[TheGrandMom]

10/24

News Flash

Around 7900 accounts in violation of the Final Fantasy XI user agreement were suspended or banned today.

Oct. 24, 2007 04:00 [PDT] From: FINAL FANTASY XI

Accounts Banned (Oct. 24)

We would like to report the termination today of multiple accounts held by players involved in the usage of third-party tools or cheats, or engaged in RMT (Real Money Trading) activities.

Based on the results of our investigation, around 6,750 PlayOnline accounts were terminated while around 1,150 accounts were temporarily suspended.

Additionally, we have increased the number of mass bannings against certain PlayOnline violations in order to prevent illegal acts.

Details of the violations are as follows:

- Usage of tools that allow enhanced character movement.
October 4, Approx. 380 cases
October 12, Approx. 360 cases
October 22, Approx. 240 cases

- Usage of tools that circumvent game mechanics with respect to the timing of ability use, etc. in certain areas or at points where Notorious Monsters appear.
October 24, Approx. 50 cases

- Using cheats to automatically repeat a particular action.
September 28, Approx. 720 cases
October 4, Approx. 760 cases
October 11, Approx. 790 cases
October 18, Approx. 800 cases

- Gil and item exchange for real world money.
October 5, Approx. 300 cases
October 12, Approx. 120 cases
October 24, Approx. 410 cases

- Instances of areas or monster monopolization.
Spetember 28, Approx. 900 cases
October 18, Approx. 1,100 cases

- Usage of synthesis and auction houses for RMT activities.
October 24, Approx. 880 cases

- Accounts from people that were previously confirmed to have RMT connections, or that had violated the user agreements but re-subscribed to PlayOnline.
October 24, Approx. 90 cases

The termination of these accounts has led to the removal of approximately 2.3 billion gil from circulation.

We would like to remind players that as well as adversely affecting game balance, the use of third-party tools or cheats can also have consequences that are not immediately obvious, such as introducing damaging viruses, and comprising the security of private account details. Usage of third-party tools will not be tolerated within FINAL FANTASY XI, and we will continue to severely penalize any players found to be in violation of the PlayOnline Member Agreement.

As we continue to ensure a fun and balanced environment for FINAL FANTASY XI, we hope that our players enjoy the game as it was intended and take care to avoid involvement in activities that violate the PlayOnline Member Agreement.
Thank you for your continued cooperation and understanding.


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Today's report will outline our actions conducted from September 26, 2007 to October 24, 2007 in dealing with players violating the user agreement, as well as details on the activities, results, and goals of the Special Task Force.

Special Task Force activities and future plans

The number of characters engaged in illegal gil collecting, such as hunters (*1) and characters involved in the use of cheats to automatically repeat particular actions, has been significantly reduced as a result of our activities, but we have recently discovered a new kind of illegal activity that uses third-party programs against NPCs in Southern San d'Oria and The Pit. As was mentioned in the previous report, characters involved with large-scale gil collecting for the purpose of RMT (*2) are having a lot of trouble. It can be presumed that characters involved in direct illegal actions through the above method have appeared as a side effect.

The other day, we introduced some counter-measures through emergency maintenance, but if the same problem occurs again in the future, we will respond swiftly with both edits to the game system and activities against user agreement violators.

The following are the results of our actions from September 26, 2006 to October 24, 2007.

- Cheats to automatically repeat particular actions (specifically illegal fishing)
A total of 3070 accounts were banned within the space of a month.

The steady progress is proceeding slowly, but the characters in question are continuing to decrease as a result of our activities up until now. We are planning on strengthening our activities in dealing with this situation.

- Hunters
As a result of the strengthening of our activities in the Buburimu Peninsula last month, we have seen great results, and the problem of characters continuously defeating the same monsters over and over in the same area for RMT gil collection has significantly improved. We are planning on expanding the scope of our activities into new areas and we appreciate any information FINAL FANTASY XI players can provide.

- Use of synthesis and auction houses for RMT (*3)
A total of 880 accounts were banned within the space of a month.
As a result of new methods of dealing with such characters, we are not simply pursuing characters engaged in synthesis and auction houses for RMT, but we are now capable of expanding our activities to characters who are engaged in the collection of materials for RMT.



*1. Hunters
Characters who kill Notorious Monsters, clear quests, and obtain items over and over again with the sole purpose of gathering gil, which is then handed off to RMT groups.

*2. RMT
"Real Money Trading." Selling game data for real money.

*. Use of synthesis and auction houses for RMT
Actions involving selling large quantities of in-game items for gil, which is then traded for real money.



Matters of concern within the community

In the following section, we will be explaining the Special Task Force's direction and plans in dealing with matters of concern within the community.

- It seems that the Special Task Force is dealing with sellers engaged in RMT quite severely, but I believe that the buyers should also be severely dealt with. Instead of just warning them, shouldn't you ban their accounts or confiscate their gil and items?

We might temporarily have results in dealing with the RMT problem by confiscating buyers' gil and items, but we cannot perform biased activities such as targeting only gil buyers.
The Special Task Force views both gil buying and gil selling as violations of the user agreement and has taken a policy of dealing out penalties to each violator according to the severity of the violation.
All penalties for each account remain on record, are accumulated, and if a player repeats a violation of the user agreement, a stricter penalty will be dealt out than the previous one on record. Of course, depending on the details of the violation, there are players who are banned on their first violation.
In accordance with this policy, a total of 450 accounts were temporarily suspended or banned within the space of a month for illegal gil purchasing.

- Lately damages caused by unauthorized access have been on the rise. What should I do?

Systematic measures were introduced at the beginning of October to improve security against unauthorized access to PlayOnline from third parties, but recently suspicious URLs have been posted on bulletin boards and forums on community sites. It has been reported that, by clicking on these URLs, one's PlayOnline ID and password may be stolen.
Along with diligently managing your PlayOnline ID and password, we would appreciate it if all players would read the information about spyware included at the end of this report.

Reporting to the Special Task Force

The Special Task Force relies on everyone's information regarding violations of the user agreement to help keep FINAL FANTASY XI an enjoyable environment, and we appreciate your continuing support and cooperation.

Report to Special Task Force

Warning about unauthorized access through spyware

Recently, there has been an increase in damages caused by unknown third-party access to PlayOnline accounts where items and gil are lost, and characters are deleted.

As many of you may be aware, harmful programs known as viruses and spyware are common on the internet and, depending on the kind of program, your computer could become infected by simply viewing a website. Viruses and spyware are believed to be one of the primary causes of recent unauthorized access to PlayOnline.

The following are a few countermeasures in protecting against such harmful programs.

- Do not access websites with unknown or suspicious content.
- Do not download software from unknown or suspicious websites.
- Periodically perform Windows Updates and keep Windows updated to the latest version.
*Refer to Microsoft's official website for more detailed information.
- Periodically update your web browser to the latest version.
- Do not use external tools not approved by Square Enix under any circumstances.
- Always use the latest antivirus software.

We appreciate your understanding and cooperation in your diligent

[eticket109]

It still annoys me that they admit more and more people are getting their accounts compromised, yet they don't do anything to rectify the issue on the players' side.

[Feba]

and, depending on the kind of program, your computer could become infected by simply viewing a website in IE, or doing something stupid otherwise.

I can't believe I had to FTFSE.

[Telera]

I'm sure this sounds like an idiot question, but what about legitimate people repeating quests for money? Is there some way for them to distinguish where the money goes, or do they even care? Are they just flagging people who do repeated quests? I've done it on my taru for crafting money. I've done it on Telera for the same. There's quite a few that give decent enough rewards, especially since most farmables aren't worth the time and effort unless you're sporting /thf or main thf.

[eticket109]

Originally Posted by Telera

I'm sure this sounds like an idiot question, but what about legitimate people repeating quests for money? Is there some way for them to distinguish where the money goes, or do they even care? Are they just flagging people who do repeated quests? I've done it on my taru for crafting money. I've done it on Telera for the same. There's quite a few that give decent enough rewards, especially since most farmables aren't worth the time and effort unless you're sporting /thf or main thf.

It's pretty easy for them to track a normal player doing a quest a few times as opposed to a group of players spamming the quest 24/7... at least I would hope.

on another note... is the formatting totally screwed up on this thread for anyone else or is it just me? (I'm thinking it's the line of dashes in the first post being treated as a single word)

[Ellipses]

Yeah, I think the key words in "Cheats to automatically repeat particular actions (specifically illegal fishing)" are "Cheats" and "specifically illegal fishing." I doubt they care about macroing /targetnpc /item "Boyahda Moss" <t> for half an hour.

And yes, the formatting is hosed on account of hyphens.

[Telera]

I was talking more about Bubbly Bernie for my newbie, or that one that I plan on doing for Windy with the shells off those bastard things in the Toraimarai Canal.

http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Toraimarai_Turmoil

^ That. Sounds like something I could do for quick craft money once I get ~70.

The way they describe 'Hunters' (repeated clearing of quests for gil) it sounds like that, though I'm not handing the money off to anyone, which is what I was asking, more. Do they keep track of who it goes to, knowing who is a RMT bank? Because flagging anyone who prefers questing to 233423 hours of crawler culling sounds a bit idiotic.

..then again, it'll probably be that many hours of Starmite culling.

Or are they wanting to kill quest monetary rewards? Because they keep bleeding it out of the system and if you can't bleed any in besides laughable NPC sell prices... yeah.

[Ellipses]

I think you're worrying too much. If they didn't want normal players to be able to repeat quests legitimately, they wouldn't be repeatable. They're talking about botting and hacks. Doing Bubbly Bernie runs, or whatever that Windurst one is, is not "using a cheat."

[Omniblast]

Originally Posted by Telera

I was talking more about Bubbly Bernie for my newbie, or that one that I plan on doing for Windy with the shells off those bastard things in the Toraimarai Canal.

http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Toraimarai_Turmoil

^ That. Sounds like something I could do for quick craft money once I get ~70.

No.
Took me 3 hours just to get 5 shells. That was farming with someone else as well. Not worth it. Not for 4.5k.

[eticket109]

I never even finished that quest, I just unlocked it so I didn't need to do anything special to get into the canal anymore.

[TheGrandMom]

Formatting is fine on my end but then again I play on a 30" widescreen. Post was edited but I don't know if it fixes the problem since I can't see the problem. LOL

[Telera]

Originally Posted by Omniblast

No.
Took me 3 hours just to get 5 shells. That was farming with someone else as well. Not worth it. Not for 4.5k.

XD

Well, thanks for saving me that walk and effort.

Back to spamming Under Observation w/ my partners in crime, I suppose.

And yeah, that fixed the borders, they're not broken for me anymore.

[Vyuru]

Well, they seem to be ninja nerfing alot of the repeatable quests and NPC sales prices.

For example the, oh what's it called, the Rolanberry quest from Selbina. I used to do that alot, until SE changed it so that you can only turn in one rolanberry per game day.

120,000 or so worth of rolanberries down the drain the day after that update, I was a sad sad kitty ; ;

[FortMan]

Originally Posted by Vyuru

For example the, oh what's it called, the Rolanberry quest from Selbina. I used to do that alot, until SE changed it so that you can only turn in one rolanberry per game day.

Isn't it once per RL day?