Objective
This is a guide to getting farmers banned. It is intended for people who don't know know how to use petitions as well as those unsure of the most effective means of getting bans to stick. It is specific to the professional farmers who work for the RMT companies (the ones selling game gold for real world money). This guide does not cover spammers.
While it's impossible to get rid of farmers entirely, every account you get banned costs them money. They have to buy new accounts and they lose anything they had on those toons for sale or storage. They also have to take time to level up new farming toons. So make them pay for being pests.
The Basics- You have to petition to get results. For anyone with a computer that doesn't crash out using the in-game browser, this isn't even close to being a hassle. If you don't want to do this, then don't complain about the farmers.
- Invest at least a little effort in making sure the people you're petitioning are farmers. Use the Field Guide if you're not sure how to tell them apart from the regular players who just need a bit of cash. It also doesn't hurt to check the EQ2 Players "quick search." You can sometimes find info there to back up your claim (such as connections to a known farming guild or evidence of playing 24/7).
- Do not petition people as farmers who are just being jerks. Go ahead and petition them for being jerks if they're breaking the rules.
Before You Petition
Make sure to get all the names of the people you're petitioning. This can be hard when they're running around, but accurate names are a must. Enter them into your friends or ignore lists to make sure you got the name right. Also, you can send in screenshots with a petition, so if you catch them botting or exploiting, get a pic of it.
Starting a Petition
Simply type /petition and click the In-Game Support tab. (You might have to confirm your email, but that shouldn't take long.) Under EverQuest II in the Product category, pick an expansion. (Doesn't really matter which.) Then under Category, choose
Community Standards. In the menu that pops up below it, choose
Zone Disruption. (This is what I use and a GM confirmed it was the most appropriate category for farmers.) Summarize your report in the subject line. (See below for examples.)
What to Report
Keep in mind that farming itself is not a violation of the EULA, nor is multi-boxing. Do not petition people for either of these alone. What you can petition them for are:
monopolizing content, kill-stealing, suspected botting, exploiting, training, profanity, and suspected account sharing.
- monopolizing content – Most of the multi-boxer types and some of the solo ones do this. They like to round up a bunch of mobs at once and nuke them down. If they're doing this, make sure to point out that the mobs they're killing are needed for quests and the farmers are making it hard to finish quests. You don't even need to say that it's impacting you directly, but if it is, then it helps to mention that. (You can also get the farmers that camp named mobs this way, though they will often try to "join" you so you don't report them.)
- kill-stealing – If farmers are taking the names or rare spawns that you need or worked to get, then get them in trouble for it. If you were there first or did the work to spawn something and a gaggle of randomly named dimwits shows up and swipes it, it's good grounds for getting them checked out. Just explain the situation briefly.
- suspected botting – The majority of multi-boxer farmers also are botters. Some of them are incredibly obvious about it, but even if you know for sure they're botting, just say you know they're multi-boxing and you know that's allowed, but you suspect they're also botting. If you see actual signs, such as all the toons perpetually casting the same spell over and over again or all four toons casting while running, specifically cite that. Otherwise, be vague. Harvester farmers are also often botted. Mention that they are moving about in a mechanical fashion and going directly to nodes they have no line of sight on.
- exploiting – Farmers like to use geometric exploits to farm named creatures. If you see them doing it, cite the mob they were fighting, the location and describe the exploit.
- training – Lots of farmers will try to train you if you move in on their territory, especially if you manage to pull the mob they wanted before they get it. Sometimes they do it by accident just by their method of pulling masses of mobs at once. Either way, get them in trouble for it.
- profanity – You can sometimes get them to cuss you out without incriminating yourself. If you link them the loot you just got from the named they wanted or make rude gestures, they might respond with something that violates the EULA. Do not use this if you were cussing at them yourself, though. You can even report them for telling you "cao ni ma." This won't result in a permanent ban alone, but works nicely to damn them further.
- suspected account sharing – If you check EQ2Players, you can see when a toon was created and how long they've been played since then. I often stumble across cases where multi-boxed toons will have been played for about 22 hours out of 24 since they were created weeks earlier. Say you suspect they are sharing accounts which is against the EULA. This alone probably won't result in a ban, but it makes them look incredibly bad.
How to Talk to CS
Be polite! Sure, you're going to get a form letter back, but that's how it works. Also, be clear! Try not to ramble. Say where the farmers are, what their names are, what they're doing to bother you and/or what causes you to think they're breaking the rules. Be as specific as you can. Mention whether you've seen these specific farmers doing the same thing in the past. Avoid unnecessary and irrelevant speculation, such as what you think they will do later or where the player behind the toon comes from. If you are petitioning multiple sets of farmers in the same petition, be clear on who was doing what.
Examples
Here are some examples of successful petitions of my own. (Please note the very fast response times in these!)
Afterwards
If you've filled out the petition correctly, you'll get a confirmation number. You don't need to write it down, but do make sure you get this before closing the window! If not, go back and fill in whatever you missed. (Most common omissions are the name of the expansion and a subject for the petition.)
You can check the status of your petition or add to it by going to the Service History tab and clicking Questions. You can also add another set of farmers to an existing petition if SOE is to slow to close out the outstanding petition before you find more.
After the petition is resolved, you can check the
EQ2Players site to make sure the person you petitioned no longer plays. The GMs can't tell you that they banned the farmers, but it's pretty obvious when they never log in again.
Extra Tip
I like to keep track of my victims by listing them on friends list and putting the petition number in notes. This lets me go back and look at which petition worked and which didn't.
Guide to Getting Farmers Banned
