Lost Ark Limits Some Features Only to “Trusted” Players

Lost Ark’s latest update is now out and available, and with that comes a new way for Smilegate RPG to fight against bots and fraudulent accounts. The developer has been grappling with this problem since the game went live, and this week, the newest effort involves any given account being deemed a “Trusted” one or not. If it’s not a trusted account, it’ll have limited access to different features with the hope being that this will make it harder for bot accounts to peddle their ill-gotten gains.

Smilegate’s most recent solution plays off of Steam’s requirement that people make a small purchase of $5 or more in order to use the platform’s full range of community and social features. Assuming you’ve met that requirement on Steam, you’ll have no problems going about your business in Lost Ark.

“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,” Smilegate said. “Players who have not met this ‘Trusted’ status through Steam or Lost Ark will have reduced access to a small number of social and economic systems.”

The “reduced access” includes “smaller daily Steam purchase limits” as well as the inability to initiate player-to-player trades, send in-game gifts, exchange Royal Crystals for Gold, and send in-game mail with attachments.

The notes for this week's update are out!

🦁 Casual Guardian Raid Event
⚔️ Proving Grounds Season 1
🎁 Player Gifts
🤖 Fraud & Bot Prevention

…and even more here!
📝 https://t.co/q8Rg0S7OTc pic.twitter.com/UvYiUbbfB3

— Lost Ark (@playlostark) March 23, 2022

With Lost Ark being a free-to-play game, however, there’s a decent chance people might not currently meet these requirements if you only made a Steam account for this game or other free titles. If that’s the case, you’ll want to read up on Steam’s policies which sometimes limit user accounts until they’ve spent at least $5 within the platform. You don’t actually have to spend the money on a game –you can simply add it to your Steam Wallet and you’ll be good to go.

While this may not be an optimal solution for everyone, Smilegate said its overall goal is to stamp out these sorts of fraudulent activities bots promote and said it’ll be listening to feedback.

“Our goal is for players to always enjoy their time in Lost Ark, safe from users engaging in fraudulent purchases or the negative impact bots have on both the economy and player experience,” Smilegate said. “The only dangers in Arkesia should be the Demonic hordes, voracious wildlife, and colossal Guardians. We strive to remain both flexible and transparent, listen to feedback, and create the best experience possible.”