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Perma-banned for using a meme
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Fixed that for you.
CSR has bigger things to deal with than chasing down some ridiculous YouTube meme or go through a process to maybe possibly verify if some moron is over 13 or not when he says he's 12. In this case, the ban is well deserved, just for being an idiot. Federal law is federal law and a game company isn't going to risk ANYTHING that might put their compliance in jeopardy.
With the permission of parents, a child of 12 can play. Your logic is flawed.
Ok I'll take this through the woodshed. First, Bioware has his stated age on file from when he registered his account, so it's like telling the police one day, "Oh yeah I was out in Botswana on the 24th of May 2011." and then later when you're walking into the police station with your friend you crack a joke saying, "I killed Mr. Sandoval last May with a rusty shovel." Now the police are forced to believe one of two contradicting statements.
In the case of Bioware they have to believe that either he was lying when he registered or if he's lying on the forum, both of which are equally possible which makes the ban stupid because they clearly never attempted to judge which was true and which was false.
Tallyho!
"I will not play it nor any other MMO until they make it possible to obtain the best gear without forcing people to group up to do so." SwampRob
Federal law also gives you right to due process, which means innocent until proven guilty. If they took the time to ban him they could have took the 2 sec to check his age. Hiding behind the law for bad customer service and pretending they can do no wrong isn't going to help the issue.
HUMOR: SWToR as Told by Episode III and /v/ - Lo-Ping
Oh man it's another gem. I bet that guy wearing the other team's gear paid the owner money before he showed up, and the owner presented him with a legally binding ToS contract. I bet that's just what happened. It's not like a person goes to restaurant and pays after they've already eaten, heavens no. They pay before they even enter the restaurant.
Private groups have to be fair to their customers. He most certainly should have been questioned, but I believe having his billing information match up with his account registration would be enough proof. Or do 12 year-olds have credit cards these days?
"I will not play it nor any other MMO until they make it possible to obtain the best gear without forcing people to group up to do so." SwampRob
Banning Trolls is never bad customer service.
He violated TOS end of story and this really don't see how federal government would be any use. It is just like ay other business banning you for violating the private establishments rules.
Sure. But that permission doesn't give the child the right to violate the TOS. In fact, just like any other private business, EA and Bioware are will within their rights to ban over this:
http://tos.ea.com/legalapp/WEBTERMS/US/en/PC/#section9
"Innocent until proven guilty" only applies in criminal cases. The guy violated the TOS of a video game when the company outright tells you they can ban you at their discretion.
I bet if they posted this section in big capitol letters at the top when you first made your account or had it in gamestop and bestbuy under the game they wouldnt have sold a million copies.
I still don't get it. Wouldn't he literally have to become a 12 year-old to violate the ToS? I mean he wasn't violating when he gave them his age on his account the first time, but now he is?
"I will not play it nor any other MMO until they make it possible to obtain the best gear without forcing people to group up to do so." SwampRob
It's the standard TOS that every single person agrees to in every single MMO on this site. You agree to play by a developer's rules. If you break the rules, you're gone.
Most people are smart enough to know that, so they don't act like idiots and break the TOS.
Just curious...if the guy is older than 13, then how did he violate the TOS? If he genuinely is older than the required age, then technically he isn't in violation of the TOS, and a statement that he is 12 still doesn't change that fact. Surely a joke isn't a TOS violation, so what TOS rule did he break?
AS has been stated, he didn't violate the TOS. Is there a clause that says you can not say you are under 13 on the forums? As a major company you think they would check their facts before they ban people. If someone says they are a wookie would they get banned because wookies have no rights on earth? Use your brains people.
If people can get banned for making a joke, even if you think it is a stupid one, then the customer service at bioware is retarded.
How does Bioware have any guarantee that they are legitimately older? Also, why should they go through a lengthy verification process when they've likely got billing issues and other CSR problems that would require more immediate attention?
Imagine the outcry on these boards if EA took time away from handling credit cards being improperly charged or some other major billing or account issues to verify if some guy is 13 or not because he decided to be a moron and follow some YouTube meme instead of acting like an adult. The shit storm around here would be worse than usual.
Just like any other business, EA says outright that they reserve the right to refuse service to anyone. They can terminate your account at their discretion if they think you broke the rules. Simple as that.
They should ban you for using the term meme, because Dawkins is a retard for college freashmen who are afraid of developing individual thought and hasn't written anything new or relevant since 1976.
What a pathetic company.
The chances of me buying a BW game in the future continue to sink faster than a rock.
I must say, this is perversely amusing to watch from the sidelines. And the Biodrones always provide comedic gold when it comes to making the most asinine excuses for SWTOR, BW and EA. Hah.
"Never argue with a fool; onlookers may not be able to tell the difference."
I need to take this advice more.
So because they have a lot of work just like all mmo's they have a right to be lazy? It's not a lengthy verification system its 2 secs to look at his profile age.
So just to be clear, if the guy is older than 13, he didn't violate the TOS at all in any way. Sure, Bioware can permaban his ass for any or no reason...I wouldn't dispute that. I still would just like to hear the defenders state clearly that if he is older than 13 that he didn't violate the TOS. That it is possible that he is older than 13 and didn't violate the TOS but permabanned anyway. Don't see why it's so hard for any of you to state that accurate factual statement.
I can go make a profile that says I'm 90 yrs old. Does that mean I am 90? No.
Lol your right and when you use a credit card trew a bank that uses authorization and it says your age is 90 you will get declined faster then a middle eastern man getting a green card from iran
There's a clause that says this:
EA reserves the right (but has no obligation except as required by law) to remove, block, edit, move or disable UGC for any reason, including when EA determines that UGC violates these terms. The decision to remove UGC or other Content at any time is in EA's sole and final discretion. To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, EA does not assume any responsibility or liability for UGC or for removal of, UGC or any failure to or delay in removing, UGC or other Content.
You are solely responsible for your UGC and may be held liable for UGC that you post.
"UGC" in this case means User Generated Content. That includes forum posts. If they think you posted something that violated their TOS, they have the right to ban you. And they tell you in their Rules of Conduct that "role-playing" isn't an excuse.
It's all there in writing, and people agree to it every time they log into the game. It's not their fault if someone decides to be an idiot.
He might be he might not be. If one yells fire in a movie theater one does not have to actually have fire to be guilty. Causing a disturbance and saying they are 13 is enough to EA. They do not have to verify or anything. If they want him gone he is gone. The fact is that he said he is 13....that is a factual statement.
If they think that he violated their Rules of Conduct or made the environment hostile or whatever, they can ban him, no matter how old he is. It's all there in the TOS.
I've worked at a game studio. I've gotten to know CSR folks before. I still have friends who work for several developers (and no, none of them are at Bioware). They're not going to ban someone without a good reason. It might seem draconian or unreasonable when a post like this thread goes up, but as far as the developer is concerned, it's a cut and dried decision. Violate the rules as far as the company is concerned, and you're gone.
Credit card authorizations do not use age as a factor. They use billing address and information directly printed on the card. Only if your account is being monitored are additional factors used.