This was forwarded to me me today, and figured I'd share with you all. My
posting was forwaded to Brad McQuaid on behalf of myself by Cook Miller, (as
reflected below).
On another note, I can say that on occasion a bad situation will turn good.
Last night an aquaintance of mine, Vinee (a monk who on occasion s I've had
the pleasure of grouping with) obtained a Flowing Black Silk Sash. As such,
he no longer needed his Thick Banded Belt, and traded it to me for a very
good deal. I would like to take the time to say "Kudos to you Vinee!" for
helping me out in a very dire situation. I just hope that it goes to show
others out there that not everyone is greedy, and hope that on occasion
they'll show an act of kindness... Cheaters 99999..... Good guys
1............. I've changed my mind.... It pays to be honest on occasion. 8D
--------
"That which does not kill us, makes us stronger." - Friedrich Nietzsche
"A beast I am, lest a beast I become." - Unknown
--------
Jarlax T`Kaedra - Master Potter, Master Brewer, Journeyman Blacksmith,
Apprentice Tailor & Bowyer/Fletcher
Faithful Servant of the almighty Innoruuk
Teir'Dal Shadow Knight of the 38th Rank
>From: Cook Miller-ETOP03 <Miller_Cook-ETOP03@...>
>To: "'Brad McQuaid'" <bmcquaid@...>
>CC: "'templarknights@...'" <templarknights@...>
>Subject: Possible Duping Bug?
>Date: Thu, 10 Feb 2000 12:11:10 -0500
>
>Brad,
>
>I am a totally uninvolved player to this issue I saw posted on a One-list
>forum. As I trade with other PC's for items and cash, I am concerned that
>something like this could happen again. I don't expect a response, but if
>you could take the time to review what is said below, maybe you can direct
>it to the right someone who could check this out or at least read this and
>have in their mind as they deal with issues like this in the future.
>
>Regards,
>
>Piemur
>Wood Elf Bard (alias Miller Cook - satisfied EQ player and having fun)
>
>
>Message: 4
> Date: Mon, 07 Feb 2000 15:09:39 GMT
> From: "Guild Master Jarlax" <templarknights@...>
>Subject: (unknown)
>
>Just a friendly warning to all EQ players out there - yours truly was the
>subject of a scam that takes advantage of a new bug/exploit with the trade
>window. An individual on Saturday night, who will for now remain anonymous,
>offered to sell myself a Thick Banded Belt for 7500pp cash.
>
>Because I have been looking to obtain a Thick Banded Belt for quite some
>time now, I eagerly went to the bank in Neriak and withdrew the money. Upon
>my arrival in Eastern Commons, I found the individual where they said they
>would be. They immediately placed the Thick Banded Belt into the trade
>window, so I put my 7500pp there as well. I waited a few seconds, and then
>the individual hit their trade button. I examined the item to ensure it was
>what I was told it was. Once I verified the item to actually be a Thick
>Banded Belt, I hit my trade button.
>
>As I began to walk away with my newly found and much sought after piece of
>gear, I opened my inventory to find it so that I could equip the item. To
>my
>
>amazement, it could not be found within my inventory. I immediately
>searched
>
>all my packs, and it was no where to be found. Now I know what you must be
>saying to yourself; that I must be stupid for having dropped such a
>valuable
>
>item. Let me assure you that I had, and still do have more than enough
>empty
>
>spots in my packs to hold many items, let alone just one.
>
>I immediately began to accost the individual responsible for having managed
>to pull off this scam, and as I suspected, the individual had logged off
>shortly after the transactions completion. I immediately petitioned a GM,
>and approximately an hour later I received a response.
>
>I quickly explained what had happened to the GM, and was informed that a
>database cross index search would be performed to find the account
>information. The GM went on and explained to me that EVERY single trade or
>transaction with an NPC/Player is kept track of so that in instances like
>these or in the event of bugs, they can track down the information to
>isolate the incident in question. The GM went on to say that they didn't
>like to perform this type of search, as it was a long and involved process.
>I went on to explain to the GM that I had screenshots of the transaction in
>progress, and was promptly told that any and all screenshots were totally
>useless as evidence. After all this had been explained to me, I was
>informed
>
>that I would be contacted when the search had been completed.
>
>Sunday night came, and once again I petitioned to find out as to the status
>of the search. After waiting approximately 2 hours, I was informed by the
>GM
>
>that the account information had been found using the character name I had
>provided. I was informed that they could find no records of a trade having
>ever taken place between myself, and the exploiter. I was informed however
>that they had at least been able to verify that I did indeed have 7500pp on
>my character as I had claimed, and that they had no idea where it had
>disappeared to. I was also informed that the character in question had been
>deleted sometime in between Saturday and Sunday night.
>
>After a long and heated debate with the GM over the matter, the GM finally
>reluctantly agreed to pull the character information off of the backup
>tapes
>
>to see if the character in question had actually taken my 7500pp. The GM
>went on to say that they could find no trace of the money on the character
>in question, nor had the character traded it or any large amount of
>expensive items off to someone else. The GM also stated that it made no
>sense to delete a character that had such a large amount of cash, and that
>in most all likely hood neither the Belt nor the cash would not be restored
>to me. I was then informed that I again would be contacted after the
>offending characters backup data had been viewed, so that they could verify
>if they had actually gotten my cash.
>
>To date, the offenders entire account information has been found. It has
>also been verified that I had 7500pp on my person as I had stated. However,
>the servers GM can not find any record of this entire transaction having
>ever taken place, but are totally ignoring the fact that 7500pp just
>vanished off of my character without a trace. At the very least, the
>sudden
>
>disappearance of 7500pp off a character with no log as to it having been
>traded away would signal that there was a serious bug/glitch that caused it
>to disappear. To top it all off, I have screenshots of the transaction, but
>the GM said they were useless. In addition to this, I have screenshots of
>the conversations with the GM showing that all I have stated is true.
>
>I will again tonight (Monday Feb 7, 2000) try and speak with the GM's to
>get this matter resolved and have either my item or cash restored, and the
>offender banned if I have anything to do with it. Why you ask have I posted
>this information everywhere? I do it simply to warn everyone! Be extremely
>careful who you trade with or you'll end up like me - 7500pp in the hole,
>and no item to show for it! So now, I sit here on pins and needles, waiting
>and hoping that the server didn't screw up and not save the data, so that I
>may have my items/cash restored!
>
>Jarlax T`Kaedra
>Highly Agitated SK of the 38th Rank
>Bertoxxulous
>
>Message: 8
> Date: Mon, 07 Feb 2000 15:54:32 GMT
> From: "Guild Master Jarlax" <templarknights@...>
>Subject: Re: (unknown)
>
>I have one slot open in the main inventory and a backpack (I keep it in the
>upper left inventory slot) with one storage slot available. I also have a
>Sewn Bag of Evil Eye and a Light Burlap Sack which I keep in the lower
>right
>
>hand corner slots of the main inventory window because they're unstable,
>and
>
>on occasion items disappear out of them. The rest of the main inventory
>slots are filled with fletching kits for their low weight.
>
>In any event, the Thick Banded Belt should have gone into the open
>inventory
>
>slot, which if full, it should have gone into the backpack storage slot
>next. On another note, no containers of any sort were open during the
>trade.
>
>I only opened them only after the trade was complete to find the belt and
>equip it.
>
>
> >From: "Jeff Bleich" <dolph@...>
> >Reply-To: EQ-Spoilers@onelist.com
> >To: <EQ-Spoilers@onelist.com>
> >Subject: Re: [EQ-Spoilers] (unknown)
> >Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2000 10:29:38 -0500
> >
> >Just a quick question, How many slots did you have open. How many slots
> >were used for bags, and what kind of bags.?
> >
> >Just a thought,
> >
> >Bismatal 50th Circle Monk of Cazic Thule
>
>Message: 1
> Date: Wed, 09 Feb 2000 12:30:07 GMT
> From: "Jarlax T'Kaedra" <templarknights@...>
>Subject: Final Verdict
>
>For those of you who took the time to read my previous posting in regards
>to the 7500pp I lost to an exploiter, I would like to take the time to
>thank
>
>you all. I received numerous suggestions, and more support than I ever
>expected to get about the matter. But after all I have tried to accomplish,
>it has amounted to nothing.
>
>Last night, I once again was in a heated debate with Tinysa (even though I
>had been informed by a guide that she wouldn't be on until Thursday night).
>
>After lengthy discussion, I was informed that neither my money nor the
>Thick
>
>Banded Belt would be returned to me, as there was no record on the backup
>tapes of the transaction having ever occurred. I was informed after much
>questioning, that ALL COMPLETED trades conducted by players were logged.
>
>Grudgingly, I got Tinysa to admit that it seemed a bit odd that 7500pp
>would
>
>simply vanish off a character into thin air. However, I was informed that
>it
>
>did not warrant further investigation because I could have just left the
>cash on the ground for someone else to pick up which also would not have
>been logged (yeah - as if I'm going to leave 48+ days of savings around for
>someone to pick up).
>
>Based upon the information I received last night, and from the numerous
>emails I have received from other players about the matter, I have come to
>the following conclusion - I believe that the Thick Banded Belt that I
>bought had indeed been exchanged. However it is my belief that for whatever
>reason, the server detected it as a duplicate, and destroyed it. As such,
>it
>
>would not have registered as a completed trade, and there for would not
>have
>
>been logged.
>
>To the best of my knowledge, the GM's did everything they possibly could to
>verify this information short of restoring the offending character, and
>verifying that they did indeed have my 7500pp cash. In fact, they had me
>doubting that I had actually conducted the trade until I pulled up the
>screenshot of the trade that I had managed to take a snapshot of, and
>looked
>
>at it closely. Based on the screenshot which I myself had taken, I can
>clearly see the items in question in both trade windows so I know the trade
>had taken place. I also presented the time and date that it occurred
>(Date/Time info off of the screenshot) to no avail. In the end, I lost my
>money. I'll never see it again...... Cheaters 99999..... Good guys
>0............. I guess it doesn't pay to be honest.
>
>Once again, I stress the fact that I merely present this information to all
>so that you may avoid having this happen to you. This in no way is a rant,
>flame, gripe, or an attempt to get a thread going about duping/cheating.
>_____________________________________________________________________
>
>Message: 2
> Date: Wed, 9 Feb 2000 09:48:56 -0500
> From: Jeff Burgess <jburgess@...>
>Subject: RE: Final Verdict
>
>
>[Jeff Burgess] I empathize, and I have to hand it to you for handling this
>very well. I'm sure you are frustrated beyond belief, but I'm glad to see
>that you want to turn this into a learning experience, not a rant.
>
>Perhaps we can take this to a new level. Any high level player ends up
>making a very big trade eventually. If we cannot trade with those we do
>not know for fear of being cheated, it imposes a big limit on who we can
>trade with. We must try to learn more about why this happened - and
>perhaps, how to detect a duped item.
>
>Email Brad. He does respond to email, if worded nicely and not a rant.
>Put
>
>something like 'Possible duping bug?' in the subject line, hopefully that
>will get his attention. Explain what happened - but don't try to ask for a
>refund, that's the GM's job. Ask him if what you suspect (a duped item
>disappear when traded) is true. If it is, perhaps suggest that the check
>is done when the item is put into the trade window, not after both parties
>have hit trade. Ask if he knows of any other bugs that may result in this,
>and how to detect or avoid them. The goal here is information - I highly
>doubt you'll see that 7500pp again.
>
>Maybe you can stop others from being cheated, however.
>Naheeb
>
>Once again, I stress the fact that I merely present this information to all
>so that you may avoid having this happen to you. This in no way is a rant,
>flame, gripe, or an attempt to get a thread going about duping/cheating.
>
>
>
>
>Thanks for your time.
>
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