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Somer Blink: Legit or Scam?
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Alex Luther
Caldari Provisions
Caldari State
#241 - 2012-08-07 21:23:07 UTC
Toroup wrote:
Alex Luther wrote:
highonpop wrote:
I've dropped hundreds of millions of ISK into somer, more than I wish to try and count.



I've only ever won a raptor... twice....



Its no scam. Just gambling like usual. I had a corp mate win a Mach off a promo blink once. He didnt even know he had won, another corp mate was watching it and you here on comms:

corpy 1"Ah, Damn.. I didn't win the machariel.."
corpy 1"Wait, (corp mate's name), YOU WON!"
corpy 2" I won? OH ****! IM GOING TO JITA!"



Just because you or you know someone who won doesnt mean its not rigged. He can let the system function properly just as he says it works, but then sometimes he can let his friends make some quick isk by fixing certain accounts with the ability to win no matter what.

Honestly as a developer myself, adding an attribute to certain players and making the winning number only fall on a number that this certain player has purchased would be extremely simple and because nobody can prove that he is doing this its completely fine.

Think about it, if you had a legitimate game like blink and you had the ability to win on items you wanted to win on any time you wanted to, wouldnt you?

Example:

FriendofSomer: Man, I just lost my rorqual today... :(
Somer: thats ok, just signin to your account on blink, i've activated your account to win the next rorqual that you bid on.
FriendofSomer: Awesome! I'll never have to pay for another ship again, i can just have the other 15 players pay for it and give you a profit when i win.

Hopefully you see the scam in that. If you could scam people by rigging certain micro lotto's without being caught and without having to provide more that your word that you arnt cheating the system then wouldn't you? If the answer for if you would do it is yes, then that should be all of the proof you need to know that its happening.

On a side note, think about it this way. Somer has successfully severed control of your isk from CCP and replaced control with its own website with its own limitless rules. The day that you give control of your isk to a 3rd party is the day that you will be scammed.

'nough said


So this is can not be proven one way or the other unless you were that person or you are Somer - otherwise it's all just tinfoil hat gabble. It's like saying "CCP hates me because that Drake just destroyed my Rokh, they must be a friend of a dev and they gave them the Super Drake!" when the reality it that maybe your fittings suck. maybe they are a better player or maybe it was just luck.

I've lost money on Blink and I've won money on blink. I've never seen anything that leads me to believe that it's rigged.



I'll make the Martin Rees quote of "Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence "Just because no one (at least willing to come forth) has evidence of this doesn't mean that the evidence does not exist". I predict that someone will release convincing evidence on this soon.
Anhenka
Native Freshfood
Minmatar Republic
#242 - 2012-08-07 21:31:37 UTC  |  Edited by: Anhenka
All this tinfoilhattery is really rather amusing.


Rig it to make sure a friend win their next lottery? Why bother? Just give them a Rorq. Somner and several friends run the site, if they asked if they could give a friend of theirs a rorq, Somner would answer "Sure" They dont have to justify what they do with the isk, it is a private business. 2.5 bil is chump change when you realize Somner is sitting on more isk than any group in the game other than perhaps goonswarm.

You guys don't seem to understand, Somner takes a cut from every transaction. Say everyone chips in tickets, one person wins and turns it back in for b/o price+5%? Well that still leaves Somner with 5-20% more isk than the blink credit handed out.

And that's 5-20% cut off the top on TRILLIONS of isk. as in 1,000,000,000,000's. And not one Trillion, or 2, but 290 Trillion Isk so far. They could shoot rorquals out of a damn snowball launcher for fun and still not make any real dent in the wallet.


There is absolutely no need to rig anything for a friend when the site makes more than the lost Rorqual in profit in the time it takes Somner to take a **** break.


It would be like skimming off the take from a gumball machine, you get a quarter here or there you might not have had but if you get caught it's still a fraud charge that haunts you forever. Now in this situation, the guy hypothetically skimming from a gumball machine is a Billionaire. How likely is he to risk the squeaky clean rep he has in the trade world, for a quarter?
Takeshi Yamato
Ministry of War
Amarr Empire
#243 - 2012-08-07 21:38:31 UTC  |  Edited by: Takeshi Yamato
The only winner is, as always, the lottery. The only way to win is not to play.

Also, it would be trivial for Somer Blink to cheat, not that they need to, seeing how many people are playing.
Steve Ronuken
Fuzzwork Enterprises
Vote Steve Ronuken for CSM
#244 - 2012-08-07 22:05:22 UTC
Alex Luther wrote:
Copine Callmeknau wrote:
While this does look extremely /tinfoil


I really do wonder how a player can be winning blinks in august 2011 while only existing in eve since may 2012

It's possible the blog and screenshot of the char's birthdate has been faked, I'm not in game to verify things atm, it's extremely suspicious if those screenshots are legit though.



Well it looks like a shill player to me... Apparently somer didnt bother to even update her db and match the date the toon started playing to the birth date of the toon in eve.

Princess Darknight profile on Blink

Princess Darknights character and employment history via the eve api

So clearly you can see by the characters employment history "row recordID="19706243" corporationID="1000077" startDate="2012-05-10 20:22:00"" that it was born long after the first award was given on blink's website.

Now one possibility is that the character was created by a valid eve player back in 2011 but it was later biomassed then recreated. Oh and the toon had some extremely good luck winning.



Already explained in the thread.

Each /player/ is only allowed one blink account (hard to police, of course).

But you can shift that account between your characters. So an older account can be associated with a newer character.

(no, I don't work for blink. I've just won more than I've spent with them. Just lucky.)

Woo! CSM XI!

Fuzzwork Enterprises

Twitter: @fuzzysteve on Twitter
Alex Luther
Caldari Provisions
Caldari State
#245 - 2012-08-07 22:18:46 UTC  |  Edited by: Alex Luther
Steve Ronuken wrote:
Alex Luther wrote:
Copine Callmeknau wrote:
While this does look extremely /tinfoil


I really do wonder how a player can be winning blinks in august 2011 while only existing in eve since may 2012

It's possible the blog and screenshot of the char's birthdate has been faked, I'm not in game to verify things atm, it's extremely suspicious if those screenshots are legit though.



Well it looks like a shill player to me... Apparently somer didnt bother to even update her db and match the date the toon started playing to the birth date of the toon in eve.

Princess Darknight profile on Blink

Princess Darknights character and employment history via the eve api

So clearly you can see by the characters employment history "row recordID="19706243" corporationID="1000077" startDate="2012-05-10 20:22:00"" that it was born long after the first award was given on blink's website.

Now one possibility is that the character was created by a valid eve player back in 2011 but it was later biomassed then recreated. Oh and the toon had some extremely good luck winning.



Already explained in the thread.

Each /player/ is only allowed one blink account (hard to police, of course).

But you can shift that account between your characters. So an older account can be associated with a newer character.

(no, I don't work for blink. I've just won more than I've spent with them. Just lucky.)


You do know that when you move a character to another account you keep your employment history, dont you? (in EVE)

Or are you saying that i can create an account in blink then use another character to log onto that same account and all of a suddently it changes my account name to the name of the character currently accessing that account?

Eve account 1 - create blink account with name of "eve account 1"

Eve account 2 - accesses blink account "eve account 1" then blink will change the name on my account from "eve account 1" to "eve account 2".

If this is what you believe then i would say that you're wrong, i haven't seen any option to do that at all.
Pankas Carter
Viziam
Amarr Empire
#246 - 2012-08-07 22:20:19 UTC
What stops one from just biomassing the alt after sending the winnings elsewhere?

Adama: Starbuck, what do you hear? Starbuck: Nothing but the rain. Adama: Then grab your gun and bring in the cat.
Alex Luther
Caldari Provisions
Caldari State
#247 - 2012-08-07 22:22:54 UTC
Pankas Carter wrote:
What stops one from just biomassing the alt after sending the winnings elsewhere?



Absolutely nothing... but what point are you trying to make?
Alex Luther
Caldari Provisions
Caldari State
#248 - 2012-08-07 22:35:32 UTC
Anhenka wrote:
All this tinfoilhattery is really rather amusing.


Rig it to make sure a friend win their next lottery? Why bother? Just give them a Rorq. Somner and several friends run the site, if they asked if they could give a friend of theirs a rorq, Somner would answer "Sure" They dont have to justify what they do with the isk, it is a private business. 2.5 bil is chump change when you realize Somner is sitting on more isk than any group in the game other than perhaps goonswarm.

You guys don't seem to understand, Somner takes a cut from every transaction. Say everyone chips in tickets, one person wins and turns it back in for b/o price+5%? Well that still leaves Somner with 5-20% more isk than the blink credit handed out.

And that's 5-20% cut off the top on TRILLIONS of isk. as in 1,000,000,000,000's. And not one Trillion, or 2, but 290 Trillion Isk so far. They could shoot rorquals out of a damn snowball launcher for fun and still not make any real dent in the wallet.


There is absolutely no need to rig anything for a friend when the site makes more than the lost Rorqual in profit in the time it takes Somner to take a **** break.


It would be like skimming off the take from a gumball machine, you get a quarter here or there you might not have had but if you get caught it's still a fraud charge that haunts you forever. Now in this situation, the guy hypothetically skimming from a gumball machine is a Billionaire. How likely is he to risk the squeaky clean rep he has in the trade world, for a quarter?


Ok. Great point, but when was the last time your internet spaceship friend bought you a Rorqual with money from his pocket?

Maybe the way I explained my theory was too vague and left too much to imagination, some people just cant connect the dots or map out how one could take advantage of certain situations.

Here is a more detailed scenario.

Sure Somer could bankroll an entire corp or null sec alliance even, but why should he spend his own money to do it? Why when he could have 17 other random lottery players pay for the bulk of it and generate a 30% profit. Remember, making just enough is good but making more is better.

Another scenario, simply make an alt, create an account on your own website (blink) add fake money(blink credit) to its account (extremely simple) then just play random lotteries and win here and there, that way you generate more profit and don't even have to pay out a winner.

As for your assumption that blink will just pay for everyone to have things just because he has the isk to do it, well I dont know too many extremely wall off players that just buy ships for their friends even. Hell even myself, I've bought ships for friends before, just not anything over 300mil, but if i was in control of this website... well lets just be happy i dont run it.
Andrev Nox
Native Freshfood
Minmatar Republic
#249 - 2012-08-07 22:38:43 UTC
Alex Luther wrote:
If this is what you believe then i would say that you're wrong, i haven't seen any option to do that at all.


Holy threadnecro, batman :D

What he was trying to explain, and as was explained earlier in thread:

Each person is allowed one Blink account. When they want to change which eve character that account is tied to, they can contact us and we transfer from the old character to the new one they pick. Nothing to do with their eve account or employment histories - it's the Blink account that's being transferred from one char to the other. :)

Somer Blink - The original microlottery site.
Jimmy Gunsmythe
Sebiestor Tribe
#250 - 2012-08-07 22:41:30 UTC
Played, won a few things, had a couple of exciting moments, seen a few people win an inordinate amount of blinks. It is what it is. Move along.

John Hancock
Rented
Hunter Heavy Industries
#251 - 2012-08-07 22:44:37 UTC
Breaking News: This just in... lead scientists have recently determined that gambling is indeed gambling.
Alex Luther
Caldari Provisions
Caldari State
#252 - 2012-08-07 22:58:09 UTC
Andrev Nox wrote:
Alex Luther wrote:
If this is what you believe then i would say that you're wrong, i haven't seen any option to do that at all.


Holy threadnecro, batman :D

What he was trying to explain, and as was explained earlier in thread:

Each person is allowed one Blink account. When they want to change which eve character that account is tied to, they can contact us and we transfer from the old character to the new one they pick. Nothing to do with their eve account or employment histories - it's the Blink account that's being transferred from one char to the other. :)



Thanks for clearing that up for me :)
Now go back to rolling in the dough
Dronekiller4
Aliastra
Gallente Federation
#253 - 2012-08-14 03:11:15 UTC
Its not a scam in anyway
Just today i won a plex, a vigilant, 2 chimera carriers, 1 nidhoggur carrier, and a rorqual.
You win some days, you loose some days.
Today happened to be a win day.
And please, if that blog was make by you, shoot yourself.

For Sale.
LilRemmy
Aliastra
Gallente Federation
#254 - 2012-08-14 03:15:56 UTC
Copine Callmeknau wrote:
While this does look extremely /tinfoil


I really do wonder how a player can be winning blinks in august 2011 while only existing in eve since may 2012

It's possible the blog and screenshot of the char's birthdate has been faked, I'm not in game to verify things atm, it's extremely suspicious if those screenshots are legit though.



Oops
Call Me Allen
Doomheim
#255 - 2012-08-18 23:14:52 UTC
At least some people think they're a scam. Somer was recently hit with a heist and hack. The hackers say they've turned up evidence of shill accounts and cheating.

It's all right here: http://www.evenews24.com/2012/08/15/somer-blink-hit/

this thread has been around a while, so i guess i'm not the first person to wonder about their legitimacy. i'm so glad this is being discussed in General Discussion. where people can see it. for one and a half months.
Ashera Yune
Doomheim
#256 - 2012-08-19 04:35:04 UTC
Fools believed that Somer Blink could do no wrong, but these people are not out here for your sake.

They are here to make a profit, the chances that they actually could have been caught screwing with the system was fairly low.

With no transparencies in the system, they could fabricate any sort of story to fool and cover their track.


Fortunately, their overconfidence left a vulnerable backdoor to for a hacker to reveal the truth about the Greed behind Somer Blink to the World.

"Yesterday we obeyed kings and bent our necks before emperors. But today we kneel only to truth."

 Kahlil Gibran
Kel Shek
Aliastra
Gallente Federation
#257 - 2012-08-19 10:43:58 UTC
LilRemmy wrote:
Copine Callmeknau wrote:
While this does look extremely /tinfoil


I really do wonder how a player can be winning blinks in august 2011 while only existing in eve since may 2012

It's possible the blog and screenshot of the char's birthdate has been faked, I'm not in game to verify things atm, it's extremely suspicious if those screenshots are legit though.



Oops


actually they explained that. if you sell your "main" you can switch your account to a new character. thus, old account, new character.

Call Me Allen wrote:
At least some people think they're a scam. Somer was recently hit with a heist and hack. The hackers say they've turned up evidence of shill accounts and cheating.

It's all right here: http://www.evenews24.com/2012/08/15/somer-blink-hit/

this thread has been around a while, so i guess i'm not the first person to wonder about their legitimacy. i'm so glad this is being discussed in General Discussion. where people can see it. for one and a half months.

&
Ashera Yune wrote:

Fortunately, their overconfidence left a vulnerable backdoor to for a hacker to reveal the truth about the Greed behind Somer Blink to the World.


doesn't it seem suspicious that they supposedly found evidence...

... yet there is no evidence?
Roxwar
Republic Military School
Minmatar Republic
#258 - 2012-08-19 13:21:16 UTC
Been watching this for a while unfold.

I'd like to add, that somer 'probably' is the single largest holder os isk in this game due to takign a cut on EVERY transaction ever.
The fact is they could **** out rorqs/carriers/supers and titans and not even dent the wallet.

This also makes me thing somer would be the perfect front for the largest RMT opperation in EVE history.

Think about it.
Vilnius Zar
SDC Multi Ten
#259 - 2012-08-19 15:01:16 UTC
Roxwar wrote:
Been watching this for a while unfold.

I'd like to add, that somer 'probably' is the single largest holder os isk in this game due to takign a cut on EVERY transaction ever.
The fact is they could **** out rorqs/carriers/supers and titans and not even dent the wallet.

This also makes me thing somer would be the perfect front for the largest RMT opperation in EVE history.

Think about it.



It probably also pays for a war effort or two.
Hiyora Akachi
Blood Alcohol Content
T O P S H E L F
#260 - 2012-08-19 15:22:33 UTC
Its a scam in the way every casino and lottery is a scam.

If you can't afford to lose the ISK don't put it up.

If you put up a **** ton of ISK on something (some guy mentioned buying all but one ticket on a few items) and RNG screws you. Oh well.


Until there is definitive proof of Somer scamming us, I'll keep dropping a few mil a week and playing the small blinks and the promos.