Possible New Way People are Scamming

[Willowdreamer]

Some responsibility lies with parents teaching kids the ins-and-outs of dealing with others in the game. The youngest should certainly be menu-chat restricted, and have very few Crowns on their account. Gifting can be turned off to be certain that they aren't scammed into buying things for strangers. Kingsisle cannot police all inter-player actions all of the time or they would never get anything else done.

For those who are a bit older, learning the meaning behind the "fool me once" adage for the price of a pack can be a valuable life lesson.

Thanks to @Bailey Jade for sharing your experience. I believe back in the day, when my son was an adolescent he would certainly have been drawn to power-leveling his first wizard in this way, and I remember a discussion when he wanted to gift the new pets to all his friends and spent 5,000 Crowns I had bought for him. He wanted more, but the answer was no for a long time. These things can be teaching moments.

[Lightdragon]

I am unable to report being I logged out for the night. I know the Mercs helped people but was unaware they would ask for a pack. However, I really do not think this person had honest intention, being how fast he disappeared after I mention something.

The mercs on Central do it for free and ask for nothing. However you have some in the game that will do it for gifts. I just want to make that clear.

[Sierra SeaSong]

i have seen this years ago. usually these were mercs for hire in the game. not really a scam . At least back then as if you did gift them a pack or something they did help. As someone did this while i was questing with them. i think it was my balance in Celestia.

wouldn't hurt to report.

Mercs for Hire never charged people for help, they did it freely.

As to charging packs, kids been doing this for forever, some people even are okay with it. I mean kids beg for crowns stuff in the commons, so that must work also. For new players who do not know any better though, this would be a sad introduction to the community

[Pegasus Unbound]

I'll be honest, this doesn't sound like a scam to me. Power leveling via those dungeons isn't unheard of, and this Player seems like they were trying to get a Pack for the service of leveling your wizard up. I wouldn't call that a scam, but the terms of this deal should for sure be laid out beforehand. Checking whether you've done these dungeons before, only paying once the job is done, and determining what Pack you'd gift them are things this mercenary should do before any accord is struck.


Now if this Player hadn't help up their end of the bargain, I'd 100% call that a scam. But from my perspective, this seems like a Player who thought they could get an easy Pack by power leveling a Wizard they found.

Being an over have a century first hand student of how people act and scam, I would like to point out 3 MAJOR tells that came up in the situation:

#1 The constant determination displayed to get you to "play the game"
#2 Asking for a pack or anything you can get for free. As has been mentioned in other posts, There are several Central groups that help like with with NO cost at all.
#3 When finally confronted, the reaction and sudden disappearance.

Was this a scam, from my own personal experience I would say it is 99.9% a scam.

Bravo @Bailey Jade for catching it and especially for reminding us of an old and previously troublesome scam.

1 pound of skepticism can save a ton of pain. "Buyer beware"

[Lightdragon]

Mercs for Hire never charged people for help, they did it freely.

see my last post on this thread.

As to charging packs, kids been doing this for forever, some people even are okay with it.

I know. but years ago they were called mercs or professionals as one player in the game called them. When Tower of the helephant just came out . and some players actually insist on giving something to you. on my first balance wizard which i deleted years ago. I befriended one person i was helping. And we were talking as i was saving up gold for a broom mount which was 50k gold.(remember getting that much gold was hard in 2011) and i thought nothing of it. then after i finished helping him he gifted me 50k gold to get the broom. I was in shock as i didn't want it. there is no cancelation or ability to refuse a gift. After that i would not befriend anyone who i was helping with. Questing/farming yes or even a meet up on here but never a random stranger.

I mean kids beg for crowns stuff in the commons, so that must work also.

i don't see that a lot anymore.

For new players who do not know any better though, this would be a sad introduction to the community

agreed.

[Pegasus Unbound]

The main issue here is that there are scams, old and new. The faster we warn each other as well as the new players that read the forum, the better they can be protected.

If it is an old scam coming back around again, the new players might not know it yet. If it is a new one, the everyone benefits.

Like @Bailey Jade, we all need to do our best to share it when we see it. It's not about a debate of who does or does not ask for a reward, it is about letting everyone know what's happening.

For all you new players, if you need help of any kind, come and ask for it here at Central. Always remember, if it sounds too good to be true...it probably is and you should not risk it.

Play safe and have fun!

[BaronvonWolf]

nobody really offer help to randoms without it being a scam most of the time and most of the time its free or played with empowers TC
and you told them you knew a few KI people and he ran scared, why would he run unless there was something to hide

as for newer players getting scammed its gonna happen unless they happen to join central and even then there is only so much you can really do

TLDR: only reward them if they held up there end of the bargain

[JaredSpellFrost]

#1 The constant determination displayed to get you to "play the game"#2 Asking for a pack or anything you can get for free. As has been mentioned in other posts, There are several Central groups that help like with with NO cost at all.#3 When finally confronted, the reaction and sudden disappearance.

Times have changed since the days of free mercenary groups, and power leveling is quite the valuable service! I mean, "Something for something, as the eagles in Aquilla say." Maybe the price of this deal is up for debate, but offering this service with expectation of compensation is not inherently a scam.

And I'd say that their sudden disappearance is justifiable. KingsIsle is known for unfairly banning Players (I can personally attest to that!), so this mercenary suddenly fleeing is understandable when threatened with action from KI. Unless this Player failed to follow through on their promise after receiving payment, then we shouldn't assume malintent and jump to concluding that this is a scam!

[ChaseStrong]

Clearly the intention of this post has been lost !!!!

Please read the title Possible New Way People are Scamming

This means the possibility is there.
If the op has felt the need to warn that there is a possibility of this being a scam, then she must have felt highly uncomfortable
during the online interactions with this person.

That alone should be enough for most people to be wary.

The word possible in the title does not make an assumption that the other player was scamming, it does however give you fair warning that the possibility exists.

That said, this means that if you come into the same situation it still leaves the choice to engage or not in your hands.

The passing on of possible warnings of scams, uncomfortable or malicious interactions in game should not become a debate!!!

The message is for those who want/need this information.

If you don't believe there was a problem in the interaction the OP had, then this warning obviously isn't for you. Just walk on by.

Those who appreciate the warning, thank you for your responses!!!

[Prince of Shadows]

To eliminate any confusion, Mercs for Hire / Mercs for Charter never charged anyone anything for helping. it was against our group rules to ask for gifts. In fact as an official fan site, we ran contests and gave prizes.

None of the helper groups I've been involved in -- Max Stats, Helpful Hatchers, Mercs -- accepted payment, and I'm pretty sure Assistance Specialists and the other pet groups had/have similar policies.

We're had some fine examples of generous folks here for years, and I hope everyone takes inspiration from them, not the scammers, who unfortunately are also always out there.