ECTmmo.com- MMO Blog: The Adventures of Kaozz...
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
What If You Were Banned?
What would you do if you were banned from your favorite MMO? The question popped into my head after hearing Swifty (a PvP warrior from the vanilla years who makes videos about PvP) was banned recently. From what I understand, Swifty held an event on his server and was live streaming it. Apparently so many people showed up which crashed the server. He was banned for being the 'cause'. Honestly, did Blizzard think that all of those fans would be happy to see him banned? Those customers?
Fortunately Swifty regained his account as it was unbanned a day or so later. I am happy for him because he is very passionate about his hobby, plus I always enjoy watching his videos, he's a riot. (Yay Swifty!)Years ago I started watching him with Dire, who was a huge PvP fan when he played. So I was very shocked and really felt badly for Swifty. Many, many fans were upset about the ban and tried to support with things such as a petition on the forums (which was deleted) and video responses as well as trying to crash the server again or just shouting in SW City. I honestly think it was a silly reason to ban someone, perma- ban at that! Maybe a suspension or a warning I could see.
What if you didn't have that kind of support and were banned for something silly that you really didn't mean to do or know would cause you a ban? Oh come on, you know it has happened before. You let your spouse, girlfriend, boyfriend, roomie... log in on your account, that is breaking the ToS! Don't pretend you don't break it! Would you still play, go out and buy a fresh account maybe? Or would you really be upset and leave the company/game for good?
I have so many accounts across different games that it sometimes doesn't feel like I have a main game but I have several with many characters I am deeply tied to, I would probably walk away and not look back. Don't think I wouldn't put up a fight, I'd be all over customer support as far as I could go, if it was a petty reason- And it would be because I won't do anything to endanger my account. For some people that might be harder, if it is your only game, you might not want to play another. What if you invested a great deal of money into cash shop items and services? I'd be pretty upset.
So, what would you do if you were perma-banned from your favorite MMO?
-kaozz
Also an update from Swifty's webcast on getting his account back!
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Hmm. I dunno, really. I'd probably do the same deal you said, contact stuff and see how it goes. But it really depends on the game. While WoW might take awhile to pop that GM message, their help is generally quite good. I've got a lotta issues in game back in the day that they helped out with or steered me into the help needed, but in games like EvE I hear it's pretty common you will either not get as cheerful as a reply, or downright negative.
ReplyDeleteThe one time I put in a petition I got a good response, but not exactly the outcome I wanted :P I still swear I was 'docked' 2 million somehow, and after I made a huuuge payday, I had less than when I started. How I lost money after making my largest score at the time still confuzzles me, but eh. Still fun to play.
My responce would depend on the game. How long would it take to get back the stuff/reroll/etc. Was there something really rare, was that the only reason I was enjoying my time playing? Lotta questions.
In this case, the GM was way out of line, heavily into the 'eve GM' territory and stigma. He should have asked to just disperse, but jumping to a ban was just weak. What about when the Sands of Time and AQ opened? All those servers that crashed from people wanting to see it happen? Did Blizz ban the devs in-charge of 'that' event? :P
Yep, lots of things come into factor. I do think it was a bad way to handle this. leaves people feeling edgy IMO.
ReplyDeleteI tend to shy away from games with bad customer support. There are a few that I really cringe to think of!