Runes of Magic: Security And Bot Busting!

MMO companies love to keep your account safe. Not only does it keep you happy as a customer, but more importantly it lowers the amount of time and money they must spend on providing customer support to everyone who loses their account. So today’s news brings Runes of Magic into the front, once again, talking about their attempt to increase security and decrease the presence of gold farmers.

In an attempt to stop brute-forcing, accounts will be blocked if more than five unsuccessful login attempts are made over 24 hours. If a sixth unsuccessful attempt is made, players will be notified by email. In addition, IP addresses will be temporarily blocked if more than five unsuccessful logins are made from that particular IP address (presumably also within the 24 hour period).

To make things even better, customer support has been gifted better tools to help recover your stuff presuming you do become a victim of identity theft and find your bank cleared. According to the notice, Customer Service is now able to restore characters to 99% peak efficiency. The tools themselves will of course be upgraded as time goes on.

Furthermore, in the fight against gold farming, which those of you who play Runes of Magic will be well aware crippled the diamond trading market earlier this year with restrictions, you will be happy to know that the legal department has successfully placed nine injunctions against companies and individuals taking part in illicit gold trading, and the offending parties are being removed from the game as you read this. More networks are being banned from Runes of Magic, so if your town’s gold spammer isn’t gone yet, he will be eventually.

Runes of Magic: More Diamond Restrictions

If Funcom's money was gold-backed... — Won't be trading this for diamonds.

It feels like it was all the way back in January, more specifically the twelfth, that I was maliciously defending Runes of Magic (being the troll I am, apparently). Frogster implemented an update that bound all diamonds (cash shop currency) purchased to the player’s account, if said diamonds were purchased with a credit card or through Playspan. The reason for this was that gold farmers mainly were purchasing diamonds on throwaway accounts with stolen credit cards, and then transferring them to their main accounts to sell to buyers.

Well there is more news in Runes of Magic’s Diamondgate. Earlier today Runes of Magic shut down for what was supposed to be routine maintenance, only for an announcement to appear on the forums that the ability to trade diamonds for gold will be shut off for the time being. Frogster’s reasoning is due to a drastic rise in gold selling recently, and assures players that the trade will return once it is deemed “safe” to freely trade.

Current auctions will not be affected.

Runes of Magic: No, THIS Is How You Charity

gold — I believe there's a "shut down MMO Fallout" fund you can give to.

Here at MMO Fallout, I like to spur competition between companies when the outcome can only be good things. For example, two companies fighting over who can feed the most homeless, or who can produce the most adorable puppy. Naturally, I have to settle, but who can donate the most to charity is just as well. If I get to throw in a jab at Ndoors, and their attempted scam questionably ethical Child’s Play charity run that Child’s Play rejected (due to Ndoors taking 95% of the donations and pocketing it), well the merrier.

Back in November, Runes of Magic discounted one of their mounts and gave the players an offer: If you buy this mount for $15, we will donate $4.50 to charity. The charity in question is “Save the Children,” an organization dedicated to improving the lives of children in the 50 countries it is located, with workers now located in Haiti aiding in the relief effort.

Thanks to player purchases, Frogster has donated over fifty thousand USD. I just have one question: Do I write Mao’s Charity Steed or Runes of Magic on my tax writeoff?

Runes of Magic: Credit Card/Paypal Blocks In Plain English

I wanted to have a slightly more serious conversation about a certain title that has garnered quite a bit of controversy around it by outside players and its community. I am, of course, referencing to the newly instated Diamond policy that restricts what players can do with diamonds purchased through certain avenues. Diamonds are a currency in Runes of Magic that are purchased with real life money. They can be traded to other players, or used to purchase items in the item mall.

Frogster implemented an update that restricts diamond usage among players, due to players using stolen credit cards and stolen paypal accounts to purchase diamonds, to send to their main accounts. Those who buy their diamonds with a credit card or paypal account, or even a Playspan account will not be able to trade the diamonds, nor will they be able to sell them on the auction house. They will be bound to your account, and can only be used on the item mall for items that will be bound to your character.

Explanation after the break.

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Happy September!

Happy September everyone! This is the month many of us will be starting our fall semesters of school, college, or university (or in my case, Lincoln Logs 101). In that respect, let’s talk about what’s taking the top of our priority list: Massively Multiplayer Games!

Launching…

September is a month of birth, and what a month it is. September sees the launch of:

Continue reading “Happy September!”

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