Suspicious "disciple"

Haruto Rat

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fode et fuge
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Cunning Haruto Rat
Note to mods: this thread is related to Security, Mentors and Disciples, quite certainly Space and probably something else, too. I'm just not sure where it would belong.

Episode 0
You're standing at a storage, refiner in your hand, tallying up your mining run, when a guy in undies approaches you and whispers "can you be my mentor?". Pretty innocent, isn't it? Only if you don't remember...

Episode 1
The same guy approached you ~five months ago on a different planet, also when standing at a storage. With the old chat system, you couldn't PM just anyone, and it was an outright discipleship request, which was promptly declined. No conversation happened before or after that.

Episode 2
The guy in question has had at least one killing spree HoF. (I'm not sure whether these are tracked anywhere, noticed it just because of Episode 1)

Episode 3
Right after someone (not me) got a tier HoF, the guy in question PMed them (new chat system was already in place) asking "hey, have you got Marber Something for sale?". I don't quite remember if he asked for Bravo or Foxtrot, but either way it made little sense as the tier HoF was on a (L) mining finder. The PM was ignored, and no further activity ensued.

Episode 0 (continued)
...so I just replied "no.", and the guy left me alone. I might be paranoid at times, but all this thing is as fishy as it can get.

Additional data
The guy was hanging around Minopolis today, his agility is 35. His name is all caps, 6,5,5 letters.

Questions
  • Does this ring familiar to you?
  • Does anyone involved in space know a guy fitting the pattern? (a planetside killing spree with 35 agi seems quite unlikely, doesn't it?)
  • And finally, am I really paranoid? :laugh:
 
Many people I thought were "new" players are in fact not. I had many "disciple" requests in the beginning of restarting crafting that turned out to be competing crafters looking to disrupt sales/profitability via alternate characters.

For that experience alone, I hold suspicion for all disciples, and no longer actively look for them.
 
A free account doesn't need to prove that he's an adult!
I faced weird behaviors from time to time,
probably from children or at least "very...very young" ppl :wise:
keep that in mind
 
  • Does anyone involved in space know a guy fitting the pattern? (a planetside killing spree with 35 agi seems quite unlikely, doesn't it?)

why not? you can chip in to any level, but agility takes time.
 
don't necessarily need skill for a spree at noob rig but I wonder do space spree's actually count because I see pirate names having them?
 
why not? you can chip in to any level, but agility takes time.

Not saying 'impossible', just 'unlikely'. Until 40 it rises so fast that one needs to know exactly where to go and what to do from the start - which makes the whole thing even more suspicious.
 
I quit accepting disciples has the majority where alts looking for free stuff, and after they got a few items they would never talk to you again, and get a new mentor.

One of the ways I found to discover if they are really new to game is ask things.
One of the guys 1st day in game, he knew what a TP chip was, he knew DPS, he knew what sweating was, etc.
1st day in game I didnt even know armor existed or what a Mod Merc was
 
Brand new avatars can know about the game for a number of reasons... lots of times it's old timers who chipped out years ago or let their avatar expire or can't log in to their old account for whatever reason. It's not always nefarious reasons but I agree, it's definitely a red flag.
 
Brand new avatars can know about the game for a number of reasons... lots of times it's old timers who chipped out years ago or let their avatar expire .

I think the avatar expiry is a myth...
I created my avatar in 2007 but back then I didnt like the game ( my computer was shit) so I left and only came back in 2011.
So I didnt log for 4 years and it was still active.

But what I meant was a brand new avatar on his 1st day on the game ( so he said) that never plaid this game before!
 
I study about the game for about 2 months, before I decide to make an account :silly2:
So, knowledge about the game mechanics, doesn't mean is anything suspicious to me
 
I study about the game for about 2 months, before I decide to make an account :silly2:

Yes cause everyone studies a game for 2 months before making a account!

Either way, im not saying that all disciples are alts or someone just looking for free stuff.
Just that I had some bad experiences with that!
 
Yes cause everyone studies a game for 2 months before making a account!

Either way, im not saying that all disciples are alts or someone just looking for free stuff.
Just that I had some bad experiences with that!
I did for 3 years! :laugh:

I agree that most are not alts looking for free stuff! :beerchug:
 
I think the avatar expiry is a myth...
I created my avatar in 2007 but back then I didnt like the game ( my computer was shit) so I left and only came back in 2011.
So I didnt log for 4 years and it was still active.

But what I meant was a brand new avatar on his 1st day on the game ( so he said) that never plaid this game before!

I can confirm that it's not a myth. I had a avatar back in -04 or -05 and it was not to be found when I wanted to start playing again a few years ago.. Sent a support case and I was just told that there was a expiration period of XXX months/days/years and that none of the e-mail addresses I supplied had an account registered so I had to make a new one. I don't remember login or anything so I just gave them all the e-mails I've ever had so they could search for it :p
 
I can confirm that it's not a myth. I had a avatar back in -04 or -05 and it was not to be found when I wanted to start playing again a few years ago.. Sent a support case and I was just told that there was a expiration period of XXX months/days/years and that none of the e-mail addresses I supplied had an account registered so I had to make a new one. I don't remember login or anything so I just gave them all the e-mails I've ever had so they could search for it :p

With mine the only thing I didnt remember was the pass ( i didnt have a gold card)
4 years later I still had the avatar and still needed to finish given her the "big boobs" and looks.
Maybe its because I never finished the avatar creation process
 
I don't get it.

What would you lose if he becomes your disciple?
Nobody's an angel. Nobody's a devil either.
OK, suppose he's an alt. Suppose u find that out, so u kick the disciple, done.
Nothing's lost, u get one more experience and maybe u learn something from it.


My last disciple is like lvl 60, played the game much longer than me. He really likes to mess with all kinds of armors and now wants that green Ark beginner armor, for free. Why not.
 
well some mentors are quite generous with items and things to disciples, I always give them weapon, let them mine with my gear and probes then give me back all at end, same with crafting, etc etc... But often times they will dissapear after a bit and never log back in which makes me wary of giving out gear now :(
 
well some mentors are quite generous with items and things to disciples, I always give them weapon, let them mine with my gear and probes then give me back all at end, same with crafting, etc etc... But often times they will dissapear after a bit and never log back in which makes me wary of giving out gear now :(

It's a good idea to never loan new players things without collateral, too many of them haven't "gotten into" the game yet and are unreliable. Even if they are honest, very often they forget to log in for months... something that doesn't happen with a seasoned player.
 
I can confirm that it's not a myth. I had a avatar back in -04 or -05 and it was not to be found when I wanted to start playing again a few years ago.. Sent a support case and I was just told that there was a expiration period of XXX months/days/years and that none of the e-mail addresses I supplied had an account registered so I had to make a new one. I don't remember login or anything so I just gave them all the e-mails I've ever had so they could search for it :p

Same happened to a rl friend of mine who came back to invest when clds were introduced. He played pre-gold, so I was really anxious to see what kind of items he had in his possession, since he was a paying customer from the start. But Mindark wouldn't give him back his old account.
 
Same happened to a rl friend of mine who came back to invest when clds were introduced. He played pre-gold, so I was really anxious to see what kind of items he had in his possession, since he was a paying customer from the start. But Mindark wouldn't give him back his old account.


Happened to me as well. I originally started late 2003 (Project Entropia) Had a female avatar back then, played to about 2006, then just lost interest. Just recently came back last year and account no longer exists. Lost Full Nem. Lime Green coat along with some other old school clothing, Maddox III, MK2 (just regular) and a Tegretov something or another. Mindark wouldn't reinstate the acct. nore give me the TT value of the items I originally had. Oh Well, should've logged on every now and again :hammer:
 
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