Guild Wars 2

The current policy that governs all violations listed under the UA is a 72 hour suspension without any prior warning (they say the 72 hours suspension is your “warning”). I believe that this policy is unfair and arbitrary in many cases, and it reflects poor customer service.

I was recently suspended for having an inappropriate name. I agree, having reviewed the TOS, that my name could be construed as inappropriate and that action should have been taken. That being said, I do not think a 3-day suspension is appropriate. I posted in the account forums regarding this issue, but my concerns were largely ignored as the moderator likely thought I was another person whining about my name being taken away or being suspended, and brushed me off. This is not the case. As I said above, I understand the TOS and accept my punishment.

That does not mean my punishment is fair. Nor does it mean the current system is just.

I just want to copy the response I got from a moderator to my post.

I don’t consider your name “benign.” It’s not “probably” a violation of the UA and the Naming Policy, it is one! The name is not the worst in the world, that’s true. But it’s not a harmless name that wouldn’t be noticed by players; and clearly it was noticed because the name was reported to us.

I agreed it was a violation by your standards. I am more skeptical, personally, but that is difference in standards and I can accept that. It is “benign” in that it was a harmless, fictitious name that was never meant to harm anyone. I believe that is an important distinction to make, as there are names out there intended to hurt and insult others. This was not the case with my name. But, as will be seen, Anet does not currently make those distinctions.

Now, you seem to want to make a distinction between a poor name choice and a poor choice in in-game behavior. I don’t draw such a fine line. Because a poor name choice is undesirable in-game behavior.

Remember that display names are not filtered, no matter the filter settings chosen by a player. Display name and character names are “out there” for everyone to view. That is why we take poor choices seriously.

I can appreciate the reasons that you want to actively police player’s names. They are all good ones. But your failure to draw a line is concerning. As I mentioned above, my name was not directly meant to harm anyone. I didn’t draw attention to my name. The reason this is concerning is because you’re lumping well-meaning players who innocently made a naming mistake with people who conduct themselves in a much more negative light through their speech and actions. I can thinking of countless phrases that could be spammed in any public area that would be infinitely more offensive than my innocuous name, and would affect many more people: but the punishment for these two crimes is the same. To me that’s the difference between making a racist joke and joining the KKK. To lump those together seem clearly misguided, and it is not hard to reasonably draw a line between the two.

And don’t error in believing we don’t have the tools to take care of this issue. We could rename the character in a flash but we are showing consideration by allowing you to do it. Had you contacted Support to discuss the possibility of this being across the line prior to the action, we would have worked with you. But you did not.

I seem to be misunderstood here; I was not being clear enough in my argument that unlike in-game behavior that is always under a player’s control, you only get one chance to name your character. I named my character months ago, although I clearly did not having a full grasp of the TOS at the time. Had I realized that my name was inappropriate, what recourse am I afforded? There is no mechanic within the game, currently, that allows for a player to change their name or request a name change. I am sure that Anet has the power to change my name, but I, the player, do not. I cannot fix this violation of “in-game behavior” without severe consequences to my character’s progress. Alternatively, a player who harassed another player in chat has a number of opportunities to alter their behavior.

The “solution” provided here is lacking. This is another reason I believe that the 72 hour suspension is unreasonable.

And as a forum member said above, the “warning” to which other players have expressed an entitlement is already present: in the User Agreement and the Rules of Conduct, which every player views and accepts before playing the game. At the point they breach either of those things, then the outcome is forewarned in the Conduct Breaches and Outcomes document. All found here.

I never said I was entitled to a warning. I understand the TOS and that I will not be given a warning; however, I do believe that is misguided way at approaching these sorts of problems. It’s a heavy handed and arbitrary way to treat your customers. I was trying to suggest that we look at this policy and consider alternative forms of action in the future, namely: give an in-game warning and an opportunity for a player to change their name. Had I been aware of my violation I would have happily agreed to change my character’s name if given the opportunity, without having to suffer an abrupt 3 day suspension of my account. As was said above, Anet is kindly offering us to pick our own names: but why does a 3 day suspension have to be attached to that? That is a severe blow to the time and money a player has invested in this product. Is that fair? Is that just? I believe that in many cases the 3-day suspension is a punishment that does not fit the crime.

Again, I am not posting to have my suspension lifted. I want to urge Anet and other other players to take a serious look at the current policies for player punishment. Is this fair? I don’t believe it is. It’s a blanket solution to customer service, and it is unbecoming to a company that has accomplished so many great things through this product. I think it is ridiculous that a 3-day suspension is given to an account for a single naming violation, let alone a single first time violation of most things in-game short of hacking, especially when the player is not given the tools to correct their behavior. Possible solutions to this in addition to being contacted in-game and being immediately given an opportunity to rename could include: Adding another tier of punishment that could include shorter account suspension times and/or a more gradual punishment scale; giving players an opportunity to rename their characters; or not allowing certain words to be used in player names to begin with (apparently “kitten” is filtered on the forums already, which is frankly ridiculous in itself as I consider that word no worse than “fart”. Both words are something 10 year old boys giggle at, but no adult would seriously take offense to. Had I known this while making a character that included that word, we wouldn’t be here.. but I digress). I just want to help make players aware of this overbearing policy. I personally had no idea how severely Anet punished its customers for innocent potty language. I hope that in the future the policy may be reviewed and that a more humane hand may be applied to moderation.

Thank you. I hope that there can be some discussion on this issue.

I agree. 72 hours is insufficient. It needs to be a week.

I’m not weighing in on this guy’s ban (For the record OP, as the leasee of my property, I have the right to call the cops to have you removed from my property for merely standing there – and so does ANET), but this is catching my eye…

And as a forum member said above, the “warning” to which other players have expressed an entitlement is already present: in the User Agreement and the Rules of Conduct, which every player views and accepts before playing the game. At the point they breach either of those things, then the outcome is forewarned in the Conduct Breaches and Outcomes document. All found here.

Is this the reason numerous state and federal courts have ruled click-wrap agreements invalid? Because people actually read these e-tomes?

That is absolutely hilarious to me.

Im going to be blunt here, with the censorship going on in these forums does this honestly surprise you at all?

If anything i would have expected this to have gone even worse for you.

I do agree with you though.

Just curious what was your name?

Revolution.6301:

Just curious what was your name?

I was wondering this too but he would probably get another 72 hour ban for telling us.

In this day and age such things are the norm. You can get banned permanently from a subscription game (from some big company that I won’t name) and get no refund on the money you already put towards your subscription. I would argue that ANet is the lesser of the two evils. By no means am I supporting it but if players don’t stand up to EULAs through public backlash then companies will continue to write them. Backlash is proven to have an effect. It stopped SOPA, Sony’s root kit, Nike’s outsourcing practices, etc.

From what I’ve seen, most of the people complaining about the suspensions probably deserved them. You can tell by the way the complain. I’m not speaking of you specifically, that’s why I said most and not all. Point is, 72 hours is nothing in the long run. It’s annoying, but just try to carry on afterwards like nothing happened. Nothing you say or do will change this policy so why stay mad?

SteepledHat.1345:

From what I’ve seen, most of the people complaining about the suspensions probably deserved them. You can tell by the way the complain. I’m not speaking of you specifically, that’s why I said most and not all. Point is, 72 hours is nothing in the long run. It’s annoying, but just try to carry on afterwards like nothing happened. Nothing you say or do will change this policy so why stay mad?

He is right though, one punishment does not fit all crimes.

Whats going on here would be the same as if the US justice system all of a sudden went to a 10 year sentance for all crimes, no more 90 days for a probation violation or death penalty for murder just 10 years for all. You jaywalk? well to bad for you 10 years in jail, you murder someone or hundred of people, well 10 years for you too.

One sentance NEVER fits all available crimes/vilations and companies that have systems like this have no idea what they are doing, or are just to lazy to have actual good customer service.

Whats going on here would be the same as if the US justice system all of a sudden went to a 10 year sentance for all crimes, no more 90 days for a probation violation or death penalty for murder just 10 years for all.

They already have essentially. You’re about 10 years too late for that one.

Its not true that they just slap a 72hour ban for a name violation id bet your name must have been pretty bad. A guildy of mine was playing in the morning and then he was kicked out imediatly was able to log back in and had to change his caracter name.

I think they review it case by case if your name is pretty offensive you get the 72h ban if its not that harsh your just forced to change your name

Rifter.6591:

SteepledHat.1345:

From what I’ve seen, most of the people complaining about the suspensions probably deserved them. You can tell by the way the complain. I’m not speaking of you specifically, that’s why I said most and not all. Point is, 72 hours is nothing in the long run. It’s annoying, but just try to carry on afterwards like nothing happened. Nothing you say or do will change this policy so why stay mad?

He is right though, one punishment does not fit all crimes.

Whats going on here would be the same as if the US justice system all of a sudden went to a 10 year sentance for all crimes, no more 90 days for a probation violation or death penalty for murder just 10 years for all. You jaywalk? well to bad for you 10 years in jail, you murder someone or hundred of people, well 10 years for you too.

One sentance NEVER fits all available crimes/vilations and companies that have systems like this have no idea what they are doing, or are just to lazy to have actual good customer service.

Ha ha, It is not a crime, it is not a Law, it is a Code of Conduct. No more than a club not allowing you to dine without a Tie. If you don’t want to wear the tie, don’t eat there. It is a voluntary Code that you agree to when you hit “accept”.

It has nothing to do with Justice systems, Bill of Rights, criminal penalties, or anything of that nature.

It is very simple. We don’t own this game. We don’t have a public “right” to anything. We bought a “membership card”.. the retail game. This allows us to access the ‘club"..the online game. Access is all we bought and if we don’t follow the Code of Conduct, access to their Property, this game, can be denied for any reason the owners of this property deem inappropriate.

It is a voluntary Code that you agree to when you hit “accept”.

Have to stop you there.

That’s fine for commodities or close-substitutes, it’s no good for legislated monopolies such as copyrighted software.

Add to that the obvious aysmmetry of power and the fact that one party does not have the opportunity to negotiate, and this is why courts have ruled by a 2/3 margin against companies who present click-wrap agreements.

plasmacutter.2709:

It is a voluntary Code that you agree to when you hit “accept”.

Have to stop you there.

That’s fine for commodities or close-substitutes, it’s no good for legislated monopolies such as copyrighted software.

Add to that the obvious aysmmetry of power and the fact that one party does not have the opportunity to negotiate, and this is why courts have ruled by a 2/3 margin against companies who present click-wrap agreements.

Take a Forum or Game Code of Conduct to court. Lots of luck. apples, oranges.

Terms of Service?

’ If the terms of service are not visible and/or accessible, courts have found the notice requirement to be lacking and as such, the purchaser may not be bound to the terms of the agreement.’

visible and accessible being the key terms, which the TOS here most certainly is.

http://us.ncsoft.com/uk/legal/user-agreements/guild-wars-2-rules-of-conduct.php

Better luck next time.

I have to agree that the ban without notice is a little extreme, especially in cases where people made a name they didn’t know was inappropriate or demeaning to others.

For example I was running around on my Asura Ranger the other day when I was whispered by another player and asked if I was Muslim (which I’m not). When I responded in the negative they asked me how I had chosen my name, to which I replied “I made it up.” Apparently my character’s first name is a racial slur in Arabic (which i was totally unaware). My Asura also just happens to be dark skinned which only compounded the issue. I would like very much to be able to change my character’s name but there exists no option to do this other than deleting the character (which I am loathe to do).
I won’t say what the name is for fear of upsetting someone, but it weighs on my conscience because I am not by nature a bigot at all. So for now I simply do not play the character.

This guys in-game name is his current forum name with an added r at the end. I’m going to go ahead and assume that he didn’t “innocently” choose a name that he was unaware was inappropriate….

It’s been said before, the ToS that we accept before playing is our first warning, the 72-hour ban is our second warning. I’m not sure what 3rd is, permaban?

Anyway, I’m going to assume that you will take one of two actions next:

a) Quit the game because you feel their response was inappropriate and you don’t want to support them
or
b) Create a new name that you are more careful about and is not inappropriate.

Regardless of which option you choose, it seems like their system was effective in getting rid of a name that was reported and deemed inappropriate.

The one thing OP nailed all right – you can’t change your name. Even if you want to.

A namechange item in gem shop is needed direly.

Read the rules, if you want to play the game, abide by the rules. Problem solved. I appreciate Anet’s actions in maintaining a healthy gaming environment.

Hello,

Please read the following part of the Code of Conduct:

Do not debate Customer Support decisions or actions. Threads or posts designed to announce, appeal, or contest your own or another player’s suspension or account termination—be it forum or game account—will be removed without notice.

Therefore, this thread is now locked. If there is a customer support issue you would like to discuss, please submit a ticket to our team.

Thank you.