I'm sure all relevant officials have by now read GrandSavage's open letter to the community, which nicely summarises very common complaints, so I won't repost it here. Even before the letter, you doubtlessly knew that most players heartfully agree with the need for action.
However, beyond the words, there is something important in this letter - we don't want the game fixed because we're utterly dissatisfied. If we were, we would all be playing WoW, Guildwars or another title now. We want the game fixed because we love it enough to stay despite all the crap that's going on.
Possible fixes have been discussed to and fro, so let's not make this a place for this.
The problem that beats down all suggestions, though, is company policy - the policy to remain quiet, the policy to act slowly, the policy to be extremely careful when you ban.
There are currently many people here who don't usually frequent the boards, and I hope we can have a civil (albeit cheeky :) ) discussion on which changes to company policy we believe might be beneficial.
More than the actual presence of the bots, your collective silence is frustrating. I will be the first to say that the silence is a result of all the complaints that happen when misinformation is given out, and I'm well aware that it's a loss-loss situation no matter which route you choose. However, as a show of faith, I think that more communication, and more replies - and if they are pre-phrased - would mean a lot.
Secondly, the inactivity is frustrating. There are key farmers on every server which could be banned to make an example. I know these clans have been banned before, and I would like to see it happen again, even if there is no solid evidence. You know full well that there never will be solid evidence against a raid boss clan for farming, despite all the harm they do. You know full well that there never will be solid evidence against an ebayer for having purchased his gear - and so on, and so forth.
Last but not least, even an explanation in regards to your policy - a quick "I can't answer, company policy" would be better than the solid block of silence and/or deletes people are being met with.
I'm not sure if your policies come from Korea or if they are self-imposed, but they need a long look at, at the very least.
thanks for making an intelligent and well thought out letter to the community. these are suggestions that are perfectly debatable, as we the customers and faithful players, have as much say in what the game should be as anyone else.
The longer and more constructive the average post, the better the chance of survival (although that's the most borderline thing I've ever written - a lot harder than just slipping it in as a reply somewhere, hehe :p ).
What do you think is enough grounds for a ban, as far as undetectable behaviour is concerned? Is it enough to have a gibberish name and not reply to a GM query in English (well, hardly, but just as an example)? Is a clan that does nothing but raid and transfer the adena to unconnected accounts already grounds to a ban, or is there some other decisive criterium to mark them a farmer?
What could be done to evade the whole "You're just making that -_- up" scenario when and if the company does decide to pass out information? For you, what would be the best balance of importance of accuracy and information flow?
PS: I'm not swell. I'm a GM lover! :o <points to evil post count>
Well, we all know that it's not provable beyond a doubt - what is "good enough" for you to justify an ebay ban?
Personally, I'd think that sniffing out the seller accounts by keeping track of suspicious deals and looking for accounts that have many of them with unrelated other accounts and using those sellers, once marked, to methodically strip buyers of their earned adena would be a good thing. I've heard a few accounts of people suddenly missing several million in their inventory and claiming it to be a bug - might this be the RMT police in its rather limited scope of action?
Well, we all know that it's not provable beyond a doubt - what is "good enough" for you to justify an ebay ban?
Personally, I'd think that sniffing out the seller accounts by keeping track of suspicious deals and looking for accounts that have many of them with unrelated other accounts and using those sellers, once marked, to methodically strip buyers of their earned adena would be a good thing. I've heard a few accounts of people suddenly missing several million in their inventory and claiming it to be a bug - might this be the RMT police in its rather limited scope of action?
It would be a good start if they banned the blatant buyers.(a.k.a. the ones set up at MDT with a stem for 10-20 million adena).
Please use the official thread to discuss this problem. There has been quite a bit of spamming on this topic today. If it continues, we will start banning game accounts, not just board accounts.
The farmers have the resources to keep coming back though - the ebayers will eventually find it unworthwhile (just stripping a character naked of all gear for "confirmed" - however loosely - ebaying might do the trick).
However, I think that ultimately all agree that both kinds of players must go, however that can be accomplished. The question I'm asking is: In your book, which definitive in game behaviour marks someone a farmer?