Hello everyone,
As you might have read is that the trial accounts have gone away becuse of the increase in Adena spammers.
This is very sad as new players will not be able to trie out the game if they dont know any person playing the game.
I understand why it is taken away, but I really hope that NC will work something out to make the trial accounts appear again.
Here is some suggestions I think of.
First make a Captcha box when creating a trial account, will stop automated sign ups. ( of course this will need to be updated as they can crack it after a time.)
second make it so that you need to use a VISA card to sign up. And ban the VISA card nummber if it is abused.
(I know that some will not play a mmo with there VISA but atleast some will.)
If anyone has any good ideas please post, as I see the deletion of trail accounts to be a big blow in the future of L2.
I was thinking the same thing. Limit 1 Trial account per Live Account and If there is abuse with that trial account, drop the ban-hammer on the live account. This should limit use of trial accounts for live members, keeping it under control. VISA card banning is a good idea also, so you'll get 1-3 accounts banned at once, but like you said, not all accounts use credit cards.
That's just my thoughts
Simple 1....make it so trial accounts cannot pm someone who has not first pm'd them.
This takes away from the whole "Trial" of the game. The game really isn't only being able to PM others if they pm you first. It'll be hard to limit functions for trial users.
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When I talk about banning live account users with trial account users, i mean through the refer a friend options. It'll be hard to ban live users with the free 7-day trial that you recieve in the game card boxes. This may require multiple methods of catching the idiots ruining the game for us.
We are not completely ruling out the possibility of trial code promotions in the future, but if we do, they will be much more controlled and restricted than they have been in the past (ie. a single person won't be able to grab a thousand, or even a dozen, trial account codes).
If anyone has any good ideas please post, as I see the deletion of trail accounts to be a big blow in the future of L2.
i dont.
it means spamming me with adena ads will be done on paid-for accounts. ban that, loose money; withdraw payment, insta ban.
the street finaly works both ways. adena spammers are 100% screwed.
?
Thats pretty naive frankly.
You act as if refer a friend program still isnt out there and these adena selling companies dont have hundreds of accounts.
You also act as if the price of a game card is more then they make advertising the sale of adena. That is a false assumption. I'm sure they rake in thousands of dollars a week from in game advertisements. Darn, they have to spen $300 on time cards... (Thats if they are lazy and dont just use refer-a-friend codes)
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Was this the "Drastic" change we were all waiting for Alyra? If so I'm disappointed. You wont see anything change. Trial accounts themselves need to be modified... not some band-aid put on the wound in hopes it wont rip open again.
Facts are facts. There has been one trial account promotion after another--again and again.
And they have netted how many thousands of new players who have stayed to activate full accounts?
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::crickets chirping quietly in the background::
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hmm. I'm sure there is a line graph somewhere in the corporate offices that tracks new account activity plotted against trial account promotions and offers--which also has a "full account activation" graph line superimposed on that same chart.
NCSoft knows very precisely what value the trial accounts pose and either they bring new, paying customers in amounts worth promoting or they don't. Considering the trouble they bring with them--one would hope they generate some value.
I suspect they accomplish next to nothing and that is why they are less frequent, shorter, and being more strictly planned for the future.
Simple 1....make it so trial accounts cannot pm someone who has not first pm'd them.
We stll would have the spamming in town. And really one cant delete eveything as they still need to have a fun experience playing Lineage.
And not being able to chat privatly is really a drag.
And as Alyra said making them not get 1000`s of account is one way. Dont really understand why this was working in the first place. But getting a fake idendity is really easy on the internet.
Make it max 5 accounts on a VISA card and if one is spamming or any other way violating the EULA ban them all.
Becuse VISA cards is not some thing people can fake, unless breaking laws and that is nothing I think that the companys will do with ease.
There is things one can do then just say no to all free trials, exepct the friend refs.
Dont think they way is to make the Free trials less apealing and making them do less in Lineage but restricting them so they cant mass produce them.
what does "closely monitor" mean to you? to ME it means they will process 1 application at a time without computer-aided automation to expedite multiple orders. it means asking for a friend code when your account currently reads Name NDBASbsdu88 HHBY6nn from Uruguay whose zip code reads 873648 wont be obtaining a key.
just LOL if you think they'll be changing their deets just to get 1 key.
just LOL if you think they'll be re-applying in 2 weeks or after 500 people put X0092348DD on /block
what does "closely monitor" mean to you? to ME it means they will process 1 application at a time without computer-aided automation to expedite multiple orders. it means asking for a friend code when your account currently reads Name NDBASbsdu88 HHBY6nn from Uruguay whose zip code reads 873648 wont be obtaining a key.
Wait wait, now I see why you doubt.
You actually think NCSoft is going to go through them 1 by 1.
Dude - LOL. Keep dreaming.
You constantly (and I mean constantly) under value the effort farmers are willing to go through to get their products into your hands.
This is a business to them, not just some game. A business that happens to gross more per year then this entire freaking company. A business that has more coding talent than this entire freaking company.
WTB a clue please. This isnt pre 1990 where its so easy to stop, this is 2008, where its everywhere and no one (I mean *no one*) can stop it.
Not going to read this entire post but just a suggestion if it hasn't already been made -
Do not allow the trial accounts to whisper. And if you do allow it - make it so they can only whisper once every 30 seconds. I suspect this could be done because Heroes can only Hero shout every 10 seconds.
I would think -no matter what you do - they will find a way to circumvent it - good luck either way.
I had mentioned this in another thread and I'll say it again here since it was brought up. Mass bans on credit cards would be very nasty to real players who pay for friends' accounts (Or children.. spouse.. S.O.. etc)
Unless there is a rule I am unaware of? Is the person holding the credit card responsible for the actions of the account owner?
I would guess it was more than just the spammers that forced this issue but most of it was because of spammers keeping the GMs busy. The trial accounts were also being used to farm events. Trial accounts don't pick up items but the registered account does. A fix for the spammers is preventing private messages from trial accounts. A fix to events is for event items going directly to inventory. Usually the simplest fixes are the most effective.
Disabling PM's seems like a good idea, and if you wish to chat with someone not in range of white chat or wanted to in private, you could just create a party.
Then again, all we'd have to deal with is tons of party invites from E2029320 and djkjkwj and S702002E and the list goes on...
There is no real solution to it in regards to trial accounts. The farmers have exploited it and ruined it for everybody, as with everything else. And will continue to find ways to spam when the offer comes around again.
Disabling PM's seems like a good idea, and if you wish to chat with someone not in range of white chat or wanted to in private, you could just create a party.
Then again, all we'd have to deal with is tons of party invites from E2029320 and djkjkwj and S702002E and the list goes on...
There is no real solution to it in regards to trial accounts. The farmers have exploited it and ruined it for everybody, as with everything else. And will continue to find ways to spam when the offer comes around again.
as it is, trial accounts cant do white chat or shout anyway. eliminating PM functions means get in party or get in clan.
no sane clan invites lvl 1 dwarves with names like iaishd788h that cant white chat.
If the block is good to prevent user from farmming, I would agree. As myself, I never play this game before and also never try it. Just spend 2 weeks to read around to get the idea of the game and start play.
I'm thinking of a good solution for preventing farmmer or abuse the trial code:
- Limit the adena amount on noob char, maybe it could help a bit.
- Limit trial time to 1-2 days, I think that is enough to get to know you like to play the game or not.
I think this new trial-rule is not gonna work that well. As long as the adena-sellers will be able to PM players offering their ToS-breaking services, there will be no change. Ok... NCsoft might be able to ban some of the violators offering these trial accounts, but compared the the amount of money they make from the adena-sellings it's nothing and they'll keep on abusing the trial accounts...
IMO they should (as suggested above) disable PMing to ppl that didn't PM them and allow a limited number of trialkeys per player. WoW allows up to 5 keys max at once and you regain 1 a month...
1-2 days is not enough, you even get simple picture, about this game. and one week (refer a friend), is not much too, but still something, cause in this time you can get at least first class transfer (you are not able to make 1st class transfer in 1-2 days, if you don't want spent whole night playing)
disabling pms for trials seems to be good idea.
also disabling ability to create a party.
and another thing - disable shouts (orange) for people below level 20 - i've seen this on many other mmo's (level 20 is an example, of course)
Well, I ve been in giran shop mode since the servers came back up off maintenance and I havent had a single we sell adena pm, so I dunno, maybe it's working?
1-2 days is not enough, you even get simple picture, about this game. and one week (refer a friend), is not much too, but still something, cause in this time you can get at least first class transfer (you are not able to make 1st class transfer in 1-2 days, if you don't want spent whole night playing)
disabling pms for trials seems to be good idea.
also disabling ability to create a party.
and another thing - disable shouts (orange) for people below level 20 - i've seen this on many other mmo's (level 20 is an example, of course)
This wont work. I have several toons under 20 hanging around and quite often I use shouts to help out newbies ingame when they are begging for help. Disabling pm's or shout would make things extremely discouraging.
We don't want you to think that this is the end of our efforts or the "big hurrah". This is just one step we're taking to thwart those who violate our EULA. We are still working on a solution to the problem of mass in-game PM spamming. We have to think as far forward as possible. For instance, we could make trial accounts unable to PM, yes, but then what if one of these spammers decides to throw caution to the wind and use a regular account? We are considering all possible scenarios and solutions.
Hi everyone,
For instance, we could make trial accounts unable to PM, yes, but then what if one of these spammers decides to throw caution to the wind and use a regular account?
Seems the same EULA violation would occur whether it was a trial account or a regular account. Hit the ban button. I don't think they would be willing to risk it that easy once they paid for the account and paid for a game. Although - there are still a ton of bots but that is an entirely different subject.
But why was that possible to begin with?
I mean, what new player would ever need more than 1 trial account?
Proxies, a never-ending supply of free e-mail addresses, fake account info and names, and a new PlayNC account every time . . . and the only reason someone usually goes to all this trouble is for nefarious purposes. You'd be amazed how much of this I see every day, even from totally legitimate players.
We don't want you to think that this is the end of our efforts or the "big hurrah". This is just one step we're taking to thwart those who violate our EULA. We are still working on a solution to the problem of mass in-game PM spamming. We have to think as far forward as possible. For instance, we could make trial accounts unable to PM, yes, but then what if one of these spammers decides to throw caution to the wind and use a regular account? We are considering all possible scenarios and solutions.
From a money standpoint, isnt that exactly what you want?
You want trial accounts to be for real players trying out the game. A "new" player wont be PM'ing much in a week anyway.
So you force the adena adverts to use regular accounts... great! Dosent that mean every time you ban one they need to get a new account, which is money in NCSoft's pockets? Yes it does!
We don't want you to think that this is the end of our efforts or the "big hurrah". This is just one step we're taking to thwart those who violate our EULA. We are still working on a solution to the problem of mass in-game PM spamming. We have to think as far forward as possible. For instance, we could make trial accounts unable to PM, yes, but then what if one of these spammers decides to throw caution to the wind and use a regular account? We are considering all possible scenarios and solutions.
From a money standpoint, isnt that exactly what you want?
You want trial accounts to be for real players trying out the game. A "new" player wont be PM'ing much in a week anyway.
So you force the adena adverts to use regular accounts... great! Dosent that mean every time you ban one they need to get a new account, which is money in NCSoft's pockets? Yes it does!
To me, I would be all over that in a heartbeat.
capitalism isnt what it used to be, man.
the almighty dollar is indeed the bottom line, but if you never got off the bottom line you wont get to the top.
aha, except capitalism and the green people are clashing.
recently General Motors cut 1000 jobs in Oshawa Ontario because GM trucks arent selling much anymore, and the lease is up on the building, AND because it opened a NEW plant a few thousand miles away producing other eco-friendly hybrid models from many under the GM brand.
the media only advertises the cut jobs, never gives you the full story.
so you THINK wage and job cuts are due to capitalism??? no sane company wakes up and says "lets cut 1000 jobs cause then we save ALLL those people's wages and benefits"
LOL
outsourcing creates more jobs than it takes away. did you know Dental Labs outsource to China too? indeed they do. what usually takes 7 days (bridgework, some partial dentures) in the US or Canada takes 3 days overseas.
what you havent grasped is those dental labs are manned 24/7 365 by literally THOUSANDS of low wage employees - the US and canada labs might be manned 5 days a week 300 days a year by 40 people.
so no, capitalism has not grown worse. it has receeded as i have already proven.
We don't want you to think that this is the end of our efforts or the "big hurrah". This is just one step we're taking to thwart those who violate our EULA. We are still working on a solution to the problem of mass in-game PM spamming. We have to think as far forward as possible. For instance, we could make trial accounts unable to PM, yes, but then what if one of these spammers decides to throw caution to the wind and use a regular account? We are considering all possible scenarios and solutions.
I have to say, last night I saw a major improvement. It was very pleasant being able to carry on questing for the few hours I can play after work. :)
Just wanted to comment on the scenario of some spammer who decides to use a regular account. At least they're then losing out on real money every time their account gets banned for using it illigitimate reasons and also you'll find it a lot easier to keep an eye on your regular players who may be linked with these trial accounts, using them to bot their way to glory and get the best equipment unfairly. I think it's a win win situation.
I don't understand why NCSoft can't just filter out all whispers that include a website address or clearly obvious adena seller keywords. This is what other mmos are doing to great effect.
Cutting off trial accounts seems like the lazy solution and is far worse to the long-term health of the game (especially in US) than gold spammers.
Many times when I have answered players questions about quests and other game issues, I have referred them to the www.lineage2.com (http://www.lineage2.com) site or to stratics or other 'good' sites. I also know of clans which refer applicants to their websites. So using a www based filter would not be good.
I don't understand why NCSoft can't just filter out all whispers that include a website address or clearly obvious adena seller keywords. This is what other mmos are doing to great effect.
It's difficult for me to explain why because I cannot go into exactly how our back-end systems work, but there are limitations that make adding an entire website URL to the in-game chat filter impossible for us. That was actually the very first thing I asked for, even knowing that they would quickly find a way around it. I am requesting that parts of the offending sites' URLs are added to the in-game filter, but adding a commonly used in-game term such as "Adena" isn't something we want to do.
This is so sad, we recently had a huge increase of forum traffic to another site and other game instances on stratics were invited to come pimp their games...of course we couldn't put anything up as we didn't have any trials to offer :( WoW on the other hand made out like a bandit.
well, lets hope you can also filter for .com and other .x
imo just get rid of chat and throw in the Voice utility that Tabula Rasa has. hit a specifc keybind on the keyboard and have ventrillo chat with anyone in your radius.
of course blocking p2pvent is a bit tougher, but at least you wont have to read the **** chat!! after all, given most farmers cant speak english it would be great!!!!
Alyra mentioned they are working on making things better. I am enjoying the peace and quiet. My little dwarves can sell without being molested by adena sellers.