GMs stealing gil from players?

[ibroyles]

Re: GMs stealing gil from players?

I just hope that before doing this, the GM has solid fact to back up what they are doing. The point here, is that we don't have all the facts, whereas the GM may have. This is one of those reasons GMs won't take screenshots as proof of anything. So keep that in mind next time you send a pic of a gilseller to a GM. The picture may be clear to you, but may mean something completely different to them.

[DakAttack]

Re: GMs stealing gil from players?

So if this originated on KI, what do they think about it there?

[Blackjack]

Re: GMs stealing gil from players?

The whole thing sounds suspicious. At any rate like any real life trade you have between another person, you are at a loss if you've accidentally traded for or traded with illicit goods and currency.

[Blood Red Poet]

Re: GMs stealing gil from players?

I honestly don't know what to say about this. Can GMs really be this retarded?

[DakAttack]

Re: GMs stealing gil from players?

Failed. -_-

Impaction with the rebound... It's good!

[nanatsu]

Re: GMs stealing gil from players?

Failed. -_-

Impaction with the rebound... It's good!

lol I've seen that one before. I have to say it's one of my favorite ones.

Anyway, after discussing the whole situation with some friends I've come to a few conclusions. Impaction had a good point about not jumping to conclusions about everything, considering the limited amount of knowedge we have on this. No one is even entirely sure it's real. I am willing to admit that there is a lot we don't know about what's going on, and that we shouldn't jump to conclusions. I still can't help but be a little concerned, though.

Something that one of my friends brought up is the ability for GMs to tag money. I don't know much about game programing and how the read information and mess around with, but if it's true that they can really track money this way, why not just create a large sum of gil, sell it to IGN and track where it goes? Is that even feasible as a way to tag gil buyers and sellers? Or is it just too complicated to pull off. I'd like to think it isn't, if the screenshots are true and the GM was really able to track the money trail so easily.

[Blood Red Poet]

Re: GMs stealing gil from players?

hehe I just made my own up right now, was searching through japanese message boards and found that ;3.

[DakAttack]

Re: GMs stealing gil from players?

Might I add that it is fairly common for people to make scapegoats out of GMs. Their job is loosely defined as a whole, and their duties differ from game to game. Although SE has defined the roll of their GMs clearly people still tend to place too much blame on them when they can't help. They're "The Man" of FFXI. The Man wont stop gil selling. The Man wont stop people from stealing claims. The Man is holding us back!

Maybe that last part is true only to a certain extent, but it is true that people exagerate their problems then blame it on GMs when they're unable to help. I read the thread on KI, and even they don't know the full story yet blame the GM. It's not such an easy job when the people you're trying to help hate you.

[Hori]

Re: GMs stealing gil from players?

People whined that GM's cant do anything about thieves and scammers in game and now they whine that they can do someting about it.

Sorry but thats the breaks of justice wether in vanadiel or real life. If you buy a TV for 2,000$ from a drug dealer the cops can come take that TV and you get nothing.
Just like someone earlier mentioned about a stolen car.

Yes, it does suck but thats the breaks. It is possible the person knew that the player buying whatever item was a thief and could have used better judgement not to sell to said thief.

Like I said it sucks but thats what has to be done, the person who was initially ripped off got their gil back. Thats what everyone wanted, isnt it?

[Balodoth]

Re: GMs stealing gil from players?

On the other hand, I do find it odd that the GM wasn't more. . . direct in his response. In fact, there's a good deal of information that is missing from these screenshots. Neither side seem to approach the situation logically.

The player never asks to get the item back. The GM never offers. The player never asks who the money came from. The GM never provides any information on how the buyer came by the funds. The player never asks what is being done to the offender. The GM never tries to reason with the player. The player never tries to compromise. The GM calls it fraud but never explains how it applies to the player's action and actually consistently condemns the buyer's actions, not the player's.

So really, the case could go either way. As a Customer Service Supervisor I realize there are a lot of policies customers don't like, but I also understand that providing further information on said policies and procedures, as well as doing what you reasonably can to rectify the situation, are key components to happy customers. Many many times there's no way to give the customer what they want, but they'll often settle when they see you are doing more than you technically have to.

In this particular situation I agree the money should be returned to the rightful owner. The SGM, however, should have acted immediately instead of awaiting a sale. (The "received funds" seems to imply it was not a trade but sent via auctionhouse NPC.) If the SGM was unable to do so, it would be understandable to restore ownership of items, moneys, etc. to before any wrongdoing was done. We have to remember, this is something we pay to do. We don't have the choice to withdraw our financial support of the government. But when we play FFXI, we do have the choice not to give them our money. The logical conclusion is the S-E should attempt to appease us whenever and however possible. We see changes made to combat persistent NM campers, and that is nothing more than an attempt to appease us. How much more so should S-E do so when they have more control than over something like a bot.

On the other hand, something definitely seems fishy. The player seemed to specifically avoid certain issues or phrases. For instance, if I just got teleported to jail and told my money was being taken away due to someone else's actions I'd want to know what S-E was doing to them. I'd want to know how they got the illegal funds. I'd say, "Damn that son of a gun. What can I do to make sure delinquents like them don't ruin the game for all of us?" And I'd ask how they could help me gain replacement funds or return of my item since the buyer is unlikely to believe my story and request for double the money or return of the item without a refund. That would ultimately be optional on the buyers part.

So all in all, it looks like there is something the player isn't telling us. But I still think the GM could have handled the situation better. I don't care what the player says, there's no excuse for poor customer service, even if they do it by the book (and far often worse for doing it by the book).

[Niland]

Re: GMs stealing gil from players?

this player is on Bismark, doesn't exactly have a sparkling reputation.

in a similar way to the above poster, i wouldn't read too much into the screenshots, its not the full picture we're getting.

[Starv]

Re: GMs stealing gil from players?

You can't take what the accused has said as the absolute truth, the GM seems pretty intent on taking the gil I think he probably had evidence, why he didn't mention it I don't know?

[Jamastu]

Re: GMs stealing gil from players?

That may be true , but isnt the saying "Innocent until proven guilty" ? theres no proof the other party knew or didnt know for that matter that it was stolen, if the GM had said we know you knew it was illegaly gotten money we have the proof i wouldnt have bothered to post. but thats not the case. This poor person dont seem to know whats happenin lol

true...

[TheGrandMom]

Re: GMs stealing gil from players?

GM's will not tell you any details about an issue such as that. All they will say is that the money was stolen. They won't tell you from who or how it came about. It says right in the Rules of Conduct that they do not release any information beyond what you need to know. In this case, the person needed to know why the money was being taken from him. The GM told him. End of story in the GM's book.

[neighbortaru]

Re: GMs stealing gil from players?

this player is on Bismark, doesn't exactly have a sparkling reputation.

this is good to know. /panic off