Set a man on fire, and he’ll be warm the rest of his life.
– Unknown Fire Elementalist
Despite the notice at the bottom of e-mails saying that they are not sent by a member of the Guild Wars 2 team, people are still falling for the latest phishing scam every day.
How about a nice HUGE, JUMBO HEADER at the very top that says “Mail from another Player”. “Mail from the Guild Wars 2 Team”. “Mail from an NPC”. It could even be color coded.
The point is, ashamedly few people take the time to actually comprehend what they read these days, even when it is seemingly something serious. Most people breeze through the text and take in only a few words before they feel they have the gist. They rarely get to the end.
So make it ABSOLUTELY CLEAR AT THE VERY BEGINNING who is sending the mail. Not in fine print at the bottom.
P.S. It would also be smart to give us a button that actually says “Report” instead of that stooopid exclamation mark icon. Not many people these days stop to comprehend what they’re reading, but even fewer people can comprehend words when they aren’t even there.
I get your point and agree abut the exclamation mark icon should read “report”. However, even with your header people would still get confused. Maybe it should read, “This Mail Is Not From Guild Wars 2 Staff.”
If you read most of the forum posts on the matter, you’ll notice that it can hardly be helped. While most people read the warning at the bottom, they just don’t understand it. It usually goes like:
“Hey guys, I got an in-game mail that said I won 4 iPods and I have to go on some random website to claim my prize. I know it said at the bottom that it’s from another player, but I just want to make sure it’s fake.”
I have no idea what it will take, but I doubt a header would be enough, no matter how obvious.
It’s the best I can come up with until such time as computers can be programmed to punch people in the face with a boxing glove or hit them over the head with a brick. Sad to say, but some people just need “New Player Experience” mail.
This goes along the same lines, but every time there’s a new patch you’ll see in chat: “Where am I supposed to go?” or words to that effect.
Despite the in-game mail macro-video that shows you where to go, the big orange arrows painted on the map, the bright green star on the map, and even the micro-green arrows that point the way. Every time. A host of players always ask, “Where is it?”
So, honestly and from my cynical point of view, I think that nothing will stop certain players from getting tricked no matter how many warnings are put out there.
But, if it helps, I’m all for it.
(edited by Ardenwolfe.8590)
It’s the best I can come up with until such time as computers can be programmed to punch people in the face with a boxing glove or hit them over the head with a brick. Sad to say, but some people just need “New Player Experience” mail.
As much as I hate to say it, people that fall for such things even when there are warnings maybe get their punch in the face with a boxing glove when their accounts get stolen. It certainly doesn’t help GW2 at all when players get hacked, but sometimes people need to learn lessons the hard way.
Colin Johanson could show up a each player’s front door dressed in a pink quaggan suit to deliver a singing/tap-dancing telegram about not trusting messages that are marked as being from other players. There would still be some people who would say “but this one says ‘ArenaNet’ in the subject… and it says I won 5,000 gems. Seems legit.”
No matter how many warnings you put in an E-mail, no matter how many red flags there would still be people caught. Face it, there is just no cure for stupid. I know it is a harsh way to put it but if people fall for things such as “5000 free gems” in-game how many of those people have fallen for “I am a Prince and must smuggle money out of my country. I will split with you….etc.”. Then again it may not be stupidity but greed that ensnares them.
You mean like this…note the pic
It’s a nice though OP but I agree with others, if people post saying they got an email and it says it’s from another player and not from ANet and they are STILL asking if it’s from ANet and whether or not it’s legit, then I don’t think the message being at a different spot is going to make a difference.
Some people, idk, they are….. well anyway. Easily excited maybe and not overly discerning, or maybe young and inexperienced.
(edited by Astral Projections.7320)
As someone else pointed out in a different thread, the Anet logo will appear in the header if it’s from Anet.
https://dviw3bl0enbyw.cloudfront.net/uploads/forum_attachment/file/176799/gw218.jpg
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Alert-In-Game-Mail-Scams/first#post4658742
Seriously, fake emails are obvious. Either you comprehend what you’re reading or you don’t. More headers and flags saying it’s not from Anet won’t help.
The only way to stop some people believing in fake mails, is to disable the mail function for players entirely.
i thought the initial message was too much… Guess it does free ANet from being sued or something though.
I love being the person to say this but the dumb people who get scammed by the people claiming to be anet staff and clearly arent kind of deserve it for being so clueless.
At best it would only further reduce the problem by some indeterminate amount. Nothing of this nature would be able to completely eradicate the issue, so beyond what they’ve already done, there really doesn’t seem to be much point.
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