PSOpolice

As you know this is an anti-theif clan. Here is the thief prevention page that i promised.

------------------------------------ PHANTASY STAR ONLINE CHEATING AND STEALING PREVENTION ------------------------------------ ==================================== ==================== I.

TABLE OF CONTENTS ====================

TABLE OF CONTENTS---- ][. LEGAL----- ]I[. INTRODUCTION---- IV. THE CHEATS------ INTRODUCTION------- GAME/LEVEL--------

------> Joining a Password Protected Game ------> Leading Party Members Down the Wrong Path ------> PSO Gleaning ------> Freezing Up A Team's Game ------> Walking Straight Through Walls ------> Walking Through Beams ------> Telepipe Traps

TREASURE

------> Always Sharing The Chests ... But What's the Catch? ------> Wow, That Player NEVER Takes Any Items! ------> Treasure Island ------> This is the PsOLICE, Freeze! ------> Frozen Water Pipes ------> Setting Down Telepipe Near Treasure ------> The "Bravest" Player

BOSS

------> Fighting the Boss Alone ------> Boss Box Greed ------> False Confidence ------> Boss Weapon-Stealer

PLAYER

------> May the Force of Suicide be wity you ------> Chat-Kill ------> Helping New Players Kill ... Themselves ------> Free: Double Saber, Cost: Guilt ------> Free Holy Ray +30, No Strings Attached ------> Follow the Yellow Brick Road ... of Doom! ------> Experience Points "Theft" ------> A Present With Six Claws and Your Name on It ------> Playing As Someone Elses's Character ------> Getting Free Items from Traders

ITEM

------> Double MAG Blast ------> Telepiping Ups and Downs more Frequent than the Stock Market

TRADING

------> Buying A Double Saber at Used Car Prices ------> Buying a Level 200 MAG for the Price of a Pack of Ragol Gum ------> Getting The Sweets From the Newbies ------> Waaah, Someone Stole my Double Saber! =================

]I[. INTRODUCTION =================

Phantasy Star Online is not a video game. It is a virtual community. Thus, when you cheat against the video game, you are cheating the community -- and by extension, since you yourself are part of this community, you are cheating yourself.

this was written not to instruct people how to cheat (it doesn't take brains to figure out how to steal items), but rather to alert players as to potential ways that their less-than-genuine party members may be pulling one over on them.

I have logged over 180 hours and counting into Phantasy Star Online (PSO), and the one thing that I preach to people over and over is this:

PSO is supposed to be fun.

It's simple, yet overlooked by the vast majority of power-and-item-hungry players. If people would be less concerned with what weapon they have and level they're on, and worry more about just sitting back, having a beer, and enjoying themselves for a few hours, the game would be a lot more fun for everybody. ==============

IV. THE CHEATS ============== ------------

Introduction ------------

The ways of cheating in this game are only limited by the collective imagination of its players, which one will quickly realize is limitless.

This "cheats" section is broken down into catagories, such as level cheats, boss cheats, treasure cheats, etc. Within the section are multiple cheats, each describing the cheat, how it's performed, warning signs of what to look for to see if someone is a cheater, and what you can do about it. Some cheats may belong more to a section other than the one its listed in, so the section headings are to be used for vague organizational purposes.

Since most of the time there is little recourse against cheaters, the best advice I can give to players is this: find people you enjoy playing with and can trust, trade cards, then play password protected games from that point on. I have zero doubt as I'm laying bleeding on the cave floor surrounded by baddies that my Soul Eater +35 is as safe as can be.

As it is the best solution for almost all of these cheats, I refrain from saying "play password protected games to keep the unscrupulous players out" in every "what to do" section as that would be repetitive. -----------------

GAME/LEVEL CHEATS -----------------

------> Joining a Password Protected Game <------

DESCRIPTION: A player joins a password-protected game despite knowing nobody in the party and not being invited.

WARNING SIGNS: * nobody in your party knows the player

WHAT TO DO: Preventive measures -- never make the password the same as any of your character names, the same as the team name (duh!), or something basic such as "pso". You'd be amazed how often you can get into password protected games because someone failed to follow the most fundemental of security precautions. -

-----> Leading Party Members Down the Wrong Path <------

DESCRIPTION: A player, having a map of the level from a magazine or strategy guide, or from knowing the level variations by heart so well, knows that there is a sweet pile of unopened chests in a nearby room. The player then says something such as "follow me", or, being the sheep that most players are, party members just follow the player without them saying anything.

the player will lead you away from the treasure, then suddenly (without stopping) double back, run to the boxes, if they're smart use a Zonde-series technique to open them all at once (thus reducing the time you have to realize what happened), then grab the goods and run back to where you were, sometimes adding, "sorry got lost".

WARNING SIGNS: * a player leads you back the way you came, even though there is an unexplored room up ahead, then suddenly doubles back * a player leads you into a room with enemies, lets you initiate attack, then suddenly doubles back not just into the hallway for safety but far back to the unexplored room

WHAT TO DO: Since many of the maps are admittedly easy to get lost in, this is a very difficult thing to spot a player doing. You will only be able to accuse the player if you notice a specific pattern of behavior across multiple levels.

Again, about all you can do is to ask if the player is doing this on purpose, request that they share the treasure with you, and affirm to them that you'll do the same so that it'll be beneficial for both of you. This can work, because sometimes a player is just paranoid that they won't get their piece of the pie, but often take the whole thing in erronous over-compensation. -

-----> PSO Gleaning <------

Description: A player connects to PSO, selects a ship/block, and upon viewing the list of available teams to join, selects the furthest one to the top of the list, which means it has been being played the longest amount of time, and thus all or most of the levels have already been defeated.

After entering the game, when the other players say "take red pipe, ruins 3", the player instead does not reply (or pretends to be Japanese -- classic!) and instead goes to Forest 1.

The player then goes from level to level picking up all the items that the other players didn't pick up, didn't want, or missed, occasionally having to fight an enemy or two, and telepiping back and forth between "their" level and the ship to sell items.

WARNING SIGNS: * your game has been in progress for a long time (you can't see your own game on the list so you don't know how high up on the list it is) and players enter but don't join the rest of your party * a player does not respond when spoken to, but you can see him walking on ship * the player's telepipe leads to a level you have already defeated

WHAT TO DO: If you don't mind, then don't do anything. Afterall, the items you left you didn't want or need, and if they're a lower level character they may find them useful. On the other hand, the player is taking a valuable space (remember, only 4 players per game), and you may want someone who could help you to join in, especially if you're at a boss or want a friend to join.

You can of course ask them to leave. You could also try to convince them to join you, saying "the items are far better in the level we're in, and we could use your help", although most of the time this is the type of person likely to steal YOUR items upon death. If you're at Dark Falz (or whatever) and really need to open up that 4th space, you COULD try following the player around grabbing items before they do to prove your point that there are greener pastures elsewhere so that they leave, but this is probably too much trouble.

------> Freezing Up A Team's Game <------

DESCRIPTION: A player enters a team's game, then returns to the lobby, then re-enters the same game, then returns to the lobby, and repeats until desired effect is achieved (which is of course immediate). Team members playing the game are completely "frozen" while their screen says, "PLAYER is joining game, please wait a few moments". The motivation for this can range from "revenge" for something a character did (like having a double saber +20 stolen) to just plain adolescent mischeif.

WARNING SIGNS: * a player enters and re-enters a game more than twice in a row, faster than could ever possibly be attributed to "disconnection", and continues to do so

WHAT DO DO: Quit your game and round up your team members on another ship, or better yet another server (which will do the trick in "hiding" you as long as the other player doesn't have your card). At its extreme, call the SEGA technical support number in the back of the PSO manual to report the harrassment, which is strictly against SEGA policy and could result in that player's account termination.

------> Walking Straight Through Walls <------

DESCRIPTION: There is a locked door (whether red or with four red circles) and a player either unequips their weapon so they are punching/kicking, or equips a double sabre, then walks straight through the locked, unopened door, leaving the other members behind and grabbing the goods for themselves (if applicable).

WARNING SIGNS: * player equips a double sabre or nothing at all * they walk through a locked door, though rarely will do this in front of you (visibly) * you notice on the map they are in an impossible location * you tell them to "get on a pad" to open the door, they ignore you and walk straight through it alone

WHAT TO DO: If they're grabbing the treasure, ask them to share using strategies outlined above. However, if they're doing it just to short-cut through the level, and you're OK with that, ask for a pipe, then pipe to the ship and take their pipe down. You *could* ask them to show you how to do it, but chances are they won't as it's one of the most closely guarded secrets in the game that only a few (including myself, heh-heh) know how to do.

Don't automatically label the person a cheater though, because you do NOT need GameShark to perform this maneuver, and often they are just looking to help the team out with a shortcut.

------> Walking Through Beams <------

DESCRIPTION:

A player sees some boxes protected behind some beams, and WITHOUT turning off the beams first by using the switch walks straight through the beams and grabs the treasure.

WARNING SIGNS: * you see a player walk through beams (although they will usually not do this visibly in front of you) * you come to an area where there are beams, but the boxes behind them are broken AND the items are gone * you see a player on the map in an impossible location (where beams forbid you from being without turning off first)

WHAT TO DO: The ONLY reason to walk through beams is to grab treasure, so unlike walking through locked doors, this person is cheating you out of your share. Again, the player does not need GameShark or anything else to do this, and again it is among the most closely guarded secrets in the game (which I also can do, hah-hah), but be upfront in your disapproval of this since it could be the thing keeping you from that much sought out weapon you're looking for. -

-----> Telepipe Traps <------

DESCRIPTION: You are told to "take the green pipe" and when you go down, you are either immediately ambushed by a multitude of enemies, whacked by a piston, blown away by traps, or trapped behind beams or a dead end room locked on both sides with no way out but the pipe.

WARNING SIGNS: There are none. You have no advance way to tell this will happen.

WHAT TO DO: If you are ambushed by enemies, the other player may have on purpose put the telepipe in the center of a room with many enemies hoping that you would die so that they can then run up and take your weapon and money. To keep this from happening, ALWAYS carry at least ONE scape doll, so that hopefully you will res yourself and be able to pick up your items before the other person runs in and does.

If you are blown away by traps, the other player may have found a room with many, many traps, avoided them (but not set them off or exploded them), then set the telepipe in the center where you were most likely to trigger the most of them unknowingly. Again, carry a scape doll to prevent this.

If you are whacked by a piston, take an aspirin and chuckle. They do minimum damage to you (if any) and this is usually done as a practical joke.

Behind bars or in a dead-end room, again, someone set down the telepipe after using a "walking through wall" trick in order to have a chuckle. Harmless fun, take the telepipe back up (or create your own) and leave. ---------------

TREASURE CHEATS --------------- ------> Always Sharing The Chests ... But What's the Catch? <------

DESCRIPTION:

yer opens chests, and seems to only take their share of things per the size of the party. They always leave money for you to pick up, and rather take items which you probably couldn't have used anyway.

nds fine, right? Well, your average amount of money in a box is usually a few hundred AT BEST, whereas the average price of an item sold in the shops can be upwards of a few thousand AT WORST. Additionally, if they die and haven't picked up any money, they won't lose any money if someone decides to steal it -- and they'll keep all the items to sell later. Thus, at the surface level, it seems that they're not taking EVERYTHING, but money-wise (and especially in the case of SPECIAL WEAPONS, item-wise) they're getting far more than their fair share.

WARNING SIGNS: * whenever you go to an area with boxes or where there were boxes, there's ONLY ever money there * NOTE: if the person who created the game has a YELLOW secion ID (yellowboze), this WILL occur naturally, as you will find more money than items

WHAT TO DO: Again, confront the player about "sharing", and if all else fails, quit.

------> Wow, That Player NEVER Takes Any Items! <------

DESCRIPTION:

What a swell guy! Player always goes ahead to treasure rooms and opens all the boxes, but when party members get there, nothing has been taken. In fact, there seem to be LESS empty boxes than usual, but it's normally money or healing items in them.

What the player is doing is opening the boxes, TAKING the good stuff, then DROPPING items of money of a less value so that it APPEARS that they didn't take anything by the time you get there.

WARNING SIGNS: * you're never finding orange or blue items (weapons/armor) in boxes * boxes seem to be empty less of the time * the placement of the items on the floor does not match up to where the boxes were (or should have been)

WHAT TO DO: Again, confront the player about "sharing", and if all else fails, quit. -

-----> Treasure Island <------

DESCRIPTION:

Following a player, a party member enters a room. Upon entering, the player is no longer in this room, but there is a huge pile of money in the center. The party member walks to the pile of money and takes it, but they are all only one meseta. Often the party member will stop and say, "What the heck? What's all this money?" When the party member catches up to the player, the player is in a room with treasure chests, the contents of which are now gone.

The player knew there was a treasure room nearby, so to get all the boxes to themself, they purposely DROPPED many 1-meseta boxes on the other side of the room, so that when the player entered the room they go and take the low-value meseta instead of following the player to the potentially higher value boxes.

WARNING SIGNS: * there are more than four yellow items on the floor * there is meseta where there were no boxes * there is a treasure room nearby, and the player you were following is there

WHAT TO DO: Leave the 1 meseta yellow items and follow the player to the real stuff, adding something to the extent of "wait up" or "hey man, share". If you suspect they did this on purpose to dupe you, this is probably a person you will never find any good items with because they will always be grabbing them first.

Note, this isn't always done with ill intentions. I personally love doing this for purposes of provoking humor or relieving boredom, ie waiting for other players to come down from ship when I'm at a boss portal. It's harmless, looks pretty neat on the ground (especially if you drop a hundred of them!), and fun when they finally DO get down there ("What the heck...?!").

------> This is the PsOLICE, Freeze! <------

DESCRIPTION: A player is in a game with only one other party member. The party member is an obvious vet of PSO and familiar with both the BSOD and BSOD warning signs (reference: see Black Screen of Death BSOD FAQ on gamefaqs.com). Near a room with treasure, the player suddenly and inexplicably stops moving, just stands there. The player does not respond to the party member when the party member talks to them. The party member, fearing the worst (BSOD), exits the game immediately. The player is then reanimated (it's a miracle! I can walk again!) and goes to the room with the treasure, claiming exclusive dibs.

WARNING SIGNS: * player stops talking AND moving * you suspect BSOD, however, you can STILL PICK UP ITEMS * you suspect BSOD, howver, you can STILL TALK * other party members are in the game, and they can move and talk fine

WHAT TO DO: Remember, before a BSOD hits, you CANNOT PICK UP ITEMS (or talk). To test this, drop a meseta and try picking it up again. If you can, then don't worry; the player is either trying to trick you, got disconnected legitimately, or (as is most often the case) just took that much needed once-every-eight-hours-of-straight-gameplay bathroom break.

If you think your player is really that devious, try dropping an item near them ("I found a double saber, here take it") and watch how quickly they come back to life (the item you really want to drop of course should be just a standard throw-away weapon).

------> Frozen Water Pipes <------

DESCRIPTION: A player leads the party into a room with slimes. Instead of attacking them, the player freezes them on purpose, which causes them to split in to. While the rest of the party now wastes time ridding Ragol of the watery pests, the player runs back and grabs treasure in an unexplored room.

WARNING SIGNS: * player ignores a side room with treasure and leads group into room with slimes * player freezes slimes instead of attacking (though some newbies don't know better) * player leaves room after freezing slimes

WHAT TO DO: Standard treasure-stealing tatics, it would be best to follow the user back out of the room to get your share of the items too, if that is indeed their intentions.

------> Setting Down Telepipe Near Treasure <------

DESCRIPTION: A player, having a map of the level from a magazine or strategy guide, or from knowing the level variations by heart so well, knows that there is a sweet pile of unopened chests in a nearby room. The player then says something such as "let's go to the ship to buy supplies and heal" and will open a telepipe.

The player will then wait for everyone to go up, then they will go up, but they will GO BACK SECONDS LATER. This, of course, closes the telepipe so that they have no competition when they go to grab the treasure. They will then set up a SECOND telepipe in the same place, and because party members are busy in the shops, nobody will notice it was missing for a few seconds.

WARNING SIGNS: * a sudden, usually unwarrented call to "go to the ship" * insistence that EVERYONE go up, not just one or two players * player waits for everyone to go up first * telepipe disappears, then reappears on ship telepipe area

WHAT TO DO: Again, there's not much recourse you have here, short of the above reccomendation to be firm yet polite and not immediately accusational with the player. -

-----> The "Bravest" Player <------

DESCRIPTION: A player runs into a room full of enemies without fear (or being slowed down by walk/blocking), busts open treasure boxes, then returns to the doorway to fight with you (all without breaking the run). They are able to do this by pressing the ^ START button while running, which keeps you from walking slowly (and can also save you in some situtations!).

WARNING SIGNS: * you notice that the player isn't automatically slowed down (walk/block defensive stance) when close to enemies * player strikes boxes before they strike the enemies

WHAT TO DO: Again, ask the player to fight FIRST, grab items SECOND, and reassure that you will do the same and will always share with them equally. -----------

BOSS CHEATS ----------- -

-----> Fighting the Boss Alone <------

DESCRIPTION: A player runs to the boss pad alone, and answers "YES" to "ARE YOU READY?". The player does this only if they know they can beat the boss alone. The player then recieves all the treasure without having to share it, which is a quantity greater than if they played a single player game.

WARNING SIGNS: * none, this comes without warning

WHAT TO DO: * sadly, there is nothing you can do but cross your fingers that the character is weaker than they believe and will be killed by the boss. Since players that purposely do this will often leave the game immediately after the boss, there is little recourse (save for verbal abuse). The only protection you can provide yourself is to get your team on the boss pad BEFORE sending a telepipe to a new player entering the game.

------> Boss Box Greed <------

DESCRIPTION: Once a boss is defeated, the player will use a Zonde-series technique to open ALL the boxes immediately, then sprint the area pressing the "A" pick-up-item button as quickly as they can, indiscriminately taking items.

WARNING SIGNS: * none -- just because a player opens the boxes with lightning, it does not mean they intend to "gun-run" all the treasures

WHAT TO DO: Grab as many items as you can as soon as you hear the far-too-rapid sound of items being picked up, then talk to the person openly about it, and offer to share your bounty if they'll share theirs. Otherwise, there's really nothing you can do.

------> False Confidence <------

DESCRIPTION: A player encourages a fight against the level boss despite the fact that the other party members are dangerously under-leveled to and inadequately prepared to fight the boss. There are reassurances from the player to the party of "don't worry, I'll heal and res you". The player sets up a telepipe before the boss portal, unequips their weapon (making sure that all money is in the bank), then immediately upon fighting the boss commits suicide and returns to the ship. Once at the ship, they take the telepipe back down to in front of the boss portal and wait for the other teammates to die.

Once all party members are dead (and have cursed thoroughly), they return to the ship thinking they can just take the telepipe back down to the portal to get their weapons, however, discover that the telepipe is no longer there (because the player went down). The player then enters the boss portal alone (weapon unequiped), grabs everybody's weapons, then dies again and returns to the ship to either sell the weapons, bank them, or bribe the teammates if they want them back.

WARNING SIGNS: * player enters boss arena with no weapon equiped, or an obvious throwaway weapon (ie "handgun") * player makes little or no attempt to hit the boss and instead dies without remorse * player DOES NOT WAIT TO BE RES'D, and instead returns immediately to the ship

WHAT TO DO: Don't fight a boss you know you are not ready for, no matter how much "talking into it" another player tries to get you. If you're not ready, you're not ready. That's different from the boss being a challange of course -- the boss shouldn't be TOO easy to beat, but not IMPOSSIBLE. Most importantly, if you've brought a good weapon to the boss and you see someone who's died and returned to the ship and you suspect it's for this reason (hint: were they the one to lay down the telepipe in front of the boss?), then unequip your good weapon and die cutting your losses, or equip to a throw-away weapon so you won't lose anything. Better still, make sure to have a Scape Doll on hand at all times when carrying good items.

------> Boss Weapon-Stealer <------

DESCRIPTION: Player enters boss arena with either no weapon or a throw-away. Player makes no attempt to fight boss, but rather protects just themself. Player does not cast RESTA as that will (at higher levels) give life to teammates -- player only uses the "-mate" family to increase life as that only heals them. Player then waits for anyone -- ANYONE -- to die, and steals their weapon, sometimes even getting away with all three other players' weapons. Player then DISCONNECTS the line and immediately dissappears, or unequips weapon and commits suicide in order to return to the ship and then the lobby.

WARNING SIGNS: * player enters boss arena with no weapon equiped, or an obvious throwaway weapon (ie "handgun") * player makes little or no attempt to hit the boss and instead dies without remorse * player does not res other players, either with a reverser or moon atomizer, and makes no attempt to heal or help them whatsoever * player usually tends to be quiet and not speak much, if at all * player may have a pattern of stealing earlier in the game, ie someone dies and they run up and take the weapon and money, only to realize that it's not a good weapon, so res the party member and give item back * note: if a moon atomizer or reverser is mapped to the RED "A" button, then this "stealing" is usually an accident and the player will apologize and give the item/money back right away

WHAT TO DO: Spot the warning signs early, though often they'll go unnoticed even by experienced players. Don't use your absolute best weapons against bosses of an even moderate difficulty, because no matter how high level you are there's always that possibility you'll get caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. Carry Scape Dolls so that hopefully you can beat the thief to your items. -------------

PLAYER CHEATS -------------

------> May the Force of Suicide be with you <------

DESCRIPTION: Player, usually a force, will unequip a weapon and commit suicide by running into a group of enemies without attacking. A party member will then res them. When the character is res'd, not only is their life bar filled (obviously), but they have all of their technique points back (so they don't have to spend it on a -fluid) AND their photon blast will be more charged up. So basically, they get a free power-up at the expense of your own TP to res them (not to mention the life you risk getting to their dead body). This WOULD be a great technique against bosses where TP is very critical and you can easily run out of -fluids, because you are esentially filling another character's TP completely at the expense of your own, but they can then turn around and do the same to you. Fairly pointless tatic, except perhaps for Forces who are too cheap to buy -fluids or use TP draw weapons.

WARNING SIGNS: * a character, typically Force, will die at very regular intervals (ie every time their TP is gone) with no weapon equipped (so if thieves come they have nothing to lose but money) and often with a telepipe they laid down in the area (so if they have to go back to ship because nobody will res, they can easily re-join the party)

WHAT TO DO: If you notice the pattern, and are certain they're doing this to skip using -fluids, it's simple; don't res them. If they want to go through the trouble of dying every five minutes and telepiping back down, that's fine. A variation of this is instead of dying, just telepiping up, running ALL the way to the nurse, blowing the ten meseta, then running ALL the way back, and repeating every time they run out of magic. If the player is an asset to the team, offer to buy -fluids for them if the reason they're doing that is just to save cash.

------> Chat-Kill <------

DESCRIPTION: A player enters a game and takes a pipe down. Their screen is immediately filled up with empty chat balloons from the three players, they cannot see anything, and either hit some bombs are are surrounded and killed by enemies. Someone takes your weapon and money and laughs manically.

This is similar to the telepipe trap trick, but the variation here is that three "buddies" all have a macro with 75 spaces (a full, large, empty chat balloon) which they are continuously streaming to your (and their own) screens so that you cannot see. They are in a safe place, you are not; you die.

WARNING SIGNS: * you take a telepipe down into a room with bombs * you take a telepipe down into the center of a enemy circle * your screen is flooded with blank messages or large graphics that don't cease

WHAT TO DO: If you suspect that your teammates set this trap for you to walk into and they they're not just incredibly intellectually dull, then hit ^ START and open up a telepipe (technique or item) to get the heck out of there. This is of course ineffective against bosses. I often find myself trying to placate the verbal urges of my party members during boss fights because I can't see, and they don't realize it.

------> Helping New Players Kill ... Themselves <------

DESCRIPTION: A player in a lobby finds a character near the breaking point between normal/hard, or hard/vhard. In other words, they find a player in the low 20's or in the low 40's, and convince that player to join them in a hard or very hard game respectively. The player then goes straight to the Ruins where the party member has no chance and the party member dies immediately. The player grabs the party member's weapon and money, then leaves.

WARNING SIGNS: * if you are in your lower 20's or lower 40's, there is little chance for your survival in the LAST level of that series, so you should stay away anyway * if someone significantly higher than you wants to go straight to the Ruins (or Mines for that matter, where you'd be easily as whupped) and finds the Forest or Caves out of the question (where you could probably hold your own), it might be a trap

WHAT DO DO: This is hard one to spot, because often high-level characters will legitimately help out the newbies because when they were new somone came into one of their games and helped THEM out and so the circle is complete. However, if you have your suspicions, equip a shoddy weapon and carry under a hundred meseta, then die on purpose and see if your "big brother" takes your items and ditches your or leaves your items and res's you.

------> Free: Double Saber, Cost: Guilt <------

DESCRIPTION: Player enters game, asks if anyone has a double saber. One party member does, but says that they only have one and that they're using it so it's not for sale. The player then joins the party, and fights exclusively with the party member with the double saber. If the party member should happen to die, the player immediately snaps up the saber and leaves.

WARNING SIGNS: * player is quiet except for comments regarding the double saber, ie "for sale?", "nice saber", etc. * player follows the character with the double, literally clipping the graphics of the two characters * player heals only using -mate family, never using Resta as that would heal the party member with the double saber whom theh player wants to die (exception: androids with no TP)

WHAT DO DO: Spot the warning signs early, they're usually GLARING. I can always spot a thief in a party I join, they're unusually quiet, they follow a specific character around, the grab as many items around them as they can even though they have barely contributed to the battle except for protecting their own tush. Carry a scape doll if you're going to break out the good weapons in non-password-protected games, and beware of being overwhelmed by enemies. I have seen many, MANY double-sabers stolen from party members by unscrupulous players, and it kills me every time. Be careful, and don't have too much pride to be shrewd enough to only use your good stuff OFF line.

------> Free Holy Ray +30, No Strings Attached <------

DESCRIPTION: A player is giving away unbelievable items: Holy Ray, Real Agitos, Double Sabers, Mag Cells, and tons of money. They ask for nothing in return, and in fact leave after dropping the items.

WARNING SIGNS: * mass quantities of free special items -- need I say more?

WHAT TO DO: Well, if you have no qualms with disrupting the natural global flow of the game, thereby corrupting a delicate virtual ecosystem previously perfectly balanced by video game mathematicians and scientists, then hey, go for it. The items were, of course, either GameShark cloned or duplicated through the aid of a little-known bug in the game which is a highly guarded secret as it does NOT require the use of GameShark or other cheating device and thus cannot be detected by Sega. GameShark or not, remember, you're disrupting the balance of a global community, the game equivilent of "inflation" whereby even a Holy Ray then becomes worthless because everyone's got three in the bank. Otherwise, if you're a straight shooter like myself (heh, right Sage?), then simply don't take the items. If you're feeling VERY reactionary, then take all the items before other players do, create a game, drop the items, then quit -- so that the items have been annhilated into the void of PSO cyberspace (the equivilent of "burning money" to stave off inflation). I wouldn't reccomend this later strategy, though, since any morale high ground you gain is likely to be thwarted by your new-found enemies.

------> Follow the Yellow Brick Road ... of Doom! <------

DESCRIPTION: Upon walking into an area, a party member sees what appears to be a "road" of yellow meseta. They grab each meseta and follow the road, grabbing each 1 meseta as the go along, possibly uttering "what the heck?" as they're doing so. At the end of the road lies a hallway with multiple bomb traps which kills them, or, leads them into the dead center of a room where enemies spawned while they were too busy counting the money and then kills them. The player then comes into the room and takes the party member's weapon and (ironically) meseta.

WARNING SIGNS: * there's a trail of yellow meseta on the ground * the level you're in could kill you if you played it alone * when you ask what the meseta road is, there is no reply, or urges to "follow it"

WHAT TO DO: Sure, take the meseta, but use trap vision and be as cautions following the END of a trail into a room as you would if you were entering the room alone without the distraction of the meseta. Most of the time, this is done harmlessly again out of boredom or fun. Sometimes, it actually aides as a navigational element. One time, my party all went to the ship while I stayed down and fought through a few rooms. So that they could find me from the telepipe more easily (which wasn't my telepipe), I left a trail from the TP to the room I was currently battling in, which they dutifully followed (after a few moments of confusion and laughter). Again, the ubiquitous solution of a Scape Doll would work nicely here, lest your fellow player have less honorable intenions than myself.

------> Experience Points "Theft" <------

DESCRIPTION: Ahh yes, the old "experience points theft" trick. One that we're all guilty of, knowingly or not. The way the game was designed, if one player inflicts 10 points of damage onto an enemy, and another player inflicts 950 points of damange onto an enemy, they both recieve an equal number of experience points when the enemy dies. Thus, you can have two players, one who does 95% of the work, the other who does 5% of the work, at the exact same level. This tends to occur naturally with Force characters through no fault of their own, due to their weaker HP total. It will also tend to occur in a game where there are one or more players WAY out of their league in a level, and again, this isn't neccessarily cheating. What *IS* cheating, however, is purposly entering a room, striking every enemy ONLY ONCE, then returning to the safety of the doorway while the other party members do the real work, for the specific intention of getting the experience points.

WARNING SIGNS: * a player is using a quick firing melee weapon (handgun) and only doing 1-hit combos to every enemy in the room, then running to safety * a force character is using a multiple-enemy hitting technique (zonde-series typically) only once, then returning to safety

WHAT TO DO: If you suspect a person is "using" your game to build experience, all you can do is politely ask the user to do their share of the work or leave. Afterall, they're taking up a valuable space in your game that someone else -- who would help your team -- could be taking instead. If that doesn't work, then do nothing. Go no further in the game. Just stand there and wait for them to leave. Since they are basically "weaklings" at heart (no matter if their Level indicates otherwise), they will never blaze a trail and enter new rooms alone -- thus, they will quit your game and move on to greener (less informed) pastures. -

-----> A Present With Six Claws and Your Name on It <------

DESCRIPTION: A player will enter a room, usually with the "Booma" series enemies in it, and lure them all into one huge group following them. When another party member enters the room, the player will then run STRAIGHT INTO the party member (graphics clipping their bodies) and into the doorway -- the party member will then be surrounded by all of the baddies, and if even a moderate level character, will have a high probability of dying if they can't ward them off. If this happens, the player then snags the party members weapon and money, then leaves.

WARNING SIGNS: * none. This is actually a legitimate fighting tactic when equiped with weapons that can hit multiple enemies (Swords and the like), and it is possible that after getting THAT many enemies on their rear they may feel they can't take them on afterall and run for safety, but they should help YOU out once your're in trouble instead of just standing there waiting for you to die

WHAT TO DO: Chances are you yourself are not properly perpared to fight against that large a group of enemies alone, so the best thing would be to duck back in the door along with the player. Otherwise, carry a Scape Doll as always in case things get ugly (or a telepipe mapped to a key for an emergency exit).

------> Playing As Someone Elses's Character <------

DESCRIPTION: A player notices a "friendship" between two players, and notes both of their names and physical descriptions ("tall skinny HuMar, red hair, black clothes"). A player then creates a character with the same name and physical description and goes to the same ship/lobby to find his "friend". When he finds the "friend", (being careful to make sure the "real" one is not online), he explains that he lost all of his items, his character, etc. The "friend", being the nice person they are, then gives the player plenty of money, items, and other goodies. The player thanks his "friend" then leaves.

WARNING SIGNS: * your "friend" is typing differently, both speed and langauge usage * your "friend" doesn't remember specific things you've done togeather * your "friend" skips the small talk and goes straight to asking for items

WHAT TO DO: The BSOD (Black Screen of Death) has destroyed many a player, but that's no reason to check for ID before parting with that beloved Twin Brand +20. Make sure they are who they say they are before you give them anything -- or pretend to not give them anything and see if they protest. If they don't protest, it's probably your real friend.

------> Getting Free Items from Traders <------

DESCRIPTION: A player goes online and notices a recurring room on a specific ship/block called something along the lines of "ItemTrader" or "WeaponsForSale". The user enters, notes the weapons dealer's description and name, then leaves. A period of time later, on the same ship and block when the "weapons" game does NOT exist, the user creates a new character with the weapons dealer's name and physical description and creates the game with the same name. Most of the people entering the room "know" the dealer and have established trust with them. When the person puts down the weapon or money, the "fake" dealer takes it and leaves.

WARNING SIGNS: * the weapons or items dealer is a level 1 character, or very low * the weapons or items dealer is a lower level then before * the weapons or items dealer does not put anything "down" to let you look at it first, insisting that you put yours down first

WHAT DO DO: Leave, and tell the real one about the fraud when you see them. Warn other users in the game lobby if possible. -----------

ITEM CHEATS -----------

------> Double MAG Blast <------

DESCRIPTION: Player lets rip a mag blast against a group of enemies or boss, then seconds later, let's rip a SECOND one.

WARNING SIGNS: * a player rips out two photon blasts in a row * a player has come from the ship and yet can let rip a photon blast immediately (ie the ship trip did not reset their PB meter to 0%)

WHAT TO DO: Don't automatically assume GameShark is the culprit. This is a trick performed easily enough through a bug in the game (I love doing double Photon Blasts!), and since it in most cases HELPS you since it KILLS the enemies (assuming a non cute-twins blast), there's nothing to be glum about. That is, exept if between the two blasts a boss falls without your having gotten a single shot in, in which case you'll get zero exp. and have right to be irritated, but there's still nothing you can do. -

-----> Telepiping Ups and Downs more Frequent than the Stock Market <------

DESCRIPTION: A player joins your party, then telepipes up, is gone for about a minute, comes back down, but then goes back up immediately, gone for a minute, comes back down, repeats. Since special weapons, special armor, and special items (scapes, grinders) appear in the shops with about the same probability as appearing in item boxes, the player is "resetting" the odds every time they go back to the ship, "spinning the wheel" if you will.

WARNING SIGNS: * up, down, up, down... WHAT TO DO: First, especially if they are a Force, ASK them what they need. It could just be they're out of Trifluid and are having bad luck at it appearing in the store. This being the case, sit out their absense or go help them to double their odds. However, if someone has joined your game EXCLUSIVELY to do this (because they're under the mistaken impression that there's any difference in shop itmes for normal/hard/vhard or forest/caves/mines/ruins), then tell them they they have the SAME odds in a single player game alone if you really need that 4th space open that they're taking up, or just let them do their thing and they'll eventually leave on their own. --------------

TRADING CHEATS -------------- -

-----> Buying A Double Saber at Used Car Prices <------

DESCRIPTION: A player offers to sell their double saber for a set amount of money, or to trade it for an item that a party member has. The party member wants to see it on the ground before they drop their money. When the party member sees it on the ground, it says "?SPECIAL WEAPON" with the sword icon. The player assures that it is a double saber because they have seen it equipped, the party member drops the money and takes the weapon. The player takes the money and leaves. The item is actually a common DB saber after being tekked.

WARNING SIGNS: * the item on the ground has not been tekked * they are selling the double saber for under 200k (it took me 160 hours to find ONE; yes, without GameShark, it really is a quite rare weapon)

WHAT TO DO: I would strongly reccomend against ever buying or selling double sabers. For some reason (thanks Lucas!) everybody wants one even though they're not THAT powerful and can really get you whupped in a hurry against a pack of baddies. I have personally seen more people get ripped off by double saber deals gone bad than any other weapon, by far. If you want one, find one, or trade with someone you trust absolutely. I actually LOANED my double saber to a friend for 24 hours because he didn't have one and wanted to try it out; yes, I did get it back, but only because I had played with him for dozens upon dozens of hours prior in password protected games and there was a high level of trust involved.

------> Buying a Level 200 MAG for the Price of a Pack of Ragol Gum <------

DESCRIPTION: A player offers to sell their level 200 MAG to a party member. The party member agrees. The player drops the MAG, the party member sees it on the ground, drops the money, then picks up the MAG. The player takes the money and leaves. The MAG turns out to be a low-level MAG. There is an incredibly easy way to accumulate MAGS for free in this game, though it is someone tedious. Simply create a new character, enter a game with a friend, drop the MAG, quick, come back as your "real" character, and take the MAG. The new character is then deleted and the process is repeated for up to six mags, after which they mysteriously disappear when dropped on the floor. Therefore, since this is within reach of all people to do, they don't care about "losing" a low level MAG despite the relatively infrequent "in-game" finding of one, because they have an endless supply of them anyway.

WARNING SIGNS: * a legitimately raised MAG to level 200 (without the assistence of GameShark or other cheat) is a very, very valuable item -- and even moreso if it's a superior MAG, like Bana or Asparas. Therefore, beware anyone selling one for under 500,000, as they may be pulling one on your OR have GameSharked the item * the name of the MAG on the floor is not kosher to what a third generation MAG's name should be, which you would need a game guide to verify * the player does not want you to actually PICK UP and LOOK at the MAG's stats until you have dropped the money (although this is tricky because they could be worried about YOU taking the MAG and ditching)

WHAT DO DO: You need to pick up and look a the MAG if you suspect it's not what the person says it is. If they don't let you do this, and you can't tell by looking at the MAG's name on the ground, then forget the deal and go somewhere else.

Better still, raise your own MAG to level 200 -- it's not that difficult if you keep an analog watch or clock around, and every time the big hand is on a number (ie every five minutes), feed the darn thing. It only took me two full nights of "not playing" (playing the easy levels) and just "feeding" to a watch to get mine to level 200 (Bana!).

------> Getting The Sweets From the Newbies <------

DESCRIPTION: A player asks a group of mid-level characters (20's, 30's) if anyone has a rare item such as a DelSaber's Arm, which most people don't know what to do with. When somebody who doesn't know what it is says yes, the player offers to give them a low-level special item (Varista, DB) in trade for it. The player agrees, but asks what the Arm does, since Tekkers won't tell you. They are told that the arm is, "a lame item, it's a green box item so you need two of them and it will then act as Trimate and Trifluid combined but you can only use it once", or something to that extent so as to downplay what it really is. The party member agrees, and makes the trade happily, feeling they got the better end of the deal. Well, perhaps this isn't so much a game cheat as it is just outright lying, but nonetheless I feel the neccessity to warn new users against this. There are many items that cannot be Tek'd which are FAR more rare than ?SPECIAL WEAPON items -- DelSaber's Arm is one of these, of course, but there are others. If you DO want to get rid of it because you don't want to go through the trouble of an offline quest to change it into the cool weapon it is, make sure you understand the true market value of it and be sure to get the best deal possible -- a Del's arm is worth at MINIMUM a DragonSlayer or Crush Bullet.

WARNING SIGNS: * player enters game and immediately asks if anyone has any of non-Tekable items (S-Beats, Del's, etc.) * player offers only DB's or Varistas in trade for it, and outright lies about what he plans on doing with the item, or why he is seeking one

WHAT TO DO: Again, this is simple. Know your options, and know the true rarity of these much-maligned un-tekkable items.

------> Waaah, Someone Stole my Double Saber! <------

DESCRIPTION: This trick is even older than the "stealing someone's double saber" trick. Player enters game with other party members who tend to be of a higher level. Player then moans to the party members that they had just gotten their one and only double saber (or insert weapon here) STOLEN by a neferaous user. The high level party member, feeling sympathic, gives the user a double saber and tells the user to join them down below. The player then leaves. The player, of course, never had a double saber let alone had one stolen, and is merely prying on people sympathy and generousity to manipulate one out of them.

WARNING SIGNS: * player seems too low a level to have had said weapon (Lv19 with a Spread Needle, no way) * player joins game and immediately whines about said weapon, but takes no actions towards joining your party in battle * if player's comments are not responded to with a gift, player goes as far as to ask for the donation outright

WHAT TO DO: It's a tough call, you can never really tell if they lost one or not unless you saw it with your own eyes. If you've got tons of said weapon, offer a fair trade that tips to their side slightly, but I'd reccomend against outright donations unless you're just unloading on extra DBs and Varistas.