**WINTER OF WOE - BONUS OBJECTIVE POINT**
As previously announced, the team will be distributing an additional point toward milestones to anyone who completed the Absorbing Man fight in the first step of the Winter of Woe.
This point will be distributed at a later time as it requires the team to pull and analyze data.
The timeline has not been set, but work has started.

Gifting Badge Discussion [Merged Threads]

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Comments

  • GroundedWisdomGroundedWisdom Posts: 36,169 ★★★★★
    They won't tell you, obviously. I think we can assume as much. This isn't just a few extra runs on a Rewards Exploit. ;)
  • GroundedWisdomGroundedWisdom Posts: 36,169 ★★★★★
    I believe that was one of the factors that led to them disabling it.
    Banning just opens them up to creating more Accounts.
  • Maat_ManMaat_Man Posts: 13
    Iksdjvan said:

    If this is really "real world fraud" then why aren't the police involved? Does anyone have an article about someone being arrested for mining resources and the selling them? When someone commits a fraud against me as a business owner I don't immediately go to all my friends and loyal customers and say "because someone else committed fraud against me I am now shutting down every avenue of financial fraud available to and from anyone I know." The reasonable person calls the police and they get the bad guy. Or is this a case of you guys claiming that there's "real world fraud" but no one is actually committing anything close to fraud you just aren't getting the money you want due to your laziness in the creative deals department? Just curious. Anyone with an article for someone being arrested for this "real world fraud"?

    its a huge black market thing that spans across many many games,
    involving stolen credit cards, chargebacks and so on.
    its not as simple as call the police and catch the criminal and get your money back.
    investigations take a long time.
    cyber crime involves people with using encryption software and it becomes very hard to track who they are and where they are.
    Fraud is mostly about prevention.
    Fraud and online theft is not something one can simply stop.
    people with the attitude like you make iut seem like it is Little John in his basement stealing mums creditcard.
    Its not.
    its people committing serious criminal activity.
    its not just this game it happens in many many games.
    one of the easiest ways for cyber criminals to launder stolen money is via things just like this. selling discounted online virtual items and currencys.

    the people that do this dont just sell a little bit of MCOC items on the side for a bit of extra cash.
    most who do this make huge amounts of money from as many different platforms as possible and are very hard to catch as they make every effort to hide their details.

    Fraud prevention is about making it as hard as possible and as time consuming as possible and as inconvenient as possible to make it not worth it.
  • Wakandas_FinestWakandas_Finest Posts: 811 ★★★★
    Iksdjvan said:

    If this is really "real world fraud" then why aren't the police involved? Does anyone have an article about someone being arrested for mining resources and the selling them? When someone commits a fraud against me as a business owner I don't immediately go to all my friends and loyal customers and say "because someone else committed fraud against me I am now shutting down every avenue of financial fraud available to and from anyone I know." The reasonable person calls the police and they get the bad guy. Or is this a case of you guys claiming that there's "real world fraud" but no one is actually committing anything close to fraud you just aren't getting the money you want due to your laziness in the creative deals department? Just curious. Anyone with an article for someone being arrested for this "real world fraud"?

    I would hope as a business owner that you would do more to protect your customers than just call the police. This isn't an episode of Law & Order crimes aren't solved overnight in the real world law enforcement investigations take weeks, months, even years and sometimes the bad guy doesn't get caught. In the mean time you are leaving your customers exposed to other bad actors because you feel all you needed to do was call the police.

    But since you asked here is an article describing how fraud in mobile games is a multi billion dollar industry

    https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwjSmba_0Z_hAhVIyYMKHUqZCkQQzPwBegQIARAD&url=https://techcrunch.com/2016/01/20/virtual-goods-real-fraud/&psig=AOvVaw12kffBeQJfRzpYU1bV_zcA&ust=1553683846598487
  • SirGoblinSirGoblin Posts: 8
    Why not have a daily limit on gifting?It is nice to help out alliance members with a revive now and then and we don’t all want to spend a ton of cash every time we turn around. Also maybe crack down on this bot business I keep hearing about it explains why I will NEVER e able to win a high level prize in arena. The rich get richer and everyone else gets screwed as usual !
  • DemonzfyreDemonzfyre Posts: 20,817 ★★★★★
    Maat_Man said:

    It sucks that they have the right to modify etc, cant do anything about it. But they could be nice and at the very least give us the 850 units that would be the offer that we would have to buy in order to get the gifting badge.

    We got them when we bought them. Lol.
    yeah but i never bought it for the units.
    i bought it for the badge on 2 accounts.
    that is AUD$90.
    i spent $90 on something i can no longer use.
    pretty sure that breaches Australia fair trade laws.
    certainly have a right and a recourse for a refund here in Australia.

    i only ever bought units for the badge.
    no badeg i never would have bough units.
    they can take back the 850 units for all i care.
    i dont want compensation.
    i want a refund.
    i spent $90 on something i can no longer use.

    i uinderstand why the have disabled it.
    but allow me to take a refund.
    I WILL GIVE BACK THE 850 units so i can have my $46.99 back.
    from eachg of my accounts,
    and from my partners account.
    so that is AUD$150 we have been robbed of.
    LET US GET OUR MONEY BACK.
    Again, like stated many times before, you bought a UNIT PACKAGE that contained an extra item. You bought it for the free item. This isn't hard to understand and they have these deals all the time. In reality you got 1150 units from the deal. You've not been robbed of anything as it was a free item. Also, ToS says they can modify any service anytime they want.
  • DemonzfyreDemonzfyre Posts: 20,817 ★★★★★
    SirGoblin said:

    Why not have a daily limit on gifting?It is nice to help out alliance members with a revive now and then and we don’t all want to spend a ton of cash every time we turn around. Also maybe crack down on this bot business I keep hearing about it explains why I will NEVER e able to win a high level prize in arena. The rich get richer and everyone else gets screwed as usual !

    They've already said it's not about gifting itself. Its about what is happening through gifting through stolen information.
  • TheRealApocTheRealApoc Posts: 320 ★★
    TX1600 said:

    To Grounded wisdom if you’re reading this. The GB came as a free gift with the 850 unit offer, yes, true. But everyone who is ticked off about this is they wouldn’t have bought that offer if it wasn’t for the gift badge. So please don’t make it sound like it was free because it wasn’t. Most of us don’t waste $46 AUD on 850 units, we can get that from arenas.
    So no, it wasn’t free.

    your time to get those units also comes with a price. Nothing is free my friend. There was some serious stuff going on with gifting in the game. Instead of being mad at Kabam. Be mad at those who ruined it. Be mad at the alliances that allegedly used stolen credit cards for gifting events to win, be mad at mercs who offered services for cheap items, be mad at the people that abused the system to gain an unfair advantage in the game, be mad at the people who fooled people into gifting items during events to not come through, I am sure Kabam had to deal with many emails on that matter from people who got handed the short end of the stick.

    Be happy that Kabam took steps to ensure the game stays around to play.
  • DemonzfyreDemonzfyre Posts: 20,817 ★★★★★

    TX1600 said:

    To Grounded wisdom if you’re reading this. The GB came as a free gift with the 850 unit offer, yes, true. But everyone who is ticked off about this is they wouldn’t have bought that offer if it wasn’t for the gift badge. So please don’t make it sound like it was free because it wasn’t. Most of us don’t waste $46 AUD on 850 units, we can get that from arenas.
    So no, it wasn’t free.

    your time to get those units also comes with a price. Nothing is free my friend. There was some serious stuff going on with gifting in the game. Instead of being mad at Kabam. Be mad at those who ruined it. Be mad at the alliances that allegedly used stolen credit cards for gifting events to win, be mad at mercs who offered services for cheap items, be mad at the people that abused the system to gain an unfair advantage in the game, be mad at the people who fooled people into gifting items during events to not come through, I am sure Kabam had to deal with many emails on that matter from people who got handed the short end of the stick.

    Be happy that Kabam took steps to ensure the game stays around to play.
    Exactly this. Everyone points the pitch fork at Kabam but no hatred towards those who caused this.
  • Maat_ManMaat_Man Posts: 13

    Maat_Man said:

    It sucks that they have the right to modify etc, cant do anything about it. But they could be nice and at the very least give us the 850 units that would be the offer that we would have to buy in order to get the gifting badge.

    We got them when we bought them. Lol.
    yeah but i never bought it for the units.
    i bought it for the badge on 2 accounts.
    that is AUD$90.
    i spent $90 on something i can no longer use.
    pretty sure that breaches Australia fair trade laws.
    certainly have a right and a recourse for a refund here in Australia.

    i only ever bought units for the badge.
    no badeg i never would have bough units.
    they can take back the 850 units for all i care.
    i dont want compensation.
    i want a refund.
    i spent $90 on something i can no longer use.

    i uinderstand why the have disabled it.
    but allow me to take a refund.
    I WILL GIVE BACK THE 850 units so i can have my $46.99 back.
    from eachg of my accounts,
    and from my partners account.
    so that is AUD$150 we have been robbed of.
    LET US GET OUR MONEY BACK.
    Again, like stated many times before, you bought a UNIT PACKAGE that contained an extra item. You bought it for the free item. This isn't hard to understand and they have these deals all the time. In reality you got 1150 units from the deal. You've not been robbed of anything as it was a free item. Also, ToS says they can modify any service anytime they want.
    i bought it for the gifting badge, not for the units.
    how hard is that to understand.
    if there was no badge i never would have bought it.
    they can take the units back,
    i really dont care,
    but if i cant have my badge i want my money back.
    I have never bought any other unit packs.
    if i could have got the badge another way i would have done it.
    i bought the deal for the badge
    i only spent the money for the badge.
    i bought the deal with the intended purpose of giofting items. now i can no longer do that.
    that is not right.
    simple as that.

    and as far as TOS goes. read this.
    yes thay can change things.
    but it still needs to follow relevant law.
    and besides they just change the TOS whenever they want.
    they say they will tell us of TOS changes. but clearly they don't
    https://www.reddit.com/r/ContestOfChampions/comments/b5l51b/kabam_changing_tos_without_notification_big_issue/

    expiring items was against the TOS, but they did it anyway,
    recently changed the TOS to make it right.
  • Maat_ManMaat_Man Posts: 13
    @Demonzfyre if you went to a store and wanted a new toaster but they told you the only way you could have the toaster was by buying a fridge.
    you would buy the fridge and get the free toaster.
    if they then came and took the toaster you would be angry.
    you would want a refund on the fridge cus you only ever bought it for the toaster.
    if there was no toaster you never would have bought the fridge.

    yes technically you bought the fridge.
    but you bought it under the premise of getting a toaster.
    now without the toaster you are angry and what the hell you want the fridge for.
  • SkxxxtySkxxxty Posts: 86
    I thought the whole point of gifting abuse was that units were being illegally obtained and then used in game. Isn’t that the real problem and not gifting specifically?
  • kpkumardtskpkumardts Posts: 120
    @GroundedWisdom @Kabam Miike so do you guys think removing the gifting badge will stop the people from using stolen information like credit card fraud they will use the same in their own account to open whatever they want in game.

    so my question is how this will help to solve the situation( using the stolen information ).
  • SkxxxtySkxxxty Posts: 86
    It’s kind of like government taking rights away from law abiding citizens to curb lawlessness. It doesn’t work. Those who want to break the rules will just exploit weaknesses elsewhere. And guarantee they will reintroduce it and ask us to pay another $30.
  • Kura_mi_qjte69Kura_mi_qjte69 Posts: 9
    Hi, Guys from Kabam!
    If you have problems with some individuals who are cheating it is your responsibility to catch them and sort it out. But why innocent people like me have to suffer ! First of all I didn't spend units for Gift Badge to be compensated with units I spent real money for it and I am expecting real money back or with a simple words we as a buyers have rights! And with your act you breaking the law! As a example imagine that you buy from the shop TV and the producer find out after 3 years that there is manufacture problem with it and they come in your home take the TV back and as a compensation they giving you aerial vouchers! I am personally not happy with your decision and I am not going to claim your proposed unit! Also I am very concerned about any purchases in the future and I hope that other people will support my opinion!
  • DemonzfyreDemonzfyre Posts: 20,817 ★★★★★
    Maat_Man said:

    @Demonzfyre if you went to a store and wanted a new toaster but they told you the only way you could have the toaster was by buying a fridge.
    you would buy the fridge and get the free toaster.
    if they then came and took the toaster you would be angry.
    you would want a refund on the fridge cus you only ever bought it for the toaster.
    if there was no toaster you never would have bought the fridge.

    yes technically you bought the fridge.
    but you bought it under the premise of getting a toaster.
    now without the toaster you are angry and what the hell you want the fridge for.

    That's not how any of this works.
    1. I'd find a place to buy just the toaster.
    2. They couldn't take the toaster as its a material object.
    3. Try harder with analogies.

    You bought access to a service with the badge because that's what it is. They have it written in the ToS that those services can be changed at anytime. This is about something bigger than gifting and goes beyond Kabams control with fraud and stolen info.

    We won't know all the details and we can't. Its an investigation. Who knows, maybe they are being instructed to do this until actions can be taken.

    Again, the access to the badge was free. Its a virtual item, not a real item. You got what you paid for which was the units. You got an extea 300 units on top of that.

    Be mad at the criminals, not Kabam.
  • kpkumardtskpkumardts Posts: 120
    @GroundedWisdom and do you really know the meaning of PERMANENT

    I agree that its rented ( it is permanently rented) but when we bought that badge it says permanent gifting badge so it SHOULD STAY WITH MY ACCOUNT IN GAME till the end of the game or till my account has been closed permanently.
  • DemonzfyreDemonzfyre Posts: 20,817 ★★★★★

    @GroundedWisdom and do you really know the meaning of PERMANENT

    I agree that its rented ( it is permanently rented) but when we bought that badge it says permanent gifting badge so it SHOULD STAY WITH MY ACCOUNT IN GAME till the end of the game or till my account has been closed permanently.

    Its still there. They never said removed forever. If they can find a solution to the issue, it will be back. For now, only during special events which is xmas. Lots of time to fixed the issue.
  • Captain_NietschCaptain_Nietsch Posts: 481 ★★

    Hi, I can understand the reasons behind the decision of KAbam.

    What I really don't understand is why honest players should always lose out. Couse it is the easyest way? hope they do something else and have the badge back.

    I bought the gifting badge, now I find myself with 300 units that do not even correspond to the cost of 30 €. I would certainly not have spent € 30 to receive 300 units. If it is a temporary and brief suspension, to resolve the problem, I hope to get back the badge and not having to pay the 30 € again

    I agree. To refund 300 in game units is not correct. And I would advice Kabam to review this decision again. Do you find it fair to your honest players, the majority of your players? If you spend real money for a permanent gifting badge and it is removed... I find it unacceptable to remove it without offering a fair compensation. It was said to be permanent after all. And as many pointed out, 300 units isn't close to the equivalent value of the amount customers spent in real money to get it.
  • Maat_ManMaat_Man Posts: 13

    @GroundedWisdom and do you really know the meaning of PERMANENT

    I agree that its rented ( it is permanently rented) but when we bought that badge it says permanent gifting badge so it SHOULD STAY WITH MY ACCOUNT IN GAME till the end of the game or till my account has been closed permanently.

    Its still there. They never said removed forever. If they can find a solution to the issue, it will be back. For now, only during special events which is xmas. Lots of time to fixed the issue.
    ur assuming xmas. it may or may not happen then. it may happen before then, it may not happen till well after then. it may not happen at all

    personally i believe they have said this just to cover themselves.
    but we will see.
    but there is no assurance as to when we will ever see it again if infact we will ever see it again.
  • Maat_ManMaat_Man Posts: 13
    Fjolnir said:

    OKAYGang said:

    BOSSXL said:

    Let’s keep this real. Resource Mercs farm battle chips from arenas on multiple accounts and then sell resources to players at a huge discount. Usually half price. You get $100 worth of resources for $50 sent thru paypal or other source. This does not require sharing passwords or account info and was entirely within the rules of the competition and gifting badges. Most resource mercs we’re playing by the rules. Some may have been using arena bots and some may have been purchasing units from stolen Or fraudulent methods. It’s possible. But the real takeaway should be how many people were purchasing these resources and take notice. It shows your pricing for these items is too high.

    You took steps to eliminate the resource drops for AQ. You created a conversion badge to compete with the mercs that join alliances, drop massive amounts of gold, battle chips and loyalty and then leave alliance. It was smart to offer the conversion badge and compete and provide better value. You should do the same thing with the resources from gifting. Slash the prices in half. Provide better value and you will not lose players by the thousands and possibly even gain new spending players and entice F2P players to open their wallets again.
    That is smart decision.
    This action effects blue collar players much more than any other segment. The whale alliances don’t really care about pricing. They don’t have to. This effect players willing to spend but not able to afford the pricing that you have set. I hope you take notice of this and make a move before the exodus.

    True story bro.
    I'm sorry, but nothing about that is true. Resource Mercs selling Resources for money is not, I repeat NOT, playing by the rules. It's actually illegal. Regardless of whether they Grinded for Units or not. The game is the digital property of Kabam. It is not for resale.
    Blaming the prices for illegal and illicit behavior is about as irreverent as it comes, and shows anything but a conscience about stealing. People are responsible for their own choice to steal. It's not justified by the price of things. Children learn at a very early age, don't take what doesn't belong to you. For some reason, that doesn't stick.
    That's not only the situation we are talking about. There is also Fraud happening that involves other people. No amount of gripe with the prices will make this behavior justifiable.
    It's flat-out sad that people are so unconscionable that they don't consider other people or the ramifications of their actions. They don't care as long as they make a quick buck and stick it to Kabam. Only, they stick it to themselves and everyone else in the end, and this is the direct result of that.
    It is not Kabam's fault it's come to this. It's people who played the system like a well-oiled flute.
    “Resource Mercs selling Resources for money is not, I repeat NOT, playing by the rules. It's actually illegal.”

    I, for one, am glad that we have a legal expert on the forums, Mr Grounded Wisdom.

    Can you please cite what law is being broken when someone purchases in game items from another’s person for $?

    reasle, trading etc is all against TOS.
    plain and simple.
    only you can purchase for your own account.
  • Archdemon_Archdemon_ Posts: 613 ★★
    300 Units is acceptable ONLY if the badge will be reinstated "soon" and by that I mean no more than 90 days.
    If this turns into a permanent removal (barring gifting events set out by Kabam) then further compensation would be applicable and the only resolution to this in my opinion, an acceptable amount would be a further 550 units minimum to equal that which we all paid for when purchasing the badge.

    I personally do occasionally spend on the game for personal benefit and progression, but the gifting badge bundle was my one and only spend over 9.99.
  • DemonzfyreDemonzfyre Posts: 20,817 ★★★★★
    Maat_Man said:

    Maat_Man said:

    @Demonzfyre if you went to a store and wanted a new toaster but they told you the only way you could have the toaster was by buying a fridge.
    you would buy the fridge and get the free toaster.
    if they then came and took the toaster you would be angry.
    you would want a refund on the fridge cus you only ever bought it for the toaster.
    if there was no toaster you never would have bought the fridge.

    yes technically you bought the fridge.
    but you bought it under the premise of getting a toaster.
    now without the toaster you are angry and what the hell you want the fridge for.

    That's not how any of this works.
    1. I'd find a place to buy just the toaster.
    2. They couldn't take the toaster as its a material object.
    3. Try harder with analogies.

    You bought access to a service with the badge because that's what it is. They have it written in the ToS that those services can be changed at anytime. This is about something bigger than gifting and goes beyond Kabams control with fraud and stolen info.

    We won't know all the details and we can't. Its an investigation. Who knows, maybe they are being instructed to do this until actions can be taken.

    Again, the access to the badge was free. Its a virtual item, not a real item. You got what you paid for which was the units. You got an extea 300 units on top of that.

    Be mad at the criminals, not Kabam.
    lol dude the analagy works just fine.
    an no sorry u tell me as much as you want i bought the units and got a free badge,
    it aint gunna change the fact i only bough them for the badge and therefore want a refund.
    like i said they can even have the 850 units back.

    and i am mad at both.
    i am mad at the criminals for causing thtis,
    and i am mad at kabam for dealing with it the way they have.

    i understand they had to do something, but they could have done something better.

    also did you read the link to my reddit post about how they just change the TOS and do wat they want there as they see fit too.
    First off-
    If there was such a deal for a fridge and toaster, there will be terms and conditions. So if in those it says they can get the toaster any time, then nothing I can do about it. Same deal here with this situation.

    They don't make changes to the Tos whenever they want. They update when needed. If you are saying that, do you have proof with screenshots and a confession from Kabam?
  • Maat_ManMaat_Man Posts: 13
    edited March 2019

    Maat_Man said:

    Maat_Man said:

    @Demonzfyre if you went to a store and wanted a new toaster but they told you the only way you could have the toaster was by buying a fridge.
    you would buy the fridge and get the free toaster.
    if they then came and took the toaster you would be angry.
    you would want a refund on the fridge cus you only ever bought it for the toaster.
    if there was no toaster you never would have bought the fridge.

    yes technically you bought the fridge.
    but you bought it under the premise of getting a toaster.
    now without the toaster you are angry and what the hell you want the fridge for.

    That's not how any of this works.
    1. I'd find a place to buy just the toaster.
    2. They couldn't take the toaster as its a material object.
    3. Try harder with analogies.

    You bought access to a service with the badge because that's what it is. They have it written in the ToS that those services can be changed at anytime. This is about something bigger than gifting and goes beyond Kabams control with fraud and stolen info.

    We won't know all the details and we can't. Its an investigation. Who knows, maybe they are being instructed to do this until actions can be taken.

    Again, the access to the badge was free. Its a virtual item, not a real item. You got what you paid for which was the units. You got an extea 300 units on top of that.

    Be mad at the criminals, not Kabam.
    lol dude the analagy works just fine.
    an no sorry u tell me as much as you want i bought the units and got a free badge,
    it aint gunna change the fact i only bough them for the badge and therefore want a refund.
    like i said they can even have the 850 units back.

    and i am mad at both.
    i am mad at the criminals for causing thtis,
    and i am mad at kabam for dealing with it the way they have.

    i understand they had to do something, but they could have done something better.

    also did you read the link to my reddit post about how they just change the TOS and do wat they want there as they see fit too.
    First off-
    If there was such a deal for a fridge and toaster, there will be terms and conditions. So if in those it says they can get the toaster any time, then nothing I can do about it. Same deal here with this situation.

    They don't make changes to the Tos whenever they want. They update when needed. If you are saying that, do you have proof with screenshots and a confession from Kabam?
    are you going to be happy bout it? NO.
    are you gunna be upset bout it? yes.
    are you gunna want proper compensation? yes.
    just because they can do something doesn't mean it is the right thing to do.
    just because their TOS allows them to do it doesn't mean we have to like it.
    just because they do it doens't mean we cant can't show them we don't like it and complain about it.
    we want them to make the best choices for us, we need to tell them what we want, and we need to tell them when we think they do something wrong

    I have screenshots that show what it was, what it is now, and the fact that they said they would tell us of changes and they never did.
    and the fact that it states last updated on 3rd Jan 2019 but it has clearly been updated since then as what it was on 26th Jan is not what it is now.
    if you read my reddit link you would see all my evidence that highlights that.
This discussion has been closed.