How to identify a gil-buyer

[Ryouken]

I wanted to get somebody's opinion on how to identify a gil-buyer.

I know that a gil-seller is usually a high lvl character with uber gear, yet no subjob, and sometimes has a weird name like Axehyu or something like that...

But how do you know when some one is a gil-buyer?

I met this guy, a lvl 30 PLD, today who said he has been playing for 2 weeks, yet this guy has VERY expensive gear (I'm talking about rare, +1 equipment) and carries around an unlimited supply of expensive food.

The first time I encountered this guy he said it was b/c he had a friend who joined the army and gave him 7 milllion gil from his old character. But even then, for him to play for only two weeks and manage to get his subjob, and then unlock an advanced job seemed a bit far-fetched.

Then the next time I saw him, he upgraded his gear (he now had, VERY VERY expensive stuff) and when I asked him how he did it (I was still suspicious), he replied "Yeah, I've been doing alot of fishing ^^"

... That's when it hit me, could this guy be a gil-buyer? A guy who has played "two weeks" to now say that his fortune is based of fishing, a craft that takes forever to master, is obviously either over-exagerating the truth... or he's a gil-buyer

I want to know what you guys think of this situation and even give your opinion on how to distinguish a gil-buyer, from a true dedicated player.

Thank you

[Icemage]

Re: How to identify a gil-buyer

Does it really matter?

I agree the circumstances are suspicious. Being a high level fisherman myself, I can tell you in all honesty that while you can make "some" money at fishing even at low levels, you're not going to make enough for stuff like Leaping Boots or whatnot.

But so what? You can't really report him to a GM because you can't prove anything. If you believe he bought his gil, then lower your estimation of him, refuse to associate with him... /blist him if you so choose. But that's about all you can do.

Going around and "suspecting" people of buying gil is utterly pointless.


Icemage

[Spazz]

Re: How to identify a gil-buyer

I had a bet going on with a buddy at one point where he bet that I couldnt hit Lv30 within a week of starting a new character... well.. I did. He payed up. I doubled the bet and said I bet you cant Lvl a brand new character to Lv30 with an advance job in 2 weeks... well... I did it. All of this requires hardcore gaming experience and knowing exactly what to do and where to go. So the level is possible.

As for the gear, did you ever think that maybe he got the gear from some of his friends or somethin. Ive borrowed gear for my low jobs all the job... most of which is +1's and uber expensive gear (even though its lv10-20 jobs). So theres a possibility.

But like Icemage said... there really is no point to being concerned about it because there are too many possibilities, too many variables, etc. I understand the meaning behind the post... but I think maybe the execution was just done wrong.

[Theyaden]

Re: How to identify a gil-buyer

Does it really matter?

I think he was trying to see if the general concensious was that his reasoning was correct or if he was being overly suspicious. As a side not looking at if fishing exc can really be that profitable at the low levels which I also doubt.

Going around and "suspecting" people of buying gil is utterly pointless.
Icemage

I think it's actually aplaudable that he's willing to have 3rd parties examining his reasoning rather than just blisting him right off the bat. He left the persons name out of it, and I suspect is trying to figure out if he wishes to be around this person rather than get intervention from us since he left out the who so to him personally it does matter. If I am wrong the op will probably correct me shortly.
Just adding my 2 cents because I felt the immediate responce was a little harsh for an honest question.

To answers ops question:
With what information you've given me I don't think the character earned his gil, but I couldn't say if it was bought or simply traded to him by a leaving friend as he claimed 7m can get you through a lot of leveling , but his story sounds fishy to me (Possible yes, likely no). The part that would make me lean toward your assesment of gilbuying is the explanation he's kept up through fishing within the first month of gameplay rather than indicating he still had some of the gil left over that he was drawing from.

[Heartily]

Re: How to identify a gil-buyer

I agree that in 2 weeks it sounds impossible to get to the level and equipment, even with a 7 mil head start. I've been accused 3 times of being a gil buyer and my gear is really good for a 50 beast but not ubber great. I tried to explain that being a 94 cook and doing the windy Aspir quest 15 times and playing solo for almost 2 years adds up to a good amount of GIL. Not to mention I have 6 mules gardening and selling and buying every bargain they see. I took it personal because I worked hard to get where I'm at in the game. I don't get much more than 2 hours per day for gaming so I make the most of it. So, in this case, he could be a gil buyer, but not in every instance of mid level caracters with good equipment.

[Feba]

Re: How to identify a gil-buyer

Honestly, if you want to blist all gilbuyers, you're probably gonna end up blisting about half of FFXI. You'd be suprised how many people have bought gil at one time or another (No, i'm not in this group.) Most of them did it when they were noobs, and they didn't know it was wrong.

I know most of my close friends, even the ones that hate gilsellers or gilbuyers, have bought gil once or twice. Do they feel guilty? Yes. Is it worth blisting them? No.


Now, a chronic gilbuyer, yes, blist them. But not all gilbuyers are pure evil. Sometimes you need to just forgive and forget.

[DakAttack]

Re: How to identify a gil-buyer

You'd probably blist more than half the players in the game. Some people can hide it well enough and not remind us of the issue, but some people just can't seem to hide it well at all. I usually compare their equipment to their rank if I'm curious.

[Ryouken]

Re: How to identify a gil-buyer

I think he was trying to see if the general concensious was that his reasoning was correct or if he was being overly suspicious. As a side not looking at if fishing exc can really be that profitable at the low levels which I also doubt.



I think it's actually aplaudable that he's willing to have 3rd parties examining his reasoning rather than just blisting him right off the bat. He left the persons name out of it, and I suspect is trying to figure out if he wishes to be around this person rather than get intervention from us since he left out the who so to him personally it does matter. If I am wrong the op will probably correct me shortly.
Just adding my 2 cents because I felt the immediate responce was a little harsh for an honest question.

That was my intention to begin with, I didn't want to just accuse him of being a gil-buyer, nor did I want to ask him either. So I decided to get some feedback before I made a decision.

I understand completely that alot of ppl buy gil, if they didn't, then RMT wouldn't be such an issue. I remember when I first went to Kazham, me and my PT saw 10 gil-sellers running about (high lvl, ubegear, and yet no subjob).

As to Feba's remark, you're absolutely right. Not all gil-buyers are jerks, some of then just didn't know it was wrong. I didn't really understand that until now (to be honest I thought anyone who associated with RMT were nOOBs).

So I guess I won't even bother asking the guy whether he bought his gil, as it doesn't even matter anymore, he seemed to be a nice guy and I think that's what truly matters. And to the ppl who seemed to get worked up over the topic of my thread, I'm sorry to offend you, my intention was to purely get feedback in order to make an assessment out of my situation, nothing more.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: How to identify a gil-buyer

That was my intention to begin with, I didn't want to just accuse him of being a gil-buyer, nor did I want to ask him either. So I decided to get some feedback before I made a decision.

I understand completely that alot of ppl buy gil, if they didn't, then RMT wouldn't be such an issue. I remember when I first went to Kazham, me and my PT saw 10 gil-sellers running about (high lvl, ubegear, and yet no subjob).

There's lots of ways to make the assessment, but in general, the people who do buy are wise enough not to talk about it. However, the person who never BCNMs, farms, crafts yet can EXP grind like hell and have HQ gear, yeah, that's pretty suspicious. That's a buyer.

As to Feba's remark, you're absolutely right. Not all gil-buyers are jerks, some of then just didn't know it was wrong. I didn't really understand that until now (to be honest I thought anyone who associated with RMT were nOOBs).

I disagree, anyone who buys gil is a major asshat. They might be nice people in social interactions, but by giving RMT business, they encourage the growth of RMT and, as such, make MMORPGs harder for everyone to enjoy. That alone puts them on the s---list with me. I honestly don't care how polite they are, cheating is cheating. If someone did admit they bought, I have little reason to be polite to them.

[Jei]

Re: How to identify a gil-buyer

I know some friends on msn, he switched between many games and restarted FFXI many times.
quit FFXI, play WoW and buy WoW gil
quit WoW, came back to FFXI, start new char and buy gil
quit FFXI again
came back to FFXI, start new char and buy gil
well, many times, many games....

[LyonheartLakshmi]

Re: How to identify a gil-buyer

The only sure-fire way to identify a gil-buyer is if they tell "I buy gil." Otherwise, there's no way to be sure. The story about a friend shutting down his account and giving away all his gil could be true. There can be other explanations too. Perhaps this is actually a mule supported by an established high level account. The player could be making up a story just to avoid being targetted by others as a source of high level help.

[Dragonly]

Re: How to identify a gil-buyer

The only sure-fire way to identify a gil-buyer is if they tell "I buy gil."

That's not always the case, they could be joking around my friends and I often that.

On topic I think what Ryouken did was ok, if he suspects some he can refuse to aid him in stuff like exp or missions and possible get him exiled from that server.

Though there is no real way to tell if someone buys gil it seems easy but the proof is harded to get the pointing out a gil-seller

[Kyero Fox]

Re: How to identify a gil-buyer

I was in a Party with a Fellow Blue Mage ... *cough* Fellow Blue mage my butt. she had no Subjob and all +1 gear and some Rare Ex armors and every time i asked "Why dont you have a Sub?" She never answered but when i asked if she ScrewDriver or Bomb Toss she said "Yes I do" every time ... hmmm can you say Gil Seller?

[Feba]

Re: How to identify a gil-buyer

If someone did admit they bought, I have little reason to be polite to them.

Which does nothing but promote an enviroment of insecurity and secrecy. If someone's going "yeah lol I got my SH with ige", i'm going to harass them until I get bored and do something else. If someone goes "I got the gil for my SH with IGE, yeah, but looking back that was wrong"


Alot of gilbuying isn't from striving to be the best, but because people just want to be able to 'keep up' with the standards of the playerbase which are just plain too high. Anyone who remembers a year or two ago, every melee had two have two sniper rings, a scorpion harness, and Chiefkabobs if they wanted to party. Nowadays it is more lax, since there aren't as many people leveling up post40/pre70, but it's still rough out there. Really, gilbuying is mostly the fault of people who claim to be against it, as they usually have no troubles making gil, they don't realize those that do need to be helped, not yelled at.

There are two groups who demand over the top equip. Gilbuyers (who buy tons of gil) and people who make tons of gil themselves. Neither understand how challenging it can be

[Kutch]

Re: How to identify a gil-buyer

Easy solution is to conspire with SE - get their persmission to buy gil, then buy the gil, and get the names of the people delivering. SE can then pay back the $ to the player.

However, this means alot of $ hot for SE, and I'm not sure if it would save them the investment long term or not, but its for sure a possible way of getting to the gilsellers.