Website & Forums Preventing Malicious Chargeback Bans & Gifting

The current system of how the store works is that you enter your username, select items to purchase, and pay for your items at the checkout screen. However, there is a serious exploit that anyone can abuse to cause people to be banned.

Currently, there is no method of verifying that you are the rightful owner of your account on the store page. Because of this, anyone can enter your username, purchase an item, and chargeback the bill, resulting in a ban from the server.

PayPal defines a chargeback as the following on their help center:

In order to prevent malicious people from banning innocent players by abusing this exploit, adding a system that verifies the ownership of an account is crucial.

Spoiler: Proposed verification system

Similar to how XenForo (the service that host numerous forums, including Wynncraft) handles two-factor authentication via email confirmation, when you enter your username in the store, you will be required to verify the ownership of your account by choosing to either receive an automated message on the forums containing the code to enter in the store (this will require you to have your account linked to the forums beforehand) or to receive the code in-game via a message that only you can see (this will require you to be online at the time of entering your username).

Of course, it is important that the code expires after a short amount of time to reduce the chance of an unwanted person successfully guessing the code.

You may be thinking that genuinely buying items for other players will no longer be possible if a verification system is implemented. Since a verification system only allows the owner of an account to purchase items for it, implementing an actual gifting system within the store and the game will solve this issue.

Spoiler: Proposed gifting system

On the store page, there will be a new category labeled as "Gifts" underneath what currently exists in the store, along with holding the same items. Below the header, a warning message will tell you that you will not be able to redeem gifts you buy for yourself. Similar to how you can purchase gifts on Discord, purchased gifts will be added to a new menu, called the gift inventory, in-game. You will not be able to hold these items in your actual inventory, though, you can visualize it as a display that shows you all of your gifts that you can send to players. Upon clicking on an item, you will be asked, in chat and not a sign, to type the username of the person you would like to send the gift to. You will also be given the option to leave a message and for the game to either reveal your username or to keep you anonymous.

Special thanks to @EHTYCSCYTHE who helped me create the idea of adding a verification system and a gifting system.

EDIT: There is a potential issue that gifting brings up that I have yet to know how to address it. @Chronozilla states:

 

This is one of those things you never think of but is desperately needed.

+1

 

actually a nice idea, tbh I didn't even think of this and its actually a big issue

 

I'm just gonna wait to see who votes no and prepare my shotgun shells meanwhile

 

Pls don’t shoot me I just wanna bạn peeps

 

I like unrightfully banning player -1

Edit: Who the fu- heck voted no?! are you actually dumb? this would add literally maybe 30 seconds to the total time of buying your rank or bombs to insure that none can just randomly get your account banned. you realize that. It’s not going to make you waste money if it did i’m sure you could work something out. Don’t be stupid this a legmiate problem and soulution

 

I never knew this was possible.
Huh.
Should probably be fixed.

 

One second, I'll go get your account banned /s

 

Imma say no to this.
Adding more steps to purchases is not a smart idea, makes you lose money

 

Shotgun ready?

 

I see your point that adding more steps will cause people to be annoyed by this, but I consider this suggestion as necessary changes to protect players from being falsely banned in the first place. I would much rather go through the process of staying secure rather than going through the hassle of appealing a chargeback by emailing the support team, and I'm sure the majority of the player-base feels the same. Consider airport security: would you rather do a monotonous procedure if it meant the safety of yourself and other passengers or fear being harmed by criminals?

 

not adding the steps can make u lose players

 

As someone who has previously been put on edge because of worrying about this exact thing happening I feel like the few extra steps is necessary to prevent exploitation of the system. Sure it was years ago and a different server but chargebacks all worked the same - it’s not fun playing a game with constant fear that at any minute you can be banned and you can’t refute it. I understand more steps = less money, but at this point if I were running the server I would rather accept a slight decrease in money rather than allow such a destructive exploit into the game.

 

I think we are being too dramatic here lol
"it’s not fun playing a game with constant fear that at any minute you can be banned and you can’t refute it"
You should quit minecraft then, because it works like that on every single server you play and it's been like that for ages.
Ironically I've been banned from the wynncraft store because of this. I emailed support and got a response+unban 20 mins later. No big deal, grinding continues after

 

Right, because it's perfectly reasonable for this legitimate issue to continue existing despite there being a quick and easy solution.

 

If you don't mind losing money, it's a perfect solution

EDIT: Actually, if you don't mind suggestions, imagine a world where you could type "/buy" in-game and get your own private wynncraft shopping link. That sure would avoid complications with email stuff (belive or not, a lot of people get confused with unnecessary steps like that)

 

shit guys he found my secret to eliminating my enemies gotta blast

 

or we could just implement the suggestion of two-factor authentication like every other company on the planet. Plus, I doubt anyone who is of legal age to own a credit card cannot understand how to confirm emails. Even if its an underage person using a parent/guardian's card, they can just ask them if they don't understand anything?

 

I had no idea this was a thing (I did think it was a bit weird how you could say you're anyone in the store though), but this is a pretty serious exploit and I wholeheartedly agree with the proposed solution.

 

I don't think it would actually make wynncraft lose money. Everyone wants safety, especially when it comes to their credit card! There is no good reason not to add more verification steps to the store. Like CringeAura said, I'd much rather have to go through a longer process but with more safety! I think safety comes first, over the time of the process.