I recently had my main account frozen by Neopets for using an autobuyer when, in fact, I wasn't and never had. I've seen other people claim the same thing has happened to them, but I can only speak for myself. I followed the link that said "If you think your account was frozen in error....." and got nothing but a pre-fab reply. They didn't even read what I had written. I've also seen other people say the same thing about that. As I said in another thread, the slightest look into my account would show that I wasn't autobuying because 1) I took breaks from refreshing to write in my diary, 2) I took breaks from refreshing to write Neomails, 3) the refreshing and the writing never took place simultaneously, and 4) I had very little success at buying no matter how I did it (sad to say but true). But they never looked. So, what does it mean that they were totally wrong? It means that they don't so much detect autobuyers as follow some unknown (to us) ruleset. A set of parameters in their system that some idiot thought up that say if you refresh at this speed for this long and/or have this much success at buying things, then you must be using an autobuyer. And you get auto-frozen. No investigation, no questions asked - hasta nunca. I'd argue that since they're so big on "the rules", if there are things that you can do like manually refreshing a shop at x speed for y time that will get you frozen instantly and without question or recourse, then they should say in the rules what the value of "x" and "y" are. Because they can't argue that it's impossible to achieve x and y without cheating or that they don't end up freezing plenty of innocent people unfairly. Case in point right here. :nope: More importantly though, at least in this forum, is the fact that x and y, and probably z for success, exist at all. I imagine that if you do other extremely "loud" things it wakes them up (transferring tons of neopoints or items in a short period of time, et cetera) and there's human intervention, but as for catching people autobuying, I think it's an almost entirely automated process. Therefore, if you could find the values that will get you frozen, you could always make sure you skim above them. And the Neopets ninnies would be none the wiser because they aren't really watching for anything except an automated red flag that tells them to hit the Freeze key. I think anyone (or several people working together) with a good amount of shell accounts could figure it out pretty quickly through trial and error. I'm not one of those people blessed with many accounts, but if you try it and figure something out, let me know.
You would be able to join the club of the many who have been wrongfully frozen by TnT. I was in a guild a while ago where the leader had been accused and frozen for Autobuying, so he restarted and took screenshots of every purchase he made, at every stage. Eg when the item restocks, the clicking of the box that pops up, the haggle page and the acceptance page. He had an easy 100-200 images on his petpage of his restocks to prove that he wasnt autobuying, and guess what happened? He was frozen again. Unfortunately, unfair freezings is a part of playing neopets. It not only happens to people here, but people that actually do play properly and legitly have it done to them on a regular basis. TnT are starting to get a bit paranoid i think
Dude , so sorry they didnt even give u a proper reply. That is why i cheat on neopets with no regrets, TNT is a bunch of a turds who freezes for no good reason anyways. I think your theory makes abit of sense , could use more testing like u said. Hope u get back on neopets quickly
Can't it be the use of add-ons like addblocker? Maybe they can pick that up pretty easy. It could be even safer to use an ABer than to use add-ons than
I think we've all learned a valuable lesson from this: the only way to restock and get frozen is with an autobuyer. TNT are notorious for automated emails that don't actually address your points. You're lucky you actually got an email at all - most of us don't As for the automated freezing system, I would say it is highly probable. To my knowledge, they automate almost everything - and mods will search records if they have reason to believe (ie. a board has been made about a scammer, or an autobuyer, or an auto-sniper, etc) that the person needs to be frozen.
It's stupid that they give no regards to the players of neopets, there are plenty of hate sites out there. As someone said up there "I feel no regret for cheating because TnT are.....", it just creates more cheaters because they are so faceless. Nobody feels sad for cheating money (real or fake) out of a faceless corporation.
My first message upon being frozen - Message: Listen, I buy from shops legitimately. I am aware of what an autobuyer is but I never used one. First, I switch from writing in my diary and restock. I don't think you can do that with autobuyers. Second, look at my buys - i miss almost all the time. Do you think I'm using the worst autobuyer ever? Account Verification - Neofriends: [edit] Trades or Auctions: i gave [edit] an Energizing Elixir recently for a steal - check my diary and messages and compare against the times i restock, they will clearly show that i'm here at the computer legitimately. not to mention the fact that i'm actually really bad at restocking when it comes down to it. Birthdate: [edit] Other Emails: Neomails: one from Neopets team about a question i had about the rules, ironically enough.... and some others from a girl who wanted a paintbrush i had but i cant remember the username.... Stocks: a whole ton of POWR that I've lost a fortune on Items: more than I can count.... around 840 pot of peanuts should let you know it's me..... really bad investment strategy Equipped Items: none or nothing worth talking about - it's been forever since i even thought about using him in the battledome Created Pets: [edit] Disowned Pets: Warnings: I got a warning recently for asking about running a lottery, which was strange because i never RAN one, I only asked what the rules were regarding it Rare Item Code Prizes: Other Verification Info: name - [edit] seriously i cannot stress enough how obvious it will be to you that i don't use an autobuyer if you just look... i TRIED really hard to become good at buying from shops but the truth is i miss 9 out of every 10 items or more and i miss 99 out of 100 items that are worth 100,000 np or more. if you're good enough to bother looking and unfreeze me, please tell me what made you think i was using an autobuyer so that I don't do that same thing over again. Thank you ============================================================== Hello, Thanks for your inquiry. Your account has been frozen for cheating. This includes using any number of cheat programs, auto-refreshers, and leaving objects on the F5 key, and cheating in any number of our contests (including the Beauty Contest). All are considered cheating which is strictly against the terms and conditions that you agreed upon when you created your account. You can review our terms and policies here: http://www.neopets.com/terms.phtml and here: http://www.neopets.com/chatrules.phtml. Because you have violated our terms and conditions we cannot return your account, Neopets, items or anything else contained within that account. If you have any other questions, don't forget to include the entire text of this e-mail with your username clearly at the top. This will help me better address your situation. ============================================================== My next email to her --- While your email is nice in that it informed me that one can be frozen for using any number of cheat programs, there are two issues I'd like you to consider. The first is that my login clearly states that I was frozen for using an autobuyer, not any of another number of cheating programs, and I know that it has to be painfully obvious to human eyes that I did not in fact use an autobuyer. The second is that, if you want to take it down another route, I didn't use any other cheating program either.... please, I know you can brush me off, disregard me and my account and everything I'm saying without repercussion to yourself - but I'm asking you to seriously look at this for me. I put a lot - TOO much - of my personal time into this account to have it crushed unfairly like this. The fact is, the only thing I can possibly think of that I did that might even slightly resemble an autobuyer's behavior was that I refreshed certain shops too quickly. As I wrote in my diary at the time, I used to refresh in 9 different shops. I use Firefox and would switch from one tab to the next until I went through all nine and then would stop on one for about 10 seconds and then go through them all again. I didn't do too badly, but at least four of the shops I chose almost never restocked, so I decided to cut it down to the best five recently. I tended to miss almost all nice high-value items I went after, so I figured that it probably was because I was only hitting a shop between once every 11 to 19 seconds or so and this would help some. Well, to a certain extent it did - I saw more high-value items but had no more success at actually purchasing them. So I figured what the hell - go for the gusto - cut it back to three shops, the magic shop, stamp shop, and battle magic shop - and refresh each after about a two second pause. That would mean I saw each shop once every 6 or 7 seconds and should have a good chance at getting a good item. That's not unfair, is it? I deserve just as much a chance at a million neopoint stamp as the next guy, do I not? If I wanted to refresh one single shop over and over again, I don't understand why even that would be a crime.... as I said before, it must be obvious to you that I was at the computer and not eating dinner while an autobuyer ran. So no matter how fast I refresh a shop manually, I still have to make the purchase through the normal means like everyone else and I will get restock banned after a certain amount of time whether I've acutally bought anything or not, which levels the playing field without anyone's intervention. As frustrating as buying legitimately is, imagine how much more frustrating it is to be the guy who plays fair and then getting banned and accused of being a cheater on top of it. Please take a serious look at my account; it will bear out everything I've said. Assuming that you're taking the time to consider what I'm writing you and seriously looking into it, I have one other question for you -- To buy items out of a shop on Neopets, rare items, a person must refresh the shop at just the right time when the item restocks and then complete all the requirements for the purchase really fast. It seems to me that the only way to give yourself a decent chance at success is to refresh the shop frequently. It also seems to me that this is the reason that the restock ban is in effect - so that a person can refresh in one shop repeatedly if they choose to but they cannot do it all day long and hoard everything that restocks - everyone gets a chance. I guess what I'm saying is, if switching between three Firefox tabs and refreshing a shop about once every six seconds makes you guys think that someone is "Autobuying", despite all the overwhelming evidence to the contrary (i.e. I was rarely successful at buying any items, I took long breaks in between refreshing to send neomails and write in my diary, et cetera), then what is a person to do, huh? I mean, why isn't there a rule that says "If you refresh a shop faster than once every seven seconds, we will most likely assume you are using an 'auto buyer' and freeze you." Then at least people would have an idea of what you were looking for instead of getting blindsided like I was here. Personally, I'd think if someone wanted to restock in just the stamp shop and refreshed every 2 seconds, that would be okay as long as it was obvious this person was at their computer (like me). You'd incur a quick restock ban but that would be your choice of risk vs. reward. I guess that isn't how you all see it but if there IS a limit on how fast you can refresh shops before you get this kind of unwanted attention, then it should be written in stone so people know. Because frankly, I still don't know. If you give me my account back, I still won't know what is safe to do and what isn't... Every seven seconds? Every eight seconds? Where is the line drawn? I'm not being sarcastic here - I really want to know. Thanks for your time. =============================================================== And the reply I got just now today -- Hello, Thanks for your e-mail. While we understand the importance of your account, we are required to use the evidence that we have in our records. Based on this evidence, we are unable to return this account to you. It is your responsibility to make sure your account stays safe. Never give out your passwords or personal information, and use common sense when browsing the internet. If you are using a public access computer, such as in your school or library, please remember to always logout of your account. We are sorry, but we will not return this account. If you have any other questions, don't forget to include the entire text of this e-mail with your username clearly at the top. This will help me better address your situation. ============================================================== Based on this turn of events, I guess I will write to the Better Business Bureau. If I don't get my account back that way, then I guess I'll have to fully embrace cheating the hell out of their website. By the way, this thread wasn't originally intended as a bitch-fest about TNT. I wanted to bring awareness to the fact that through trial-and-error, it is probably possible to figure out exactly what is safe in restocking and will always be safe. Oh and by the way, I have a question...... when TNT emailed me, they always included my original message but the message was weirdly changed with symbols in the place of apostrophes and commas and so forth. Does that mean anything?
It's nice when you write a long, thoughtful email and get absolute crap back. It's makes your day great. That's why I tell everyone who's like 'I'm going to mail TNT about this' to write a reply to their message; a mail-merge response that doesn't address any of their points and just leaves them pissed off. Then I tell them to read that. Same outcome, really. As for cheating, go for it! Nothing to lose, everything to gain
Seriously, when even though playing by the rules get shat on, it makes me ask 'why ever even bother going legit?' I felt so freaking annoyed and betrayed when I actually tried to be good and got spanked. Its like your the only kid being nice in class and the teacher still chews your ass out for no reason. I say, FIGHT THE POWER! Good to see you back Dreamlorde
This would also be very helpful in your situation. Complain about poor customer service to those who care.. and you'll probably get your account back too
Thanks Good to hear from you too, Dennis... I was wondering where you were hiding out. I'm with you 100% - Fight the power for sure. Don Quixote style. Brunnen-G style, even. I think I'm going to conclusively prove that Neopets sends automated email responses to freeze inquiries by writing them an email that makes no sense whatsoever. Just send them a reprint of Macbeth's "tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow" soliloquy, and see if I still get back "Thank you for your inquiry. You were frozen for cheating." Seriously, I'm going to do this. I will give an update on this mission. I filed a complaint with the BBB too. Fight the man.
Sorry for their stuck up money making attitudes. I haven't played in ages (used to when I was younger but I was chain-iced and I couldn't even get a reason why x_x), but I've found some extra time in life and I don't care about any illegit ways to earn money anymore. Neopets used to be fun, but they've ruined it.
The tnt actually use bots to track autobuyers as well as moderators. There are other things to consider when you think of being frozen for autobuying.. >Login and restocking.. if you keep logining in and out and restock this imitates the behaviour of an auto buyer. >Have you any add-ons or Greasemonkey scripts? word on the vine is that they can detect somthing "java" based with auto buyers, so if you have a script running that too may imitate an autobuyer. There are also things like you browser needing updating or problems with your headers ( clutching at straws with this one.)
I wrote to the Better Business Bureau and, among other things, I said that I don't have a problem with Neopets having an automated system in place that looks for autobuyer-like behaviors and send up a flag but I DAMN sure have a problem with them making the entire process of freezing someone's account from initial detection to post-freeze email responses automated. That is the definition of retarded. It's too serious to not have a human being look into it, whether they think it's a waste of their time or not.
I completely agree. I mean getting your account iced is a rather serious event. Especially if you're playing legit, and DON'T do anything wrong. I know if I got mine iced, and they did absolutely nothing to try and help me or even talk to me personally I would be furious and feel like the past 7yrs was useless. I think they seriously need to rethink the customer service aspect of their entire operation. It's not like Viacom doesn't have the resources to pay some cheap labour to sit there and actually look at accounts..
If you actually got your account frozen unfairly, try using that BBB guide and getting your account back that way. They will go in-depth to why you were frozen if they actually had a reason, if they didn't, then they will unfreeze your account. Oh, and honestly, I don't believe almost anyone when they said they did absolutely nothing and got frozen. I hear people say that all of the time, and yet, a couple months later, they admit to cheating on past accounts, but not their new one... Good idea about the times though. It may be something to do with how long you're on the haggle page and such as well. If someones is on there for 1/10th of a second, and they get the item, I think it's obvious enough they abed, or did something that involved cheating.
I do know some people who have legitamately gotten frozen for no reason at all though. Like I know these people in real life and know they wouldn't lie to me about it, but they still got frozen. One of my friends got frozen for making nps on a side account... he never had a side account. Also I know some people are are just insanely fast at the haggle page with their number bad. Especially if you're doing the 2 number combination ( e.g. 23232 or 45454 ). I don't know how fast autobuyer are though. I've never actually used one..