Lost Ark hasn’t had the easiest launch in the world, but now that more players are getting into game the chat is being spammed with scammers looking to exchange hard earned cash for in-game items.
Smilegate RPG’s hack and slash adventure, Lost Ark, has been shattering records left, right, and center, dominating both Twitch and Steam during its first week in the West.
It hasn’t been all sunshine and rainbows, however, as ongoing server issues have led to players waiting hours in seemingly endless queues, leading to mass review bombing on the game’s official Steam page.
While the devs quickly jumped into action and have added more servers for the highly congested EU West region, when players get into game they’re being greeted by floods of scammers who are using the in-game chat to sell their wares – and they’re getting sick of it.
Lost Ark scammers are dominating the chat
While most first-time players are looking forward to being greeted by the mysterious Beatrice, it turns out that many are instead being harassed by a plethora of scammers who are attempting to sell in-game items for real currency in the chat.
“Anyone else feel this has been getting progressively worse?” asks one fan on the game’s official subreddit, attaching an image of their server’s chat being inundated with advertisements for “discount gold” and “cheapest gold and items trade” links.
While these accounts can be blocked and, in turn, muted, the sheer volume of them makes it difficult to filter out every single one.
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“I report them all and auto-block,” writes one fan, while another comments “until they make reporting as easy as spamming, the spammers will still be there.” Many echo this, hoping that the devs will implement a “right-click, report spammer/RMT option” in the style of Final Fantasy XIV.
Another notes that “if you buy this sh*t, you’re part of the problem,” encouraging people to remain vigilant and ignore these sites. “Hopefully they’re banning the buyers too,” states another.
As the game continues to blossom, it’ll be interesting to see how Smilegate choose to deal with this ongoing issue – especially considering that it’s causing havoc across multiple servers. Until then, though, report, block, and hope that you get them all.