Quote



http://i.imgur.com/Vly8n2k.jpg



Obviously I /ignore and report them whenever I can, but that doesn't really solve the problem. They still exist and they still spam everyone with PMs, mails, and of course genchat messages. They plague all MMOs, but I've only ever seen one game implement a solution that was so effective that it drastically cut down on the amount of spam.



Star Wars Galaxies, and their Warden program.



I propose that SWToR implements a system just like the Warden program.



Essentially, members from the community volunteered to be a Warden. What this meant was they were granted access to a command that could silence (edit: restricting chat, mail, PM, etc) anyone that was spamming for credits for six hours at a time. The six hour duration was one of the many checks and balances in place to keep Wardens from having too much power. There were multiple Wardens per server, so that there would be several on during all hours of the day. These people were handpicked by the developers and met a certain criteria in order to be given Warden status. They had to:



-Be 18+ years of age

-Be active in both the game AND the forums

-Be in good standing, without any prior infractions



Of course, with great power comes great responsibility. Each use of the silencing command was reviewed by a customer service rep, so as to prevent silencing people other than farmers. The Warden could unsilence someone they previously silenced, if they mistakenly got the wrong person. Their privileges only went as far as silencing credit spammers. People breaking other chat-related terms of service had to be reported as normal. This kept them from having too much power, and made it very black and white as to what they could and couldn't use their power on. Abuse of the command led to further investigation which, if found guilty of abuse of the command, could lead to removal of Warden status and possible actions against the account.



People could remain a Warden as long as they were active on the forums, in the game, and snuffing out credit spammers. Overall, it worked beautifully. The community was more involved, and credit spammers were cut down significantly. The checks and balances kept the Wardens from having too much power, and the fact they were handpicked from a pool of applicants by the developers ensured that they were generally the right type of people to have a responsibility like that, and so the power was never abused.



Any questions, comments, feedback are greatly appreciated. Thanks guys!



Here are some links with more information on how SWG went about the Warden system. Obviously, SWToR might take a different approach to it as some variables are different, but the idea is still the same;



From the SWG Wiki:



A mirror of the original dev post: I'm sure most of you have seen it by now, but the mass influx of credit farmers and spammers is getting out of hand. At any given moment on the fleet, my chat box looks like a giant advertisement.Obviously I /ignore and report them whenever I can, but that doesn't really solve the problem. They still exist and they still spam everyone with PMs, mails, and of course genchat messages. They plague all MMOs, but I've only ever seen one game implement a solution that was so effective that it drastically cut down on the amount of spam.Star Wars Galaxies, and their Warden program.I propose that SWToR implements a system just like the Warden program.Essentially, members from the community volunteered to be a Warden. What this meant was they were granted access to a command that could silence (edit: restricting chat, mail, PM, etc) anyone that was spamming for credits for six hours at a time. The six hour duration was one of the many checks and balances in place to keep Wardens from having too much power. There were multiple Wardens per server, so that there would be several on during all hours of the day. These people were handpicked by the developers and met a certain criteria in order to be given Warden status. They had to:-Be 18+ years of age-Be active in both the game AND the forums-Be in good standing, without any prior infractionsOf course, with great power comes great responsibility. Each use of the silencing command was reviewed by a customer service rep, so as to prevent silencing people other than farmers. The Warden could unsilence someone they previously silenced, if they mistakenly got the wrong person. Their privileges only went as far as silencing credit spammers. People breaking other chat-related terms of service had to be reported as normal. This kept them from having too much power, and made it very black and white as to what they could and couldn't use their power on. Abuse of the command led to further investigation which, if found guilty of abuse of the command, could lead to removal of Warden status and possible actions against the account.People could remain a Warden as long as they were active on the forums, in the game, and snuffing out credit spammers. Overall, it worked beautifully. The community was more involved, and credit spammers were cut down significantly. The checks and balances kept the Wardens from having too much power, and the fact they were handpicked from a pool of applicants by the developers ensured that they were generally the right type of people to have a responsibility like that, and so the power was never abused.Any questions, comments, feedback are greatly appreciated. Thanks guys!Here are some links with more information on how SWG went about the Warden system. Obviously, SWToR might take a different approach to it as some variables are different, but the idea is still the same;From the SWG Wiki: http://swg.wikia.com/wiki/Warden_Program A mirror of the original dev post: http://foros.comunidadhispania.com/s...rden-Program(1