[Discussion] Auction spamming issue in chat.

Discussion in 'Community Discussion' started by ThaKloned, Feb 20, 2015.

  1. Sometimes, the problems is that people will log on just to advertise their auctions then leave instantly.
    Kephras and Sweetie_Pea like this.
  2. I've seen this with shops too. I mean, if they're just going to go from one server to the next just advertising, why not just create a simple thread for it, or have your res number in your signature? It's easier and simpler that way, I think.
    ThaKloned likes this.
  3. Exactly. I do that in my signature and it works. I show my current auctions and shop address. Your not going to get more people to bid on your stuff when you ram it in their face all day.
    Sweetie_Pea likes this.
  4. Yeah, it just makes people not want to bid on it due to the amount of ads their putting up for it. Too much isn't good. I remember someone kept advertising for this hotel, and it would be like every 2 minutes. It was so annoying!
    Signatures are a good way to advertise, especially if you're very active on the threads.
    Sunny_Chicken and ThaKloned like this.
  5. Just from reading this thread, I think it's pretty clear that the problem isn't that it's being enforced (with krysyy's mutes for doing it in a spammy way - which I 100% agree with), but rather that it isn't being enforced consistently. It really should be one of those things like false reporting where there's a set punishment for it, and it's pretty much "automatically" applied if all the criteria are met.

    Also, yes, there are chatlogs (they go back over 3 years, so are... extensive...), and yes, if krysyy's punishing for it, it's not a false report.

    +1 for economy only and a time limit between adverts. Join/leave messages with the server hopping are annoying, but I can't see an easy way to get rid of them without sticking a delay on the join message appearing and cancelling if if the person leaves the server within X seconds, which overall would probably more of a pain than helpful.
    ThaKloned likes this.
  6. I think it would be nice to have a Player Setting that blocks chat with links in /c e. Then /report all players who advertise economy links in town chat. Make the punishment way overkill. If you made it onto the forums, and successfully made a business thread, you can read the rules/wiki about where to post your advertisements. I would love to see there be link muting. Make it a few day link mute, and people will start to learn the rules much better:D

    Also, off topic of this thread, but on topic about rule enforcement. I think that rule enforcement behind server advertising is beyond lenient. I /report'ed a player for advertising a server, and they weren't even temp banned. Said advertiser didn't post it in town chat (likely L/R/G chat), but the player that they were talking to said something along the lines of "so I replace the spaces with dots?", which clearly shows that the advertiser knows what they were doing was bypassing the rules. I don't know the specifics of that person's case at all, but they aren't the only ones who get off of rule breaking easy.

    ok ok ok, /rant
    ThaKloned likes this.
  7. I don't think it's a major problem though, just more of a minor annoyance.
  8. Even if the person wasn't trying to advertise, that's pretty clear filter evasion imo >_> (guess what rule break annoys me the most...).
    ThaKloned and jkjkjk182 like this.
  9. Pab10S and ThaKloned like this.
  10. Thanks for posting those link. Glad to see I'm not the only one. :)
  11. I agree with Tinykate I think people DO get a bit exited but we have to get the words out *Do not spam in chat *
    tinykate1 likes this.
  12. I understand your frustration with this, ans it was discussed with krysyyjane some time ago, the outcome of this was that Auctions are an extension of shops and malls in game and as players advertise there shops and malls in game then auctions could also advertise in game but in the same way as on line such as the host could only advertise once every 3 hours per server and no more then that.

    One other thing to consider with this is around the same time Aikar introduced the new economy chat /c e so if your in game advertising your shop or wanting to know who sells an item you are supposed to change your chat channel to /c e and not use town chat for this. Anyone advertising there website auction are also supposed to be using this channel, and just like the website if they do not follow those rules can be given a warning.

    Just like all persistent rule breakers they can also have a punishment imposed, for the website auctions abuse they can have the ability to host an auction taken away etc.

    Town chat is and should be just for town chat, remember though we have several other chat channels such as group chat when talking with several ppl all at the same time and local chat or res chat when you want to restrict your chat area. When playing games like pvp you should use local chat or when hosting an event on your res you should use res chat.

    Most rules with regards to chat tend to get broken by new players that have not learned all of the rules or commands just yet. EMC is unique with the number of control commands it gives to players, try help the new players and be patient.
  13. I think there are multiple issues here..

    First: be careful with the idea of double standards being uphold. I strongly disagree with that. Because this isn't merely an issue of you being right about reporting spamming. It's also an issue of the staff member who needs to decide if the report is actually legit, and if so if action is required. There are 2 sides to reporting.

    Example: 3 people advertise their auctions. First in town chat, you warn him. 2nd in Economy chat, you let it slide. 3rd in town chat again, you warn him and get annoyed at the frequent spamming. And now the 4th person comes along, chats a little, and eventually advertises in town chat, one time. You're now getting so annoyed with the constant auction spam that you report the last person.

    Problem: In your experience you've seen "too many spamming" and want it to stop. But all the last (and reported) person did was 1 message.


    Then there's also the issue of what exactly ticked you off? The single person advertising or the collection of advertising? One person who is spamming the chat (for example by repeating) can be easily reported. But someone who simply shares one line?

    Another problem: If this should be considered spamming, then how are you going to handle all the people who invite others to their drop party, their plot event, their shop, etc.? Because that would/should then be considered spamming too. Especially since we've already been talking about double standards and such...

    I think a good option would be to take this one step at a time. My suggestion would be make people more aware of the Economy chat (/ch e, or @e) and apply a rule that advertisement in town chat is to be considered off topic.

    So; people are free to advertise (drop party, plot events, shops and even auctions), however; they should do so in Economy chat. If they don't then they're offtopic and as such basically spamming the chat.

    EDIT:

    But seriously: think the best way to start here is if we, the players, start by making people aware of Economy chat. So instead of immediately hitting /report start by trying to warn the player to consider using Economy chat.

    I honestly think that a majority of players doesn't realize how annoying it can be. Just like how some players don't realize that if they keep shouting players to "Come to my shop!!!" that they eventually end up getting /ignored and optionally /muted or even temp. banned.

    And if you simply start threatening ("don't do that, ur spamming!") or /reporting them then they'll never learn...

    So yah; start telling players about e chat, then lets see what happens...
    shiyvah likes this.
  14. This. It's not a case of 'the next person to do this is going down'. It's the increasing frequency of more and more doing this.

    This will become a problem, that much is clear. The amount of people that will start doing this will increase more and more as it already is. Everyone will think 'Well if they are doing it I will too.' I wonder if it will still be acceptable when 50 people are posting their auctions every 20-30 mins in chat? I guess we'll see.

    Anyways, I won't waste anymore time with this. I thank all that replied with their views and happy to see that this didn't turn into a big fight :p

    Thanks all :)