Community Forum

Forgot to mention… another reason I am asking if anything is going to be done about blocking bots is because I’m wanting to do a new round of investing and want to know if I should be evaluating future demand (especially collections), current and future supply, upcoming content/pack changes, historical price, liquidity/market activity, potential ROI after the 10% tax, and the downside risk if my prediction is wrong… or should I just continue to follow bot activity?

@Manu__SDS_MLBTS without telegraphic the playbook to the bad guys - can we expect something/anything to be done about the marketplace bots by the end of the day? Michael king Mexico card is 39k right now, which is sweet because I got 10x at 9k. But before my screen even refreshes with my sell bid, I’ve been outbid. So quickly that the lower bid shows on my screen at the time my bid shows up on my screen for the first time! Even if I try to bid 15k less then the lowest bid, instantly outbid. Is it some other loser wasting time in a bidding war over selling 10x Michael king Mexico cards for 1 stub less then another seller is? For 30 minutes? Or am I trying to compete with a bot that is programmed to win all buys and sells of a card to manipulate the market and grow their stubs, so they can sell them for a fraction of the retail cost and deliver them through more market manipulation? Their activity has spread across the entire marketplace. Every card. 24/7. Has this been brought to the attention of whoever makes decisions on what gets done behind the scenes for the game? If activating the filter that blocks bots isn’t going to happen, can rate limiting be introduced again at least? This is just so bizarre that nothing is getting done to remedy this. It’s been 6 months. If the filter can’t be turned back on today - can we get an idea of when this might be addressed again? I like spending my time on this game but it’s not so much fun when I’m resenting myself for wasting time trying to play a game that’s rigged.

So disappointing… maybe tomorrow…

@PapaRick68_XBL all of the above is correct. Flipping is definetly an important part of the game and these bots have spread to every card with profitable margins and they monitor everything 24/7. Whenever their position is outbid, they instantly outbid and undercut. When humans are actively using the app they are able to delete bids and rebid and be aggressive - which can be fun when going against other humans. But we can only be locked into 1, maybe 2 cards at the same time. Bots are monitoring and acting 24/7. It’s totally unfair, to say the least. On top of that, the funds gained this way are sold off to people using 3rd party websites to buy stubs for a fraction of the retail price and those stubs get transferred to those accounts through market manipulation - corrupting the market even further. For reasons unknown, it’s allowed to continue. So here we are, making noise, acting like Karens, repeating the obvious, in hopes that sds will see this outrage and realize it’s in their best interest and ours to activate filters they have in place to block bots and restore integrity to marketplace and the game.

The market is feeling pretty predictable today. All signs show the fix is in - human players are still being taking advantage of. The fred mcgriff card I referenced yesterday is down to 14k right now, the lowest I’ve ever seen it. All bids are instantly beat though. When the human quits trying outbid the bot, 2 more bids get placed by the bot to ensure humans can’t obtain the card at the low price if someone sells off multiple dupes at the same time.
Im so confused with this attempt to reclaim fair play and a gameplay environment where everyone is free from bullying and toxic gameplay blah blah blah blah blah. If by some chance I witness toxic whatever’s or cheating something or others I should immediately report it? It will be taken seriously? This extends to the marketplace? Yes? If so, kindly turn on any filters that block bots from using the marketplace. It is understood some humans may have trouble using the app while some fine tuning is done, but they will still be able to use the marketplace like everyone else that is not a bot on the console. Probably the website as well. So there shouldn’t be any conflict of providing an unfair gameplay experience to those jammed up with the app while settings get adjusted. Fair play. Anyone? Come on.

8am pst 9/2 the market is feeling like a total sham. Many cards are on the lower end of their average price, making it look attractive to buyers/investors, but it’s a facade. For example, Fred McGriff vintage card - a reward from winning diamond quest - there is no reason this card should move away from its average 23-28k listing. The card can be minted by any player with 45 minutes anytime of the season. There are no new collections or motives to possess this card. It could be argued that PlayStation plus has new players getting and selling that card but there’s also new players buying that card to complete collections - either way, the card dipping down to 17k is the same pattern this card sees every few days. It’s very attractive at 17 but it’s a mirage - it’s unobtainable at 17k. It’s totally possible someone is watching and refreshing Fred mcgriff vintage bid sheet over and over and over and anytime a new buy bid is placed they are instantly outbidding by 1 stub. When you withdraw your bids, so does this other bidder(s). No matter what, they own the top bid. But it’s less likely a person when you start making bids of higher prices that get instantly outbid by 1 stub is when you start thinking that this free and fair marketplace is astroturfed. The outcome is completely controlled by outside forces. Waiting for the marketplace to be cleaned up so fair play can be restored has been exhausting. Many players are hanging on by a thread and then a new filter is turned on and fairness gets restored almost instantly. Thats no exaggeration, the numbers actually show this interference has been systematic and pervasive.
I get that adjustments need to be made to the latest filter and that some players are getting timeout on the app, including myself. But without that filter, the entire market is corrupted. Not to mention it’s being controlled by bad actors with intent to steal and profit. Pleaaaaase activate a filter that blocks these bots. If players run into problems in the short term while it gets sorted, so be it. I’m in that boat too. It’s game over for the market without blocking bots.

When I first saw the screen telling me I was on timeout for 2 minutes, I had just made a bunch of transaction and thought, fine. Nbd. But when I got hit with timeout again without making any transaction inbetween and then again after that, it made me think that whatever counter I maxed out wasn’t being reset after the timeout countdown ended and when I went to make a new transaction the app treated me like I had reached the max already. I don’t know the answer, or the technical terms for what I’m trying to say, but I’ll give it a shot. Does getting put on timeout raise or lower the recaptcha trust score? Or is the score already generated and approved before any transactions are made? I’m trying to say maybe rate limiting time out stuff might not be needed if bots are getting blocked from making transactions…? Whatever is going on with the filter, it is working and blocking bots.

The market was performing very well with the new filter on. When I say well, I mean that you could place a bid and not be instantly outbid or undercut. Sometimes you would see a bidding war but if it’s something you really want and you put a ridiculous high bid, you will get it instead of being outbid by 1 stub no matter what. It’s lowkey demoralizing trying to compete against bots programmed to 1-up you. Also you can leave a bid and it would fill over time. Lately with bots I will leave bids and the next day see my bid has not been filled and the item keeps selling for 1 stub over my bid - meaning the bot just makes a new bid above mine after the previous bid goes through. I’m not an economist so I’m not sure the words to describe how the market is acting, but as a baseball video game player, I can say that when the filter is on, the market feels like something I can be a part of and get involved in, play around, try to strategize and speculate with… when no filter has been on it feels chaotic and that is be lucky to get the scraps from following around quickly moving prices and quantities. Especially when I see dozens of transactions at a price in the same minute but when I try to hop in the prices change to 1-up me. It feels like you see a game going on but can’t play it - which isn’t fun.

Not everything but many cards that are known to have bots on them are being flooded with copies bringing it the price way down. Many high value cards are down 50-75%.

Edit: I see there’s a flash sale for vault packs - the drop in cards I saw though is hard to explain with that. Rare round St Patrick day cards went from selling at 33k suddenly to 8k. Other cards not even in vault pack dropped also.

Ignore my topic in community market. I got a screen with a counter saying 2 minute timeout… went into something else for 20 minutes. Tried to make a transaction and got a screen with a 4 minute timeout countdown. After that time was up, tried to make a transaction and it says 8 minute timeout… just to be clear, I’m not able to do anything in the app before a new timeout is being triggered.

iOS up to date is and companion app

Next attempt after time went by gets 8 minute timeout…

About 20 minutes ago I got a screen that said wait 2 minutes before another transaction. Closed the app, went onto something else. About 20 min went by, open app and try to make a transaction and screen shows up saying 4 minute timeout… I get that x amount of transactions over y amount of time can trigger a restriction and warning, but I’m not sure the amount of transaction is being reset when the time is up?

Just a few thoughts. Not sure if it’s for player side or dev side. Sounds like mostly android problem but I see someone mention iOS. Possible to adjust what signals recaptcha looks at while calculating risk score? Maybe some people not having the most updated software or os on their phone is influencing score? Phones that have been jailbroken or unlocked somehow may be red flags? Participating in other web/app usage that generates recaptcha scores too often or not often enough? If someone hardly uses the show app will it generate a bad score if suddenly the app sees moderate usage?
Whatever rules that are in place the last day are blocking bots - so that’s great. I understand a major feature if v3 is that it works in the background but Is it possible to serve people a challenge/puzzle like previous recapcha versions to connection attempts that don’t meet the score criteria but are in a margin of error?

@DrBear100_PSN dude, he’s trying to help here. He works on the app and that’s it. He sees how the app has been used to exploit the market place and is trying to put an end to it. There’s tens of thousands of dd players trying to use the marketplace and there were bots on almost every card in the marketplace that were preventing players from getting them and or flipping them. A few players may be initially having problems with the app, which was mentioned as a possibility when this filter was activated a few hours ago. You got an error. Noted. A couple others got errors. Noted. It’s should also be noted that I’m not noticing bots on any cards and I don’t see anybody else saying they are either. If you are on the side of the humans trying to play the game, take a chill pill and let him try to fix it. We’ve all been in here bitchein for them to fix this so let’s let it happen. This is great.

@Manu__SDS_MLBTS everything has been working great. I ran into that error once or twice but no big deal. I think you have a pretty good understanding of the problems you’re trying to fix here and a good read on data that shows you this filter is effectively working. As always, I appreciate your efforts on attention to this matter.

So far so good! I made some transactions, put phone down for a bit, picked up and tried to make another transaction and got that error. Closed app and restarted and error was gone. I see a huge difference for the better. Well done. I hope you keep the filter on!

Tomorrow is PlayStation plus day 1.
A) it will be an exciting day for all players that use the marketplace because thousands of new players will start playing the game.
B) it doesn’t matter what happens in the game or marketplace because bots control the marketplace.

Blame whoever you want. I don’t really care who’s responsible. I just want it to stop. Everyone who interacts with the game is affected by the market. Not everyone that uses the market are brainwashed by content creators. Or even watch them. I don’t. One round of bans is a start but to continue ignoring the problem and not actively combat it doesn’t do anything to stop it. Time for action!

I haven’t spent much time trying to make sense of the parallel mods system because the exact reasons you stated. The concept sounds nice but it’s implementation is nothing less then another turddd to avoid. I’m sure you’re looking at it again because they slipped in an announcement last week about revamping it. But, AFAIK it’s still a pointless and confusing waste of time. At the very least, I wish there was better communication about it, like from the live weekly show, because the buried blog post announcing the updated system didn’t clear anything up. It sounds to great to add more power to players like Willie McGee or Ozzie smith who are maxed out in other areas or speed to big hitters but alas, you aren’t going to steal 40 bases with power hitters to obtain that mod just like you aren’t hitting 40 home runs either Willie McGee. It might be possible to get the homerun after spending more time than it’d be worth, but the stolen bases won’t happen. Taking the normal +1 or attributes of fine and trying to tinker with it will only cause frustration or confusion. (Kind of like the coding for this game that has been been expanded on for so long that any adjustment or additional changes throws everything off to the point you wish to just go back to how it was before it was tinkered with…)

There was a decent couple hours… it was mentioned elsewhere that changes made last week were disabled shortly after they were activated. It sounded like adjustments needed to be made and it was unclear when or if they would be turned back on. In the meantime, bots have advanced. Whoever is making the decisions on how to police the marketplace needs to completely change their approach. Allowing bots to continue using the marketplace when it’s been demonstrated that they can be effectively blocked is baffling. If the cost of keeping bots out of the marketplace immediately is a few innocent players are timed out from using the app for a couple hours, including myself, so be it! Make adjustments from there. The entire market is corrupted by bots. These bots are stealing from players and sds. Choosing to continue enabling an environment where bots can thrive, despite knowing the harm they cause, is an egregious and unconscionable dereliction of responsibility to maintain an environment of fair play and protect players from foreseeable harm. Please turn back on any and all measures to prevent bots from using the marketplace asap.