Trusted Status Confusion/2FA

General Discussion General Discussion
142

Well if you can then that sucks, this is why I think having your own launcher would have been better than using steam. Would be able to control so much more imo.

Although I’d be interested to see stats if the same phone is used on multiple accounts and how many.

As for the online sms services, there should be a way to identify/block those. Do you know if they allow any number patterns or if they use a specific one? For Example: VPN providers or ISPs can only provide IP addresses they have available. Is it something like that?

143

also AGS stated they will introduce this system for fraud prevention (aka stolen Steam Accounts using to purchase things) and that its not designed against botting but scores some Bonus Points if it hits them .

but for the Fraud Prevention i think Email 2fa would be enough i personally know no one who got his Steam account hacked when using Steam Guard email except maybe some Braindead ppl or so who use one passwort for all their 100 logins

144

So true. Own launcher and TOTP instead of Steam Guard for 2Fa (at least)…

You can block some, but not all. As with the VPNs, They are already blocking some VPNs, but you can’t identify/block all.

It always comes down to the same thing: market restrictions and “follow the money”.
People using decompiled clients, advanced scripting and have 24/7 customer support can’t simply be blocked by this.

You can find several examples here in the forum showing people streaming the bot services on chinese streaming services (like “our” twitch").

It is kinda hilarious that AGS/SG still follow the same strategy because they refuse to change some of the ingame mechanics that get exploited by the bot users/gold sellers.

And I can stress this is enough: the real problem are the people engaging in illegal RMT, because they create the market for the gold sellers. But well…LA creates FOMO, out of FOMO people buy gold…

It sucks. And I simply don’t get it, how you can kinda destroy the game for everyone else, just because you want some personal benefits.

145

You won’t be affected. If you have spent money in LA, you have Lost Ark Trusted status, not Steam Trusted status

There is one. Steam doesn’t care. They even allow Twilio (and used to allow Google Voice when it did support receiving SMS) numbers.

146

are you sure about it? because the post from roxx i understand otherwise she said

for me it means it comes sooner or later to all players i know that iam trusted in Steam and that Iam Trusted in Lost Ark because i can exchange Royal Crystals for Gold but when they crank the system up i understand you will loose Trusted Status if you dont have Mobile Authentication.

maybe claryfiy this point @Roxx

maybe iam to dumb to understand it lol someone Offical Clarify pls will i loose my Already
obtained Trusted status in the future if i dont have a Mobile Authenticator set up? i already have 2fa with email on Steam Guard

147

I’m trusted in Lost Ark and Trusted in Steam.

Will players lose trusted status when this system is “cranked up” and implemented across all users?

148

This should be for new accounts not existing ones that are in good standing imo. I have a phone, just not a smartphone. This should have been something you did from the start not 4 months in game where you can potentially screw a bunch of people.

149

In this post, you have the following text:

starting today we are testing a roll out of additional measures that will require players that are not already ‘Trusted’ through Lost Ark (but have a ‘Trusted’ Steam account) to have two-factor mobile authentication set up on their Steam account to earn Trusted status.

Players who are already Trusted through Lost Ark (as in, made in-game purchases in the past) don’t need to have a Trusted Steam account.

Info about the Trusted status via a Lost Ark purchase (through Amazon or Steam) can be found in this post.

Players who have a Steam account in good standing and have met the small purchase requirement needed to use Steam’s social systems, or made a purchase in Lost Ark through either Amazon or Steam will not be impacted.

150

I am not a botter… I also use email 2FA for many years. Plus I have spent real life dollars on this game, crystaline aura, founders pack, skins… I have a ‘trusted’ account because I have been ‘trusted’ on steam for around 10 years or so.

It is laziness and being a scrooge on AGS behalf for NOT using an authentication system of their own for Lost Ark…
If they had an authentication system like SWOTOR, when you login, they send a code to your phone and you have to enter that code… it would go a long way in rooting out the botters/RMT’ers.

But this system will (once again), hurt real players.
Some people really dont have a mobile phone. There are many reasons why not. It doesnt have to be linked to not having the money to buy one, they could just dislike mobiles… there are those that dont so dont laught… its true…lol

Not everyone is the same as you, and expecting them to be so is unfair.

For me… I just can’t download the app onto my mobile… it won’t let me. I have tried other apps like the covid app here in Aus. And NO, I can’t afford another mobile… yes I have spent money on a game, but that was because I was treating it like a subscription. And I didn’t know at the time that I was going to need a new phone. (I am a FOUNDER too)

Edit:
Seems that you will keep your good standing with AGS if you already have it.
The only thing that you wont be able to do if you dont have good standing is this…

players and will be restricted from:

  • Initiating player-to-player trades (requests can still be received)
  • Sending in-game gifts
  • Exchanging Royal Crystals for Gold
  • Sending in-game mail with attachments

So you will still be able to play the game. You just wont be able to do the above.

151

They are not. Just read the freaking announcement, ffs.

152

I was replying to someone else (further up) so I did not see your comment at all until after I posted…

Why so angry?

154

Looks like I got an answer for you. It has to be mobile!

Tagging @Destiny1 also because you asked me about this too! So sorry about it only being mobile though, we are testing out different methods so please just bear with us!

155

Don’t worry! It has to be mobile 2 factor authentication for it to work!

156

If you’re already “Trusted” then you should be fine unless you haven’t set up the mobile 2-factor authentication.

159

I am trusted through 2FA email, have been for YEARS… I am also a FOUNDER, bought a founders pack. I also have bought Crystaline Aura’s, skins, crystals… So how can I all of a sudden become ‘untrusted’?

The only ones that have become untrusted is AGS…

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160

You sir, need to have a good long hard look at yourself…

162

Had an obnoxious perma-scrolling banner below chat last night saying to enable mobile 2FA if not able to access certain systems…I’m not sure if this meant my account isn’t trusted anymore (waited for destroyer so still levelling and not even able to use AH etc yet due to removal of gold rewards from quests)?

If so, this seems really lazily implemented and heavy-handed, as if the intention is to target bots, there’s a number of other metrics that could be used prior to requiring this.

For example (in my case):

  1. Steam account >17 years old
  2. Owning multiple paid games on account
  3. Owning the plat founders pack

I would assume any ONE of these by itself should be enough of an indication that this is not a bot account…

2FA via email is annoying enough but at least it doesn’t involve needing to use an entire other device. Blanket forcing everyone to use mobile 2FA seems very unnecessary.

2 Likes
163

Would be easier if you’d be so kind and really answer on the replies you get here.

It is totally fine to not own a smartphone due to various reasons. Haven’t had one for over 5y myself.

Several people answered you in this thread and tried to help you out and/or give ides and you yourself are sadly very passive aggressive about that and sometimes also simply refuse to answer questions.

  • why you can’t connect your phone to WiFi? Maybe because your phone, without a data plan which we had to figure out, is just a “normal phone” with no WiFi > totally fine, but of course a problem for Steam Guard in the first place
  • you didn’t even know what implications the trusted status in LA has, you basically just made the assumption that you wouldn’t be able to play anymore it seems, but you found the restrictions and that trusted or not trusted might not even affect your game > great
  • if you want to know more about your trust status > why don’t you contact Steam as suggested many times? > here you simply refuse to take actions yourself
  • several people, me included, tried to figure out your real problems and tried to help you out, but you refuse to take any help it seems. The only thing you want, it seems, is a reply from an official CM like “so sorry for this, we personally made sure your account gets the trusted forever status” > also you should know by now that no one here in the forum can really help you with that

And then you keep asking several people why they are getting so angry with you?

Before pointing at others, maybe take a good look at yourself.

I don’t agree with several people here, but we could still have a constructive discussions about our points of view. But with you this seems to be almost impossible. Yet you seem to see yourself as perfect and all the others failed…

Really sorry that I tried to explain things to you and even help you with suggestions how to solve your problem. Won’t happen again, I won’t make any more suggestions to you in direct replies to you.

What goes around, comes around

164

It’s just a public announcement and has nothing to do with your account specifically.

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165

The banner is default for everyone atm (I guess). Because my account is trusted, so are the accounts for several other people I play with and we could use the features of the trusted account.

But we all got the banner :wink:

Problem with trusted status itself is, that no one really seems to know what all counts to it. According to what we currently know and what AGS said, they only get the info from Steam if an account is trusted or not. Now Steam on the other hand seems to use several possible factors.

You can raed more about it for example in the CS Community of Steam:
Steam Community :: Guide :: The Trust factor

(you can find several other sites with discussion about the trusted status, all basically listing the same factors. Some sites even claim that you can check your trust status by giving them your Steam ID, but I wouldn’t recommend doing that)

From my personal experience within my LA guild the following seems also to be true:

  • if you have bought something in LA but don’t use Steam Guard App, you are still trusted
  • if you have Steam 2FA via mail(!) but didn’t by anything from LA and don’t use Steam Guard App > you might not be trusted

This was just an observation based on what happened to 2 people in my guild.
Person 1: bought a skin back in April but doesn’t have Steam Guard App > still could send ingame mail with items to guildmates
Person 2: never bought anything in LA but has 2FA for Steam via mail > couldn’t send ingame mail with items anymore since 2 days > this person activated Steam Guard and it took ~1h and he could send ingame mail again

And always keep in mind what AGS said: they are rolling out the feature and testing it currently!
So it might be the case that only a few accounts are verified in regards to this trust status atm and it might also be the case, that the feature itself has some issues, which can (hopefully) only be solved if someone has problems and contacts at least AGS support and also Steam support.

And also have a look what AGS/SG said when they introduced the trusted status back in the first place:

Players who have a Steam account in good standing and have met the small purchase requirement needed to use Steam’s social systems shouldn’t be impacted. Players who have not met this ‘Trusted’ status through Steam or Lost Ark

Important point here being “Steam OR LostArk”. So there are to trust systems in place! And like I described before and which also fits my speculations: if you bought something from LA shop, you are trusted from the view of LA. If you have activated Steam Guard App but never bought anything in LA store, you are also trusted. 2 systems, same effect. (but this is just my speculation/observation)

Source: March 24 Weekly Update - News | Lost Ark - Free to Play MMO Action RPG (playlostark.com)

Personally I find that the communication of AGS again was not ideal (again…), it almost certainly want to anything against most of the bots/gold sellers and it is especially bad that the status of being trusted or not is handled very intransparent (as you can see from the CS community, people keep on speculating about this since 2017), which is mainly a problem of Steam and exists for several years know.

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