VPN Abusers

[DreadneckJedd]

This a huge issue on this shard. People like Berticus sitting on a ton of houses. He's had a small plot on horseshoe island for months now and he is still selling houses. New players that actually want to play UOF cannot place a decent size house because too many people that don't play are refreshing large ones. If you want to stifle a shard's growth, not giving new players the ability to place a house is the best way to do it. Owning and designing an awesome house is one of the major goals for any new player and as of now its not feasible.

Tweaking factions and adding fun additions to game play are awesome but housing is the biggest issue right now. New players will continue to feel like the ship has already sailed when it comes to setting up on this shard. All the marketing and promotion for the shard is null if new players get here and say, "Oh well, can't place a house here. Next."

And I don't mean small who-gives-a-shit houses. I know you can place those easily. No one cares about small plots that don't provide hardly any storage space.

 

[Darktrix]

This a huge issue on this shard. People like Berticus sitting on a ton of houses. He's had a small plot on horseshoe island for months now and he is still selling houses. New players that actually want to play UOF cannot place a decent size house because too many people that don't play are refreshing large ones. If you want to stifle a shard's growth, not giving new players the ability to place a house is the best way to do it. Owning and designing an awesome house is one of the major goals for any new player and as of now its not feasible.

Tweaking factions and adding fun additions to game play are awesome but housing is the biggest issue right now. New players will continue to feel like the ship has already sailed when it comes to setting up on this shard. All the marketing and promotion for the shard is null if new players get here and say, "Oh well, can't place a house here. Next."

And I don't mean small who-gives-a-shit houses. I know you can place those easily. No one cares about small plots that don't provide hardly any storage space.

Thsi is very true i have to say. My main goal at the minute is to get myself a house. Sure i can place a small house, but what happens when i outgrow this? where can i place my dream tower?

There must be a tonne of houses out there with players who log in, refresh and log out until the next time it's decaying. To me active players should get preference here.

As for people hording plots this should not be viable, i understand real estate is a business here and functions well, however if someone is holding more than their fair share of plots this needs dealing with.

I liek this shard but i can see me coming to a serious road block housing wise. I have big plans here and feel like they are going to get throttled (housing wise) shortly after my first purchase. Theres only so long you can survive in a small plaster house hehe.

 

[VFingerDiscount]

As the server continues to grow won't they need to add another shard?

Sent from Baja 1997

 

[Karl Sagan]

This a huge issue on this shard. People like Berticus sitting on a ton of houses. He's had a small plot on horseshoe island for months now and he is still selling houses. New players that actually want to play UOF cannot place a decent size house because too many people that don't play are refreshing large ones. If you want to stifle a shard's growth, not giving new players the ability to place a house is the best way to do it. Owning and designing an awesome house is one of the major goals for any new player and as of now its not feasible.

Tweaking factions and adding fun additions to game play are awesome but housing is the biggest issue right now. New players will continue to feel like the ship has already sailed when it comes to setting up on this shard. All the marketing and promotion for the shard is null if new players get here and say, "Oh well, can't place a house here. Next."

And I don't mean small who-gives-a-shit houses. I know you can place those easily. No one cares about small plots that don't provide hardly any storage space.

Berticus doesn't have a bunch of accounts, but he does have a lot of friends that coordinate to place houses.

People with multiple accounts and multiple houses have had their houses dropped. Even those who use a VPN have had this happen as the GMs can track house transfer and such.

If you can run around the world placing towers and 18x18s the shard you are on is either 1) NEW or 2) DEAD.

Complaining that you can't place your own tower on an established shard is ********.

Gold is easy to get here. Farm a million and buy an 18x18 or tower. Farm 15 million and buy a castle. Or just throw your hands up and say 'Next' and head off to An Corp, I think there is PLENTY of housing space there and you won't have to worry about neighbors either.

 

[Violence]

Berticus hasn't even played for weeks, lol.

Just because a house sign says to contact him, it does not mean he actually owns it. A hard concept to grasp, I know.

And lets be honest, after today's round of IDOC Madness and the amount of houses that I and my group neglected and didn't bother to place at, if you still have troubles placing a house, then you are either being unrealistic or you're not looking very hard.

 

[scavengerdeluxe]

Berticus hasn't even played for weeks, lol.

Just before a house sign says to contact him, it does not mean he actually owns it. A hard concept to grasp, I know.

And lets be honest, after today's round of IDOC Madness and the amount of houses that I and my group neglected and didn't bother to place at, if you still have troubles placing a house, then you are either being unrealistic or you're not looking very hard.

lol greatly before revert becomes IDOC after revert? Seems strange.

 

[Karl Sagan]

lol greatly before revert becomes IDOC after revert? Seems strange.

Especially if you don't understand idocs!

 

[VFingerDiscount]

Haha ^

Sent from Baja 1997

 

[scavengerdeluxe]

Especially if you don't understand idocs!

Helpful post/troll

Anyways, from a related thread where someone actually replied with some kind of intellect instead of grief it would be assumed that house timers are based on real world time vs. in game time.

 

[Super Trammie]

Place a small house. By the time you outgrow the storage with magical weapons, armour, reagents, ingots ect. ect, you should have plenty of gold to buy a bigger place.

18x18's are pretty cheap and you can easily farm enough to buy one in a week of casual playing. If you want preferred housing, you're going to have to pay for it. Preferred location? Even more. This, to me, is the sign of a healthy market.

 

[Guttersnipe]

And I don't mean small who-gives-a-shit houses. I know you can place those easily. No one cares about small plots that don't provide hardly any storage space.

So, place two small houses, and you've doubled your storage since you can have 2 accounts. And, as it's been stated, start saving up to buy the big dream house. Sell the two doorbells, or even just one to start your bank roll. I started off with a 7x7 until I placed my still main Moonglow house that's only 7x12. Bought my max storage place outside Cove months later when I found something on the market that I really liked.

 

[scavengerdeluxe]

ok this has turned into the i cant find a house spot trammel thread. Not my intent when launching this. The intent was to make clear rules and actions that take place when VPN abusers are found out. I see this is not going to happen.

Lets get something straight. If you are replying to this thread saying that you cannot find enough storage wah wah. I have seen your houses go IDOC. You know what you have maxed your storage with? FUCKING CRAP. I throw all that shit away. its garbage. your small house can fit thousands of regs, bottles, scrolls, bandages. It can fit some suits of armor. It can fit some kegs. Thats all you need. You dont need to save every hatchet of ruin, accurate bow. Honestly, place a CUSTOM house 2 story 10x12 or anything and you will have enough storage for all your needs, provided you dont fill all your chest with shit.

ITS CRAP, IT WASTES MY TIME. I look and go, wow a chest with 200 items and 3800 stones. I cannot wait to see what is inside! But guess whats inside? CRAP! its all crap! Vendor that crap, save good things. Use your banks. Ask someone on the forum to provide you with a location for a decent sized house. You think you deserve an 18x18 just because you have 220k? You dont! Camp an IDOC, get lucky. Or pay the million.

Do you need an 18x18? Hell no, do you need a tower to play? Fuck i roll like i dont even know a 13x14 or some crap. Ive had larger plots but sell them cuz i dont need that shit. Start thinking less about getting yourself into something you cannot afford and more about getting skill-ups or gold to buy a plot. With a dexxor you can easily make 50-60k per hour. Hell ive seen people on the forums just give houses to people who whine about it. I bet someone on here actually HAD a 1 story handed to them out of the goodness of ones heart, then the same person goes to forums and complains about not having any storage. Man up and stop trying to get shit handed to you.

 

[halygon]

ok this has turned into the i cant find a house spot trammel thread. Not my intent when launching this. The intent was to make clear rules and actions that take place when VPN abusers are found out. I see this is not going to happen.

Lets get something straight. If you are replying to this thread saying that you cannot find enough storage wah wah. I have seen your houses go IDOC. You know what you have maxed your storage with? FUCKING CRAP. I throw all that shit away. its garbage. your small house can fit thousands of regs, bottles, scrolls, bandages. It can fit some suits of armor. It can fit some kegs. Thats all you need. You dont need to save every hatchet of ruin, accurate bow. Honestly, place a CUSTOM house 2 story 10x12 or anything and you will have enough storage for all your needs, provided you dont fill all your chest with shit.

ITS CRAP, IT WASTES MY TIME. I look and go, wow a chest with 200 items and 3800 stones. I cannot wait to see what is inside! But guess whats inside? CRAP! its all crap! Vendor that crap, save good things. Use your banks. Ask someone on the forum to provide you with a location for a decent sized house. You think you deserve an 18x18 just because you have 220k? You dont! Camp an IDOC, get lucky. Or pay the million.

Do you need an 18x18? Hell no, do you need a tower to play? Fuck i roll like i dont even know a 13x14 or some crap. Ive had larger plots but sell them cuz i dont need that shit. Start thinking less about getting yourself into something you cannot afford and more about getting skill-ups or gold to buy a plot. With a dexxor you can easily make 50-60k per hour. Hell ive seen people on the forums just give houses to people who whine about it. I bet someone on here actually HAD a 1 story handed to them out of the goodness of ones heart, then the same person goes to forums and complains about not having any storage. Man up and stop trying to get shit handed to you.

Heh, I don't have a house larger than 8x10.

 

[Guttersnipe]

Heh, I don't have a house larger than 8x10.

Yeah, but that 8x10 makes money.

 

[Shane]

VPNing accounts is actually honestly one of our absolute LARGEST issues currently. We are going to be working hard, and coming down even harder on those who abuse this. We have ways of checking who's doing what for sure. We will most likely be banning VPN hub pathway IP's as well. This includes LOWERPING unfortunately. We have WAYY too many accounts tied to Lowerping IP's honestly. We know exactly how many free codes we have given away, and i know the owner myself and i know for a fact this is being abused. We have been logging things for awhile, i'd strongly advise those who are abusing this to stop now for sure. This is definitely on the top of my list.

It is a common issue with FREE TO PLAY games as a whole honestly. I couldn't begin to state down how many economy/social issues are rooted from the fact that people, if they know how, and wish to cheat the system, are able to make unlimited accounts at their will. The fact we have almost 50,000 accounts itself says that. The honest part is, when people pay for their accounts, they have a responsibility/investment for sure. People care A LOT less when they don't have to spend any earnings at all for sure.

I want everyone to know we are aware of the issue, we are monitoring it, and we will control it soon to make it more balanced all around.

 

[Fallen Angel]

if you ban Lowerping
iam stop play on this shard

Lowerping is last chance to good ping for me...

IDK why my ping so hight on this server
without lowerping i have terrible lag
but is only on uoforever....
on another usa shard have good ping
i think problem in bad host or bad script on server

 

[Violence]

No lowerping will likely be the death of UO for me too.

 

[Sobz]

No lowerping will likely be the death of UO for me too.

Yup same. All australians and other countries away from server won't be able to play without lag.

Oh and btw i dont use lowerping i use WTFast and PAY for myself.

 

[Kaliron Oceania]

Is it possible to implement some sort of verification process when creating an account?

Like any account that is connecting through a VPN, You have to connect from your home IP address first or something (i understand this can be changed too) and that IP address is logged against your account? Not sure any other ways it could work.

But yeah when i came back to UO after the first few days i was about to stop because of ping issues until i was told about Lowerping. Its insane the difference it makes.

Hopefully we can come up with some ideas and a better solution then just banning VPNs.

 

[scavengerdeluxe]

VPNing accounts is actually honestly one of our absolute LARGEST issues currently. We are going to be working hard, and coming down even harder on those who abuse this. We have ways of checking who's doing what for sure. We will most likely be banning VPN hub pathway IP's as well. This includes LOWERPING unfortunately. We have WAYY too many accounts tied to Lowerping IP's honestly. We know exactly how many free codes we have given away, and i know the owner myself and i know for a fact this is being abused. We have been logging things for awhile, i'd strongly advise those who are abusing this to stop now for sure. This is definitely on the top of my list.

It is a common issue with FREE TO PLAY games as a whole honestly. I couldn't begin to state down how many economy/social issues are rooted from the fact that people, if they know how, and wish to cheat the system, are able to make unlimited accounts at their will. The fact we have almost 50,000 accounts itself says that. The honest part is, when people pay for their accounts, they have a responsibility/investment for sure. People care A LOT less when they don't have to spend any earnings at all for sure.

I want everyone to know we are aware of the issue, we are monitoring it, and we will control it soon to make it more balanced all around.

So is there a concrete punishment for people masking IPs to have 3+ accounts? It's still not quite clear. Right now it seems 1st time offenders get only the houses on the extra accounts nuked and extra accounts banned and their main accounts are completely unscathed.

I do very much appreciate the detailed response however. Thanks so much for all your hard work Shane.