Accounts Banned (25/09/2007)
Around 8080 accounts in violation of the FINAL FANTASY XI user agreement were suspended or banned today.

We would like to report the termination today of multiple accounts held by players involved in the usage of third-party tools or cheats, or engaged in RMT (Real Money Trading) activities.

Based on the results of our investigation, around 7,050 PlayOnline accounts were terminated while around 1,030 accounts were temporarily suspended.
Additionally, we have increased the number of mass bannings against certain PlayOnline violations in order to prevent illegal acts.

Details of the violations are as follows:

- Usage of tools that allow enhanced character movement.
August 30, Approx. 80 cases
September 5, Approx. 330 cases
September 14, Approx. 250 cases
September 21, Approx. 210 cases

- Usage of tools that circumvent game mechanics with respect to the timing of ability use, etc. in certain areas or at points where Notorious Monsters appear.
September 21, Approx. 30 cases

- Using cheats to automatically repeat a particular action.
August 30, Approx. 1,150 cases
September 6, Approx. 1,500 cases
September 12, Approx. 1,400 cases
September 19, Approx. 1,200 cases

- Gil and item exchange for real world money.
September 25, Approx. 750 casess

- Instances of areas or monster monopolization.
August 30, Approx. 100 cases
September 6, Approx. 330 cases

- Usage of synthesis and auction houses for RMT activities.
September 25, Approx. 680 casess

- Accounts from people that were previously confirmed to have RMT connections, or that had violated the user agreements but re-subscribed to PlayOnline.
September 19, Approx. 70 cases

The termination of these accounts has led to the removal of approximately 2.6 billion gil from circulation.

We would like to remind players that as well as adversely affecting game balance, the use of third-party tools or cheats can also have consequences that are not immediately obvious, such as introducing damaging viruses, and comprising the security of private account details. Usage of third-party tools will not be tolerated within FINAL FANTASY XI, and we will continue to severely penalize any players found to be in violation of the PlayOnline Member Agreement.

As we continue to ensure a fun and balanced environment for FINAL FANTASY XI, we hope that our players enjoy the game as it was intended and take care to avoid involvement in activities that violate the PlayOnline Member Agreement.

Thank you for your continued cooperation and understanding.

We would like to report the termination today of multiple accounts held by players involved in the usage of third-party tools or cheats, or engaged in RMT (Real Money Trading) activities.

Based on the results of our investigation, around 7,050 PlayOnline accounts were terminated while around 1,030 accounts were temporarily suspended.
Additionally, we have increased the number of mass bannings against certain PlayOnline violations in order to prevent illegal acts.

Details of the violations are as follows:

- Usage of tools that allow enhanced character movement.
August 30, Approx. 80 cases
September 5, Approx. 330 cases
September 14, Approx. 250 cases
September 21, Approx. 210 cases

- Usage of tools that circumvent game mechanics with respect to the timing of ability use, etc. in certain areas or at points where Notorious Monsters appear.
September 21, Approx. 30 cases

- Using cheats to automatically repeat a particular action.
August 30, Approx. 1,150 cases
September 6, Approx. 1,500 cases
September 12, Approx. 1,400 cases
September 19, Approx. 1,200 cases

- Gil and item exchange for real world money.
September 25, Approx. 750 casess

- Instances of areas or monster monopolization.
August 30, Approx. 100 cases
September 6, Approx. 330 cases

- Usage of synthesis and auction houses for RMT activities.
September 25, Approx. 680 casess

- Accounts from people that were previously confirmed to have RMT connections, or that had violated the user agreements but re-subscribed to PlayOnline.
September 19, Approx. 70 cases

The termination of these accounts has led to the removal of approximately 2.6 billion gil from circulation.

We would like to remind players that as well as adversely affecting game balance, the use of third-party tools or cheats can also have consequences that are not immediately obvious, such as introducing damaging viruses, and comprising the security of private account details. Usage of third-party tools will not be tolerated within FINAL FANTASY XI, and we will continue to severely penalize any players found to be in violation of the PlayOnline Member Agreement.

As we continue to ensure a fun and balanced environment for FINAL FANTASY XI, we hope that our players enjoy the game as it was intended and take care to avoid involvement in activities that violate the PlayOnline Member Agreement.

Thank you for your continued cooperation and understanding.

Special Task Force activities and future plans

As illustrated in graph 1 below, hunter (*1) activities temporarily increased in May, but were significantly reduced as a result of our intensive efforts.

We are continuing our activities in dealing with the use of synthesis and auction houses for RMT (*2) and, as a result, a total of 680 accounts have been banned this month. As we continue to deal with many of the problems related to RMT (*3), the FINAL FANTASY XI community is steadily heading in a healthy direction.

However, while the number of hunters has greatly decreased due to our large-scale efforts in dealing with them since the end of May, the number of characters engaged in the use of cheats to automatically repeat particular actions (specifically illegal fishing) has increased.

As was mentioned in last month's report, we believe the reason for this increase is due to RMT groups having moved to methods of collecting gil with lower-level characters.

Since the end of last month, we have been strengthening our focus on dealing with characters involved in the use of cheats to automatically repeat particular actions (specifically illegal fishing). The results of our actions can be seen in Graph 2 below.

As seen in the graph, while the number of characters involved in illegal actions decreases immediately after our actions, because illegal fishing can even be performed by lower-level characters, they tend to return rather quickly. Due to this, when looking at the graph's numbers, it may appear that the problem is not improving, but each time we act against such players, the number of accounts returning decreases. As a result, the overall number of players involved in the use of these cheats is on the decline.

Also, when considering that a total of 5250 accounts were banned in the span of a month, it becomes clear that the number of violators has significantly decreased. We plan to continue to strengthen our efforts in dealing with these problems.



Matters of concern within the community

In the following section, we will be explaining the Special Task Force's direction and plans in dealing with matters of concern within the community.

- Players are putting their characters in locations outside of Goblin Bounty Hunters' movement range and fishing with machine-like movements.
We are planning on extending the Goblin Bounty Hunter's movement range and route in the Valkurm Dunes in the next version update. We will also be coordinating the placement of Goblin Bounty Hunters in new areas and extending their movement range and route according to reports provided by FINAL FANTASY XI users.

If you have any information regarding this subject, please use the "Report to Special Task Force" mail form.

- Suspicious groups are buying up all the materials in the synthesis guilds in San d'Oria, Bastok, and Windurst.
A large number of the cases where all the materials in a synthesis guild are purchased ultimately end up in the hands of members involved in the use of synthesis and auction houses for RMT. We are aware that countermeasures in dealing specifically with players engaged in the use of synthesis and auction houses for RMT would be effective. We have been engaged in seriously dealing with the above problem since last month and expect to gradually solve these problems within the near future.

- Characters are still using third-party software to perform actions and abilities at impossible timings. I read in a recent report that the use of such tools has decreased. Isn't the Special Task Force dealing with this problem?

This particular problem shifts the violator in question from a player involved in RMT to a regular player. In actuality, the overall use of such tools has drastically decreased and, compared to when the Special Task Force first started, the number of violations has significantly declined.

Of course, even if the user is not involved in RMT, the use of cheats and unauthorized tools is prohibited and we are currently continuing our efforts in dealing with the issue.

- I would like the Special Task Force to deal with illegal activities more frequently.

We are aware that it is more effective to deal with illegal activities at a higher frequency and have been working towards shorter intervals between our actions since the Special Task Force was first formed.

However, we only deal with illegal activities after first investigating the issues and determining whether they violate the user agreement or not. Because of the time allotted for these investigations, we unfortunately cannot deal with illegal activities more frequently than we do at the moment.

Instead of making our actions more frequent, we intend to perform more diverse inspections regarding unauthorized software, character connections with RMT, and finding characters engaged in illegal activities more swiftly

.

- Some characters that may be involved in RMT are continuously defeating certain monsters over and over again. Isn't the Special Task Force dealing with this?

Recently hunters have been moving from areas such as Tu'Lia, that require relatively higher-level characters, to actions such as material-collecting, that can be even performed by lower-level characters. At the end of August, we strengthened our activities in the Buburimu Peninsula, which had been a hub of hunter activity, and a total of 430 accounts were banned.

We are planning on expanding the range of our activities according to the information provided by FINAL FANTASY XI users. If you have any information to provide, we would greatly appreciate it.


The Special Task Force relies on everyone' information to help keep FINAL FANTASY XI an enjoyable environment, and we appreciate your continuing support and cooperation.

Report to Special Task Force

*1, Hunters
Characters who kill Notorious Monsters, clear quests, and obtain items over and over again with the sole purpose of gathering gil, which is then handed off to RMT groups.

*2. Use of synthesis and auction houses for RMT
Actions involving selling large quantities of in-game items for gil, which is then traded for real money.

*3. RMT
"Real Money Trading." Selling game data for real money.

Warning about unauthorized access through spyware
Recently there has been an increase in damages caused by unknown third-party access to PlayOnline accounts where items and gil are lost, and characters are deleted.

As many of you may be aware, harmful programs known as viruses and spyware are common on the internet and, depending on the kind of program, your computer could become infected by simply viewing a website. Viruses and spyware are believed to be one of the primary causes of recent unauthorized access to PlayOnline.
The following are a few countermeasures in protecting against such harmful programs.

- Do not access websites with unknown or suspicious content.
- Do not download software from unknown or suspicious websites.
- Periodically perform Windows Updates and keep Windows updated to the latest version.
*Refer to Microsoft' official website for more detailed information.
- Periodically update your web browser to the latest version.
- Do not use external tools not approved by Square Enix under any circumstances.
- Always use the latest antivirus software.

We appreciate your understanding and cooperation in your diligent management of your PlayOnline account.