Market Bots
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Hey everyone,
Our aim is to maintain a healthy marketplace experience for all players. To that end, we closely track marketplace activity to ensure that accounts operating outside of certain parameters are addressed.
With this in mind, we recently made changes to our processes for identifying and addressing bot and other automated activity on the website and companion app.
If you believe your account was restricted in error as a result of these changes, we encourage you to reach out to Support. Each case will be reviewed individually.
We appreciate your understanding.
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@SDS_JoeK_PSN Thank you for posting this, may I ask what the certain parameters are?
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@SDS_JoeK_PSN What are the parameters? I'm restricted from manually flipping cards, and it would be fair to the legitimate users to have an answer rather than getting caught in the same loop and reopening markets to us. Also, will there ever be an end to the botting situation? As cards are rising it takes more time for us to flip cards and earn stubs and it seems these bot are doing this in seconds. Just not fair to the legit community of players.
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@SDS_JoeK_PSN What are the parameters? I'm restricted from manually flipping cards, and it would be fair to the legitimate users to have an answer rather than getting caught in the same loop and reopening markets to us. Also, will there ever be an end to the botting situation? As cards are rising it takes more time for us to flip cards and earn stubs and it seems these bot are doing this in seconds. Just not fair to the legit community of players.
Bots are much better right now than they have been. Not perfect yet but im not seeing as much nano bid behavior as I had.
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@aaronjw76_PSN I agree, alot better but I am still seeing some instant outbids which is what ive seen commonly with the bots. Normal players will bid 1+or- but not instantly.
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@SDS_JoeK_PSN How do you change parameters, not say anything to the community and then ban a bunch of regular people not using bots?
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@GoozeFn_PSN they acknowledged it may have happened mistakenly...I can accept that...the issue was it took so long for then to acknowledge the community...and yes ..the parameters need to be explained.
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Appreciate the update here.
I did submit a support ticket a few days ago and my case has been escalated, but I’m still currently restricted with no timeline for resolution.
I completely understand the need to address bots and automation; that makes sense. But in my case (and from what I’m seeing from others), this is catching legitimate, manual activity.
Everything I’ve done has been manual. Placing orders through the app and website (including completing reCAPTCHAs repeatedly while finishing Live Series). No bots, no scripts, no automation of any kind.
I’ll admit it’s almost flattering to be flagged as a “bot” as a 40-year-old just buying and selling cards on the app; but it does highlight that something in the detection process is very, very off.
At this point I’ve been restricted for ~3 days, and it’s significantly impacting how I engage with the game. The marketplace is a huge part of that experience for many of us... especially the full-time workers who are spending real money on your game.
I’d really appreciate any clarity on expected timelines for reviews, and hope the team is taking a close look at how many legitimate players are getting caught in this.
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@SDS_JoeK_PSN I appreciate the update what exactly are the prerimiters u are referring to? I have been flipping quite a bit always do it by the rules but don’t wanna risk getting caught up in this restriction.
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@SDS_JoeK_PSN Hi Joe,
Thanks for the update. I think we all agree that combatting bots, in any part of the game, is a good thing. But it seems clear that many people who flip on downtime got caught up in the mix. Beyond the other good questions that have been asked, I wanted to add a couple more:
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How can I/we avoid being restricted in the future, assuming we’re unrestricted? My 3 week order history looks basically identical to the last 5-7 years, I flip pretty often to try to complete live series. I have never used a bot and that hasn’t changed this year. But assuming I get unrestricted, how can I avoid just being restricted again? Is this simply an issue with number of orders? How orders are placed? Etc. Is this a one time wave? Or are we continually at risk of being restricted for a week+ for flipping, something that hasn’t been discouraged by SDS in the past or isn’t against ToS?
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What is the timeline for support? I’ve been largely in the dark for a few days beyond messages that look very similar to ones others have gotten.
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@SDS_JoeK_PSN Thank you for giving us some sort of insight, i’ve posted 5 tickets, i understand you guys are probably dealing with volume, but please look into mine, is there any way we can stop this from happening in the future if we are to be unrestricted? because there are many people like me who put in a high volume of orders but are completly legit
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@Stinkysman77_MLBTS Yes, it’s just frustrating. I’ll be satisfied if my account is unrestricted.
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@GoozeFn_PSN I know it is...that's why I been pushing for them to explain..even though mine was restored...I still felt the need to stand up for the others, despite the accusations from other members of the community.
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@Stinkysman77_MLBTS Most people are selfish and don’t care if it doesn’t affect them. Worse some of these guys seem happy that people are being unfairly punished. Pathetic.
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@GoozeFn_PSN what they don't realize is if you don't hold them accountable it'll just get worse, when someone makes a mistake even if it's an honest unintentional mistake..you make ammends not become confrontational. The community should learn to band together..that's how things get fixed... Google wwe2k26 and see what happened there.
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@Stinkysman77_MLBTS meanwhile you get people in the community telling you that you have mental issues because you’re trying to get your account restored from a false flag restriction. I don’t know why I even bother sometimes. Spend a ton of money. Get flagged as a bot. Berated by community members. Nice to see some good folks like you in here at least.
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@Bridge-Piece_XBL lol I don't know how good I am...really it was just a shock how they were treating everyone.
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To be honest, I don't see them stating what the parameters are. As soon as they do that, the people who program or write the scripts that the bots use, will know how to get around the parameters and we are back to a bot filled market.
My only suggestion is to go slower when placing your orders. I'm assuming that the speed at which the orders are being placed or modified, along with the number of orders placed in a very short amount of time are some of the parameters being used to see if any type of automation is being used from the players.
Psy
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@PsylockeSmythe_XBL I mean fair but I have had a lot of free time on my hands and have been flipping a lot. for example went from 40k to 250k in 2 days I’m new to flipping so that is huge for me and I’ve been doing just ls bronzes. Are they going to think I’m using bots or can they see that I’m not?
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@Onix_Savage22_PSN Honestly, I don't know if the number of stubs earned and how quickly is one of the parameters or not. I just know when it happened to me back in 22 or 23 it was due to the speed I was placing or modifying my orders (having mad data entry skills and multiple windows open made it looks like I was using automation). I didn't start using the app until 2024 and now I pretty much just place orders for cards I need to fill out a collection and sell any duplicates of items.
Psy
