Hey Townies,

We are going to have an extended downtime 1/9 at 11pm to do a patch, and do some more server maintenance. The patch itself will include new cosmetics, some older cosmetics becoming Merit Point purchasable, some improvements to the anti-spam filter, and the Sheriff feedback message and more.


Server Maintenance:
We have been having these extended downtimes to help improve server security, and to help us prep for some features related to this. We appreciate your patience.


Cosmetics:
We are going to be releasing 4 new cosmetics with this patch. The Mafioso, Coven Leader, and Tracker skins, and the 9 Tailed Fox pet.

Here are the new cosmetics:


New Merit Point purchasable cosmetics
The Necronomicon, Penguin, Potion Master, Toil and Trouble, and Coven Rises cosmetics can now be purchased with Merit Points.


Sheriff Feedback Change
After the change to the Sheriff's interrogation results were made to be just suspicious, or not suspicious there were some users who thought these messages were too similar, and would get confused. Due to this we have changed the not suspicious message to now say the target is innocent. This should help to clarify what result users received.


Anti-Spam Improvements
We have implemented better feedback messages for different kinds of spamming to let users know what behavior they should not be doing.


Bug fixes:
Fixed a bug where the Serial Killer would received a message saying they attacked the Jailor when jailed, even if the Jailor executed them.

Mobile Specific Changes:
Some achievements may reveal game information to users, due to this issue we have implemented a shadow achievement system that will hide these achievements until the game is done, and then say you earned them.

We have gathered some data related to some crashes and while we investigate these we will be disabling Ranked on mobile again.

Improvements to the auto bug reporting feature.

Bugs
When a user failed to login due to an incorrect password an incomplete message was shown, this has been fixed.
iPhone X - Fixed an issue with theRole List flowing below the bottom of the role list frame.
Fixed some achievements that were not being awarded properly.
Fixed a bug that was not allowing mobile users to click on the role list to see role cards/possible roles.
Fixed a bug that caused a user's original will no longer visible after being forged, even if revived by Retributionist.
Fixed an issue that allowed the Witch and Transporter to target dead players.
Fixed a bug with the “X role was X” header text timing not being right on multiple deaths.
Fixed an issue with the Character Customization Positions.
Fixed a bug that occurred when the Juggernaut killed more than 4 people. This caused their role card to break.
Fixed a bug that caused Last wills to be displayed for cleaned and stoned players.
Fixed a sound bug where the tick tock sounds were missing from Lobby countdown timer.
Fixed an issue where a player would be disconnected, but the app would not handle it correctly.
Fixed an issue in the lobby where random roles names were not colored correctly.
Fixed an issue in the game where random roles names in role list were not colored correctly.
Fixed an issue where the achievement list roles were not being sorted in alpha order.
Fixed a bug where the username taken feedback message was not being displayed.
Fixed a bug where the delay in rejoining a lobby type you’ve just left provided no feedback as to why.

Edit: The servers are back up! 3:26 am CST.

Hey Townies,

There will be an extended downtime at 12 am 1/9 for some server maintenance. We appreciate your patience, and we will get the game back up as soon as possible.

Edit: 4:05AM CST The servers are back up!

Hey Townies,

We are currently working through fixing the holes in our systems, and looking into hiring a security firm to make sure it is all done correctly. We sent out emails to all our users to let them know that this breach occurred, so if you see an email from us it is legit.

Here is the most recent update post from our CEO about the situation: https://www.blankmediagames.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=95412

Hey Townies,

We have a tiny patch today!

Sheriff Feedback Improvements
We noticed that the new messages for the Sheriff when they interrogate someone are too similar to each other. We changed the not suspicious message to be:
"You cannot find evidence of wrongdoing. Your target seems innocent."

Blackmailed Spam Fix
There was a bug with being Blackmailed and defending yourself on the stand. When you attempt to type it should show 'I am blackmailed' but it was not.

Happy Holidays from us at BMG!

Taken from CEO and Co-founder Achilles' post on the forums here: http://www.blankmediagames.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=94733


As many of you know, over the last 2-3 months we have been under attack by a group of people who created bots to spam in Town of Salem games, stall lobbies, and attempt to brute force Town of Salem accounts as well as forum accounts.

Today we know who those people are. We have linked IPs from bot accounts to the players main accounts, and we have screenshots from the infamous Grenzeland discord server that was used to organize the attacks where the botters admit to what they are doing.

We will be banning these people from the game and from the forums.

We have other screenshots of them targeting our Facebooks, LinkedIn and even my personal home address and mailing me inappropriate things. They also planned to file false reports to the Better Business Bureau in an attempt to tarnish our company name. We would include screenshots of those too, however, again, we want to protect the identity or identities of the source of this information. These people gathered together to attack us in anyway they could think of. It is clear they had no intention of trying to help improve the game but merely enjoyed causing havoc and destruction anyway they could. As a result, these people and any known aliases will be getting banned and permanently blacklisted from both the game and the forum.


We hope this brings an end to this incident and those involved will be held accountable.

Thank you to you all who are a part of this community and had to endure these problems. Thanks for staying, being patient, and understanding.

The BMG Team

Edit: Removed information related to the accounts of these users to not violate Steam name and shame rules. You can still go to the post linked earlier in the thread for all the information.

Hey Townies!

Today we are releasing a patch that will bring the Refer-A-Friend system changes and the new referral code systems to mobile along with some bug fixes.


Mobile Changes
Refer-A-Friend System

When a premium user reaches 10 games played they will receive 5 referral codes that they can give to their friends. These codes can be redeemed by a user's friends after they create their account, login, and click the play button. Users will also get 5 extra codes at 25 games played, 50 games played, 100 games played, and 250 games played. This means that a user can get up to 25 referral codes through the life of their account. To claim these codes click the button that looks like hands shaking on the left of the screen under the Shop button. Refer-A-Friend rewards have been bumped up to 1300 Town Points per player successfully referred from 100. We are also going to reward for every successful referral past 5 with 1300 Town Points. There was previously no reward for referrals past 5.

Trial Accounts

The pop-up that says you need to make a purchase has a text field to enter in Trial codes. After a player redeems a code their account is made into a Trial account. When a player redeems a code if they have not put a user as their referrer, or has put a user that didn't give them the redeem code the user that gave them the code will be marked as their referrer. Trial accounts can play 5 games and after that they will be locked out of playing until they make a purchase.

Be Aware!

If an account is banned during the Trial phase, the account that referred them will receive a suspension. Trial accounts that are only suspended will not punish the referring account. Note that accounts are only banned over being suspended when they are botting or spamming hate speech. Once the referred accounts becomes a premium account the referral user is no longer responsible for their accounts and will not be suspended if the referrer gets banned.

Mobile Ranked

We fixed many mobile issues that were causing users to disconnect, and we feel that mobile is stable enough to re-enable Ranked for mobile users.

Bug Fixes

Fixed some spelling issues for certain mobile feedback messages.
Fixed some issues causing mobile users to disconnect,
Fixed an issue that was causing some purchases to fail on mobile.
Fixed an issue related to wills after a Janitor cleaned a player.

Changes to All Platforms

Spam Filter Improvements

Several spam filter improvements have been added since the last patch. Check out Achilles' Dev Update post for more information. As we receive feedback we will continue to make improvements to this system to improve overall game quality.

Hey Townies,

Today we are releasing a bunch of quality of life improvements, a change to how the Sheriff feedback works, and a few bug fixes.

General bug fixes and optimizations:
Patching mode - When the servers are down for a patch you will now see a link to the patch notes instead of a connection error when attempting to play

Improved ban/suspensions - Added suspension/ban reason feedback on login. Players who are suspended/banned via trials, a moderator, or automatic systems such as referral abuse will now be notified of the reason upon login.

Fixed a bug where promotion popups were being shown to referral users who had not upgraded to premium yet.

Improved server and account security.

Fixed Guardian Angel achievements and "target was attacked" feedback.

Changed the "I am blackmailed." message while on trial to only be allowed to be said one time per trial.

Spam Improvements:

* You can no longer say the same thing twice in a row in a 10 second time period
* You can no longer type in all caps twice in a row in a 10 second time period
* Added a few common bad words found in reports to the chat filter

These changes were made to make it that people getting reported, and punished for spam are actually spamming maliciously.

Jailor vs Werewolf interaction bug fix:

A Jailed Werewolf will now direct attack his captor instead of doing a passive attack. This allows things like Bodyguard to protect the Jailor.

Sheriff change

Sheriff will now only see "Your target is suspicious" instead of specific feedback about Mafia/Coven/Werewolf/SK. This will allow NK roles to more easily claim they were framed when checked by a Sheriff.

Requesting Trial Codes
Due to some users posting their codes on public forums, them getting redeemed by bots, and the user who posted them being banned, we are further trying to encourage users to not post their codes on public forums. There is now a required "I Agree" captcha that needs to be filled out upon requesting codes. This is intended to make users take a second and read the message given when requesting codes.

Hey Townies,

Today we are going to be releasing a patch that will have several improvements to the Refer-A-Friend system, and a new Referral system. These changes are meant to help our established users give their friends a chance to play the game before making a purchase. We are also going to amp up the rewards for when a friend does purchase the game.

Referral System
When a premium user reaches 10 games played they will receive 5 referral codes that they can give to their friends. These codes can be redeemed by a user's friends after they create their account, login, and click the play button. Users will also get 5 extra codes at 25 games played, 50 games played, 100 games played, and 250 games played. This means that a user can get up to 25 referral codes through the life of their account. To claim these codes click the button that looks like hands shaking to the right of the Cauldron button.

Refer-A-Friend improvements
Refer-A-Friend rewards have been bumped up to 1300 Town Points per player successfully referred from 100. We are also going to reward for every successful referral past 5 with 1300 Town Points. There was previously no reward for referrals past 5.

Trial Accounts

The pop-up that says you need to make a purchase to play now has a "Redeem" button. If this is clicked it will take the user to a screen where a code can be entered. After a player redeems a code their account is made into a Trial account. When a player redeems a code if they have not put a user as their referrer, or has put a user that didn't give them the redeem code the user that gave them the code will be marked as their referrer. Trial accounts can play 5 games and after that they will be locked out of playing until they make a purchase.

Be Aware!
If an account is banned during the Trial phase, the account that referred them will receive a suspension. Trial accounts that are only suspended will not punish the referring account. Note that accounts are only banned over being suspended when they are botting or spamming hate speech. Once the referred accounts becomes a premium account the referral user is no longer responsible for their accounts and will not be suspended if the referrer gets banned.

NOTE: This feature is not available on mobile yet, but will come with a later patch.

Hey Townies,
We are patching some bug fixes along with a new game mode! Dracula's Palace is a vampire focused mode available in the Chaos game type.

New Additions
* Dracula's Palace game mode
* Vampires can now kill when they have a full faction

Bug Fixes
* Server and database optimizations
* Fixed bug where Mafioso would see targets night defense being too high while jailed
* Fixed bug where SerialKiller would get roleblocked feedback when killing a Pirate who wasn't dueling them

Happy Hanging!

After careful thought and consideration we have decided that taking Town of Salem away from a free-to-play model is best for the continued health and community of the game.



What does going Pay To Play mean for me as an existing user?

You are most likely already grandfathered in to the new system. All existing accounts with at least 1 game played or who has ever made a real money purchase (Steam, Web premium, Mobile premium, Coven, promotions, etc) are already grandfathered in. We didn’t grandfather in all accounts to prevent bringing a bunch of botter alt accounts into the new system.

A grandfathered account does not mean you now have a premium account however. If you hadn’t already purchased premium you still will not get the double merit points after the change, but you will be able to continue playing ToS for free as a grandfathered account.


Why did we make this change?

As many of you are aware in the recent months we have been attacked by a group of botters and scripters spamming the chat, making false reports, gamethrowing, and all around ruining games. We have done many things to combat these bots but at the detriment of future development.

We have tried auto detection of common bot phrases, and suspensions based on these. The bots were able to turn this against normal users by tricking them into saying these phrases, while changing their bots to say other things.

This led us to try logging their IPs and IP banning them, but they would just rotate their IPs between accounts. Normal users would sometimes then be assigned these banned IPs meaning they couldn’t log in anymore.

Next we tried altering our client and server networking code to break 3rd clients. Within a few hours they had decompiled our SWFs, looked at the source code to fix their 3rd party clients and were back to botting.

We added email verification to make sure that only valid emails could be used to create accounts, but these users used forwarding emails, or sites such as “10 minute email” to make temporary emails that were valid long enough to activate the accounts.

Then we added captchas to several parts of the registration process to make it harder for them to register accounts, but again, they found ways to get around it, or go straight through it. This made it harder for normal users to make accounts, but didn’t really slow down the bots.

Lastly, we added captchas when a newer user tried to join a lobby, and these would trigger again on spamming reports. This method slowed down the bots, but only as long as we constantly work to add new captcha questions, and actively work to brick any automated solvers they are creating.

Currently, we can only keep up with the bots by devoting all our time to the upkeep of the captcha system.

The botters and spammers seem willing to devote all of their time to coming up with new ways to spam, troll, bot and destroy Town of Salem. Every new system we add to stop botters just hurts the new user experience more and more and motivates the botters to find a way around the system.

The solution is going Pay to Play.

Even before botters we have always struggled to keep a clean community against spammers, trolls, multi-accounters, gamethrowers and downright toxic people who can make an alt account and be back on the game within 5 minutes of being banned. This is a common problem with free-to-play games. Now that we are no longer free to play we will be having a very large focus on cleaning up the community and creating a fun and safe environment for everyone to have quality games.


What will be the experience for new users?

They will be able to register and login but will be limited to friends chat and using the cauldron until they purchase an upgrade for their account. Steam, web premium, and mobile premium all count for this.

Do you have any plans for letting me play with my friends without purchase in the future?

We are planning to add referral codes for premium users to give out to their friends that will allow them to play a limited amount of games so they can try things out.


What does this mean for the future of Town of Salem?

We feel that this move will be a positive for the game, as well as all current and future users. The botters will not want to spend real money in order to troll. Even if they do, they will be very limited in the amount of accounts they can make this way without committing credit card fraud.
This also means that every account has an inherent value to it, as being banned means you will need to buy the game to play again. Any user that is suspended for breaking the rules will have to actually think about what they are doing, because if they end up permanently banned they can’t just make a new free account anymore. Better games in every facet should be much more common. We as developers can go back to trying to make a good game, rather than focusing on how to stop botters or how to rework reports to stop toxic behavior.

We will be working hard over the next few months to remove any alt accounts the botters may have stockpiled as well as improving the suspension and afk systems to encourage better behavior and quality games in the community. We believe that in a few short months there will be a drastic improvement in the quality of Town of Salem games.