
That kind of <explitive deleted> really <explitive deleted> me off. Whenever I hear of stuff like this it makes me wanna go on a nationwide killing spree (err... in game). I've had people ask me for stuff and I just tell them to bugger-off... or say "Sure, follw me" and I walk out of town and beat them silly... but try not to go red if you attempt this... unless you are ready to run half way across the world to a secluded spot to work off your karma.
People spell names similar to one of your friends and I suspect this is someone close to you doing it... how else would they know you are friends with someone other than a clan member? I'm friends with MoonPenguin and I have had someone try to pose as moon like this:
Monpenguin, moonpenquin & M00NPENGUIN
Each time they asked if they could try my armor so they could see what it looks like. I've never been duped but I learned by watching my kid get ripped off once. He was soooo upset he nearly quit the game.
Don't let an <explitive deleted> ruin your L2 experience... It's a good idea making sure the person is asking in alliance or clan chat... but to be honest, make sure you know the person well even if they are in your clan/alliance... We had that problem with LesbianMonkey in an old clan/alliance... too bad too... try to imagine MadMidget not loving a toon named LesbianMonkey... broke my heart.
Make certain the name is spelled correctly if the person is not in your clan/alliance... there are some really crafty people out there... I got the following when I was in our old clan LaFamilia that was lead by Inaphase:
linaphase: Mad, get out of my clan, I've had it with you talking trash behind everyones back.
MadMidget: What the * are you talking about?
linaphase: I'm serious Mad, I don't want you in my clan anymore.
This crafty person replaced the letter I with a lower case L... I was dedicated to that clan and was absolutely shocked when I got that PM... words fail to accurately describe the horror I felt when I first got that and I was on the verge of respecting the request till I noticed the spelling... only an odd twist of fate kept me from dropping tag.
And don't ever, ever, ever drop an item when you are in party. People try to tell you it's a clever way to overenchant your weapon but in reality after you drop it & pick it up... it's now in their inventory.
The long & short of it is, be aware & know your friends... the poeple you can trust the most are right there in your clan... but that doesn't always hold true so use your best judgement & your brain. Don't be afraid to not lend someone, even a clan mate, gear and don't feel insulted if you are turned down either... and if you do lend something, do it knowing you'll never see it again... that way if you don't get it back you're not <explitive deleted> off and if you do then you have found an honorable friend.
The Legendary MadMidget
=================
People don't get scammed in this game... they simply don't pay attention.
When i was low lvl (10 or 11) i saved up SOOOO long to get mithril armor so one day a friend i had known forever through my experiences with lineage 2 one day came and wanted to try on my armor and i said sure but just in case u hav to give me something in exchange for the time(like items) so he gave me some adena and me being my newbish low lvl traded him and he just disappeared it was so bad he never even came on again and i had been so sad i lost the armor i saved for forever :(
The best way to be sure is: Ask in Teamspeak.
I never give away something without TS ^_^ (well, at last ask some personal stuff u know how he would answer)
And the best way is, not be be an english speaking player :P (god how often did i get pmed telling me he is a friend and wanne try out, to bad that me and my clanies r german -g-)
Khyyra, welcome back! Glad you're with Pixie and Slyto, but sad you're on the other team. No worries, all is fair....
Yes, that scam has worked on other friends in the past. I too have been prompted to hand over my gear many a time in whispers, and almost done so before recognizing the telltale, annoying pattern.
Wow, I'm not in a clan yet and now I'm a little nervous about getting into one. I'm an Artisan working on the quest to become a Warsmith and I was waiting for a few more levels before trying to join one. I've been in clans before on other mmp's and the experience has always been great! Why is it, that there is always those individuals out here mucking things up for others? Maybe, this server needs a vigilante clan to track these people down and destroy them (for a price of course, I am a dwarf and trying to stay in role). I hope to deal with most of you folks in the future, remember my name! Hopefully I'll make a dent in this world!!!
Problem:
The people who do these scams make a toon that has a name almost (but not quite) identical to a clannie's name. They whisper you and either try to get you to "lend" gear to them, or their "alt" standing right next to you.
You get scammed. but there's nothing you can do. Why?
Well, the name-scam toon logs off. May log back on in an hour or a day, may take a GK hop to some other location you could only guess at or may stroll on over, safely in town to the dwarf freightman.
You can't "trace" that toon to an account owner. If they got your loot, they will freight it or give it to their main, or another toon.
Then that name-scan toon will likely be deleted, having done its job, and in 5 or 7 days another slot opens to do it again.
If you were whispered by name-scam to give items to another toon, that toon may also be disposable. Or it may just be one of those toons that is always in town and is untouchable.
Nothing you can do. And in turn, that toon can freight, GK, log off for hours days and do it all over again.
It isn't only clans that get scammed. But clan tags allow for quick & easy association. That said, clanned players have a Clan Channel that a name-scammer won't have access to... so the scam is easier to prevent with a bit of caution.
I post scammers at my website, but it only does so much good. It's more of a tool to educate people on some of the scams that are out there.