Hey there.

I don't post a lot in these types of threads, mainly because they get out of hand, but I did want to add my two cents here.

Nasomi, I totally respect the hard work you're trying to do when enforcing policies. I work in San Francisco as a policy manager for what some could consider a 'tech' company, so I'm quite familiar with the logistics and depth it takes to legitimately and faithfully make sure your users are following the rules and code of conduct.

With that said, banning and terminating users is a very difficult thing to do, especially when you're working with limited information. I, like you, use a lot of factors when determining whether a user needs to be banned based on their association to a bad seed. Things like:

-Are the accounts linked by IP
-Linked by device finger printing
-Banking information
-Credit card info
-Email, telephone number, basically any personal info
-Discernible patterns in user behavior
-And the list goes on

In instances where we have a number of accounts linked to one bad account, my job is to make sure those other accounts are thoroughly looked into before banning them based on their association to a bad account. If I was closing all accounts that are linked to one bad account without digging into each account thoroughly, I wouldn't be doing my job properly. Plus, I'd have a lot of angry users complaining when I may have erroneously closed their accounts; this hurts our business model and as well the community at large.

Some of these people you banned are genuinely good people. I've partied with a number of them and they have only been kind and helpful to me. I am saddened that some of these 'good' players got mixed into a group of bad players simply based on their IP association. While I appreciate the work you do to maintain a cheat-free server, I really must contend that if you banned innocent players without thoroughly looking into each account, it is hasty and lazy work on your part. I know you don't have the time to look into each account thoroughly, but you are banning innocent players who have put months--maybe years--of their time into your server. If you don't have the time to look into each account, you may want to consider creating a team to help you with the process. One man can't do everything himself; I would certainly fail miserably if I didn't have my own team. I'm sure people would be willing to help you if given the chance.

-Asharu

I have nothing against chinese players. I welcome them to a place where they can escape the harsh realities of an oppressive government and poor society. The chinese population is not the only ones that face this type of reality and not not the only ones that seek refuge here. However, when a dozen or so are reported, and I find them all connecting from the same place, with 20+ infractions against the rules including exploiting intended game mechanics, wallhacks, speed hacks, circumventing account limits, etc, those players will need to be banned. I cast as narrow of a net as possible, one day and one ip, that those who broke the rules all connected from. It is impossible for me to tell one person from another when connected from the same ip at the same time. I do not have billing information, credit card information, physical addresses, to tell you apart. As a result, ip is the only designation I am able to use.

Seems in a server where people feel a lack of content, the players become the content. It is amusing seeing people who have never touched a wyrm in any capacity or even spent 5 minutes fucking around with av complaining about it though. When you’ve been banned for cheating/speeding through the limited content that does exist, and then come try to say the server is dying because of lack of content, you’re really not influencing anyone to leave with you. You just look sad. News flash, it’s just like any other video game. It’s dead when you feel it’s dead and you are bored. No one else’s experience is affected by yours. Get over yourselves and find a new game or server if this one gets your feelings this much in a bunch.