Stopping Sale of Hacked Accounts

[lord munchkin]

I have an idea that might help with the sale of hacked accounts and general inactivity.

It involves the merit system and I know, I know everyone is sick of hearing about merits but...

Hacked accounts have remained inactive since 2015 (mine was one of them). If merits were deducted for inactivity, these hacked hero and legendary accounts would eventually be worth nothing.
This would also mean that members would need to stay active on this forum instead of showing up once a month to spam posts for activity.

Thoughts?

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[Eternu]

That is interesting idea, but i think that it would bring only more problems.
For example, how long would it take before some member start losing its rank? Would loss happen slowly or it would happen immediately? If what you suggested was implemented that would create problem for those who was not active for longer time, and have decided to come back, only to see their rank lowered. And there could be really good people in that group, that didn't deserve that kind of punishment.

Its and interesting idea as i said, but also a bit radical. I think that it would only bring more problems than solutions.

[lord munchkin]

That is interesting idea, but i think that it would bring only more problems.
For example, how long would it take before some member start losing its rank? Would loss happen slowly or it would happen immediately? If what you suggested was implemented that would create problem for those who was not active for longer time, and have decided to come back, only to see their rank lowered. And there could be really good people in that group, that didn't deserve that kind of punishment.

Its and interesting idea as i said, but also a bit radical. I think that it would only bring more problems than solutions.

It doesn't need to happen quickly. Maybe no merit would be lost the first month of inactivity but 1 merit would be lost the second month. A 2 merit loss could be lost the third month, then 4 and so on.

So this wouldn't hurt occasional inactivity but it would quickly remove credibility from the inactive hacked accounts which are later sold.

[Lauda]

Hacked accounts have remained inactive since 2015 (mine was one of them). If merits were deducted for inactivity, these hacked hero and legendary accounts would eventually be worth nothing.
This would also mean that members would need to stay active on this forum instead of showing up once a month to spam posts for activity.

Thoughts?

Not a bad idea. It's not just the merit itself, but also sMerit (which is often used to farm up their alts). I'd like the sMerit of inactive accounts to decay significantly faster than those who are active (e.g. 5-10x faster).

[TheQuin]

How about a simpler solution? Just lock all the accounts that have been inactive since the last time the forum was hacked and the database stolen.

[hilariousetc]

I suppose it could work in some capacity but it will also hurt people who just haven't logged in for quite some time and for whatever reason.

This would also mean that members would need to stay active on this forum instead of showing up once a month to spam posts for activity.

But then they will just log in to make the required posts to keep their account 'active'.

How about a simpler solution? Just lock all the accounts that have been inactive since the last time the forum was hacked and the database stolen.

I think that's already what happens when someone logs into an account for the first time in years.

[Eternu]

It doesn't need to happen quickly. Maybe no merit would be lost the first month of inactivity but 1 merit would be lost the second month. A 2 merit loss could be lost the third month, then 4 and so on.

So this wouldn't hurt occasional inactivity but it would quickly remove credibility from the inactive hacked accounts which are later sold.

If Merit losing rate is balanced right, it could work. After few months, speed of losing Merits could increase rapidly. Also people that want to keep their accounts active could login from time to time. I guess it would not be so hard.

Not a bad idea. It's not just the merit itself, but also sMerit (which is often used to farm up their alts). I'd like the sMerit of inactive accounts to decay significantly faster than those who are active (e.g. 5-10x faster).

Combining OP's and Lauda's idea, and we get really good one. Also those confiscated sMerits could be redistributed for further use.

Forum admins could also add setting which would put account into stand by mode, which people could activate when they know they will be inactive for month or so. And if account is not activated in the mean time or after that limited time, it would be treated like it was inactive the whole time and would receive penalties.

[lord munchkin]

There are some good ideas here, thanks Eternu and Lauda for the additional ideas.
I don't think theymos will have any spare time in the near future to implement any changes but I think some of the ideas here could work in the future.