WTB scammer tears: The end of freeform contract scams in EVE Online
by James Egan 
Jun 30th 2009 at 9:00AM
Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Game mechanics, Opinion
The sci-fi game EVE Online changed yesterday, in a rather subtle way. The developers eliminated one of the principal tools used by players to scam their unsuspecting marks: "freeform" contracts. The change was snuck in as single green-texted bullet point in the updated patch notes:
"Freeform contracts can no longer be created. This is due to griefing problems. You will still be able to view your completed freeform contracts for now but in an upcoming expansion older freeform contracts will be removed as well."
[EVE has a contract system which players use to conduct business transactions between different parties for items or services. They're generally used for legitimate purposes like auctions and item exchanges, but the more flexible "freeform" contracts could be structured so that a seller received in-game cash for items never actually given to the buyer.]
This otherwise unannounced elimination of the feature is perhaps a fitting demise for freeform scams. Those who haven't played EVE Online may be wondering why this is significant, if you scam another player you simply get banned, right? Not in EVE... It's one of the few MMOs out there where all manner of player villainy is permitted by the developer CCP Games, provided it happens in-game.
Every day players are warp scrambled and cut down by the guns of pirate ships, drug cartels smuggle their product into trade hubs, and players have even targeted powerful rivals for assassinations and heists. So yes, even scamming other players (in-game, for EVE's currency 'ISK') is allowed, and some players have found it to be quite profitable.
These are only a few examples of the criminal undertakings possible in the game, and most require some degree of talent and acumen. This should apply to scams and cons as well. However, for every true con artist player like Miz Cenuij there's a hundred who simply scam their fellow players with the game's contract system -- a misplaced decimal here, an intentionally misnamed item there. Typo scams are a dime a dozen and, while irritating, are easily avoidable. In EVE, they're essentially spam you see in the local chat channel of any major trade hub.
The less obvious scams have been those pulled off via freeform contracts, which used a flexible system that scammers could turn to their advantage. They'd typically rope someone and offer to provide what that individual is looking to buy, but in the end the scammer would profit to the tune of millions of ISK (or more), while the victim spent their cash on hot air. Freeforms may have been used legitimately by some players, but it was being utterly abused by most, almost to the point where the only real reason to use a freeform was to scam.
An EVE without freeform contracts might force lazy swindlers to be a bit more clever if they're going to succeed; it raises the bar a bit. While no one likes to get scammed, the fact is that for EVE's setting of New Eden to remain that gritty place the creators envisioned, a sense of risk should pervade the game, and not be confined to low security space or the lawless expanses of 0.0. In this writer's view, CCP Games made the right move by eliminating freeform contracts, but hopes they'll always keep an element of risk tied into EVE Online's gameplay.
[For the record, most players in EVE do NOT engage in scams, but enough do that you've got to stay sharp. Fly safe!]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
ComradeDomovoi said on 10:51AM 6-30-2009
Ordinarily, one would say something like, oh good griefers can't do mean things anymore. But, this is EVE. Even though I stopped playing again (I have an on and off thing with EVE), I just really don't like this. Sure it was a cheap and untalented way to scam someone. But dammit, THIS IS EVE. I don't know, I'm not being one of those old codgers who misses "the good old days" or whatever, but I'm afraid this sets a precedent for more stuff to get taken out, which is a slippery slope, especially in EVE.
The fact is, in EVE this is where the true heart of the game lies. You don't bitch at yourself for wiping on a hard boss, or missing out on a rare spawn, your tests are like these, seeing if you are smart enough to avoid scams, seeing how good you are at interacting with people and understanding the politics of the EVE galaxy. The social interactions that are possible in a game like EVE really make the game, and this isn't like taking out an "exploit", this is like taking out a feature of the game.
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InfamousBrad said on 2:32PM 6-30-2009
As an EVE non-player, I've read the article twice now, and I still don't have any understanding of what the difference is between a "freeform" contract and any other contract or why "freeform" contracts are easier to scam people with. Some clarification, please?
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SgtBaker said on 2:51PM 6-30-2009
Instead of duplicating the information, you can find information about all the different contract types here:
http://wiki.eveonline.com/wiki/Contracts#Contract_types
Free form contract is, well, free, you can put anything you want into it. One legitimate example for free-form contract could be hiring a Mercenary corp to make someones life very miserable.
Also, beacuse of the freedom, most freeform contracts just end up being scams, since there is no game mechanic saying when a freeform contract has been successfully completed (all the other contract forms have this). So it's sort of a "i-give-you-my-word" contract. And yeah, you shouldn't trust anyones word in EVE :-)
James Egan said on 2:58PM 6-30-2009
Sure InfamousBrad,
A regular contract in EVE is generally used for legitimate purposes in the game, and can be issued by individuals or player corporations. They're used for auctions, item exchanges, courier contracts, and even loans. Some of the rarer items (ships, modules, etc.) in EVE cannot be sold on the open market and are only sold via the game's contract system.
They're generally 'safe' to accept in that you are getting what you're offered. But this still means a player needs to look closely at the amount the contract issuer is asking for a given item/items. Decimal place tricks were, probably still are, common, adding an extra zero in there and ripping someone off that way. A recent patch added text to the contract that will write out the amount in words, so you're more likely to notice the contract issuer is requesting 8 billion ISK for something you want to pay 800 million ISK for. Still, people click 'Accept' without reading. Also, it's possible for people to rename a basic item as a higher-end item, but by clicking "show info" you can easily see if a person is trying to scam you.
Now *freeform contracts* were a bit different, in that it was a more flexible way to put together a contract. It was possible for the issuer to structure the agreement so that they (as an issuer) receive your money, but you (the buyer) receive nothing. Originally, there was no warning box about this. People would click 'Accept' and then get enraged to find they were tricked, having paid their ISK for something they never received.
CCP eventually added a text box that would pop up to warn players about this, before accepting. Still, people must have been sending a wave of "exploit" or "griefing" petitions to EVE's customer service as the removal of an entire channel for scams is pretty significant. However, some players are concerned that an action from the devs like this is another step towards removing risk from the game.
This link on the EVE wiki has more info about how contracts work in EVE Online, and mentions a few of the tricks players can employ with the feature:
http://wiki.eveonline.com/wiki/Contracts_guide
Hope that helps.
James
Graill said on 4:36PM 6-30-2009
Here is an example; I place a piece of paper on the table in front of you promising to give you 10,000 dollars if you buy my 5,000 dollar contract. Very simple explanation but that explains it. Do the same with equipment, goods, etc, and never finish the deal, i take your goods or isk, instance grief and you become the newest patsy in EVE.
The hilarity is that most of the loopholes and problems in EVE are because of the devs, how do you fix something that doesnt need to be fixed in dev eyes? Simply say its an allowable part of the game, one reason the CCP devs are the way there are, lazy and non caring, the less work you do, the more profit you make, the drunker you can get at parties. This has happened from day one.
So funny to see the really small stuff getting addressed now and even funnier to have people continue to use the tagline..."But Its EVE" really pathetic.
A game that continues to have no consequence will slowly eat itself alive like a cancer. No consequence carebear pvp, real life loopholes in the game for griefing, weapons and flight physics that need fixing, so many large problems that need fixed and they perform these small fixes.
Malachi said on 5:29PM 6-30-2009
Can't help but to agree with ComradeDomovoi. While I do agree some changes aimed at making eve a wee bit friendlier are most welcome (skill queue), none of them were really necessary back then, and while reducing the overall complexity of the game helps bring more people in, it certainly dumbs down the game a bit.
There's been a lot of movements in this direction in latest big expansions; markets now have a lot more filters and settings one can adjust to avoid pitfalls, contracts can be searched by type. Matter of fact, the whole contract inception (as opposed to previous "escrow" system) made the scamming deal a lot more difficult to pull and player-to-player deals much more transparent.
Now, good changes are the ones that put control in the hands of players. New filters, better browsing mechanisms, it's all good; but outright stripping the game of one of its possibilities, just make it lose some of it luster. EvE is, and should remain a gritty, cold, harsh, hardcore place.
I don't play the scamming trade (nor been a victim of it) myself, but I'm really disappointed by this move. Specially because other, more abusive or flawed game mechanics (such as the one responsible for Band of Brothers demise, and more recently, aggravated Red Alliance's internal unrest) are STILL around. If metagaming is to be addressed, one should first look into those.
EvE players will adapt, notwithstanding, scammers including. I just hope this move doesn't make all those plying the trade switch from freeform contracts to EVEN more Jita yelling in order to get a good deal - and it's gonna happen, mind you.
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Verit said on 5:30PM 6-30-2009
It makes some sense - in real life (tm) you can't write a contract legally without providing the terms up front, and even then there is legal leeway if the terms are deliberately misleading.
CCP is in the business if making money, and no matter how much you like EvE Online the way it is, I'm sure this change was prompted by a good number of people leaving the game over it or something. After all if the griefers run out of people to grief - what then?
Also I understand that these kinds of contracts were being used by RMT people as well - which might be the real reason it was banned from the game.
I think we'll see more changes as well as more companies get into the space simulator mmo market since as it stands they pretty much have no competition.
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ian.75 said on 7:18AM 7-01-2009
Eve is a harsh place. It is meant to be. It is makes you stronger. It is a capitalist world with almost no regulation; and unrestricted capitalism is not nice or cuddly. Many people complain about government regulation, but then complain when bad things are allowed to happen.
I think it is a shame that they have closed off this method of scamming. I never did it myself, but it is good to have the freedom to choose your moral path.
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