Well I can't take it any longer. Never have I played a game where gold spamming is as rampant as it is in AION. It is getting worse every day and NCsoft apparantly aren't doing anything about it. It started out with mainly constant "tells" I could block those ,,,no problem but today when I logged in I noticed it has spread to an almost constant stream ..Litterally hundreds of gold spamming bots are flooding ALL the chat channels and blocking them has no effect in the chat channels. I can't even send or read a message as the chat is scrolling way to fast to keep track. And it's all gold spamming. It is driving me insane! I am almost to the point of cancelling my account and I was really enjoying the game! Any sugestions as I have been told that blocking the spam names stops it. But for me blocking them only has stopped the tells ...no effect on chat channels? Any suggestions would be welcomed!

If you right click the name and then block, you shouldn't see a message from that person anywhere, tells or chat channels.

Also there is a way to put you on anonymous so they can't see you on the player's list to send you whispers, but this will make you invisible to friends too. I don't remember how but someone explained it in the Aionsource forums.

I'm afraid that the experienced asian farmers have invaded the NA and EU (seems not so much) servers. And companies like NCsoft (or also Blizzard) won't move a finger to at least have a decent working spam filter. In the case of WOW you can have an addon that solves it, but for Aion we are screwed.

 The 2 new things NCSOft added (right click block, and no whisper till L5) did absolutely nothing. The OP is not kidding, You will see a spam at least 3-4 times per minute. Block does nothing, their bots keep coming. I also agree with the OP that no other game has anything like this, not even FTP's. 

I am beginning to wonder if removing game guard was a mistake.  Bots are absolutely everywhere. Something drastic needs to be done. I have no idea why right/click report and a human on other end to swing insta-ban hammer...but apparently, this is far beyond NCSoft ability. 

It would be a total shame to quit a MMO over this (trust me, it really IS that bad), but something drastic needs done, and soon. 

Any popular MMO these days has gold spamming problems right after launch.  LOTRO was awful in the early days.

Not to worry, NCSoft will smash em.  The spammers that were hitting chat channels last night were getting caught by GM's on my server.  There was even an announcement that they were aware of them and what to do to report them.

I'm usually too busy to even pay attention to them.

 I did recall seeing a GM post in the flying chat screen, I had to stop running and scroll up. 

On top of Gold sellers we are now seeing true criminals, posting fake websites that are designed to trick simple minded ppl in giving away there user/pass in the hopes of getting this fake launch  celebration item. 

Luxxy was the first one I saw on Nazaken, thank God for right-click block... I feel bad for those ppl who actually fell for this prompt scam and hope the GMs smash these also. 

On another note can someone tell me if this is possible, on top of the hot wheel speed of the chat window because of bots, 

Having a transparent chat window makes it real hard to read text when the back ground doesn't contrast well... Is there a way to render the background of the chat window darker like ALL other mmos ? =) 

Originally posted by Wrender

Well I can't take it any longer. Never have I played a game where gold spamming is as rampant as it is in AION. It is getting worse every day and NCsoft apparantly aren't doing anything about it. It started out with mainly constant "tells" I could block those ,,,no problem but today when I logged in I noticed it has spread to an almost constant stream ..Litterally hundreds of gold spamming bots are flooding ALL the chat channels and blocking them has no effect in the chat channels. I can't even send or read a message as the chat is scrolling way to fast to keep track. And it's all gold spamming. It is driving me insane! I am almost to the point of cancelling my account and I was really enjoying the game! Any sugestions as I have been told that blocking the spam names stops it. But for me blocking them only has stopped the tells ...no effect on chat channels? Any suggestions would be welcomed!

Right click blocking should block tells and chat channels. It's worked for me. I rarely see a gold spammer now. I've blocked quite a few people. XD

Originally posted by JonMichael

Any popular MMO these days has gold spamming problems right after launch.  LOTRO was awful in the early days.

Not to worry, NCSoft will smash em.  The spammers that were hitting chat channels last night were getting caught by GM's on my server.  There was even an announcement that they were aware of them and what to do to report them.

I'm usually too busy to even pay attention to them.

Right because Lineage 2 is the shining example of how NCSoft deals with gold farmers?

It's not just the gold spammers, it's the obvious bots that run rampant all over the place.  Some are even in legions now.  Server economies are going to get wrecked if nothing is done about it.

All I can say is...

Im actually happy there are gold spammers. means currency have a USE :) Unlike WAR.

Its something that always will be there. If it goes overhand they need to reduce it. But a tell once in a while, who the hell bothers really?

That realy sucks. I realy haven't noticed. I run a teamspeak server and all my clan mates and friends log into that, and I Rarely look down at the chat box.  Maybe they should add a voice option like DDO.

Originally posted by tanoril

Server economies are going to get wrecked if nothing is done about it.

oh please... how? that many buys gold eh?

Originally posted by DuraheLL

Originally posted by tanoril

Server economies are going to get wrecked if nothing is done about it.

 

oh please... how? that many buys gold eh?

You never played Lineage 2, did you?

Originally posted by tanori

You never played Lineage 2, did you?

no

Yeah the gold farmers are running wild now. Sure there are ways to reduce the spam, but these are band-aids for a bigger problem. Does NCsoft condone this activity? If not then they need to get busy banning these morons. Sure there will always be a market for gold sellers, but you can do a simple google search to find them. People shouldn't have to put up with in game harrasment like this.

It's not that hard to fight. GM creates a level 1 character and just starts swinging the ban stick.

Originally posted by Brixon

Yeah the gold farmers are running wild now. Sure there are ways to reduce the spam, but these are band-aids for a bigger problem. Does NCsoft condone this activity? If not then they need to get busy banning these morons. Sure there will always be a market for gold sellers, but you can do a simple google search to find them. People shouldn't have to put up with in game harrasment like this.

It's not that hard to fight. GM creates a level 1 character and just starts swinging the ban stick.

If the multi-billion a year gaming giant Blizzard can't stop them in WoW, what makes you think anyone can? Gold farmers are like the cold virus, no one wants it, but theres nothing you can do to eliminate it from the face of the planet.

Not looking good for the just released game.  NCSoft should nip this in the bud quickly, if they don't want the obvious comparisons to L2, where bots run rampant.

Originally posted by tanoril

Originally posted by JonMichael

Any popular MMO these days has gold spamming problems right after launch.  LOTRO was awful in the early days.

Not to worry, NCSoft will smash em.  The spammers that were hitting chat channels last night were getting caught by GM's on my server.  There was even an announcement that they were aware of them and what to do to report them.

I'm usually too busy to even pay attention to them.

 

Right because Lineage 2 is the shining example of how NCSoft deals with gold farmers?

It's not just the gold spammers, it's the obvious bots that run rampant all over the place.  Some are even in legions now.  Server economies are going to get wrecked if nothing is done about it.

Although I'm not playing now, gonna wait a few more months and see how it is then. I have a strong feeling ( hopefully I'm wrong ) that Aion will follow a similer path like Lineage 1 and 2, where the botters and sellers have total control of economy and grinding spots. We'll just have to wait and see how and if Ncsoft decides to handle this.
 

Leave it to fanboys to ignore a serious problem their game has.    NCsoft haven't done shit against farmers on lineage2.Heck you couldn't surive there without buying adena.    If this game goes the same path ,and apparantly it   ul be seeing  a massive exodus soon :)

Originally posted by DuraheLL

Originally posted by tanori

You never played Lineage 2, did you?

 

no

The reason I asked you this is L2 is the case study example of how a game can get completely ruined by gold farming.  You log into that game now and there are whole sections of the game that is just infested by gold farmers/botters.  It does have an effect on the server if it's not handled properly.

No one denies that other games doesn't have this problem (WoW included), but NcSoft has a history of not being very aggressive towards the problem.

I'm not playing Aion but I'm a bit surprised that they haven't borrowed the strategies from City of Heroes, given the lengths they went to in order to lock it down -- trial account limitations (no tells or broadcast allowed), "report spam" options, broadcast spam frequency limitations.

Originally posted by JonMichael

Any popular MMO these days has gold spamming problems right after launch.  LOTRO was awful in the early days.

Not to worry, NCSoft will smash em.  The spammers that were hitting chat channels last night were getting caught by GM's on my server.  There was even an announcement that they were aware of them and what to do to report them.

I'm usually too busy to even pay attention to them.

Difference is, that's Turbine... they actually give a hoot about their players enough to do something about it.

This is NCSoft we're talking about. While it's true that there's RMT and botting in most any MMO... L1 and L2 are in a class all their own. You haven't seen RMT/botting 'til you've seen it in a NCSoft-developed and run MMO. It's almost legendary.

NCSoft sat back and did the whole "Naw... of *course* we care about RMT in our game!" in Lineage 2 for years, while entire groups of RMT bots to ran rampant right under theirs and players' noses. Report them and nothing happens. The RMT became so rampant in that game due to NCSoft's complete inaction against them that they actually took over the economy. The RMT are so brazen in that game that if you go after a group of their bots, an "enforcer" character will be logged in - max level and equipped to the hilt - and drop you. If you're in a room they want in a catacomb, they'll do the same. 

RMT run rampant in Lineage 1 as well, and NCSoft does nothing, even as players still post in their forums to please do something about it.

Every so often - every 6 months or so, usually before a major update - NC will do a banning, purely for PR purposes. Within a couple weeks, it's right back to normal and they disappear into the woodwork again.

I mean this in absolutely no offensive or demeaning way to anyone posting in this thread, but having read through some of the optimistic posts about how NC will deal with it... yeesh... I hope I'm wrong, but I think some of y'all are in for some disappointment.

Now Aion is getting off on the same foot again, NCSoft is making only token gestures to put on a good face and make it appear they care. Meanwhile, the RMT is getting worse. As I figured, as soon as enough people figured out the /invisible deal, they started simply spamming the chat channels. I've turned off 3 chat channels already due to them spamming it. And of course, the GMs take their sweet time dealing with them, if they do at all. If they're this lax on it now.. just wait 'til the game's out a bit and they're not as concerned about "being on top of it" for good PR.

/blist them... sure. Going on invisible is getting into the annoying - what if you want to be visible to others for possible groups? Now what do we have to do, turn off entire chat channels because they're being spammed? Wrong. NCSoft has to get a freaking clue and do something about it.
 

 I was hoping they'd have learned how to better deal with RMT/botting from the start this time, after the mess that L1 and L2 were. I was telling people "after the mess that L2 and L1 were, with AIon being such a high profile game - likely their new flagship - I'm sure they're going to be on top of that from the start". Well, seems I was wrong and my optimism was misplaced. They apparently haven't learned a thing, or simply haven't started caring enough. Either way, I'm not going to support them with my money while they let yet another MMO be overrun by botters and RMT while they keep their collective head stuck firmly in the sand.

Below is a shot I took last night before I logged out, cancelled my account and uninstalled. There are 3 or 4 more that are off the top of the chat box... and that was within the first 10 minutes that I was logged in. I posted a thread about this on the official forums and - le surprise - it was deleted. As always, they won't deal with RMT... but boy they'll ban your posts about it in a hurry.

{mod edit}

Originally posted by tanoril

Originally posted by DuraheLL

Originally posted by tanori

You never played Lineage 2, did you?

 

no

 

The reason I asked you this is L2 is the case study example of how a game can get completely ruined by gold farming.  You log into that game now and there are whole sections of the game that is just infested by gold farmers/botters.  It does have an effect on the server if it's not handled properly.

No one denies that other games doesn't have this problem (WoW included), but NcSoft has a history of not being very aggressive towards the problem.

Lineage 2 had one major difference from Aion (that I've seen so far) and that is, in Lineage 2, crafted gear was the best, extremely expensive to buy (was quite easy for your levels to outpace your ability to earn enough adena to pay for next tier set) and therefore was a botting/gold selling paradise.

In Aion so far dropped gear has sometimes exceeded quest gear, and I've not seen any evidence that I need some sort of crafted gear at the lower levels to succeed.

If no one really feels the need to buy it, they gold sellers will subside on their own and move on to more profitable games.

(I've not reached the upper levels however, and perhaps you really do need a lot of gold to thrive)

Originally posted by Kyleran

Originally posted by tanoril

Originally posted by DuraheLL

Originally posted by tanori

You never played Lineage 2, did you?

 

no

 

The reason I asked you this is L2 is the case study example of how a game can get completely ruined by gold farming.  You log into that game now and there are whole sections of the game that is just infested by gold farmers/botters.  It does have an effect on the server if it's not handled properly.

No one denies that other games doesn't have this problem (WoW included), but NcSoft has a history of not being very aggressive towards the problem.

 

Lineage 2 had one major difference from Aion (that I've seen so far) and that is, in Lineage 2, crafted gear was the best, extremely expensive to buy (was quite easy for your levels to outpace your ability to earn enough adena to pay for next tier set) and therefore was a botting/gold selling paradise.

In Aion so far dropped gear has sometimes exceeded quest gear, and I've not seen any evidence that I need some sort of crafted gear at the lower levels to succeed.

If no one really feels the need to buy it, they gold sellers will subside on their own and move on to more profitable games.

(I've not reached the upper levels however, and perhaps you really do need a lot of gold to thrive)

 

It's not only gear that people buy in-game gold for. They buy it simply so they never have to worry about money for *anything* they want.

Originally posted by Wrender

Well I can't take it any longer. Never have I played a game where gold spamming is as rampant as it is in AION. It is getting worse every day and NCsoft apparantly aren't doing anything about it. It started out with mainly constant "tells" I could block those ,,,no problem but today when I logged in I noticed it has spread to an almost constant stream ..Litterally hundreds of gold spamming bots are flooding ALL the chat channels and blocking them has no effect in the chat channels. I can't even send or read a message as the chat is scrolling way to fast to keep track. And it's all gold spamming. It is driving me insane! I am almost to the point of cancelling my account and I was really enjoying the game! Any sugestions as I have been told that blocking the spam names stops it. But for me blocking them only has stopped the tells ...no effect on chat channels? Any suggestions would be welcomed!

Not sure if anyones mentioned it here but you go /anon ingame so they cant send you gold tells anymore. At least they dont for me anyway. 

You have to do this command each time you log on. I usually forget but once I get my first gold spam its become automatic for me now. Hope this helps!!

Have not seen any bots so far, just a few farmers on Lumiel but i do see a major spam fest of gold selling bots which i do agree is annoying enough to puke.

Basically their selling cheap because no one is buying at this time, but i see they are selling high on the AH for items.

Hopefully NCSWoft gets it in gear and starts banning these gold spammers fast.

Originally posted by Rhoklaw

Originally posted by Brixon

Yeah the gold farmers are running wild now. Sure there are ways to reduce the spam, but these are band-aids for a bigger problem. Does NCsoft condone this activity? If not then they need to get busy banning these morons. Sure there will always be a market for gold sellers, but you can do a simple google search to find them. People shouldn't have to put up with in game harrasment like this.

It's not that hard to fight. GM creates a level 1 character and just starts swinging the ban stick.

 

If the multi-billion a year gaming giant Blizzard can't stop them in WoW, what makes you think anyone can? Gold farmers are like the cold virus, no one wants it, but theres nothing you can do to eliminate it from the face of the planet.

Because Blizzard isn't really trying. It's not hard to find the farmers and ban them.