CotF Rare Drop - Is the purge over? Safe to sell/buy?

So a person buys an item that they know just came in game, and it's the only one for same (There weren't large qty's being sold...). They buy it. They LOSE the item, and you think it's not up to SoE to figure out what's going on and up to the customer to figure out things? You're nuts. Remember, Eildroth said all this was easily tracked...

We REALLY need some official word on this.

Roshen - you are probably not being given the answers needed to respond to this situation which is fine but the answers you are giving are making it worse from a PR perspective because they seem like spin.

This can seriously be closed so easily with one statement from a DEV saying - "It's done. Carry on with your gaming and if you choose to buy something, its ok." The situation as it exists right now puts the burden on the buyer and can potentially impact Kronos transactions. The reality is that there are people who would buy Kronos to purchase this gear in game. If someone purchases 5 Kronos as an example, and then buys an item only to have it destroyed, does have legal recourse to get a refund on those Kronos.

That is exactly what it read like to me too. Don't get me wrong, Roshen, I appreciate the communication you are providing between us and the developers, but the responses in this thread have felt like they have been dodging the question. I don't mean to offend by saying that.

As of yesterday, they were still removing them. Easy to track yes, if its still on the person that looted it extremely easy. IF its been passed to alts then to another alt on a ftp then back to another alt, ftp account deleted new alt made.. etc.. and yes that was happening. It's not quite so simple

I find it amazing that someone would spend $54 on three Kronos to trade for a belt that gives their character an extra 1500 mana when you take the differences of current mana and clickie. I do not want to use the "jealousy" word...but boy do I wish I had $54 to spend on a virtual 1500 mana. Some people are very fortunate and lucky to be in those situations

Cicelee - I agree with your post but a belt isn't the best example of how one can buy power with these new drops.

Take 2 examples here of classes upgrading a single slot from their best in slot group to these new items.

Berserker using a Flame Etched Halberd [30 delay, 205 dmg] upgrades to Secare [30 delay, 264 dmg]

Rogue using Bloodletting Epee [19 delay, 89 dmg, 54 BS dmg] upgrades to Mordeo [ 19 delay, 114 dmg, 60 BS dmg]

Both of those scenarios are truly game changing for those characters from a dps output perspective. So wrong or right aside, there are cases where there are IMMENSE upgrades to be had for some Kronos if someone is willing.

On the flip side of that coin... how does the person know you don't still have the item and are just trying to scam them?

http://everquest.allakhazam.com/db/item.html?item=116345

just dropped for me tonight, off a regular cotf mob when I was doing a progression quest (one of the first ones in cotf). Too bad it's not as good for casters (duo'ing casters) :/

Large plat trades are tracked. Krono trades are tracked. If you legitimately bought them from someone, they can look it up in the logs if it is explained to them.

Thanks Beimeith, that's why I suggested that anyone petition with the actual person who spent the plat who you gave it to etc. Simply coming here and complaining isn't going to get your plat back, I actually don't even know if petitioning will but it would be a proper avenue to take.

As to whoever you went to not believing you if you ask them for your plat back, well it may not work but if they know they got the item fraudulently it might make them more accepting of your plight. And if not the next step is still to petition, and possibly include your conversation with the seller in your petition so they know you've at least tried.

And thanks necro, our entire guild has still not seen one drop other than the ones during the exploited period. Good to know some persistence may still pay off.

I've got to go back to Beimeith said - petition.

IF: SOE has determined from logs that item X was gained improperly,

AND: SOE has tracked it as being transferred to your character,

THEN: SOE can likewise track what was transferred in exchange for that item.

Now, if someone was flipping instances to kill only the piñata mob got a number of drops as a result - but couldn't get the one they wanted and bought it - and that item was removed along with others that SOE deemed gained illegitimately, I would not be surprised if SOE didn't have a lot of sympathy and said 'too bad, so sad' to said person. Likewise if someone legitimately bought an item but it was a deal like 'I'll transfer x million plat from Toon A, then log on to Toon B to get the item, that would be problematic. But that should be a pretty small minority of cases.

Bottom Line: If SOE can track an item to a legitimate buyer, then they can track what that buyer traded in exchange for it. Petition and make SOE return whatever it was.

I am pretty confident that SOE doesn't want the PR nightmare that would result from legitimate buyers losing the items they paid for *and* the plat or kronos they paid, while the players that got the items improperly in the first place made off with millions of ill-gotten plat. The devs said the purge would last 1-2 days. I wouldn't be worried about trading in the items at this point.

That seems to read that if you bought it fairly from another player in game you're good to go. IOW if you really bought it ok, but if it was a scam trade to an alt maybe not.

Many of the buyers considered it legit and want they're money back I'm sure that knew it was "possible" the item was from the to be purged items. I actually don't mind if they get they're plat or kronos back. If your one of the sellers , and haven't at least tried to find out if someone you sold it to had the item deleted your a very bad person.

For some reason I was poo poo'd for suggesting you petition instead of complaining that soe stole your money and deleted your item and sitting around whining about it. Also for suggesting you might actually try asking for your money back from the seller.

Also just fyi it is the weekend, expecting any official word till at least Monday 3/25/14 after 8 am pacific standard time is probably whistling dixie. And even then I would expect it to be awhile till they get thru first meetings and crafting a proper response, if they deem it necessary. If they still have items they're tracking down I would expect them to stay mum on the process, as anyone that's been successful at hiding the items will just continue to sit on them. That may mean items out for sale now are all gtg or not, it's still buyer beware I would still say at this point.

As to a pr nightmare, they've said as such and apologized for it, and for the extra work they're putting cs thru. I'm sure they're working as hard as they can to minimize and contain it. On a positive note for the last few days I've noticed we have 11 servers showing high traffic when I've happened to be on the web page. And that is very much an increase in population which is a good thing.

Until Rosh or a dev comes out and says "we are done investigating all prior items" I would not buy anything. There is a reason they have not come out and said it yet as they are probably working on the really tough cases.

They need to leave the door open incase another exploit is found.

You never have just one cockroach.

They can leave the door open for further issues, but nobody can sell their newly found items without the door being shut on the previous case.

Nothing that Roshen has said so far has given me any confidence that I can buy one of these items without having it removed, since they are probably still processing the old case.

I just want to say that the whole idea, that people know that there is/was something hinky going on with drops and that buying them was a risk, is faulty logic. Honestly, until I saw this thread I had no idea there was anything crazy going on. While there might have been stuff said on these forums, I don't remember seeing anything posted in game about it, let alone in the patch notes. I am quite sure a number of people logged on to missing gear with no idea why.

Honestly, SOE needs stop deleting all ill-gotten items in this way. If they know where all these items ended up then they also know who originally had them and what that person got for them. This is how situations like these should be handled:

1. Any ill-gotten items which are still on the same account that originally looted it are deleted.
2. Any ill-gotten items which are on different accounts than looted it have the transaction examined.
   • If the items were moved en masse and/or the original looter received little or no payment for the items then the ill-gotten items are deleted.
   • If the items were sold in either the bazaar or in a trade for an amount equal to or greater than the current going value for the item then the plat or whatever items (Krono, for example) are instead deleted from the account of the original looter or seller of the ill-gotten item.
     • If the Krono's have already been used by the seller or resold then either the time or the plat is removed from the user/sellers account.

i seen folks talking about this in general chat and in ooc in both pok and guild lobby zones. way before the forums exploded .

and ive seen and herd alot of people telling and doing the tradeing plat for iteams on their alt toons and a bunch of other ways people try to launder the iteams .

Are these items a limited time drop? or are they a new permanent drop in these zones?

Permanent dro though out all of COTF, Currently they have been removed from instanced zones though untill who knows when.