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Perma-banned for using a meme
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Lets say there is 1000 perma bans...they sold 2 million boxes...that is a very tiny tiny fraction of people. A higher percentage are probably banned at Best Buy for wearing blue shirts in a month. So EA is taking a no joking approach to their forum. It is their right. I...and I stress I...have not seen anyone here that says they did not do something to get banned. While it might not be much they did something. From my experience on this forum I also have a hard time believe most when they say they did nothing and got banned from any game. Usually turns out they did do something, but wanted a good story for here to vent.
The thing I find the most mindboggling about this thread is the people defending BioWare/EA here...
After seeing how BioWare/EA have conducted themselves over the last few weeks I for one will never ever buy an EA game again. These people are the antithesis to what gaming has and should be about.
I have no problem with people enjoying SW:TOR (or any other game for that matter) but it is this mindless defense of moraly corrupt decisions that gets to me.
I used to work in a pub in the UK. This guy after buying some drinks says he is 17. Judging from his behaviour and looks he could of been. I remove his drinks. true story
he could of been joking. he was certainly welcome to provide proof and get his drinks back
Thats all that I was trying to say but could't get pased my rage >.<! this is not a good choices for gaming companies.
But you took the time to look at the guys age first and that all im saying that the OP deserved A LOOK
Ok, do you make the rules in your home? If someone comes to your houes and goes to the bathroom in the middle of the living room floor are you just going to smile and take it? Or are you going to react?
Epic Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAigCvelkhQ&list=PLo9FRw1AkDuQLEz7Gvvaz3ideB2NpFtT1
https://archive.org/details/softwarelibrary_msdos?&sort=-downloads&page=1
Kyleran: "Now there's the real trick, learning to accept and enjoy a game for what it offers rather than pass on what might be a great playing experience because it lacks a few features you prefer."
John Henry Newman: "A man would do nothing if he waited until he could do it so well that no one could find fault."
FreddyNoNose: "A good game needs no defense; a bad game has no defense." "Easily digested content is just as easily forgotten."
LacedOpium: "So the question that begs to be asked is, if you are not interested in the game mechanics that define the MMORPG genre, then why are you playing an MMORPG?"
Bioware acted according to law. Violating the ToS, joke or no joke, is simply stupid and they did the right thing.
I find it hilarious how you go on about EA/Bioware's conduct, yet are perfectly fine with how gamers like this act themselves? Talk about double standards.
If you react you could get sued, so you will smile and take it then call the police the police will then LOOK at the floor to see if its wet, and if its urine.
no difference.
He brought the game.. he was playing quite happily. He tells them he is underage and they ban him. What is the surprise?
He should contact the email shown in the screenshot proving his age and I am sure he will get his account reinstated.
I am just not seeing the drama
Yeah........Hm.
Because it's not there. This reminds me of the people that yell "POLICE BRUTALITY!" when they get arrested
.
Why didn't you ask for his legitimation before removing the drinks? It would have been sensible to first ask, wait for a response, then act accordingly.
If im Rodney King. I just feel like tthey should have spent more time banning the 100s of exploiters then to ban somone ever a stupid joke, which he didn't tell to bioware it was just on thier forums. Also the reason why its infuriating and there is drama is because while the 100's of people are carebare explioting, this guy who made a joke has to wait 2days-months from now just over something they could have LOOKED at first it shows lazyness in BW at best.
Don't you agree to the ToS saying that you ARE above 12. Therefore, even if you do go on the internet and claim in a public internet forum that you are below the allowed age, there still really isn't any proof.
Forum moderation is quite different from game-behaviour moderation. Different staff too. He was stupid to do that and got his behind handed to him. He deserved that.
That said, all he has to do is provide Bioware with proof that he is indeed over 13 years of age. He doesnt have to sit out the ban. Instead of doing that, he posts a youtube clip of how he was victimized and people here use it to fuel the EA hate. Don't fool yourself. This guy is clearly a twat.
it would of been sensible for him not to say "I am 17".
I told him that being the case I am going to have to remove his drink unless he can prove to me otherwise. Until I see proof I am removing his drinks and I will only stop removing his drink when I see proof.
He is not going to be drinking another drop until I see proof
exactly the same here.. he will not be playing swtor again on that acount until bioware sees proof.
Way to ruin it for me.
Porn has voice acting, who doesn't skip it?
At that specific time, the proof is that he himself stated he isnt 13 or older. Besides, it wasnt just ANY forum, it was the SWTOR forum, where people post on their actual game accounts. If he had posted in THIS forum for instance, they couldnt do anything.
It's not morally corrupt to show someone the door when you don't want their business.
If a bar or a restaurant can kick someone out for being an obnoxious jerk, so can a game company. Doesn't matter if you bought the game and paid a sub. You agreed to their TOS, which uses a lot of legal language to tell you outright not to be an idiot and that if they think you broke their rules, they have the right to ban you.
Players agree to these rules every time they log into a game. Pick a game on this site. ANY game. I guarantee you every single one of them has nearly identlical rules. It's not just EA or Bioware. It could be CCP, Funcom, SOE, Blizzard, Trion, etc. It could be a smaller indie studio. Doesn't matter. Every developer on this site has similar rules, and they're easy to follow. Don't be a jackass and you won't get banned.
You provided good costumer service then, since you gave him the chance to provide proof, before actually removing the drinks that you had previously served him. However, in the Bioware case, they didn't show any such sensitivity whatsoever; they could have written in their ban-message that they are preemptively restricting his account until he can show proof of being at least 13 year old, but they didn't.
The small details matter a lot in costumer service, and that's where Bioware failed.
Listen in America idk what country you are from, this doesn't have anything to do with this topic ATM. In RETAIL it takes 1 bad person to keep 3 people to stop coming to your bar, however it takes 3 people to make one new person to come. So if somone says a joke AFTER they showed you their ID to buy a drink and says, lol im really 15 and you can tell hes some 50+ year old fat guy by LOOKING at him and you overreact and throw him out guess what the other customers are going to see you over react and leave. O_O omg say what! Now i know that when 100k people pay 60$ a go at a video game they might not need them all to come back, but when you run a bar out of whatever country your from, you know that regulers are important. Which might be the reason you no longer work for a gaming company.
And they just keep on droning the same retarded arguments over and over... it's almost like they're PAID to work on Blizzard/EA image...
They're not obligated to give you notice. No game developer is obligated to give notice that they're banning you.
Read the TOS of whatever game you're playing right now. I'd wager they've got nearly identical language telling you they can ban you any time and for any reason, and without prior notice. For example, this is from EVE:
Without limiting CCP's rights or remedies, CCP may immediately, and without notice, discontinue or suspend access to the System through your Account, and any and all other Accounts that share the name, phone number, e-mail address, internet protocol address or credit card number with the discontinued or suspended Account, in the event of (i) a breach of the EULA (including the Rules of Conduct) by you or any user under your Account; or (ii) unauthorized access to the System or use of the Game by you or any user under your Account.
CCP outright says that they don't have to give you notice when they ban you. Same goes for every other developer on this site. Bioware isn't doing anything here that's all that unusual. They banned someone for breaking their rules. That's their right.
Plenty of people behave like jackasses and do not get banned: just look at the whole illum-debacle. The important question is "Is SWTOR providing good costumer service?" and threads like this keep showing that they are lacking severely in that department. Something as simple as different wording in the ban letter, would be the difference between good, mediocre and bad costumer service.
It is common for MMORPGs to have a clause that allows them to ban for any reason at any time. So, the question is never "Were they allowed to ban?", but "Is their costumer service good?".
1. I'm in America.
2. The reason I don't work at a gaming company anymore is because I'm in graduate school. Nice try though.