Guild Wars 2

I just wanted to write out a few the issues I have with ArenaNet’s policies regarding the account suspensions (obviously mine in particular). It is really too bad that they have decided to push this agenda how they have, it really is a decent game. But I will say their actions have certain made it so I will not be purchasing any gems and certainly will not be speaking of the game in the same light as I use to. I’ve always been helpful in games, never (IMO) done anything that would offend anyone. I’ve never even gotten a warning in any other game I have played (despite using the same name that gave me the suspension in this game). Nothing in-game has changed with how I play due to what happened, but at least for me the support and enforcement of these policies has eliminated the reputation that Anet could have built with this game. They definitely have my money, so I doubt they really care, but I thought I’d say something in the almost non-existant chance that it does something.

Note that I said “inappropriate”. That is how I feel, that is my opinion. I recognize Anet’s authority to do whatever the heck they want. I’ll list my reason for disagreeing with it. I almost went with “unethical” but thought that might be a little over the top.

General Issues with ArenaNet’s rules, punishment, and enforcement.

• Rules are not as black and white as Anet seems to claim. It’s been said multiple times that the rules and terms are their “warning”, but those comments do not make sense to me. Reading through the rules it seems pretty obvious there are a number of areas where reasonable people could disagree as to what violates the rules and what does not. I’m not sure if they simply don’t see the subjectivity in them, or just don’t care, but it is there.

• One size fits all punishment is ridiculous. Calling people extremely offensive racial terms, hate speech, abuse should not be met with the same punishment as things that are “slightly” over the line. They say that a real person reviews all reports before a suspension is handed out, I see no reason why they can’t use reason and discretion in handing out varying lengths of punishment. This is the case in the enforcement if just about every set of rules everywhere, I do not understand why Anet feels they cannot handle this.

• Unprofessional Communication: They have made some progress here with the error messages that are given providing more information, but it is still terrible. At the time I got a “suspension” the only message I ever got was “Account blocked due to unacceptable behavior. Please try again after block as expired.” And a forced name change when I got back in the game. No email, nothing from two customer service tickets, no in-game mail once I got back, no notification about when I could get back in the game. It is unfortunately that reddit seems to be the only way to get any sort of information, and that is if you are lucky enough for the one person to respond to you.

• Pointless Appeals: According to the “Conduct Breaches & Outcomes” document, I’m allowed to submit an appeal for my inappropriate name. Problem is that it took 2 days to even get a copy/paste message back from customer service and over a week since then. Regardless of appeals a full suspension will be applied no matter what nothing is going to replace the time you could have been playing the game. I have filed an appeal, but with the message that is being sent by AreanNet’s customer service people I’m doubtful anyone is going to take the time to read and consider the evidence that I have provided in my ticket. I’m pretty sure I’ll just an “Appeal denied” message at some point.

Part 2!

Issues with AreanaNet Support team comments There have been some (although limited) comments on their enforcement and rules, however I would like to point out a few of them that I have had issue with.

• “The number of account blocks is miniscule: less than .001% of our total player base.” – ArenaNetSupportTeam (Reddit)

That number does not make any sense. At 5m copies sold it would be 50 people. At best an issue of innumeracy. At worst intentional misleading and huge lie. I have yet to see any correction or even acknowledgement of the error.

• “Those people are not telling the whole story. ^RB” On the official GW2 twitter account in response to a discussion on the naming bans I had been actively posting in.

While there certainly were a number of people claiming to be banned from their name when due to other issues, to call everyone a liar and imply that everyone who claimed to have been banned due to a name actually did something else is incredibly unprofessional.

• “Hey, we’re gamers, too. We generally won’t block for the occasional slip of the tongue. But you can read the responses right here and see the suspensions were given for some pretty nasty chat.” – ArenaNetSupportTeam (Reddit)

Although they have said it, that same account later uses nothing but a couple swear words (not directed at anyone) as the basis for a person’s ban. Either inconsistent messaging, inconsistent moderation, or another lie.

• .
  [quote=13764;GaileGray.9587:]Right. We have a lot of people who need help, but we should dedicate people to hand-holding with giving warnings? Really? The warning comes through the User Agreement, the Rules of Conduct, and the Conduct Breaches and Outcomes. Become familiar with them and the problem is solved.[/quote]

- I don’t see how warnings are any more work than suspensions (I guess it’s a little harder to ignore the issue when those people are still in game though).
- Problem with terms, rules, conduct and that is that they are the same as every other game. The REAL issue is that ArenaNet chooses to enforce them FAR more strict than any other company.
- I find it kind of insulting to call what is pretty much standard industry enforcement practices (forced name changes, warnings prior to “suspensions”) to be “hand-holding”

• “Each mark results in a temporary account suspension. Suspended account holders will receive an in-game message that explains that the account has been rendered inaccessible and also provides a specific reason for the account mark and the duration of the temporary account suspension. " – Guild Wars 2 Conduct Breaches & Outcomes

Presumably I have received a mark since my account was suspended and a forced name change when I was able to log back in. However, like I said, I have never received any in-game mail or any message at all (I’ll ignore the fact of how it doesn’t make any sense to use in-game mail to tell people how long they are locked out of the game).

Recommendations for changes

1. Borderline cases of language or name violations get a warning or a forced name change prior to any suspensions.
2. No change for punishment in clear cases of severe language, hate speech, abuse.
3. An email is sent out for all warnings and suspensions stating the reason for the punishment, the time it starts, the time they will be able to get back in, and the punishment for subsequent violations.

Anyway, not sure if anyone will even both to read the wall of text but it helps me get some things off my chest. I’m sure it’ll turn into the same argument of “I should be able to say whatever I want” vs “WTG anet for cleaning up the filth” argument that just about everything else has but whatever. This (and maybe some follow up responses) will probably be my last comments on this.

And for anyone wondering, I got suspended for the character name “Lappdance” (as you can see, similar to my display name but I don’t have the ability to change that). The reddit account responded to me (3 days after my suspension was over) saying “You’re back in the game now, with a request to rename. The name is, imo, clever given the context, but when people can’t see/don’t know the context, I guess it’s a little over the line. Thanks for understanding!”