Sony Police: 295,000 Gaming Accounts Closed
Norathian Underground Gnome Investigation Team on the case
Sony Online Entertainment has formed its own anti-fraud police force that operates inside games such as Free Realms, EverQuest and Star Wars Galaxies. Called the Norathian Underground Gnome Investigation Team (NUGIT), it chases online fraudsters, gold farmers and spammers all over the virtual world.
Despite its hilarious gnomish title and tiny, nine member, team, NUGIT has apparently already lead to the closure of some 295,000 accounts.
The virtual police force operates on tip offs from players (which could lead to all sorts of fun). Says Brad Wilcox, who is both a member of the MMO Fuzz and, less excitingly, part of the customer support team, "Once a player reports a spammer or farmer to NUGIT, we watch the individual account and track other accounts of the mules and runners associated with the organization."
He continued, telling Reuters, "Rather than closing down one account, we'll follow the individual and end up banning as many as 100 to 200 accounts based off one tip."
Ever reported anybody to NUGIT? Tell us in the Forum.
Despite its hilarious gnomish title and tiny, nine member, team, NUGIT has apparently already lead to the closure of some 295,000 accounts.
The virtual police force operates on tip offs from players (which could lead to all sorts of fun). Says Brad Wilcox, who is both a member of the MMO Fuzz and, less excitingly, part of the customer support team, "Once a player reports a spammer or farmer to NUGIT, we watch the individual account and track other accounts of the mules and runners associated with the organization."
He continued, telling Reuters, "Rather than closing down one account, we'll follow the individual and end up banning as many as 100 to 200 accounts based off one tip."
Ever reported anybody to NUGIT? Tell us in the Forum.
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Comments
Jestor Rodo 4 Sep 2009 16:45
1/3
295,000 accounts ? SWG only has 200,000 if that.... /tumbleweeds
way 8 Sep 2009 01:48
2/3
Some policies are enough to doom a platform.
Sure, target spammers, but the need for farmers is because of a deficiency in game play that slows down the game so much as to depreciate it's enjoyment. If it promotes third world economies, helping people over there make a living providing services top us here, then why not.
These policies of closing systems to whatever the user wants to do with their privately owned hardware is onerous, and perhaps illegal somewhere. Doing stuff to peoples accounts because they have modified hardware that is not playing with others illegitimately, is also an onerous issue. The only issues to address are piracy and privacy security.
Back to platform popularity. Apart from the account issues, I do not follow: 360 (and Iphone, apart from computers) is a star for allowing cheap hobbyist development, even if it is tied to their store. Wii, has done something, but I do not know how truly hobbyist it is. But, who of the main market, apart from Apple (and computers) allows free software, these days? Sony was a star by formerly supporting Linux, the far from free PS hobbyist program, and even basic on the Australian PS2 (pity it was not Java). Guess who in the market has been attracting customers (and developers) outside of cutesy game play, 360, also with lower cost. Sony has also a history cutting down on popular interface ports. We also remember the home entertainment revolutions (and also talk of computers).
It is a shame that companies could not include embedded Java plus Open interfaces as standard.
Sure, target spammers, but the need for farmers is because of a deficiency in game play that slows down the game so much as to depreciate it's enjoyment. If it promotes third world economies, helping people over there make a living providing services top us here, then why not.
These policies of closing systems to whatever the user wants to do with their privately owned hardware is onerous, and perhaps illegal somewhere. Doing stuff to peoples accounts because they have modified hardware that is not playing with others illegitimately, is also an onerous issue. The only issues to address are piracy and privacy security.
Back to platform popularity. Apart from the account issues, I do not follow: 360 (and Iphone, apart from computers) is a star for allowing cheap hobbyist development, even if it is tied to their store. Wii, has done something, but I do not know how truly hobbyist it is. But, who of the main market, apart from Apple (and computers) allows free software, these days? Sony was a star by formerly supporting Linux, the far from free PS hobbyist program, and even basic on the Australian PS2 (pity it was not Java). Guess who in the market has been attracting customers (and developers) outside of cutesy game play, 360, also with lower cost. Sony has also a history cutting down on popular interface ports. We also remember the home entertainment revolutions (and also talk of computers).
It is a shame that companies could not include embedded Java plus Open interfaces as standard.
way 8 Sep 2009 01:54
3/3
I should also add, that people can also be seeking a shortcut to fame and fortune rather than finding it slow. A few rule changes in a game can also make it possible not to mine for other people past a certain amount per time period (how many games do mining these days?).