STO Spamming

[Majestic]

I just wanted to notify you all that there are now spams via the chat PM system in-game. I received three in the span of 15 minutes by three different users.

These people, who's accounts seem to be created just for this purpose PM you their advertisement and then try and add you to their friends list.

I highly recommend that you decline these people, use the report as spam option and send a ticket to the GM with the usernames and the advertisement pasted in. To be it seems highly unlikely they will do as they promise, to me it seems more like a way to steal your money.

Just be wary all.

 

[Adm_Z]

Thanks for the info Maj, I will be on the look out. I believe you can also report those players if you feel like it.

 

[thunderfoot]

I was wondering when something like this would show up ingame. Do we need to create a passworded MSFC chat channel? Seems like every MMO has a similar problem at some point or another. Wasn't there something about WoW having people running some sort of items for gold scam?

Additional suggestions to prevent this from affecting your game or 'puter.

- Set your privacy controls to max. Far easier to reduce them to run STFs with friends after they tell you to turn them off than to leave the privacy controls at the default setting.

- Warn others about these people in the STO Forums as well. If they are stupid enough to give me an email addy in public to try and sell me something ingame, then they deserve what happens next.

 

[Adm_Z]

I actually read something about that a couple days ago. Websites accepting paypal cash for C-points and ecreds by the hundreds of millions(I was only looking for the best way to earn them, not buy them lol)

 

[USS_Excalibur]

I think you could report them as spammers.... I just forget how.

 

[SciFiFan]

Just a reminder: Purchasing or selling C-Points or Energy Credits through a third party vendor is both against the game's EULA and the law. If you are approached about anything of this, get as much information as you can and report them to a GM. The account will be banned and the user could even face legal litigation.

 

[Majestic]

I have reported them to the GM, with all three usernames/handles as well as a copy of the message. If one could send screenshots to the GM's via game I would have also uploaded the screenshots that I did here as well. I saved them for proof as well as allowing you guys to see them. They use the PM system unfortunately, so it can be kind of hard to stop them.

Boy yesterday was quite a day, my ignore list got like 5 new people added to it. These three and two idiots in STF's that abused the team because we lost swearing and using colourful language. First real bad experiences I've had with people in this game. I guess I was lucky that I have gone this long without encountering these kinds before.

 

[Terra_Inc]

Boy yesterday was quite a day, my ignore list got like 5 new people added to it. These three and two idiots in STF's that abused the team because we lost swearing and using colourful language. First real bad experiences I've had with people in this game. I guess I was lucky that I have gone this long without encountering these kinds before.

Idiots can be found in every online game. Usually you can recognize them by their usage of "n00b" and because they claim to be PROFEZZIONAL GAEMORS. I haven't encountered them yet, but I'm not doing STFs yet, so that might still come.

 

[thunderfoot]

Some 'puter issues and technical difficulties are currently interfering badly with my ability to play STO. I think I have them corrected but I am unsure. When I am in game, I always minimize the Chat Window. Makes it easier to tolerate some of the more outrageous behavior when I can't read what the crazies have posted.

 

[Majestic]

TF you can always disable local and team channels, that way you can still chat with us but not see what they say.

Well after about another 6 of these spams yesterday and me being rather forward with them Kat figured out how to set my settings so I am only searchable by friends, so while I get "Only searchable by friends" pop-up whenever they try, it's better then the spam and friends requests. The latter is the worse part as it interferes with the game and battles.

 

[Jasoneagle]

It is sad to say but it mainly happens with free games and select pay games. I got it before in Diablo 2 when i was playing online.

 

[thunderfoot]

I sometimes think everyone should be given a one time ability to permaban via IP address someone from a website or online game. With effects applied immediately. Sounds crazy, but hear me out. The primary reason some people behave so badly online is there are zero consequences for it. How much would a troll or flamer be willing to risk if they knew for certain there were immediate and dire results for their actions? Once you use this ability, that's it. No reloads regardless of the outcome. Set it up so the ban comes from the site itself rather than from a particular person. Moderators should have the ability to review and overturn/uphold this. Meanwhile the troll is offline and not bothering anyone. So, when a troll decides to jack with someone, he doesn't know if they have used their permaban already or not. IDK if this would stop the hardcore trolls. I also think the possibility for abuse exists. But overall it should get someone who simply wants to be an anonymous smartarse to stop for an eyeblink or two and think about it. And if we can get them to think about it, then there is a strong possibility they will not follow through with the unproductive comment or behavior.

I've no idea at all how much extra work this would entail for Staff and admin. I do know if I was Staff or Admin, I'd probably take at least a week for the review.

EDIT: I've an idea the people the trolls would be permabanning first is each other, since no troll wants competition. Self-Banning Trolls and Troublemakers. Nice thought, isn't it?

 

[Jetfreak]

In Need For Speed World, they actually perma-disabled the chat system for this very reason. Sometimes the sheer number of trolls, spammers, etc just get out of hand and get in the way of the experience. It just ruins your day.

 

[thunderfoot]

Had a rather persistent fellow trying to get me to join a team today while I was playing STFs. To the point where I could not even spend a minute trying to help win the mission. Was going to place him on the Ignore list and then report him and then decided to check out a way to get him to waste his time without inconveniencing myself. Found the Privacy controls and just in case others do not know where they are, screengrabbed the procedure. I still get notified of ingame events. The Exchange still lets me know when someone has purchased something as well. However, this should go a long way towards fencing out the trolls and the nosy.

 

[Majestic]

I changed the top setting to Visible only to friends, that's how we stopped the spammers from sending me those ads.