Will I get Banned? Be Wary of Fake 'Banned' Emails

[-aiko-]

Just thought I'd like to point out to new players, or players looking to play the game, that there are a few 'fake' emails circulating around the internet regarding account suspension. Let me go ahead and address some commonly shouted concerns, and why you should not be concerned.

Q: Will I get banned for taking a low level character to Ilum?
A: No, you will not. Confirmed in a thread by Bioware's own Stephen Reid, you will not be banned unless you are exploiting. The commonly used explot involves win-trading with an alt of the opposing faction.

Our Terms of Service team recently took action against some accounts playing Star Wars: The Old Republic, and we wanted to give you some insight into what happened and why.

First, action was taken against a number of accounts for what's commonly known as 'gold farming' - or in our case, credit farming. These accounts were found to be exploiting the game in a variety of ways to maximize their credits in order to sell them to other players. Our Terms of Service team took action against these accounts and removed them permanently from the game.

Second, a smaller number of accounts were warned or temporarily suspended for exploiting loot containers on Ilum. To be completely clear, while players may choose to travel to Ilum earlier than the recommended level (40+) and may loot containers if they can get to them, in the cases of those customers that were warned or temporarily suspended, they were systematically and repeatedly looting containers in very high numbers resulting in the game economy becoming unbalanced.

None of these accounts were banned for their actions and no accounts have been banned for travelling to Ilum while still relatively low level. By comparison, the number of accounts that were warned or temporarily suspended was considerably lower than the number of accounts banned for 'credit farming'.

It's important to remember that our Terms of Service team is extremely careful and thorough in their investigation of any potential exploit or unusual activity in-game. Working closely with the development team and using extensive metrics based on player activity, they are able to determine what is normal player activity, what is unusual and what is exploiting. Our goal is always to ensure a fair game experience for all players while also protecting the rights of individuals, and if people are disrupting the play experience for others action will be taken.

While we will not discuss the details of any individual action, whenever we take action against an account we believe they have clearly broken our Terms of Service. Any action taken against an account can be appealed and in some cases actions have been rescinded.

While we understand people's concern about actions taken against accounts, please remember the Terms of Service team exists to help ensure a balanced and fair game experience for all. When you see reports of actions taken against someone's account, remember they are choosing to tell their version of the story - and there are two sides to every story.

In summary, our Terms of Service team took action against a number of accounts that were 'credit farming' to remove them permanently from the game. They also warned and temporarily suspended - but did not ban - a smaller number of accounts for activities on Ilum that were decided to be game exploits.

Some adjustments will be made to Ilum in the near future to discourage future exploits. However, the planet is still open to anyone who wishes to travel there.

The goal of the Star Wars: The Old Republic team is to maintain a service for our customers that is fun to play and equitable for everyone. Critical to this goal is making sure that gameplay is fair and reasonable and we are constantly on the lookout for anything that would prove to be a detriment to your gameplay experiences.

Thanks for reading, and we hope this gave you some insights.

Source

Q: Will I get banned for playing the Galactic Trade Network?
A: No, you will not. This entire inquiry spanned from a fake email. In a recent thread with the said fake email attached, this was Mr. Reid's response to the so called "banned" thread owner:

You have not been banned. In fact, your account has no notes on it at all from the Terms of Service team - and nor does your 'alt' account under the same name and address.

If you have a third alt with a different username, feel free to PM me directly with it and I'll investigate that too. The email image you linked to may not have been created by you, but it is a fake.

If you have any issues with accessing the game, please contact Customer Service.

For the record, 'playing' the Galactic Trade Network is part of everyday, normal gameplay and is expected to happen in Star Wars: The Old Republic. No-one has been banned for their actions on the GTN.

As a general note, I would advise caution before assuming someone who is posting that they are 'banned' is actually banned.

Source

Q: Will I get banned for ganking or griefing on a PvP server?
A: No, you will not. This was confirmed as a fake by a Bioware employee responding to a thread:

I just confirmed with our Terms of Service department: you have never been banned.

Please be reminded that this type of discussion is not tolerated in these forums. And for those of you reading this, please be wary of posts from people that claim that they have been actioned upon.

Thanks!

Source


There are other emails I will be keeping an eye on, but as long as you are not cheating you will never get banned unjustly while playing this game. Enjoy the game, and make sure to talk about it with your fellow gamers! Let's make sure this game continues its growth and remains a pleasant home away from home.

[endersblade]

I think it's pretty common sense. If I EVER get one of these emails, for WoW, Rift, TOR, whatever, the very first thing I do is try to log into the game. I don't click on links, I don't log into the website, I immediately try to get into the game. Other than that, I'm pretty sure you'd know ahead of time if you were going to get banned. Still, like I said, the best thing you can do is log into the game, NOT their website, and NOT any links in the email.