Dancer Archive
Thread: Cheating Bank Tips
Here's an idea I think every entertainer should take advantage of:
Under ctrl+O select the 'Chat Color' tab to have the chat client highlight certain word in hot pink whenever they occur. For me the words 'Fae' (the short version of my name), 'tips,' and 'heals' always show up in bright pink so that it's very hard for me to miss it among all the chat spam.
You can also set custom color for system messages. I've set all my system messages ('You have recieved 58 points of Entertainment Healing experience') to a medium gray so that it's easier to ignore these and still see the important spacial chat.
This way you'll usually know who tips you and when. And even if you miss it - it's pretty easy to scroll up and find it again.
Faellyn wrote:
This way you'll usually know who tips you and when. And even if you miss it - it's pretty easy to scroll up and find it again.
Which is great advice in general, but it doesn't stop fake tips.
I was dancing once and saw a tip of 10k. It highlighted as purple, as my settings allow.
I was about to thank him when I looked up at the screen and saw the emote bubble. Another entertainer was having fun and typed :tips you 10000 credits.
Or whatever the actual text is. He hit is square on.
The chat bubble is a dead giveaway, but you cannot tell the difference between emote and real commands in Spatial (to my knowledge, anyway). Imagine if he was in another room where the bubble is not visible. Heck, just being behind you. Imagine this scenario:
Patron: Can you buff me? I'll pay 15k.
Dancer: Sure thing. <dances>
Patron: Sweet <positions self to spoof tipping without being caught>
Dancer: Thank you.
And it's not just the money. It also makes the entertainer look bad for falling for such a trick.
So I can see how bank tips can be a hassle. It's enough of a hassle with emote tips.
How to spot a fake bank tip
When the e-mail arrives there's a "sender" name in the interface. Don't focus on the name in the e-mail (blah blah has sent xxx credits to you) but look at the sender name.
REAL tips will always have first and last names (if any) and proper capitalization because they are from the system
FAKE tips will have the first name only, in all lower case, as with any message sent by a player...
But, you say, some players have only a first name in lower case - how can I tell the difference?
Well you probably can't (although if the name IN the message doesn't match the sender name exactly - well DUH, it's a fakey). But be suspicious of any bank tip that appers with the sender name in all lower case, no last name.
Bank Tip spoofing is something that happens too often. You can never sort it out 100%, because while the real one stays the same, if you send a normal mail your "sender" tag will vary in capitalization.
The emoting tip is easy to spot because it also does not appear in the system messages. I moved all my system messages from the spatial, so if a tip apears in spatial, it's a fake.
I also colored my name in red since release. My entertainer is named Soo Lin. If anyone would write precise and correct english, that would be much better than being notified to messages like
"That's soooo lame"
"Soooo, what are you up to mate ?"
But then, if I had named my character Xprhkalwiq It would be a little bit more difficult to /tell me 
No, this is a problem. Even the tailors and other crafters are experiencing these, and it's a bit more hurtful to them.
But I am usually swamped on my server for buffs, so for me to have to deal with 6 people at once: Explain that there is a line or they'll have to disband and join my group, then explain the whole "How a buff works" thing when my timer already does that enough, and then pay for the buffs/ foodto keep my action from dying... usually I wouldn't mind, but I do go through a lot of trouble on my server and I also allow my patrons to tip what they see fit, which I inform them in a /tell if they ask how much.
USUALLY no one does me wrong. Heck, some people tip nothing and leave. That doesn't bother me. What bothers me is the veiled attempt to make me look like a fool. NOW this person leaves thinking "Heh heh I'm so very cool. I totally pulled one over on that stupid dancer."
By not curbing bad behavior we are fostering it. I, for one, am not docile and I would rather be ignored than mocked, thank you anyway. People who do this and are left alone leave thinking "That's cool" and do it to someone else.
I don't want to waste my time on someone who does not respect me.
I wasn't asking for a black listing, neither was the CSR (actually, my whole list of 2 has been erased purposfully) Just that it be made aware.
Tailors put a lot of effort into their crafting, and I put a lot of effort into my dancing. The talors lose items, I lose respect. That may not be a big thing to everyone else but it is to me.
Like I said, it's not the credits that are my issue.
nvoigt wrote:
I moved all my system messages from the spatial, so if a tip apears in spatial, it's a fake.
Ok, I'm confused about why this is such a big deal. I've never gone by emails to check tips, my email likes to crash me if I open it while dancing anyway. >< I use a system message window, pulled out from chat so it's always up, I keep my on screen sysem messages up with a long delay, bank tips, regular tips, heals are all colored with different colors by sentence option... afaik, I've never been duped.
Is there something I'm missing with this method? I mean, they can't fake a system message, right? Even when I was still getting xp, I had dance and eh xp each in different colors... if it's scrolling by too fast, I just fully lengthen my system message window... even if I'm burning action for a newbie medic, I've always been able to catch them in time before they are gone. Why is this not a solution? o.o