I was temporarily banned T_T WHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHY?!?!?
Fr, 07/01/2011 - 21:20
So I was temporarily banned for pretending to be a GM, only it was a joke... lol. It wasn't even with anyone I don't know, it was between me and my friends. I sent 2 of my friends whom I was playing with at the time, as well as voice chatting with, a joke in-game letter, saying I was a Game Master and that they owed 4,000,000 crowns in back taxes and that they had to pay it otherwise, "I would regret spending the 25 crowns needed to send this letter." This is obviously a joke, between friends might I add, and they still banned me for the weekend. T_T
This is especially frustrating because I had to spend the entire week studying for my semester exam (summer school), and now that that's over with, I really wanted to spend my weekend playing this game. But that's not going to happen :( I sent a ticket or an email or whatever through their support thing, but I don't think they're going to respond by the time the weekend is over with.
What do you guys think about this? I think this is unfair :( I know that they don't like people pretending to be a GM, but it was a friendly joke! Wasn't harmful to anyone or anything. They could have at least sent me a warning or something... or at least review the bans that the auto-banner makes before they let them ban (assuming that I was banned by a bot, not by someone who read the letter).
Here's to hoping I get unbanned before the weekends over. :D
Fr, 07/01/2011 - 21:33
#2
?
Asking about bans is bad? Or even talking about the ban system in general to improve the game further?
Fr, 07/01/2011 - 21:36
#3
Did one of your friends
Did one of your friends report you? Or are they just filtering all the mails we send looking for things like "GM" and "crowns" and "I am"?
Fr, 07/01/2011 - 21:38
#4
Asking about bans is
Asking about bans is bad?
Indeed. It's in the rules. KNOWLEDGE.
Or even talking about the ban system in general to improve the game further?
That would go in the Suggestion forum, but this is more of a complaint than it is a suggestion given the, y'know, "I was unfairly banned. This sucks." nonsense.
Fr, 07/01/2011 - 21:39
#5
I don't think so
Not that I know of. I am talking to one of them right now, and he said he didn't report me.
Fr, 07/01/2011 - 21:42
#6
Nope
As one of the friends who received this email. No, I did not report him and we were indeed on voice chat (teamspeak) and it was simply a joke.
I do believe it was an auto ban service or simply being skimmed through as the email was clearly a joke.
They do read our mail as per the terms of agreement.
Fr, 07/01/2011 - 22:08
#7
Uh
Sorry, I didn't realize that posting about my ban is against the rules. I guess I should just suck it up and accept my ban. Thanks for informing me.
Fr, 07/01/2011 - 23:07
#8
Free time off from SK. Lucky
Free time off from SK. Lucky guy.
Fr, 07/01/2011 - 23:54
#9
This game is censored to an
This game is censored to an incredible degree, it's honestly starting to scare me.
Sa, 07/02/2011 - 00:11
#10
Communism!
Communism!
Sa, 07/02/2011 - 00:17
#11
Pretty sure it's fascism
Pretty sure it's fascism rather than communism.
Sa, 07/02/2011 - 00:31
#12
Whatever it is, it's not
Whatever it is, it's not cool. I'm starting to rethink my decision to play this game.
A chance of being banned for sending letters through what should be a private messaging system is not a recipe for a good policy, regardless of what they say in their terms of use agreement (which you know very few people read, especially younger players).
Sa, 07/02/2011 - 01:29
#13
Do you know how long those
Do you know how long those things are? They really need to learn how to summarize or just pick out the key points.
Sa, 07/02/2011 - 01:57
#14
If you are concerned about
If you are concerned about ppl reading what you are writing then don't write it. Period. As far as OP's concern, I think it would be common sense that impersonating a GM, even as a joke, would be a pretty serious offense. Suck it up and take your ban or get out.
Sa, 07/02/2011 - 02:01
#15
which you know very few
which you know very few people read, especially younger players
Ignorance of the law, etc. etc.
Sa, 07/02/2011 - 02:58
#16
It's a little sad that people
It's a little sad that people are defending the GMs in this situation. I don't write things that I believe would get me banned, but that doesn't mean I feel comfortable about people reading what I'm saying.
Even if it is based on a flagging system with certain key words or the like, you could still say something in an innocent conversation that could potentially result in the letter being flagged, in which case it would be read. It's just a huge breach of privacy that I don't personally believe is acceptable.
Regardless, the only advice I can offer to the OP is to enjoy the break. and be more careful in the future.
Sa, 07/02/2011 - 05:39
#17
I can understand the need for
I can understand the need for an auto-filter, something to find people impersonating GMs. Especially since this is a F2P game.
But in this case, it is a victimless crime, and should be excused.
Sa, 07/02/2011 - 06:23
#18
Basically Agree with Myaoshi
The assertion that you are somehow entitled to use OOO's software to send messages whose content is private from OOO is silly. You know there are rules about the content of your messages (or you would, if you'd bothered to even skim the EULA) and that means the content of your messages isn't sacrosanct. Get over it. OOO owns all of that data--they have an interest in policing it as necessary and the right to do so, both legally and ethically.
That said, if this really was a harmless joke between friends, one wonders if the punishment wasn't excessive. A note saying, "hey, you're not allowed to impersonate a GM so don't or next time you'll get a suspension," seems like it probably would have been sufficient.
On the other hand, of course, if this was reported then it wasn't a harmless joke among friends. If it wasn't reported and it was caught by some sort of automated sieve, then it's not really reasonable to expect the GM to figure out that it was a harmless joke among friends right off the bat. Sure, the GM could have taken the time to investigate further, but that still seems like a fairly minor error.
Sa, 07/02/2011 - 07:02
#19
It's only one weekend, I'm
It's only one weekend, I'm sure you can find other ways to waste your time.
Simple solution = Don't pretend to be a GM.
Sa, 07/02/2011 - 07:13
#20
Hi!
Just to reassure folks,
Hi!
Just to reassure folks, we don't sit around reading people's mail. We're not cool with invading your privacy. If someone submits a complaint about a piece of mail they've received, the content of the mail is included in the complaint for us to review, and only the one piece of mail. That's it, that's all - it's exactly like regular chat, in that complaints include a log of the last few minutes of chat.
With that said, and without referring to the OP's actual incident, it's really best not to joke about terms of service violations, especially scamming. It's astonishing how many scammers do try to use the "I'm game staff, give me money" trick, and succeed. I'm sure you'll all agree that scamming sucks, so it's something we have to take seriously.
Sa, 07/02/2011 - 07:46
#21
Impersonating a GM is a
Impersonating a GM is a common scam tactic. Impersonating a GM through in-game mail is actually how the scam usually works since in person, GMs typically have different color text. I really wouldn't be surprised if they have a simple way to check if players are claiming to be GMs and then subsequently suspend/ban those players. It really is a serious issue in online games.
I don't understand why you would think that impersonating a GM to solicit money would somehow be an obvious joke, particularly since the GMs are not on vent with you and are unable to determine context.
Sa, 07/02/2011 - 07:56
#22
So someone did report you.
So someone did report you.
Here's to hoping I get unbanned before the weekends over.
Given talking, complaining, and/or asking about bans on the forums is a huge no-no, probably not. Enjoy your ban.