A Word of Warning to the New (and Naive)

[Uggme]

Originally Posted by Thulack [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

And their are plenty of legitimate accounts sellers(me for one [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]) but some people are giving us a bad rap. And to the person that said leveling was fun. Leveling is worse then sitting and camping gear or Playing EC market.

There are no legitimate account sellers. Every single one is walking a very narrow line regarding the rules of the server. All it takes is a means to PUNISH what you are doing to make the whole thing a bannable offence. So yea, You all have bad raps due to the innately underhanded nature of the transactions you process.

Secondly, Your opinion on leveling and playing the game is concerning and revealing at the same time. The journey through classic EQ, and playing through it (read: leveling up in it) is exactly why this server is about. If you are not having fun doing that, then you might want to try a different game or MMO. There are plenty out there with Micro-transaction models which have built in means to skip content and level faster.

Go play those.

[Lyra]

Originally Posted by Enslaved [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

This server is EXACTLY about what each person wants to make of it. You are more in the wrong for telling X what EQ is supposed to be about than X is for making EQ what he wants it to be about for him.

Don't really follow your line of reasoning.

Monopoly comes with rules. Do you follow the rules when you play the game? Maybe you roll the thimble and the hat instead of the dice.

[Systolic]

Originally Posted by Gadwen [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I find these stories interesting, the account was banned within 1 week of the sale for MQ...so how did it sit there long enough to even get sold? Do the GMs not see the "flag" on the account until someone is actually logged in? How is it that these accounts aren't banned until someone sells them?

On another note, this is why I would never buy an account, not to say that there aren't legit account sellers out there. But these kinds of things are just way too common, people knowingly sell accounts that they used to RMT or to cheat and double fuck the server by screwing another player over along with it.

I have my theories, but I got the distinct impression that he was trying to sell the account quickly when I bought it from him... I, like I said, was terribly naive and impatient, thinking that a deal as good as it was would get snapped up quickly, so I moved on it.

I'm thinking he may have known he was flagged in some way, or even that he knew he would eventually get banned, so he wanted to dump things off now while he could make money on them. I know that he still plays and has at least 2 characters on the server.

[Nune]

People don't list the names of accounts when selling them because it usually only serves as a deterrent. "WTS 50 SK w/ 500k in gear blah blah blah" people will bid and buy. "WTS 50 SK Named Girthking with 500k n gear blah blah blah" you'll have people shy away because of stupid name. A Lot of people buy accounts with a sense of urgency instead of asking questions.

If I were you, I'd take this to the Petition forums. I Doubt you'll get the account back, if whoever used proxies, you can't really rely on IPs to trace it back to whoever did it. But the Staff here have more clever methods than they lead on, and at least you could see the person who fucked you over be punished.

Cthulu, you're a confirmed retard. "I've been forumquesting longer than you, who are you?" uh ok? Desperate means sought by a desperate man. You weren't arguing that the account you sold him was banned because of you, you only argued that a different account his friend had was flagged (you're aware that makes no sense right?) and banned, and pulled an Altari and said "prove it" regarding yours. Seems like you got away with this one, grats on furthering the archetype of idiocy thats prevalent around these parts.

[Uggme]

This is from the front page of www.project1999.org

Relive the classic Everquest MMORPG Gaming Experience as it was in 1999 and onward. Project 1999 is a free to play Emulated Everquest Server giving Players the opportunity to experience Classic EQ Once again

This appears to quite clearly define what the purpose of the server is. It also clearly shows the intent of the gameplay, which is to re-experience classic EQ. Account selling was not a part of the picture classically. It was not just frowned upon, but it was bannable. This clearly dictates how you are supposed to enjoy playing on the server.

So, there you have it.

[Systolic]

At any rate, my petition failed, the GM's won't reinstate the account, so I am done. Its not worth my time to start completely over again. I hope that this story helps people. I do think that account trading is okay, and I do encourage people to do so if they want.

For example, someone makes a character and places the starting stats in a certain way and when they hit 60 they realize that those starting stats being placed differently could significantly impact the viability of their character in the raiding scene. Why should they have to start from scratch just to reallocate points?

I think account buying and selling is only frowned upon because it inflates the economy and it lowers the real world value of platinum, which encourages RMT, imbalancing the game and creating a clear disparity between the lowbies who RMT and the lowbies who don't.

If giving ones account away is okay, then why is buying/selling accounts not? I think that the community needs to read between the lines a bit here. Someone obviously wants control of the games economy. It could be strictly for the purposes of game continuity, but I have my own opinions based upon one of the GM responses in my petition. more to come in a sec

[Nune]

Originally Posted by Systolic [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I have my theories, but I got the distinct impression that he was trying to sell the account quickly when I bought it from him... I, like I said, was terribly naive and impatient, thinking that a deal as good as it was would get snapped up quickly, so I moved on it.

Originally Posted by Nune [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

A Lot of people buy accounts with a sense of urgency instead of asking questions.

You got jobbed bud, don't quit. If you're in game, look up Rumham, I'll see if I cant pull some strings and get you some help/gear if you feel rerolling is a death sentence. The fact you got fucked over, and have continued to post with a calm demeanor is inspiring enough to want to help keep you around

[Systolic]

ALERT: Tin foil hat ON

Basically, this account was used to cheat. Whoever owns it doesn't change the fact that the characters on the account have acquired experience, items, platinum through a cheating program which against server rules, which is why the account itself was banned and not you as a player.

As far as GMs exhibiting fairness, they are doing exactly so. An account shouldn't be waived a ban from cheating just because that account is no longer being played by the cheater. The fact is that whatever he did to cheat to add value to that account is not fair to the other players in the game who respect server rules.

Account trading is frowned upon by server staff. We do not recommend doing so for reasons such as this. While one of the GMs (Ephi or Sirken) may chime in here, I do not think the ban will be overturned.

This is one of the responses to my petition. I wont mention the GM who said this to me but I thought that the bolded portion was important. The guides/GMs obviously see the accounts as having value of some sort, so for them to have the idea that accounts have value but at the same time don't condone the sale of them logically implies that they have a direct bearing in the values of said accounts.

I don't have any hard evidence to prove that guides/gms might potentially involved in RMT themselves, but sentences like that can only make one wonder. It would also make sense for them to be opposed to account selling in this case because then any money potentially made (or platinum) would be filtered through the community.

This is all just a theory, but since I am quitting the server due to the attitudes of the leaders of the community (and their subsequent unwillingness to give me a legitimate chance), I figured I would at least share my thoughts...

One last little idea: What better way to make money than to monopolize it? If a currency has an real world exchange rate, if one (like an admin of some kind) could create their own currency through the client, then not only could that person control the exchange rate, they could also have an unlimited real-world cash flow.

[Nune]

Originally Posted by Uggme [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

This is from the front page of www.project1999.org



This appears to quite clearly define what the purpose of the server is. It also clearly shows the intent of the gameplay, which is to re-experience classic EQ. Account selling was not a part of the picture classically. It was not just frowned upon, but it was bannable. This clearly dictates how you are supposed to enjoy playing on the server.

So, there you have it.

Again, I find it laughable when people make this point.

In 1999/2000, if you went to Ebay and typed "Everquest accounts" it was bursting with accounts. SoE was super shy on the banhammer; its a different beast when you ban people that are paying you $15 a month. The only dif was the fact people didnt talk about account sales publicly, so to say account sales weren't classic is flat out wrong.

[webrunner5]

Originally Posted by Enslaved [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

This server is EXACTLY about what each person wants to make of it. You are more in the wrong for telling X what EQ is supposed to be about than X is for making EQ what he wants it to be about for him.

I hate to say this Slave but I agree with you. [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.] Tradeskills come to mind. I would be a JC sitting in the tunnel making tons of plat if I wasn't too lazy to level up a Enchanter high enough to do it. But people do just that. And play the buy low sell high thingy.

Being 50 and above on this server is not what it is cracked up to be. I laugh my ass off on the people that want to be Pled to 60. What a joke. The fun is in the lower level zones trying to get some decent gear in a group, or pulling off breaking a camp solo.