Following the recent ban wave, after listening to the incredulous opinion of several players I know, and after trying to ask for explanations from the moderators and Matt himself, getting only a few and rude answers, I decided to write this message; dedicated mainly to the members of the community who no longer feel safe, unable to understand what is NOT allowed to be done in APB, fearing that their account could be suspended at any time without receiving any explanation and without any way to appeal.
This message is NOT intended to be in any way a request of unban for those players deemed "guilty", instead it is meant to be a criticism of the poor communication, the recent decisions made regarding the ban policy, and the transparency of the game's EULA, particularly the Rules of Conduct (RoC) section.
The message will mainly focus on the decision to ban a group of players who cooperated to complete the weekly baylan activity, and some levels of the cop role (stabba). So, no, they were NOT banned for cheating.
I will base my argument on the following points.
1. The lack of specific and clear rules for everyone and an effective way to communicate them.
Little Oribt should make it VERY CLEAR what behaviors/actions are NOT allowed in APB by updating their EULA/RoC and communicating it the best way possible.
It is untrue to say that cooperation between players aimed at leveling up roles/levels is against the RoC, I invite you to read the rules to understand that there is NO section dedicated to this at all. It is as if all of a sudden they start banning players who play arranged matches or have car meetings/races in the district, justifying it with "this is not the intended way to play the game."
After playing APB for over 7 years, I have helped and been helped by dozens of different players. Thanks to them I have been able to complete events, the rare contact activities (nano), fight club weekly challenges and more. It is not uncommon to find players looking for help in completing achievements or roles, particularly during holiday events. These roles take a long time to complete and become frustrating because of the number of objectives required and their repetitiveness, not to mention those people who enjoy griefing your mission. The same goes for the weapon roles, which require a total of 20 thousand kills EACH to complete.
Regarding baylan, on the other hand, it has recently become difficult to find a full district, making it almost impossible to complete the weekly tasks if not with the help of a few friends.
It should come as no surprise that players are cooperating to complete it faster, and I see no reason to punish them just now, after years. What has changed?
According to most people I have talked to, and in my direct experience, no one had ever been banned for so little, but I could be wrong. In any case, the action itself is basically harmless, as I will explain in more detail in the next section, therefore players should be allowed to do it.
2. No harm was caused, nor intended, to anything or anyone.
At this point I want to explain in detail why the ban is unfair. It all comes down to the fact that the players involved:
- They did NOT cause any harm to other players, to Little Orbit, or to the game servers.
- They did NOT prevent or make it difficult for others to complete their weekly challenge.
- They did NOT use or abuse any bugs/glitches nor did they harrassed/griefed anyone in the district, the server was also empty.
- They did NOT gain an unfair advantage in any way, they still cannot get more than 300 joker tickets per week from the baylan.
3. The gravity of the punishment, the absence of explanation/reason within the game, and the total inability to appeal.
Because of the length of the punishment (14 days) the players involved were completely cut out from the Christmas event. Such a severe punishment for such a small and harmless action is absurd.
Even if we consider their actions to be against the rules, there were other ways to "punish" them, such as issuing a warning on their account and, if they continue to misbehave, suspending them from that specific game-mode for a few days. Another solution would have been to remove the items obtained (e.g. joker tickets), returning their account to a previous state.
If Little Orbit does not communicate to people and tell them what they have done wrong, how can they change their behavior? They will only repeat the same mistakes unintentionally and get banned again.
It also doesn't help that we cannot appeal a ban in any way. It should not be difficult to create a section on your website to request an appeal, and we all know that sending a ticket to support is useless because they never reply.
In conclusion, I hope Matt decides to give a comprehensive answer once and for all. Thank you.
Following the recent ban wave, after listening to the incredulous opinion of several players I know, and after trying to ask for explanations from the moderators and Matt himself, getting only a few and rude answers, I decided to write this message; dedicated mainly to the members of the community who no longer feel safe, unable to understand what is NOT allowed to be done in APB, fearing that their account could be suspended at any time without receiving any explanation and without any way to appeal. This message is NOT intended to be in any way a request of unban for those players deemed "guilty", instead it is meant to be a criticism of the poor communication, the recent decisions made regarding the ban policy, and the transparency of the game's EULA, particularly the Rules of Conduct (RoC) section. The message will mainly focus on the decision to ban a group of players who cooperated to complete the weekly baylan activity, and some levels of the cop role (stabba). So, no, they were NOT banned for cheating. I will base my argument on the following points. 1. The lack of specific and clear rules for everyone and an effective way to communicate them. Little Oribt should make it VERY CLEAR what behaviors/actions are NOT allowed in APB by updating their EULA/RoC and communicating it the best way possible. It is untrue to say that cooperation between players aimed at leveling up roles/levels is against the RoC, I invite you to read the rules to understand that there is NO section dedicated to this at all. It is as if all of a sudden they start banning players who play arranged matches or have car meetings/races in the district, justifying it with "this is not the intended way to play the game." After playing APB for over 7 years, I have helped and been helped by dozens of different players. Thanks to them I have been able to complete events, the rare contact activities (nano), fight club weekly challenges and more. It is not uncommon to find players looking for help in completing achievements or roles, particularly during holiday events. These roles take a long time to complete and become frustrating because of the number of objectives required and their repetitiveness, not to mention those people who enjoy griefing your mission. The same goes for the weapon roles, which require a total of 20 thousand kills EACH to complete. Regarding baylan, on the other hand, it has recently become difficult to find a full district, making it almost impossible to complete the weekly tasks if not with the help of a few friends. It should come as no surprise that players are cooperating to complete it faster, and I see no reason to punish them just now, after years. What has changed? According to most people I have talked to, and in my direct experience, no one had ever been banned for so little, but I could be wrong. In any case, the action itself is basically harmless, as I will explain in more detail in the next section, therefore players should be allowed to do it. 2. No harm was caused, nor intended, to anything or anyone. At this point I want to explain in detail why the ban is unfair. It all comes down to the fact that the players involved: - They did NOT cause any harm to other players, to Little Orbit, or to the game servers. - They did NOT prevent or make it difficult for others to complete their weekly challenge. - They did NOT use or abuse any bugs/glitches nor did they harrassed/griefed anyone in the district, the server was also empty. - They did NOT gain an unfair advantage in any way, they still cannot get more than 300 joker tickets per week from the baylan. 3. The gravity of the punishment, the absence of explanation/reason within the game, and the total inability to appeal. Because of the length of the punishment (14 days) the players involved were completely cut out from the Christmas event. Such a severe punishment for such a small and harmless action is absurd. Even if we consider their actions to be against the rules, there were other ways to "punish" them, such as issuing a warning on their account and, if they continue to misbehave, suspending them from that specific game-mode for a few days. Another solution would have been to remove the items obtained (e.g. joker tickets), returning their account to a previous state. If Little Orbit does not communicate to people and tell them what they have done wrong, how can they change their behavior? They will only repeat the same mistakes unintentionally and get banned again. It also doesn't help that we cannot appeal a ban in any way. It should not be difficult to create a section on your website to request an appeal, and we all know that sending a ticket to support is useless because they never reply. In conclusion, I hope Matt decides to give a comprehensive answer once and for all. Thank you.
