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Sony Cracks Down On In-Game Spammers
Mike Sachoff
Staff Writer
2009-09-04
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Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) has created a nine-member team called the Norathian Underground Gnome Investigation Team (NUGIT) focused on shutting down in-game spammers penetrating EverQuest, Free Realms and its other MMO games.
 | | Sony Cracks Down On In-Game Spammers |  |
"People get very frustrated when they see spam. It's the equivalent of junk mail and you're getting this in-game and it's very frustrating," John Smedley, president of Sony Online Entertainment told Reuters.
So far, SOE has shut down 295,000 subscription accounts across its MMO games as a result of NUGIT's policing.
Brad Wilcox, director of customer support at SOE and manager of NUGIT said the in-game spammers are very organized.
Companies pay players to go online and build up in-game characters and collect valuable virtual items that are then transported via "mules" to "runners" who sell the virtual goods to players through third-party sites.
"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," explained Wilcox.
Wilcox said instead of closing down one account, his team will follow the individual and end up shutting down as many as 100 to 200 accounts based on a single tip.
Sony estimates the global take of farmed virtual goods is a $2 billion a year industry via third-party companies.
SOE does allow players to convert real cash into virtual cash to purchase in-game items from the publisher legally.
About the Author:
Mike is a staff writer for WebProNews. Visit WebProNews for the latest ebusiness news.
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