Curse

Macievelli · Jul 04, 2005, 05:01 PM // 17:01

So, I log onto GW this morning, only to find that my account has been blocked for "unacceptable behavior." No explanation of what that behavior is, what the nature of it was, when it was, to whom it was directed. Nothing. Just ubiquitous big brother saying, "Guess what, you screwed up, or so somebody said, so go sit on the bench for a while, and if you keep doing it, we're going to ban your account."

Now, I’m trying to figure out what it is I've done. If I don’t know, what’s to prevent me from doing it again? I don’t go around cussing people out, being rude, being explicit. I've invested several hundred dollars in this game now, and hundreds and hundreds of hours of my life leading a guild of really good players to a decent rank. I think at this point that I've earned the friggin right to know what offense I've committed. This "unacceptable behavior" is nonsense. Tell me what I've done. I honestly don’t have any idea.

I go out of my way to be polite to people and work towards bettering the community. I give items away for free on a regular basis. I answer questions people post. I try to end disputes rather than create them. How can this happen?

I’m sitting here trying to recall what I could possibly have done in the last several weeks to offend anyone. Trying to recall who I could have said something to, who I could have been wrongful or hurtful or spiteful to. I can’t think of what I've done wrong, and Anet won’t tell me. How the hell is this productive?????

I am seriously let down by this game right now. If this is the kind of response I get from a company that I've worked so hard to promote and bring people too, in addition to spending as much money and time on their product as I have...to have my account banned for some indiscriminate reason is seriously giving me the short end of the stick. I think ALL of us deserve better than some universal script window saying that we can’t play anymore. Show me something. Give me a legitimate reason. A screenshot. A REASON. PROOF. Anything is better than "unacceptable behavior." What is that? I've re-read the EULA about 10 times now. None of my behavior fits into the things they list. I want to know if some script kiddie is photoshopping my name into a screenshot and posting it as authentic or not. At the very least tell me what it was that I did so that I don’t do it again. This isn't big brother. It's a friggin video game. I am a paying customer, and I deserve better treatment after spending hundreds and hundreds of dollars on it and promoting it to dozens of people.

Digitalblast · Jul 04, 2005, 05:11 PM // 17:11

Make sure to let us know what you did if you find out. Other then that, go buy another GW game and make sure not to step on anyone's toes again!

LathalDraugr · Jul 04, 2005, 05:15 PM // 17:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by Macievelli

I've invested several hundred dollars in this game now

Care to explain how?

Digitalblast · Jul 04, 2005, 05:18 PM // 17:18

Ebay, Prima guide, t-shirts. Cant think of anything more. It may be that youve sold or bought stuff on ebay.

Sekkira · Jul 04, 2005, 05:20 PM // 17:20

Perhaps also putting money into advertising the game as well? I dunno... If you haven't done anything wrong, I hope you get your account back soon :\

Shagsbeard · Jul 04, 2005, 05:23 PM // 17:23

Well... what some people consider 'acceptable' others will consider 'unacceptable'. Anet doesn't owe you a response, or even a clarification as to what was unacceptable. You know what you did, and why it could be considered unacceptable, but you are unwilling to fess up. You stand behind a defense that is "prove it". That works great in court, but this is a game run by a company. They ban people and have no responsability to "prove it" to you or to any other. That's the way these things work.

My guesses as to what you did were:

1) Naming of a character inappropriatly.
2) Using bot like (or bot in fact) farming tactics.
3) Using guild functions to exploit GvG (like creating sub-guilds to farm for points).

You indicate that you have purchaced more than one game. Any chance you are using one account to augment your others inappropriatly? This dynamic ruined DAoC and I doubt that Anet will tolerate it.

Mormegil · Jul 04, 2005, 05:24 PM // 17:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by Macievelli

I've invested several hundred dollars in this game

What's that supposed to mean?

Macievelli · Jul 04, 2005, 05:41 PM // 17:41

Wow....this is a lot of responses, and it's awesome that this community is this active, which is why I love this place.

Anyhow, to answer some questions:

I only have 1 account, and one guild, of which I am the leader (which is why just getting another game and starting over is not an option.)

I have never used a bot, or power leveled.

I have never farmed, nor have any plans too. Nor have I created a sub guild (whatever that is) to get faction. Neither has my guild or any of it's members. We been spending our time just trying to figure out how to become better GvG'ers and get our guys levelled up. We dont even really do PvP at all. Mostly RP and GvG.

Neutron Star · Jul 04, 2005, 05:44 PM // 17:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by Macievelli

Back when cigils were going for exhorbitant amounts, I paid 100$ for one, so I could get our hall. (yes, I got ripped on that, but this was at a time when it looked as if cigils were only going to get more rare...)

Just... woah.

Aniewiel · Jul 04, 2005, 05:44 PM // 17:44

I am sure that ANet doesn't have a vested interest in banning or sidelining accounts for no reason. If you're as nice a guy as your post indicates, then there would be no reason for banning you. However, methinks there's much more to the story than you're saying. I'd go with Shagsbeard on this one:

Quote:

My guesses as to what you did were:

1) Naming of a character inappropriatly.
2) Using bot like (or bot in fact) farming tactics.
3) Using guild functions to exploit GvG (like creating sub-guilds to farm for points).

arnansnow · Jul 04, 2005, 05:47 PM // 17:47

Quote:

If a GM flags your character name as a violation of the Rules of Conduct, you will now be given the option of renaming that character

From the official patch notes, so it isn't a bad name.

Aniewiel · Jul 04, 2005, 05:50 PM // 17:50

Well, you sound like a reasonable guy, Macievelli. I can't imagine. Maybe it's something that some of your guildmates did using the guild name? *thinks* Hopefully, you'll be given an answer.

Mormegil · Jul 04, 2005, 05:52 PM // 17:52

Oh
my
god

You spent 100$ on a sigil??!!

Well, frankly I don't like people who pay real money to buy virtual items, but you seem an ok guy from what you wrote. As long as the EULA doesn't explicitly forbid to buy in-game's items on E-bay or such (or maybe just forbids it "to an extent"...I'm not totally sure), I don't really know what may have caused your ban.

LathalDraugr · Jul 04, 2005, 05:52 PM // 17:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by Macievelli

I have never used a bot, or power leveled. I HAVE, however, purchased items from both swagvault and ebay. Is this against the rules???? If so how would such behavior have been reported unless it's by the myself or the people that I've purchased from.

Thought so. That's why you got banned. As for how they caught you, they have logs you know. You must have transferred the items ingame so A.net checks the logs and sees 100k or a sigil been given for nothing by a known botter to you, you get banned. Pretty simple and sorry but when you agreed to the EULA you agreed not to trade items for real money. Admiteddly most EULAs require you to sell your soul and contain all kinds of unfair rules but to be fair it should be pretty obvious that something like this could get you banned.

Aniewiel · Jul 04, 2005, 05:57 PM // 17:57

Why doesn't Anet go after the people advertising on Swagvault and Ebay? They could easily 'buy' the stuff from these people and, when the IG transfer comes on, they invalidate the CD key.

ANet should be going after the -source-, not the buyer. I can see 'sidelining' the buyer for a day---AT MOST---but they need to go more vigilantly after the people selling. Maybe if they offered IG 'bounties' for turning over scammers/RL money sellers, they'd "catch" more of them?

Odd Sock · Jul 04, 2005, 05:58 PM // 17:58

That's still the most retarded thing I've heard regradless of EULA. And if he got banned for inappropriate behaviour, that's equally as stupid since there are language filters. There's no reason to ban accounts, best thing to do IMO would be to ban for three days, then a week, then delete the account. Sure it's just a game but when you've invested countless hours unlocking stuff, EULA or not you're at least entitled to something. If they keep doing stuff like this word will get out and they will lose some customers that I can guarantee.

Dalia · Jul 04, 2005, 05:59 PM // 17:59

Bots are against the EULA. Makes sense that buying from bots is as well. Sorry, but, duh.

Dalia

Aniewiel · Jul 04, 2005, 06:02 PM // 18:02

While they don't HAVE to give a reason, sometimes it makes sense. Occasionally there -are- people who make a stupid mistake (like buying a sigil for $100) who, with a warning from ANet, would certainly stop and would probably help ANet out a lot by spreading the word!

Banning is OK but doing it without a reason, while not required, is certainly good manners and goes a long way in the GW community.

=HT=Ingram · Jul 04, 2005, 06:03 PM // 18:03

he has been buying large amounts of gold or items from IGXE or another such services (ebay) which alone is terms for being BANNED for violation of rules of conduct and EULA. But there is a grievance. They will unlock your account but it will be wiped (as in like it was on the launch from the beta). All I can say is We all warned people Many Many times that buying gold from those services was not going to be tolerated by NCSoft for long, and eventually they would see log activity sufficient enough to ban for it.

Now your only recourse is to contact support staff and submit to an account wipe, if you want to rejoin. Isn't that nice... Now you wasted your hundreds of dollars for nothing. Congratulations.

Aniewiel · Jul 04, 2005, 06:06 PM // 18:06

Just out of curiosity, Mac, how much gold -did- you buy?