While CCP has no problem with players scamming in-game, there are many different opinions on how scammers are regarded. Generally speaking, scammers are looked down upon. The more prevalent your scamming becomes, the more likely it is you'll receive flak for it. Many players choose to use a secondary character that is not linked to their main to perform their scams. This allows them to maintain a clean name on their primary character, while earning ISK on their scam character.
Using an alt in such manner is beneficial to many players, especially those that are currently involved in legitimate businesses, public offerings, raffles, or any services in game. If you are found out to be a scammer, it will definitely be very difficult for you to handle any public money.
Alts are not a necessary component to successfully scamming. The most important thing to remember about EVE is that it has a massive playerbase. A very small percentage actually read the forums, and even less of those people will even bother to try to get the word out that you've scammed them. If you scam some random guy, it's very unlikely that anyone will hear about it. Even if he told 500 people, you still have a pool of thousands of active players to scam.
If scamming is something you plan to do frequently, it will definitely begin to affect your reputation. If you use the forums to scam, the regulars will definitely identify you and do their best to prevent you from scamming again in the future. Your reputation will definitely be affected over time. Be aware of the fact that once you've started scamming, it will be next to impossible to gain the trust of players in the market forums, or individuals who take the time to research your character.
Regardless of how well-known you become to forum regulars or more outspoken players in game, you will always have an endless supply of players who are mislead by their own greediness and laziness, and will never take the time to properly research you. It is entirely possible to scam on a single character for a long period of time, despite how many people might recognize you.
If you're unsure if you'll be able to get away with it on your main, or if you think there's potential that you'd like to perform a service or run a business in the future that requires a clean reputation, then simply use an alt. This will prevent your main character from ever having a damaged reputation.
This page last updated: 2010.02.25
Using an alt in such manner is beneficial to many players, especially those that are currently involved in legitimate businesses, public offerings, raffles, or any services in game. If you are found out to be a scammer, it will definitely be very difficult for you to handle any public money.
Alts are not a necessary component to successfully scamming. The most important thing to remember about EVE is that it has a massive playerbase. A very small percentage actually read the forums, and even less of those people will even bother to try to get the word out that you've scammed them. If you scam some random guy, it's very unlikely that anyone will hear about it. Even if he told 500 people, you still have a pool of thousands of active players to scam.
If scamming is something you plan to do frequently, it will definitely begin to affect your reputation. If you use the forums to scam, the regulars will definitely identify you and do their best to prevent you from scamming again in the future. Your reputation will definitely be affected over time. Be aware of the fact that once you've started scamming, it will be next to impossible to gain the trust of players in the market forums, or individuals who take the time to research your character.
Regardless of how well-known you become to forum regulars or more outspoken players in game, you will always have an endless supply of players who are mislead by their own greediness and laziness, and will never take the time to properly research you. It is entirely possible to scam on a single character for a long period of time, despite how many people might recognize you.
If you're unsure if you'll be able to get away with it on your main, or if you think there's potential that you'd like to perform a service or run a business in the future that requires a clean reputation, then simply use an alt. This will prevent your main character from ever having a damaged reputation.
This page last updated: 2010.02.25