Farmers, A Problem

raghajabooy · 02-28-2006, 08:14 PM

For everyone that plays WoW you would know alot about Famers. The amount of Kill 10 of this guy, 10 of this other guy and their boss Quests I have had to Drop because they are constantly farmed is not funny. I hope Vanguard will have a solution to farmers ruining quests.

Greymain · 03-01-2006, 04:10 AM

Well there will be Trivial Loot Code (TLC) in Vanguard which means farmers experience gained from farming will eventually stop them getting the drops (one reason I am against loss of levels in Death penalties).

Also I understand that Vanguard will move away from the predictable spawn where campers can sit in a spot knowing the boss will respawn in front of them in 5 mins.

Many Bosses will require a "flag" set in order to make them spawn. The flag is set by some previous action and you will not be told what flags are set or what action you did that set the flag.

For instance equipping a specific belt may set a flag which will attract the attention of a named gnoll who recognises it as one that was stolen from him. So the named gnoll will only appear and attack if someone in the group is wearing the belt.

Lastly it seems that Sigil is serious about Customer support so unfriendy activity can be reported.

Jaeth · 03-01-2006, 04:35 AM

Yeah, Sigil's Customer Support is actually three different groups - one handles the usual petitions in-game, another handles world events, and the third is dedicated to tracking down filthy hackers/bots/farmers.

And, yeah, the TLC... Will be interesting to see how that turns out.

froma · 03-01-2006, 05:56 AM

Those two safeguards, if implemented properly, are huge steps in the right direction.

Jaeth · 03-01-2006, 06:05 AM

By the way, item stats being reduced when worn on lower level characters will also be a good thing - maybe it's part of the TLC, I forgot. At least it will lessen the inherent benefits of twinking.

raghajabooy · 03-01-2006, 07:41 AM

From what I am reading here sounds like a big step forward for Vanguard whilst leaving WoW in the dust.

Jaeth · 03-01-2006, 08:09 AM

More like grinding WoW into dust...

Pun intended, hehe.

Aredhel · 03-01-2006, 11:15 AM

Any of you know the game "EVE"? And if so, have you been following what they are doing about that? Amazing....!!!! Check out the open forum link a friend that plays sent me. I can't get to the GM's blog (didn't want to register on another board...yuck!), but she sent me what was said there, too:

Quote:

attention, cheaters: cheating is not allowed!
reported by GM Arkanon | 2006.01.25 13:32:55 | Comments
GM Arkanon here, screaming incoherently, although somewhat muffled by an ever growing mountain of petitions.

Although we're generally so busy these days that we hardly have time to play our usual 18 holes of Jovian minigolf at lunchtime, I would like to take a moment to address the issue of online trading of ingame items, as many users seem to be unaware of our policy in these matters.

As most of you probably know all trading of ingame items using real currency is forbidden, as detailed in our EULA. This goes for buying and selling and even attempted trading, advertising or otherwise publicising this activity.

Recently, we have noticed that the trend seems to be that ISK buyers are investing even more heavily than before, sometimes up to one, or over a billion ISK at a time. Needless to say, by illegally obtaining such amounts of ISK, the offending players are not only cheating, but their actions can severely affect other players, who are put at an unfair disadvantage in many vital areas of the game, such as in PVP and in the market. We do not intend to allow people to ruin the gaming experience for other players through this most lazy and underhanded way of achieving your goals in EVE. In other words, THIS WILL NOT BE TOLERATED!

Here's a brief rundown of the horrors in store for those evildoers foolhardy enough to think they can get away with breaking our rules:

Anyone found selling items through Ebay or other similar auction sites faces an instant and permanent ban from the game. This ban will apply to all accounts traced to that user. Users supplying ISK to salesmen will also receive permanent bans.

Users who buy ISK or other items from auction sites will receive a warning or a temporary ban, depending on the severity of the offense and the user's previous record. The ISK will be confiscated, even if that means we have to put the offender's wallet into a negative state. Severe or repeated offenses will be met with instant and permanent bans.

This issue is not up for discussion. Buying your way ahead in EVE is cheating, pure and simple. There are many examples of games ruined by online merchants and their customers, and for good reason. Who wants to play a game where no one plays by the rules? Where's the fun in obtaining your goals through normal gameplay, only to have them wiped out by someone who bought his advantage on Ebay?

If you engage in such activity, do not be surprised if action is taken against you. We do not care if you bought your ISK yesterday or last month, what you did constitutes an unfair advantage against other players and we will take action regardless. You stand to lose your accounts, your Ebay investment and the ability to enjoy the best MMORPG there is (hey, we won!), all in one fell swoop.

All the best,

GM Arkanon

All I could say was...WOW!!! Tell me that's not going to start a movement. My son has told me about the gold farmers in WoW, and it just didn't seem like something gamers should have to put up with. I read another article in gamesutra about this farming and how one guy had quit his job to farm and his income tax statement showed over $150k, and he'd only worked 2 months that year before quitting.

Check this out, too. I'm hoping Brad can stick to the example that Eve is making and keep VSoH a place for famers of the harvesting kind!! Nor horder kind!

Jaeth · 03-01-2006, 11:44 AM

That is awesome! I wish the WoW GMs had the guts to do this... Well, they already did, sort of... But hey, everyone knows the WoW GMs/CMs are in fact just very complicated AI programs - and everyone knows that AI has yet to attain common sense.

Neatton · 03-01-2006, 11:45 AM

You know i was going to make a big long post on my feelings here but I will simply say that no matter what these people will be around go on ebay and do a search for Eve Isk - It doesnt look like cracking down to me. Statistics show that about 80 percent of people who played EQ bought or sold something for real life money. Everyone is to blaim for this. Ban everyone who has ever done anything remotely close to buying or selling game items or money? You have no more MMOs since you have banned almost the entire market...What is the fix?