Bots on the Marketplace? A Rampant Problem Still Neglected.

[Whispers of Delusion]

lost in the rhythm

Whispers of Delusion

lost in the rhythm

I am sure the staff members are getting swamped with private messages, which is most likely why the PM's get ignored/lost.
This is why I made a thread and suggested a report function be created to make reporting users botting an easier process, and without having to wonder if it will just get lost/ignored.

I once sent a few PM's to an (ex)mod about someone harassing people, making new accounts after tons of bans, I think he's at around 25 now and he's still here, and my PMs were read, investigated, Hell, I even got lectured about something I did, and solved within a day.
So unless you actually spammed them I see no reason why they still haven't read them.

I didn't spam them, I would send one PM and wait for the staff member to read it. If they read it and I don't receive a reply from them in a day or two, I would message another staff member.
Usually my PM just sits in the outbox, though.

You can delete the message from your outbox and send it again, maybe they just read over it.
I used to be a mod on a forum once and it happened pretty often that I had a few unread messages and I had to skip through a lot of pages to find them.
Luckily on Gaia you can just delete the message and send a new one.

[lost in the rhythm]

Whispers of Delusion

lost in the rhythm

Whispers of Delusion

lost in the rhythm

I am sure the staff members are getting swamped with private messages, which is most likely why the PM's get ignored/lost.
This is why I made a thread and suggested a report function be created to make reporting users botting an easier process, and without having to wonder if it will just get lost/ignored.

I once sent a few PM's to an (ex)mod about someone harassing people, making new accounts after tons of bans, I think he's at around 25 now and he's still here, and my PMs were read, investigated, Hell, I even got lectured about something I did, and solved within a day.
So unless you actually spammed them I see no reason why they still haven't read them.

I didn't spam them, I would send one PM and wait for the staff member to read it. If they read it and I don't receive a reply from them in a day or two, I would message another staff member.
Usually my PM just sits in the outbox, though.

You can delete the message from your outbox and send it again, maybe they just read over it.
I used to be a mod on a forum once and it happened pretty often that I had a few unread messages and I had to skip through a lot of pages to find them.
Luckily on Gaia you can just delete the message and send a new one.

I already know this, and I have tried it. I got the same results, it just sits in the outbox.

[Whispers of Delusion]

lost in the rhythm

Whispers of Delusion

lost in the rhythm

Whispers of Delusion

lost in the rhythm

I am sure the staff members are getting swamped with private messages, which is most likely why the PM's get ignored/lost.
This is why I made a thread and suggested a report function be created to make reporting users botting an easier process, and without having to wonder if it will just get lost/ignored.

I once sent a few PM's to an (ex)mod about someone harassing people, making new accounts after tons of bans, I think he's at around 25 now and he's still here, and my PMs were read, investigated, Hell, I even got lectured about something I did, and solved within a day.
So unless you actually spammed them I see no reason why they still haven't read them.

I didn't spam them, I would send one PM and wait for the staff member to read it. If they read it and I don't receive a reply from them in a day or two, I would message another staff member.
Usually my PM just sits in the outbox, though.

You can delete the message from your outbox and send it again, maybe they just read over it.
I used to be a mod on a forum once and it happened pretty often that I had a few unread messages and I had to skip through a lot of pages to find them.
Luckily on Gaia you can just delete the message and send a new one.

I already know this, and I have tried it. I got the same results, it just sits in the outbox.

Sorry, just trying to help sweatdrop
Well, then they aren't really doing their job...
I find it pretty odd that none of the mods even read it.
Keep trying I guess.
Maybe try summoning one here.

[Lady Hibiscus]

This might explain the lightning-flashed grabs in my store by the same person over seven times in a row by what I see on my Notices.

Oh dear. o:

[Myrielle]

I hope that report generates some sort of activity transcript like how reporting in virtual worlds generates a chat transcript so moderators can review the words that were exchanged. But, would the mods know what they will be looking at? I was think developers would know like how swarf or Uncle Kenny caught a zOMG bot by noting their continuous activity for more than 36 hours. I am not sure of the extent of the moderator's tools if they can do the same.

[Dalia Royce]

So they never caught and punished that guy?
I guess he really wasn't afraid of the moderators and just laughed at everybody and went on his merry way. gonk

[Vampurrrrr]

I have honestly never understood why there isn't already a button in the MP to report bots.
Botting is a big thing on most websites. I know websites with a smaller user-base, and even
they have a button specifically to report bots.

I 100% agree with the suggestion,
and I hope this brings your PMs to attention to a mod.

[Amia-Chan]

▂ ▂ ▂ ▂ ▂ ▂ ▂ ▂ ▂ ▂ ﹙♛﹚
xoxoxoxo❤ 'Cause I know there's got to be another level
xoxoxoxoxosomewhere closer to the other side
█████████ ↺ And I feel like it's now or never



I think, instead of a "Report Bot' button, gaia just puts a captcha in MP.
After so many buys (say ... 5? ) you have to fill it out to prove you aren't botting. If you don't fill it out, you can't purchase anything at all.

[Lady Hibiscus]

Amia-Chan

▂ ▂ ▂ ▂ ▂ ▂ ▂ ▂ ▂ ▂ ﹙♛﹚
xoxoxoxo❤ 'Cause I know there's got to be another level
xoxoxoxoxosomewhere closer to the other side
█████████ ↺ And I feel like it's now or never



I think, instead of a "Report Bot' button, gaia just puts a captcha in MP.
After so many buys (say ... 5? ) you have to fill it out to prove you aren't botting. If you don't fill it out, you can't purchase anything at all.

I'll nod to this suggestion. c:

[Whip]

I support report buttons in the MP, but I also support anti-bot features such as capchas.

Vendors can surely handle that, if it means preventing bots from getting the items instead of them smile

[Gash Thrashum]

VVhip

I support report buttons in the MP, but I also support anti-bot features such as capchas.

Vendors can surely handle that, if it means preventing bots from getting the items instead of them smile

I would support a captcha if it was infrequent enough not to make vending a complete nuisance, yet effective enough to catch bots if they don't have a way to circumvent the captchas already. I know there are programs that can figure out/auto-submit captchas out there. It all depends on these variables, though no captchas at all and quick bans on bots when they appear would be ideal.

[lost in the rhythm]

Whispers of Delusion

lost in the rhythm

Whispers of Delusion

lost in the rhythm

Whispers of Delusion

lost in the rhythm

I am sure the staff members are getting swamped with private messages, which is most likely why the PM's get ignored/lost.
This is why I made a thread and suggested a report function be created to make reporting users botting an easier process, and without having to wonder if it will just get lost/ignored.

I once sent a few PM's to an (ex)mod about someone harassing people, making new accounts after tons of bans, I think he's at around 25 now and he's still here, and my PMs were read, investigated, Hell, I even got lectured about something I did, and solved within a day.
So unless you actually spammed them I see no reason why they still haven't read them.

I didn't spam them, I would send one PM and wait for the staff member to read it. If they read it and I don't receive a reply from them in a day or two, I would message another staff member.
Usually my PM just sits in the outbox, though.

You can delete the message from your outbox and send it again, maybe they just read over it.
I used to be a mod on a forum once and it happened pretty often that I had a few unread messages and I had to skip through a lot of pages to find them.
Luckily on Gaia you can just delete the message and send a new one.

I already know this, and I have tried it. I got the same results, it just sits in the outbox.

Sorry, just trying to help sweatdrop
Well, then they aren't really doing their job...
I find it pretty odd that none of the mods even read it.
Keep trying I guess.
Maybe try summoning one here.

I understand and I appreciate it. 3nodding
I was just letting you know I have already tried it.

I just think they have too much on their plate.. the only way to report a bot in the marketplace is by private messages and that has a greater chance of being ignored or lost.

[lost in the rhythm]

Myrielle

I hope that report generates some sort of activity transcript like how reporting in virtual worlds generates a chat transcript so moderators can review the words that were exchanged. But, would the mods know what they will be looking at? I was think developers would know like how swarf or Uncle Kenny caught a zOMG bot by noting their continuous activity for more than 36 hours. I am not sure of the extent of the moderator's tools if they can do the same.

It would be similar to the hacking/scamming reports where you can provide as much evidence as you have, like screenshots.
I think it would speed the process up, and the mods just have to look at the users store log and how long they have been online.

I am sure they can also check exactly how many refreshes a user has made, based on the incident that happened with Rainy. 3nodding

[lost in the rhythm]

Dalia Royce

So they never caught and punished that guy?
I guess he really wasn't afraid of the moderators and just laughed at everybody and went on his merry way. gonk

Yeah, he is still botting under a new username.
He deleted all of his posts, keeps changing his username, and even blocked his profile to try to stay hidden.

You can change your username, but you can't change your user ID.. so I know who he is. 3nodding

[lost in the rhythm]

Gash Thrashum

I would support a captcha if it was infrequent enough not to make vending a complete nuisance, yet effective enough to catch bots if they don't have a way to circumvent the captchas already. I know there are programs that can figure out/auto-submit captchas out there. It all depends on these variables, though no captchas at all and quick bans on bots when they appear would be ideal.

I support this.
I wouldn't mind captchas as like as they aren't frequent enough to make vending a nuisance.

A user suggested after every 5, but I think that would be too frequent. The problem is that the bots usually pick up only misprices so it would be less of a nuisance to the bot than to the users that are actually vending.
If we increase the amount than that would give the bot a greater chance at snagging more misprices.