2.Half Year Results

Our Actions

The Special Task Force has taken action against various "RMT sites" and characters using illegal means to play the game during this past year. We have focused on the following two issues.

1.Action against RMT sites.
Identifying RMT site vendors and then freezing the Gil in those accounts.
2.Characters using illegal means to play the game
Most characters which hand off Gil to the RMT sites use illegal means to move within the game or hunt NM. Stopping these characters puts a damper on the flow of Gil into RMT sites, keeping them from pursuing their activities. Additional goals have been set to curb the amount of harassment being done by such characters towards our normal players.

Results

[RMT Sites]


Most of the investigation and actions focused on the most prominent RMT sites. As a result, the number of active sites has been reduced from 150 sites (estimated in November 2006) to roughly a third of their original number. We are continuing to enact counter-measures against smaller sites that were able to get past our original investigation.

[Characters using illegal means to play the game]

1." Characters using illegal means to play and lay claim on monsters
As of February 2007, the number of such characters has dwindled to roughly 1/6th of the original tally compared to November 2006. The number of accounts which we have had to take action against has decreased as a result of the counter measures being enacted by the Special Task Force. We believe that this is a definite sign that we are getting results.

2." Characters using illegal means to move in the game"
We identified an increase in characters using illegal means to move within the game in order to complete certain quests repeatedly. As of January 2007 we effected a mass banning to help bring this situation under control. We have also introduced technical safeguards within the quests themselves to also help combat the situation. Recently we have observed a marked decrease in the number of groups doing quests repeatedly which has resulted in a subsequent decrease of characters using illegal means to travel within the game.

3." Characters using illegal means to automatically play the game"
We have observed an increase of characters using illegal means to play the game automatically as of February. We are still unsure what effect our activities are having against these users. We will keep our players updated on the situation and continue our efforts to combat these individuals.