Well, its not something to be proud about but when I have recently got myself a ban, I have encountered most peculiar event:
At first, when trying to visit forum, there was a notification with information as to when the ban expires. However, most of the time (98%) the message that is shown was 'This ban is not set to expire' which is confusing, because it can be mistaken easily for perm ban.
Sufficient to say, when I saw this particular massage, my brain went to 'What the...I broke a game rule that isn't even specified anywhere and got perm ban just like that?! Its too harsh!'. - If someone wants details, the rule I broke regarded roleplay on private party channel as the content wasn't something children should view and should be kept user-to-user. Turns out, even if its in private, such roleplay is not allowed (This also should be specified somewhere on the forum as most MMO players would think its okay to do everything while in private as other games allow such roleplay!)
Anyway, this wasn't the most pleasant experience, because it made me email support + mod leader regarding this issue...while not a bad thing to do, I'm aware that some users might not do it and abandon the game because they would think they won't be to play anymore or won't play because they would think that moderators are to harsh and it ruins friendly atmosphere. This also made me unnecessarily email two people about the whole issue that would have solved itself... :I
My Suggestion regarding this -> Add a place in the forum, that banned guests will be only able to view but not post. Such place should include a list of people banned something like:
QuoteUser name-> Ban reason -> Expiration date.
This simple thing would save moderators trouble and would calm down people who got banned for whatever reason. Also it should be specified who to contact if you want to appeal for un-ban because some people would contact support (even though moderators should be the ones contacted). This is to avoid users spamming support email with messages that should be taken directly to moderators.
Hope this will be taken into consideration as I think it will somehow lessen the job of moderators/support and calm down banned users.
I always get a little....what's the word...rattled whenever topics in this area are brought up X3
Quote from: Imaginary Gemstone on 2014 Apr 23, 08:31:41
1)Sufficient to say, when I saw this particular massage, my brain went to 'What the...I broke a game rule that isn't even specified anywhere and got perm ban just like that?! Its too harsh!'. - If someone wants details, the rule I broke regarded roleplay on private party channel as the content wasn't something children should view and should be kept user-to-user. Turns out, even if its in private, such roleplay is not allowed (This also should be specified somewhere on the forum as most MMO players would think its okay to do everything while in private as other games allow such roleplay!)
2)Anyway, this wasn't the most pleasant experience, because it made me email support + mod leader regarding this issue...This also made me unnecessarily email two people about the whole issue that would have solved itself... :I
3)My Suggestion regarding this -> Add a place in the forum, that banned guests will be only able to view but not post. Such place should include a list of people banned something like:
QuoteUser name-> Ban reason -> Expiration date.
This simple thing would save moderators trouble and would calm down people who got banned for whatever reason. Also it should be specified who to contact if you want to appeal for un-ban because some people would contact support (even though moderators should be the ones contacted). This is to avoid users spamming support email with messages that should be taken directly to moderators.
Hope this will be taken into consideration as I think it will somehow lessen the job of moderators/support and calm down banned users.
1)The rules are in the Forum Rules and Information Board. Since people need to register on the forums to play the game one should assume those rules apply in game, also people should be expected to read them as well before playing
2)Emailing about ban inquiries isn't an unnecessary email, unless the rule you broke was obvious. People should ask about bans if they think they're unmerited. People do make mistakes...
Also, telling you whether it's ok or not in private shouldn't need to be clarified. If it's in the rules as not allowed, it's not allowed...
3)There are a number of reasons why bans aren't made public, and as a server admin for over 2 years I fully understand why(My bans were never publicized and frankly never should be). As you said there is a popup telling you this information(I have no idea as i've never been banned) so making that info public isn't necessary and also makes more work for the mods on an already stressful weekend.
You also need to remember this is a stress test. Also with the demographic the game is catering to strict moderation of a game like this is critical. While yes there are a few areas that can be improved upon in the moderation side of the game I think they do a good job with what they have
I don't blame you, this section of the forum probably isn't the most pleasant to read and I know better than most how tiresome administrating can be... X3
QuoteAlso, telling you whether it's ok or not in private shouldn't need to be clarified. If it's in the rules as not allowed, it's not allowed...
True, rules are there and I can proudly say I did read them all before playing, however they don't actually specify that private chat-rooms / PM's also disallow questionable role play which is why I made a mistake of breaking them unintentionally. What I refer too, is insufficient information regarding section three, rule 15) Family friendly.
Quote15.) Family Friendly - These forums are accessible to everyone at any age, hence family friendly. This means your role-plays can not include gore, sexual intercourse, or violence. What you see in the show is what you can do in your role-plays.
First of all, this should be reworded because word 'forums' implies that it only refers to forums public section of role-play and has no relation to in-game private chat-rooms or private forum PM's.
It should specify that this also counts for any private chat strictly user-to-user as I was informed kindly by one of the moderators, that because of possibility that such role play might be seen, it still shouldn't take place anywhere. I'm okay with it, it keeps the game more clean that way and am happy to see moderators doing such good job that my mistake didn't skip their attention.
Just wanted to point out that this rule might need a little clarification, because there are a lot of older users and role-players that might make similar mistake that I did because other MMO's allow such mature roleplay, believing it to be a role-playing challenge, if its cleanly kept in private. In short it's just a feedback for the team. ^-^
As for bans, I actually agree with not making them public to those who weren't banned as it shouldn't be seen, however there seems to be a problem with forums showing up if the ban expires or no and confuses people. It certainly confused me a lot and I won't be the first one to be in this position so once again it is an area which might use a little improvement... dunno, maybe there should be email sent to the users about the ban expiration date?
QuoteAs you said there is a popup telling you this information
There is but as I said, it sometimes showed me ban expiration date and sometimes stated it doesn't expire (like a perm ban). This created a lot of unnecessary questions on my end... might be some problem with the forum.
Sorry if my suggestions aren't best worded, I have no intention to pile up more work on moderators and other developers as you are probably all on edge and that is to be expected. It is all just my honest intention to provide insight what banned user might see/feel and his possible reaction to lessen the moderator's job in future.
Post Merge
Okay double post but because I'm blind. There is indeed rule that says not cybering although I still question that it specifies it's only related on this site. Guess what the rules lack is simple bold line "All of the rules above apply both to forums and in-game" or something like that, to make it obvious for people who might later on argue they weren't breaking rules.
Topic is ready for closing as I have nothing more to add regarding this issue X3
Tl;Dr
People who gets banned are those who had many chances of stopping such behavior (whichever reason it was). Since when you register means you agree with the rules (In the FORUM RULES & INFORMATION section), if you didnt bother to read them, well... thats your problem, mods have a lot of work to do already, if you cannot control yourself then dont come later crying about being banned, since you could have avoided the situation so many times that its unfair to make a comply, and dont try to wiggle out of the fact that you deserved such ban.
About the "Do forum rules apply in-game?" question, well... if you havent figured it out the day you decided to register then dont whine, you could easily see it coming, but no, people always want to get themselves on the edges and see what happens if they kick a hornet nest.
Tl;Dr
Enjoy your ban.
I've been pushing for a rewrite of a couple rules for the sake of clarity in case they are misconstrued. They want the forum rules to apply for the game as well, and since the game is still in development and is only available to play a couple times a year as a test I don't think there's much of a reason to rewrite the rules to accommodate the game at this stage. Any feedback i'm sure is appreciated and to be clear i'm not at all speaking for the team at all, I just get defensive on the topic because ive been so used to game moderation and I know exactly how it feels. I'm sure the team will take your post into consideration. Thanks.
It never hurts to here what the users have to say
Going off of what Pipkin said with the game still in development we usually dont have to put "These rules go for the game as well" because the game is not usually available to play
Most of the time in game you will receive a warning from a mod before any further action is taken (depending on the severity of the rule broken).
Also please consider that right now our numbers are few for the amount of people logging into the game. We have a good amount for the forums but in game we are spread thin so we have to be quick on what we do otherwise things can get out of hand quickly
Puynsi, people are allowed to give feedback. Though you may not agree with what they have to say doesnt mean you should bash them for it
if you have any questions pm me and ill be happy to answer
It's okay, thank you all for giving this post a view, I appreciate it.
I do know it isn't easy to moderate such game and especially when it launches as the fandom is enormous and you would need probably more than fifty moderators to contain it all. Sadly, there is no solution to this workload when the game launches like that occasionally, but it will probably become easier when it enters playable beta phase since users once perm banned = always banned so there will be less of a problem.
That said, you all did a very good job seeing as even I got banned while role-playing on private party channel and whatever might be said, I appreciate that moderators actively worked to make everything in game right, not leaving even little details escape. Most of all, I'm glad to see that moderators of LoE do have human hearts and are polite even during stress test, it builds up the game atmosphere for me and is very welcome. I definitely look forward to this game development and see where it comes from here ^-^
If you'll ever consider doing polish translation give me a shout, I'll gladly help out with it. ^-^