New Scam Warning!

If they could truly do the work themselves, this wouldn't be an issue.

The problem is that the items in question simply cannot be obtained solo. They are drops from events that typically require group participation. This means that you:

A)Apply for an event shell, hoping you won't be too far down the list and get the item you want before your children go off to college, or

B)Hire a merc shell, they do the footwork in the desired event, get you the drop you want, and you move on.


Most merc shells work on varying premises. You come to them, pay part of the fee up front, pay the rest after the event is done. Others stipulate they get any drops that aren't what you hired them for. More generous merc shells stipulate they don't get paid if you don't get what you want.


The open offers to "pay now, then meet for event" should have thrown up all kinds of warnings.

So you would join a shout party, pay money upfront, then act surprised when you get burned?

Good to know. You just made yourself an easy target. Congrats.


Thank you for stopping by the Wonderful World of MMORPGs, where you actually have to deal with other people to obtain good items!

(psst...if you think it's any different in more solo orientated games, you're wrong.)

This isn't about the ethics of buying items you don't deserve. This is about being desperate and stupid enough to blindly throw money at people because they said "Hi, pay me X millions of gil and we'll get your item."

If you blindly throw your money around, you're a moron and deserve what you get. The end.

Who said anything about joining a shout party? I'm not denying the people who got scammed aren't all that bright. My response was to the guy who simply said everyone should do the work and not buy drops. Many people buy rare/ex drops; they just buy them from reputable LSs who happen to be full on certain items.

i dont see point in buying anything r/e theres things called linkshells that help u get items, when u log on you say "hey i could really use this item that drops off X notorious monster" usually your linkshell will help, if they dont theres things called friends. if u dont have friends well idk wth to say...if you buy items off linkshells or shout and get your money stolen you deserve it and on top of being HELP I AM TRAPPED IN 2006 PLEASE SEND A TIME MACHINE for doing so ask yourself this....did i earn this the right way, or am i no better then RMT for buying it?

not being rude or trying to upset people but i like the fact of "achievements" not buying my items i worked so hard for.

Scammers exist because there are people who are willing to get scammed.

I'm still waiting for my Ferrari.

Where have you people been? WOW? there is not now nor has there ever been customer service from SEInc. It was probably a GM that took your gil. The stated rules of the game have never enforced; not now, not then, not never, and they wont be enforced in FFXIV either. Pay your subscription fee and stfu.

ROFL wheres my Phantom i gave them a down payment of 55k and they walked out the back and never came back ; ;

Ahh I was wondering when the conspiracy theorists would show up.

"TEH GM TOOK UR GILZ!!!!"

he took my gil sold it and was the car salesman who ran off with my money and bought the car i paid for!

CONSPIRACY!

On a serious note, the conspiracy theorist brought up an excellent point:

"pay your subscription fee and stfu."

Don't we, as consumers, have the right to voice our opinion on service we are paying for?

yar

i pay my monthly fee to stare at mithra *** idk bout you guys....

i mean....i pay to play the game not stare at mithra *** >.>

Absolutely everything in this game you can work towards by yourself. Yes, the overwhelming majority of events in this game require group participation. But the footwork that goes into obtaining said items for yourself can be done of your own accord.

Need a group to help you do stuff? Join a linkshell and make some friends. Spend your time helping them out with the things they want, and they'll be more inclined to help you with the things you want. Yes, this occasionally means going out of your way to help others (oh no!) with no expectation of a reward for yourself.

Need a drop from a HNM? Spend your time camping it. Learn how to fight it. Level a job that can claim and hold it until your linkshell arrives. Get a second account and learn to dual box to assist you in the matter if it should be required.

Need items from sky or sea? Farm your own trigger sets or buy them through bazaars. A vast majority of the NMs in sky and sea can be solo'd or duo'd by the right jobs... if you dont have said job, level it.

Need drops from Zeni NMs? Go take some pictures. If you cant take pictures by yourself, then level a job that can. Get your friends together and help you do the smaller tiers, make /shout groups if necessary and give away the items you dont want to those that help you.

Need Dynamis or Einherjar gear? SHOW UP TO THE EVENTS! Make sure you go as often as possible. Sponsor /shout runs if you feel so inclined.


Seriously, there are so many ways to obtain items in this game that if you simply must resort to buying one, then you've failed as a player. All it says to me is that player is simply not willing to put forth the effort required, and thus not deserving of the item in the first place.

I've watched too many players join linkshells, then sit back and wait for the drops to just appear in their inventory and then they get upset when that doesnt happen. They wonder why so many players are ahead of them on gear lists while they hang out in whitegate or in an exp party, when they could be out working towards the things they want.

If you want something, you work towards it. It's that simple. The game isn't much different than real life in that aspect.

point proven number 2, go earn your ***like me an Sov both said u got. your gil snatched because u basically handed them your wallet...dont trust no one in this game most who play dont wanna help u get items they wanna benefit themselves not my cup of tea but the majority of all servers want gil so they can do what u did just more organized...if u wanna buy something wait till it drops, then fork gil over when u see everyone passed.all in all i dont respect people who buy there gear but if your gonna do it at least be smart bout it lol.

All you need is to make a clear agreement in-game. And off course to do it with someone "reliable" (as stated earlier, LS leader, LS sackholder, someone with nice gear etc.).

In fact, someone who care about his account and won't try to scam you because he would get suspended for doing so or even banned if he had previous offences.

"Earning" as you so loosely put it can be defined in many different ways. Earning the gil to be able to purchase those items is the same as earning the gear in a different manner to some.

If someone is limited on playtime or has a random schedule, chances are they will not be able to attend a steady linkshells event list. At that same time they can generate a large amount of gil while not being able to attend the event.

Same amount of time put into the "earning" just earned in a different manner.

I used to run a sky shell and there were plenty of buyers for items that we did not need. Most of the people that i spoke with usually just did not have the ability to make events on a weekly basis and were more than happy to pay for a item that they wanted had it dropped.

What does 'earning' items have to do with anything? Earning the drops isn't going to increase the stats on them, or make them any different to an item you got through camping and 'earning'. It's just typical of people to bring some sort of moral highground into a subject that really needs none, or where people really don't give a ***.

If I examine somebody and see they have a Hauteclaire, I couldn't care less how they got it; be it through bonanza, bought from a shell or camped. In all three circumstances, they have the item and the way they got it doesn't change it in anyway. And you know what? I don't care, and it's none of my business.

People spend so much time worrying about other people and what they're doing. All it seems to me is the people whining that buying items isn't earning them is people who are upset they spent hours working for something somebody else has bought and spent zero hours 'earning' it.

And really? Somebody buying an item got screwed, so we all laugh at him and say "SHOULDN'T BUY ITEMS!" So we shouldn't order stuff off the internet, right? Because we don't have them up front yet our money's being taken. If you're the victim of fraud, I guess it's fine and we should laugh at you, because you shouldn't buy items, right? So for being stupid and looking to buy something rather than walk to the shops and buy it yourself, you deserve to get screwed, yeah?

Double standards at its best. Maybe people should spend more time worrying about what they're doing instead of sticking their noses into other people's business, especially when it's not welcome.

Btw, I've never bought an item from an LS. I've 'earned' every item I have.

^ This.


I disagree with Sov.
You have two players, player A and B.
Player A does not work nor study.
Player B has a family, limited play time.

You're basically asking player B to "suck it up" and "grind" and "show up for events" when he really can't.
If there is a ls willing to sell their stuff, player B can take his time, make the gil when he can and buy the item.

Does that make him less of a player because he can't show up for events or do all the things you say? Not everyone can play FFXI in that hardcore manner.

The ZNM example, even if you throw the "you can always take your time to level a job and take pictures"... it's far easier to just hire yLS to get xItem through gil (in player's B case).

Now, you see... player A can show up to events making him eligible to lot the things he wants after playing under a HNMLS schedule.

Thing is, both are paying their monthly FFXI fee. That makes them equal no? If player B with limited play time is paying 12,99 to play FFXI and desire xItem, I say... go ahead, buy it.

Let's not forget FFXIV is there which may probably mark the death of XI. We're running short of time here, maybe.

Also, it's been 5 years of FFXI, been around 5 different linkshells and I couldn't obtain homam yet because they all disbanded before my turn came.
No one can say I wasn't trying enough, yet I'm stuck with a DRG and DRK without homam.
Does that make me not eligible to buy it? Makes me less of a "Pro player" if can't sit my *** on a Limbus LS and wait for my turn?

Once again basically Woo wrote everything I wanted to.

This game would be a lovely place if each one of us could mind our own business and move on.

That's a pretty generalized statement, and an incorrect one at that. I know a metric ***ton of players who work, study, have families and still find time to attend events often enough to get the items they want without utilizing the services of a merc linkshell. This story happens every day in my linkshell. If it doesnt happen in yours, then there is a problem there.

That's exactly the problem I see here, is that people join a linkshell and sit on their ***, awaiting their turn to lot on gear as though they deserved it. They take no initiative, they just do what they're told.

You literally can do this stuff, and gear yourself out how you'd like to without a merc ls if only you'd take the initiative to do it yourself. Make some friends, start a group, work towards your goals. Do some research and join a different linkshell if this isnt possible in your current one.

Otherwise you're just making excuses for your laziness. I wouldn't give you Homam either if this was your attitude in my ls lol

Great generalization there.

What about the people who ARE willing to put forth the effort, but just truly can't due to time constraint/scheduling?

I consider myself very very far from being a 'fail player' but according to you I must be one. After dynamis twice a week, limbus twice a week, einherjar once a week, leading a social LS, helping those on my Social LS, R/L work, R/L time with friends, leveling jobs, and farming I really don't have the time or the sanity to add in any more. So, in the the next little while I hope to purchase the abj for Hecatomb Hands and Feet, and a pair of Aurum Cuisses, because I don't have the time to join another LS for Sky or ZNMs nor do I wish to sacrifice my sanity by leading/recruiting another group for 2 more events.

Those are the only items I will have ever bought so far in my 4 years of playing (if I can find the sellers). My gear for all my 75 jobs is above average in my opinion and I play them good as well, so if that makes me a fail player, so be it I guess.

I have absolutely no problem with people doing mercs. The only ones I personally allow my shell to do are CE's so we can get the BV2 orb, but I certainly have no problem with my guys getting stuff elsewhere.

Black Belt items are a great example. We do KS99 runs on occasion, but, the BB item is far from 100%. We don't do too many of the land kings, so the odds of your getting them via either route are low. Yet, several members of my shell have used their funds to go to the other endgame shells and purchase the items, while still giving their main effort and loyalty to my group. Sounds like a win-win to me.

Even the people that play 12+ hours a day cannot possibly attend sky/sea/znm/hnm/enm/scnm/dyn/ein/limbus/popNM/etc. and all the others that are out there and get everything they want through "fair" means. You know there's thousands of NMs, right? You have to strike a balance. I can't even understand why someone would complain about someone else doing a merc.

Nobody is coming. They just got away with your hard earned gil or gear. Since this gil or gear was already passed off to other characters, and another, and another, etc. it cannot be easily tracked down. By banning the original player blah blah blah... (Had to cut it short).


[/quote]


And even if you only traded 1 person and call a GM the GM will go

<GMFail> "Lol you dumb ***, we don't care you traded it on your own free will its your own fault, besides if we ever did anything usefull this game wouldnt be as fun."

So it really dont matter, but don't be a dumbnut by trading your gil in advance, thats just asking for it imo.

That's BS actually. GM will be able to help you if the player you gave money to still own it. Off course if it was a RMT, the money is probably already gone by the time the GM will answer you.

But in all cases, whoever scammed you will get suspended.

http://support.eu.square-enix.com/faqarticle.php?kid=12650&id=455&la=2&ret=faq&pv=10&page=0&c=0&sc=0&so=4&

Lol, made a Mistake that was me talking on 2nd quote not Sovereighn*

Excuse me. I'd only like to say that player B has no place in the hardcore endgame scene.

Sure you can go ahead and buy your endgame gear if you want, but you can only go this far before you have to invest major time in endgame. And if you want to buy endgame gear in the first place you'll need oh so much gil, which I'd like to say yet again will soak up A LOT of time. Either that or RMT.

"Make the gil when he can"? That's major bull, you don't just make the kind of gil needed to buy endgame gear "when you can".

That being said it's really interesting that you say everyone should mind their own business.

You do realize you're playing a MMORPG right? If you don't want to be bothered go play on your nintendo DS.

^ that.

I know plenty of people with jobs, families, large class loads and THEY can get stuff.

Hell, my own job is demanding and I was still able to get stuff when I did end game.

Then it got more demanding and guess what? I don't do endgame.

I was just stating an example.
I know lots of people with jobs, families, college with a lot of gears.

I also know people under the same terms, without the gears due to the lack of time.
It`s not an excuse, don`t get me wrong. I mean no offense, I just wanted to know why is a bad thing to hire a merc ls to get, for example... Byakko`s Haidate if you lack the time to work on it under a HNMLS schedule.

Like Woo stated... if I see a guy walking around with an Algol... I wouldn`t think "how did he obtained that?". I`d simple think "He has an algol".
But if there are people who stop, check the guy and ask themselves "Wonder if he bought that, which is a bad thing" then there`s something clearly wrong with us. That`s the "mind our own business" thing I meant.

I try to be as open minded as I can and I welcome opinions. I really just want to understand why exactly is a "bad" thing to merc.


*edit*
Sorry I forgot to add this..
Sov, in your statement if I was in your ls I wouldn`t be eligible to lot homam. Knowing that I worked for it and attended the majority of events I could, what exactly should be my reasoning to be able to lot homam in your ls?
If you can point the things I did wrong then sure, I`ll once again work on it to see if I can obtain one.

Because in my opinion, gear SHOULD reflect the fact that you worked hard for it. It SHOULD reflect some sort of knowledge of the mob that was slain to get it. It SHOULD reflect that you know how to be a team player. It SHOULD reflect the effort put into your character and your linkshell in order to obtain said item.

In my opinion, people who have never stepped foot in Limbus shouldn't have Homam gear.

If you had an in-game contract with another player and they didn't live up to their end of the deal, then it would be looked into and the GM would return what you were scammed out of if they can trace it and get it back if it's within possibility.